The Assyrian Democratic Movement states its aims are to establish equal citizenship rights with the rest of the Iraqi people without discrimination on the basis of nationality, belief, religious affiliation, culture, language and other characteristics of the native Assyrians of Iraq, to acknowledge the past massacres committed against them and to ensure they are never repeated again.

The movement took up armed struggle against the Iraqi regime in 1982 under the leadership of Ninos Pithyou with the primary focus of defending Assyrian villages, and joined the Iraqi-Kurdistan Front (IKF) in the early 1990s.

On 14 July 1984, the Saddam led regime attacked ADM locations in Baghdad, arresting more than 150 members of the movement who were imprisoned in the notorious Abu Ghraib prison.

Jamil Matti and Sheba Hamey were later killed by the Iraqi Army while safeguarding the villages of Hejerke and Pireka in Simele.

[6][7] Due to successful lobbying from influential Assyrian-Americans and from Congressman Henry Hyde, American President George W. Bush designated the ADM an officially recognized Iraqi opposition movement.

In a December 9, 2002, memorandum, President Bush invoked both articles four and five of the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998 as a means of allowing the United States government to provide financial resources to the ADM and other Iraqi opposition groups.

In February 2003, Kanna addressed both Iraqi opposition leaders and U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad at a conference in northern Iraq.

Party members and Assyrians in general have been the focus of some Islamic insurgent attacks in the time since the fall of Saddam Hussein.