Remember Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri’s death? Yeah, about that…
This is why you don’t declare these guys dead just because a report comes in that says they are. Hell, Douri may actually be dead, and this speech video just a ruse, but actual video of the guy has to at least introduce some doubt into the situation.
Douri’s speech seems to have in part been meant to debunk recent talk about the links between ISIS and the Baʿathists, though he spends most of his time criticizing the Iranian “occupation” of Iraq. That doesn’t mean much in itself (Douri’s not going to publicly embrace ISIS no matter what their working relationship is), but is interesting insofar as he now seems to be going out of his way to distance himself and his men from ISIS.
The Foreign Exchanges Companion 