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Chronicle of Contemporary Iraqi history
The US on slaught on Iraq is not the first violent assault on the country. If we delve into the past of the Arab nation, we will notice that its history is soiled with blood. Report: Prionka Jha
Report: Prionka Jha
The US onslaught on Iraq is not the first violent assault on the country. If we delve into the past of the Arab nation, we will notice that its history is soiled with blood. It was the British, whose interests in the Persian Gulf and the Tigris-Euphrates region had grown steadily since the late 18th century, that ultimately brought to an end of the Ottoman presence in Iraq. An administration staffed largely by British replaced the Ottoman provincial government in the state.
Action undertaken by the British military authorities during the World War I and the upsurge of nationalism post-war helped determine the shape of the new Iraqi state. British control of Iraq, however, was short-lived. In 1920 the British government had laid out an institutional framework for Iraqi government and politics. Britain imposed a Hashimite monarchy in Iraq and at the same time influenced the writing of a constitution and the structure of Parliament. In 1921, Faysal, son of Hussein Bin Ali, the Sharif of Mecca, was crowned and he became the king of Iraq. On October 03, 1932, Iraq was admitted to the League of Nations as an independent state. But things were never smooth. The struggle for power continued between the elite groups even as majority Iraqis remained divorced from the political process of the country. The British created monarchy was overthrown in a military coup led by Brig Abd-al-Karim Qasim and Col Abd-al-Salam Mohammad Arif in July 1958. Iraq was declared a republic and Qasim became the prime minister. In 1963 Qasim was ousted in a coup led by the Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party (ASBP) and Col Abd-al-Salam Mohammad Arif became the prime minister. Arif’s rule was short-lived as he was killed in a helicopter crash in April 1966 and his elder brother Major General Abd-al-Rahmman Muhammad Arif succeeded him as the president. Lacking a coherent political platform and facing increasing charges of corruption, the Abd-al-Rahmman Muhammad Arif’s government’s gripped loosened. The Ba’ath Party quickly capitalised on the situation and staged a coup once again. In 1968 Arif’s government was ousted and General Ahmad Hasan al-Bakr became the president. Meanwhile, a new leader was rising in the horizon of the Ba’ath Party--- Saddam Hussein. The most serious threat that the Ba’ath Party was facing was the resurgence of the Kurdish unrest in north. As a result, in March 1970, the Revolution Command Council and leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), Mustafa Barzani, signed a peace agreement. This plan was almost identical to a previous Bazzaz-Kurdish settlement that had never been implemented. The new settlement proved more effective. The Kurds were immediately pacified, particularly because Barzani was permitted to retain his 15,000 Kurdish troops. But there was another problem. By early 1970’s Iraq wanted to develop a deep-water port in the Gulf. For this two Kuwaiti islands – Bubiyan and Warbah (that dominate the estuary leading to the southern Iraqi port of Umm Qasr) —had to be either transferred or leased to Iraq. Kuwait refused and Iraqi troops marched into Kuwait in March 1973, occupying As Samitah, a border post. Saudi Arabia immediately came to Kuwait’s aid and together with the Arab League obtained Iraq’s withdrawal. President Bakr, who was at the helm of affairs in Iraq, was in mid 1970’s beset by illness and a series of family tragedies. He increasingly turned to Saddam for help in shouldering the responsibilities of the nation. By 1977, the party bureaux, the intelligence mechanisms and even ministers who, according to the provisional constitution should have reported to Bakr reported to Saddam Hussein. Meanwhile, Saddam was less inclined to share power and he viewed the cabinet and RCC as mere rubber stamps. On July 1979 President Bakr resigned and Saddam Hussein officially replaced him as president of Iraq, secretary general of the Ba’ath Party Regional Command, chairman of the RCC and commander in chief of the armed forces. With the Ba’ath Party firmly in the saddle and Kurdish rebellion successfully quelled, Saddam Hussein set out to consolidate his position at home by strengthening the economy by pursuing a state-sponsored industrial modernisation programme. Success on the economic front spurred Saddam Hussein to pursue an ambitious foreign policy aimed at pushing Iraq to the forefront of the Arab world. Saddam’s plans and the course of Iraqi history were drastically altered by the overthrow of the Shah of Iran in February 1979. Saddam viewed the 1979 Isalmic Revolution in Iran as both a threat to the security of Iraq and an opportunity to regain control over Shatt al Arab waterway. He was apprehensive that the success of Iran’s Islamic Revolution would serve as an inspiration to Iraqi Shias and this in turn could affect the Shia-Sunni equation in his country. Saddam was apprehensive of the growing ties between an Iraqi Shia group Ad Dawah al Islamiyah and Iran. This group was believed to be conspiring an overthrow similar to that engineered by Khomeini – that called for return of Islamic percepts of government and social justice. But the main event that led to rapid deterioration of the relations between the two countries was when in 1980 the Ad Dawah group attempted to assassinate Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz and culture and information minister Latif Nayyif Jasim. The Iraqi regime immediately rounded up members and supporters of Ad Dawah group and deported thousands of Shias of Iranian origin. In September 1980, Iran began shelling Iraqi border towns resulting in exchange of artillery fire from both sides. A few weeks later, Saddam officially abrogated the 1975 truce treaty with Iran. Iran rejected the action and hostilities escalated as the two sides began bombing raids. Thousands of Kurds collaborated with the Iranians at the time of Iraq-Iran war considering it to be a good opportunity to intensify their opposition against the government. But their stir met with a serious blow when on March 16, 1988, Iraq used chemical weapons against the Kurdish town of Halabja that left 5,000 dead and 7,000 injured or with long-term illnesses. The Iran-Iraq war ended in a stalemate in 1988. An estimated one million soldiers were killed in eight years of fighting. A ceasefire came into effect that was monitored by the UN Iran-Iraq Military Observer Group (UNIIMOG). By the end of the Iran-Iraq war, relations between Iraq and Kuwait deteriorated with the reawakening of old issues regarding the border and Kuwaiti sovereignty as well as Kuwaiti oil. In a second military adventure in August 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait. US along with United Nations, demanded Iraq`s immediate withdrawal. Meanwhile, US and other UN member nations began deploying troops in Saudi Arabia within a week of Kuwaiti invasion, and a world-wide coalition began to form under UN authority. The threat of UN economic sanctions did not deter Saddam’s plans and he went ahead and announced the merger of Iraq and Kuwait. By January 1991, over 500,000 coalition troops were deployed in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Region. “Operation Desert Storm” or the Gulf War was announced on January 16, 1991 with the coalition forces launching aerial and ground operations. Coalition forces on February 27, 1991 successfully pushed back Iraqi forces and on March 3, 1991, Iraq accepted the terms of ceasefire. The primary ceasefire resolution – United Nation Security Council Resolution 687 – required Iraq to end its Weapons of Mass Destruction programmes, recognise Kuwait, account for missing Kuwaitis, return Kuwaiti property and end support for international terrorism. (It was only in 1994 that the Iraqi National Assembly recognised Kuwait`s borders and its independence.) A no-fly zone, excluding flights of Iraqi planes, was established in southern Iraq, south of latitude 32 degrees north. US extended the southern no-fly zone to latitude 33 degrees north in 1996. In April 1993, an assassination attempt was made on President George Bush Sr, who was visiting Kuwait. In response, US forces launched a cruise missile attack on Iraqi intelligence headquarters in Al-Mansur district, Baghdad in June 1993. Bombing raids by British and US forces to disable Iraq’s land and air defence network have since then become a regular feature. Working in cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN Special Commission (UNSCOM) was established to de-weaponise Iraq. Meanwhile, concerned at the extended suffering of the civilian population as a result of the economic sanctions, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 986 in 1995 and adopted the "Oil-for-Food" programme as "a temporary measure to provide for the humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people". In May 1996, after extended negotiations with the UN and Iraq signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) setting out arrangements for the implementation of the resolution. In 1998 Iraq alleged that the UN weapons inspectors were indulging in espionage and expelled them, ending all forms of cooperation with the UNSCOM. Following which US and UK launched "Operation Desert Fox", a bombing campaign to destroy suspected nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programmes believed to be running in Iraq. In another peace attempt, the United Nation Security Council adopted Resolution 1284 in 1999 that created UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) to replace UNSCOM. Hans Blix assumed the post of Executive Chairman and is popularly known as chief weapons inspector. The inspection team in its new avtar was also not acceptable to the Iraqi leader. Owing fresh security concerns following the infamous 9/11, in 2002 UN Security Council unanimously adopted another resolution - Resolution 1441 - outlining an enhanced inspection regime for Iraq`s disarmament to be conducted jointly by UNMOVIC and IAEA. This time, Iraq accepted UN Security Council Resolution 1441. To gain acceptability in the international community and to avoid a war at any cost, Iraq complying by UN resolutions submitted to the Security Council a 12,000-page report on the regime`s current chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programmes. It stated in the Declaration that there were no Weapons of Mass Destruction in the country. However, Hans Blix said that the Declaration was not enough to create confidence in Iraq. Blix expressed concern regarding the undeclared material, inability to interview Iraqi scientists and inability to deploy aerial surveillance during inspections. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Colin Powell presented to the Security Council evidence of Iraqi military tactical communications and satellite imagery showing Iraqi regime had concealed Weapons of Mass Destruction. The efficacy of evidence is yet to be established. A few days later, Blix and IAEA chief Elbaradei presented their second report to the Security Council under Resolution 1441, noting Iraq`s cooperation in the process of inspections but saying that Iraq had yet to account for many proscribed weapons. The inspectors however remained hopeful of peaceful disarmament of Iraq. Hans Blix defined key remaining tasks and announced that these were indeed achievable if the team continued its work. But United States’ patience was fast running out. The US, backed by Britain, did not want to give Iraq any more time. This put the US at loggerheads with the international community, which called for a peaceful solution. The US framed a resolution that authorised it to attack Iraq if it did not immediately declare and destroy all WMDs it possessed. The resolution did not get the backing of the UN Security Council. A second resolution was drafted on similar lines. This again was opposed by the international community. France threatened to veto it, Russia and China opposed it and Germany openly asked for peace to be given a second chance. Realising that it would not get the support it required in the Security Council to pass the resolution, the US decided not to press for the vote. President Bush unilaterally issued an ultimatum to the Saddam Hussein to depart or disarm within 48 hours or face serious consequences. The long-anticipated conflict with Iraq finally broke out as US declared ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom’ on March 20, 2003, with coalition forces launching aerial and ground operations even before the deadline for the ultimatum expired.
The US onslaught on Iraq is not the first violent assault on the country. If we delve into the past of the Arab nation, we will notice that its history is soiled with blood. It was the British, whose interests in the Persian Gulf and the Tigris-Euphrates region had grown steadily since the late 18th century, that ultimately brought to an end of the Ottoman presence in Iraq. An administration staffed largely by British replaced the Ottoman provincial government in the state.
Action undertaken by the British military authorities during the World War I and the upsurge of nationalism post-war helped determine the shape of the new Iraqi state. British control of Iraq, however, was short-lived. In 1920 the British government had laid out an institutional framework for Iraqi government and politics. Britain imposed a Hashimite monarchy in Iraq and at the same time influenced the writing of a constitution and the structure of Parliament. In 1921, Faysal, son of Hussein Bin Ali, the Sharif of Mecca, was crowned and he became the king of Iraq. On October 03, 1932, Iraq was admitted to the League of Nations as an independent state. But things were never smooth. The struggle for power continued between the elite groups even as majority Iraqis remained divorced from the political process of the country. The British created monarchy was overthrown in a military coup led by Brig Abd-al-Karim Qasim and Col Abd-al-Salam Mohammad Arif in July 1958. Iraq was declared a republic and Qasim became the prime minister. In 1963 Qasim was ousted in a coup led by the Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party (ASBP) and Col Abd-al-Salam Mohammad Arif became the prime minister. Arif’s rule was short-lived as he was killed in a helicopter crash in April 1966 and his elder brother Major General Abd-al-Rahmman Muhammad Arif succeeded him as the president. Lacking a coherent political platform and facing increasing charges of corruption, the Abd-al-Rahmman Muhammad Arif’s government’s gripped loosened. The Ba’ath Party quickly capitalised on the situation and staged a coup once again. In 1968 Arif’s government was ousted and General Ahmad Hasan al-Bakr became the president. Meanwhile, a new leader was rising in the horizon of the Ba’ath Party--- Saddam Hussein. The most serious threat that the Ba’ath Party was facing was the resurgence of the Kurdish unrest in north. As a result, in March 1970, the Revolution Command Council and leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), Mustafa Barzani, signed a peace agreement. This plan was almost identical to a previous Bazzaz-Kurdish settlement that had never been implemented. The new settlement proved more effective. The Kurds were immediately pacified, particularly because Barzani was permitted to retain his 15,000 Kurdish troops. But there was another problem. By early 1970’s Iraq wanted to develop a deep-water port in the Gulf. For this two Kuwaiti islands – Bubiyan and Warbah (that dominate the estuary leading to the southern Iraqi port of Umm Qasr) —had to be either transferred or leased to Iraq. Kuwait refused and Iraqi troops marched into Kuwait in March 1973, occupying As Samitah, a border post. Saudi Arabia immediately came to Kuwait’s aid and together with the Arab League obtained Iraq’s withdrawal. President Bakr, who was at the helm of affairs in Iraq, was in mid 1970’s beset by illness and a series of family tragedies. He increasingly turned to Saddam for help in shouldering the responsibilities of the nation. By 1977, the party bureaux, the intelligence mechanisms and even ministers who, according to the provisional constitution should have reported to Bakr reported to Saddam Hussein. Meanwhile, Saddam was less inclined to share power and he viewed the cabinet and RCC as mere rubber stamps. On July 1979 President Bakr resigned and Saddam Hussein officially replaced him as president of Iraq, secretary general of the Ba’ath Party Regional Command, chairman of the RCC and commander in chief of the armed forces. With the Ba’ath Party firmly in the saddle and Kurdish rebellion successfully quelled, Saddam Hussein set out to consolidate his position at home by strengthening the economy by pursuing a state-sponsored industrial modernisation programme. Success on the economic front spurred Saddam Hussein to pursue an ambitious foreign policy aimed at pushing Iraq to the forefront of the Arab world. Saddam’s plans and the course of Iraqi history were drastically altered by the overthrow of the Shah of Iran in February 1979. Saddam viewed the 1979 Isalmic Revolution in Iran as both a threat to the security of Iraq and an opportunity to regain control over Shatt al Arab waterway. He was apprehensive that the success of Iran’s Islamic Revolution would serve as an inspiration to Iraqi Shias and this in turn could affect the Shia-Sunni equation in his country. Saddam was apprehensive of the growing ties between an Iraqi Shia group Ad Dawah al Islamiyah and Iran. This group was believed to be conspiring an overthrow similar to that engineered by Khomeini – that called for return of Islamic percepts of government and social justice. But the main event that led to rapid deterioration of the relations between the two countries was when in 1980 the Ad Dawah group attempted to assassinate Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz and culture and information minister Latif Nayyif Jasim. The Iraqi regime immediately rounded up members and supporters of Ad Dawah group and deported thousands of Shias of Iranian origin. In September 1980, Iran began shelling Iraqi border towns resulting in exchange of artillery fire from both sides. A few weeks later, Saddam officially abrogated the 1975 truce treaty with Iran. Iran rejected the action and hostilities escalated as the two sides began bombing raids. Thousands of Kurds collaborated with the Iranians at the time of Iraq-Iran war considering it to be a good opportunity to intensify their opposition against the government. But their stir met with a serious blow when on March 16, 1988, Iraq used chemical weapons against the Kurdish town of Halabja that left 5,000 dead and 7,000 injured or with long-term illnesses. The Iran-Iraq war ended in a stalemate in 1988. An estimated one million soldiers were killed in eight years of fighting. A ceasefire came into effect that was monitored by the UN Iran-Iraq Military Observer Group (UNIIMOG). By the end of the Iran-Iraq war, relations between Iraq and Kuwait deteriorated with the reawakening of old issues regarding the border and Kuwaiti sovereignty as well as Kuwaiti oil. In a second military adventure in August 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait. US along with United Nations, demanded Iraq`s immediate withdrawal. Meanwhile, US and other UN member nations began deploying troops in Saudi Arabia within a week of Kuwaiti invasion, and a world-wide coalition began to form under UN authority. The threat of UN economic sanctions did not deter Saddam’s plans and he went ahead and announced the merger of Iraq and Kuwait. By January 1991, over 500,000 coalition troops were deployed in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Region. “Operation Desert Storm” or the Gulf War was announced on January 16, 1991 with the coalition forces launching aerial and ground operations. Coalition forces on February 27, 1991 successfully pushed back Iraqi forces and on March 3, 1991, Iraq accepted the terms of ceasefire. The primary ceasefire resolution – United Nation Security Council Resolution 687 – required Iraq to end its Weapons of Mass Destruction programmes, recognise Kuwait, account for missing Kuwaitis, return Kuwaiti property and end support for international terrorism. (It was only in 1994 that the Iraqi National Assembly recognised Kuwait`s borders and its independence.) A no-fly zone, excluding flights of Iraqi planes, was established in southern Iraq, south of latitude 32 degrees north. US extended the southern no-fly zone to latitude 33 degrees north in 1996. In April 1993, an assassination attempt was made on President George Bush Sr, who was visiting Kuwait. In response, US forces launched a cruise missile attack on Iraqi intelligence headquarters in Al-Mansur district, Baghdad in June 1993. Bombing raids by British and US forces to disable Iraq’s land and air defence network have since then become a regular feature. Working in cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN Special Commission (UNSCOM) was established to de-weaponise Iraq. Meanwhile, concerned at the extended suffering of the civilian population as a result of the economic sanctions, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 986 in 1995 and adopted the "Oil-for-Food" programme as "a temporary measure to provide for the humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people". In May 1996, after extended negotiations with the UN and Iraq signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) setting out arrangements for the implementation of the resolution. In 1998 Iraq alleged that the UN weapons inspectors were indulging in espionage and expelled them, ending all forms of cooperation with the UNSCOM. Following which US and UK launched "Operation Desert Fox", a bombing campaign to destroy suspected nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programmes believed to be running in Iraq. In another peace attempt, the United Nation Security Council adopted Resolution 1284 in 1999 that created UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) to replace UNSCOM. Hans Blix assumed the post of Executive Chairman and is popularly known as chief weapons inspector. The inspection team in its new avtar was also not acceptable to the Iraqi leader. Owing fresh security concerns following the infamous 9/11, in 2002 UN Security Council unanimously adopted another resolution - Resolution 1441 - outlining an enhanced inspection regime for Iraq`s disarmament to be conducted jointly by UNMOVIC and IAEA. This time, Iraq accepted UN Security Council Resolution 1441. To gain acceptability in the international community and to avoid a war at any cost, Iraq complying by UN resolutions submitted to the Security Council a 12,000-page report on the regime`s current chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programmes. It stated in the Declaration that there were no Weapons of Mass Destruction in the country. However, Hans Blix said that the Declaration was not enough to create confidence in Iraq. Blix expressed concern regarding the undeclared material, inability to interview Iraqi scientists and inability to deploy aerial surveillance during inspections. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Colin Powell presented to the Security Council evidence of Iraqi military tactical communications and satellite imagery showing Iraqi regime had concealed Weapons of Mass Destruction. The efficacy of evidence is yet to be established. A few days later, Blix and IAEA chief Elbaradei presented their second report to the Security Council under Resolution 1441, noting Iraq`s cooperation in the process of inspections but saying that Iraq had yet to account for many proscribed weapons. The inspectors however remained hopeful of peaceful disarmament of Iraq. Hans Blix defined key remaining tasks and announced that these were indeed achievable if the team continued its work. But United States’ patience was fast running out. The US, backed by Britain, did not want to give Iraq any more time. This put the US at loggerheads with the international community, which called for a peaceful solution. The US framed a resolution that authorised it to attack Iraq if it did not immediately declare and destroy all WMDs it possessed. The resolution did not get the backing of the UN Security Council. A second resolution was drafted on similar lines. This again was opposed by the international community. France threatened to veto it, Russia and China opposed it and Germany openly asked for peace to be given a second chance. Realising that it would not get the support it required in the Security Council to pass the resolution, the US decided not to press for the vote. President Bush unilaterally issued an ultimatum to the Saddam Hussein to depart or disarm within 48 hours or face serious consequences. The long-anticipated conflict with Iraq finally broke out as US declared ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom’ on March 20, 2003, with coalition forces launching aerial and ground operations even before the deadline for the ultimatum expired.