Since the Second World War the Arab states of the Middle East and North Africa have undergone a series of socio-political and economic upheavals that, whatever the political complexion of particular governments, have been broadly similar in content. These include the overthrow of the old landowning and politically dominant classes (or the expulsion of the European settlers, in the case of North Africa) and their replacement by social strata drawn largely from the ranks of the lower middle classes and the petty bourgeoisie; the dismantling of the political systems installed by the British or French and their replacement by one party systems that are often forms of military dictatorship; a growing concentration of economic activity in the hands of the state, or more accurately in the hands of the ruling party or the clique which dominates it, and the commitment of the state itself to ‘development’, however this conceptmay be defined by particular regimes. In broad outline, allowing for some local variations, particularly in the Arabian peninsula where the old social classes often managed to absorb and incorporate some of the social groups formerly excluded from power, most of these phenomena can be found in all the states between Morocco and Iraq...
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments /xi Foreword to the Third Edition / xiii Foreword to the First Edition / xv
1 Iraq Before the Revolution of 1958 / 1 Early Modern Iraq:fr om Ottoman Frontier Province to British Military Occupation, c. 1550–1914 / 1 Economy and Society, c. 1850–1914 / 3 The Last Years of Ottoman Rule / 5 The Origins and Development of British Interests in Iraq and the Gulf Area / 7 British Occupation and Mandate, 1914–1932 / 8 ‘Independent’ Iraq / 15 Political Currents, c. 1920–1946 / 16 The Kurds under the Mandate and Monarchy / 23 Economy and Society before the Revolution of 1958: Land Tenure and Rural Social Structure / 30 Economy and Society before the Revolution of 1958: Urban Life and the Urban Economy / 35 The Last Years of the Monarchy, 1946–1958 / 38
2 1958–1963 / 47 Preparations for the Coup:Qasim and the Free Officers before July 1958 / 47 The Coup and the Revolution of 14 July 1958 / 49 The Political Climate in the Immediate Aftermath of the Revolution / 51 The Emergence of ‘Abd al-Karim Qasim / 52 ‘Unity Now’ versus ‘Federation’ / 55 The Split between Qasim and ‘Arif, August to November 1958 / 58 The Rashid ‘Ali ‘Coup’ / 60 The Communist ‘Threat’ / 62 Mosul, March 1959 / 66 Kirkuk, July 1959 / 70 The Attempt on Qasim’s Life, October 1959 / 72 The Breaking of the Radical Left / 74 Social and Economic Policies, 1958–1963 / 76 The Kurdish Question, 1958–1963 / 79 Qasim’s Last Years, 1961–1963 / 82
3 1963–1968 / 85 The Origins of Ba‘thism / 87 The Ba‘th in Iraq / 90 The Ba‘th-Nationalist Alliance, February-November 1963 / 92 The Regime of ‘Abd al-Salam ‘Arif, 1963–1966 / 93 The Government of ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Bazzaz, September 1965 to August 1966 / 97 The Presidency of ‘Abd al-Rahman ‘Arif, April 1966 to July 1968 / 99 Social and Economic Policies, 1963–1968 / 101 The Kurdish Question under the ‘Arifs / 102 The Communists under the ‘Arifs 104
4 1968–1972 / 107 The Background to the July 1968 Coups:t he Ba‘th Party and the Struggle for Power / 108 The Coups of July 1968 / 112 The Government of 30 July 1968 / 116 The First Steps on the Road to Oil Nationalisation: Negotiations with the Soviet Union, March-July 1969 / 123 Relations with the ICP and KDP, 1969–1970 / 126 The Ba‘th and Black September / 132 Further Power Struggles:The Emergence of Saddam Husayn / 134 Social and Economic Policies, 1968–1972 / 137 The Uneasy Road to Reconciliation:The Ba‘th, the Communists and the Kurds, 1970–1972 / 140 The Background to the Nationalisation of the Iraq Petroleum Company / 145
5 1972–1975 / 149 For and Against the National Patriotic Front / 151 The Consequences of the Nationalisation of the IPC / 154 The Formation of the National Patriotic Front / 156 The Kurds and the National Front / 158 The Defiance and Defeat of Nazim Kazzar, June-July 1973 / 160 The Ba‘th, the Kurds and Iran, 1973–1974 / 164 Open Warfare, 1974–1975 / 167
6 1975–1980 / 171 1973–1975:t he Ba‘th Dig In / 172 Iraq’s Relations with Its Neighbours, 1973–1975 / 176 Domestic Politics, 1975–1979 / 178 The Kurds, 1975–1979 / 187 The Shi‘i Opposition / 190 Foreign Relations, 1975–1980 / 200 The Struggle for Power within the Ba‘th Party — Saddam Husayn and his Rivals, 1976–1980 / 206
7 Economy and Society since 1958 / 215 Oil and the Iraqi Economy, 1958–1963 / 216 Economy and Society under the ‘Arif Brothers / 219 Economy and Society Under the Ba‘th / 227
8 The War between Iraq and Iran / 255 Iraq and Iran, 1975–1979 / 255 The Early Years of the War / 257 The Political Impact of the War on Iraq / 262 The Effects of the War on the Iraqi Economy / 264 The Last Two Years of the War:1986 –1988 / 266 al-Anfal, 1988 / 269 The Political and Military Situation after the War / 270 The Reconstruction of the Economy and the Bureaucracy / 274 Prelude to Invasion / 277
9 The Invasion of Kuwait and Its Aftermath / 281 Perceptions and Misperceptions:Some Considerations of the Background to the Invasion / 283 The Aftermath of the Gulf War / 288 The Risings in the Shi‘i South and Kurdistan / 289 Sanctions and the United Nations Inspections / 290 Kurdish Politics since 1991 / 295 Shi‘i Politics since 1991 / 299 Human Rights in Iraq / 301 Iraqi Politics since 1991 / 304
It is not easy, especially with a long background of involvement with Iraq and Iraqis, to write dispassionately about Iraq at the spring of 2001. The first edition of this book was written in 1985; sixteen years later, the same hideous regime is still in power. The situation of the ordinary person in Iraq has deteriorated immensely; infant mortality, however caused, has risen from 56 per 1000 in 1984–89 to 131 per 1000 in 1994–99; three million Iraqis live outside Iraq, and many more would leave if they could. In 1985, one US dollar was worth one third of an Iraq dinar; in 2001 one US dollar is worth more than 2,200 dinars. The austere system of food rationing introduced in the early 1990s has become even harsher in recent years, so that families often run out of food by the middle of the month. It is extremely difficult to obtain a clear picture of what is going on inside the country, although there are occasional reports of further devastation of the infrastructure, continuing atrocities, and of failed coups d’état.
The reaction of many concerned individuals outside Iraq, particularly among the old anti-imperialist left, is to blame the West and the sanctions for most of Iraq’s sufferings. With due respect to the many decent individuals who hold such views, I am not convinced. Of course the sanctions regime works inefficiently, the United Nations has no experience in running such a programme for such a long period, and there have been examples of heavy-handedness, stupidity, and bad faith. Tragically, the people of Iraq have suffered, and continue to suffer, immensely. But it is surely reasonable that an attempt should have been made to force Iraq to give up its weapons of mass destruction. Ultimately, the sanctions regime is still in place because the ruler of Iraq thinks it more important to retain access to these weapons than to relieve the suffering of the people over whom he rules.
It took over four years for the oil-for-food arrangements proposed by the United Nations to be put in place. The Iraqi regime demurred because of what it saw as a derogation of national sovereignty. Do Saddam Husayn and his entourage in some sense represent the people of Iraq? The West’s crime (in this case abetted by the former Soviet Union and its allies) has been to tolerate, and to build up, regimes like those of Slobodan Milosevic, Saddam Husayn, and many others, for so long. Iraq longs to be rid of Saddam Husayn, and it is in no one’s interest but his own that he should remain in power. It is a tragic irony that the West and others have made him so invincible.
In preparing this third edition, I have been somewhat, but not significantly, constrained by a number of technical considerations. Chapters 1–7 have been reproduced more or less as they were, although factual and other errors have been corrected. All the notes, and Chapters 8 and 9, have been rewritten; specifically, the notes to the earlier chapters have been expanded to take account of scholarly work since the first edition, and the bibliography has been completely updated.
Iraq Since 1958 From Revolution to Dictatorship
Marion Farouk-Sluglett and Peter Sluglett
I.B.Tauris Publishers LONDON • NEW YORK
Revised edition published in 2001 by I.B.Tauris& Co Ltd 6 Salem Road, London W2 4BU 175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010 www.ibtauris.com
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First published in 1987 by KPI Ltd. Revised paperback published in 1990 by I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd.
The right of Marion Farouk-Sluglett and Peter Sluglett to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted by the authors in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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