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Iraq: Facts

Population 17.9 million (1991 estimate)

Language: Official language is Arabic

(spoken by about 80% of population; 15%speak Kurdish)

Religion: Sunni (Iraq’s regime) and Twelver

Shia (more conservative) Islam (95%) Ethnic groups: Arab (72%), Kurds (23%), the

Kurds are mainly based on the north and thenorth-west of the country



Recent History

1920 – Placed under a League of Nations’mandate, administered by Great BritainProvided the country with a constitution and a

bicameral legislature.Put in place King Faisal IA 25 year Treaty of Alliance was signedOn October 3, 1932, the British mandate ended and

Iraq was established as an independent state.British retained military bases and continued to

exercise strong political and military influence in thecountry.

The Iraq Petroleum Company was a conglomerate of

British, French and U.S. interests.

King Faisal I

(1885-1933)



Recent History

King Faisal I died in 1933 but the regimesunder King Ghazi I (son) and King Faisal II(grandson) continued to be pro-British.

The Baghdad Pact was signed in 1955,

which was an agreement on collectiveregional security, urged upon Iraq by theBritish.

King Faisal II (1935-1958)

King Ghazi I (1912-1939)



Revolution

A military revolution overthrew King Faisal II on14 July 1958, and a left-wing nationalist regimeunder the leadership of Brigadier Abdul-KarimKassem came to power. Iraq withdrew from the Baghdad Pact in 1959.Kassem was assassinated in 1963.

A bloody and violent Ba'thist Arab nationalistregime under Colonel Abdul Salem Arif resulted.He was succeeded by his brother, Abdul Rahman

Arif in 1966.

Abdul-Karim Kassem

(1914-1963)Abdul Salam Arif

(1921-1966)Abdul Rahman Arif

(1918-)



The Ba'athist Revolution of 1968

The foundations of the modern regime in Iraqwere laid with the seizure of power by the ArabRenaissance (Ba'ath) Socialist Party on July 171968.

Major General Ahmad Hasan al-Bakr becamePresident and Prime Minister of Iraq, his deputywas Saddam Hussein.

The regime undertook wide-ranging social andeconomic reforms to try and increase its

popularity. It nationalized the Iraqi Petroleum Company and

was bolstered by rises in oil prices in 1972 and1974, following the Arab-Israeli war.

Ahmed

Hasan al-

Bakr (1914-1982)



The Kurds in Iraq

In March 1970 an agreement was reachedbetween the government and the KurdishDemocratic Party (KDP), over the establishment

of an autonomous Kurdish area.However, it quickly became clear that the promises

made in this 'March Manifesto' would not be fulfilled.

Conflict broke out between the Kurds and

government's armed forces in the spring of 1974.The Kurds were supported by the Shah of Iran, who

was concerned about what he saw as Sovietinfluence over the Iraqi regime.



The Kurds in Iraq

Jordanian intervention led to the signing of the Algiers Agreement between Iran andIraq in March 1975.

Iran closed its border with Iraq which led tothe collapse of the Kurdish military force.

Kurdish resistance was violently repressed,

villages were destroyed and their inhabitants resettled in specially constructedvillages surrounded by barbed wire andfortified posts.



The Rise of SaddamHussein

The economic strength of the regime in thelate 1970s led to a concurrent rise in itspolitical strength.The Ba'ath party itself lost influence and real

power was increasingly concentrated in thehands of Saddam Hussein and his politicalbackers.

The party increasingly became an instrument of the state.

In July 1978 a decree was passed which madeany non-Ba'thist political activity illegal andmembership of any other political partypunishable by death for all members or former members of the armed forces.

Saddam

Hussein

(1937- )



The Rise of SaddamHussein

President Ahmad Hasan al-Bakr announced hisresignation, and the handover of power to SaddamHussein, on 16 July 1979.

Huge oil revenues enabled Saddam to spend largesums on welfare and building projects, and livingstandards improved due to the expanding economy.

Saddam Hussein concentrated on creating his ownpersonality cult; portraits and statues of him were

built all over the country. The Republican Guard - the elite presidential

security force - was also formed in this period.



The Iran/Iraq War

Relations with Iran seriously deteriorated in the periodfollowing the Iranian Islamic revolution of 1979.

Cross-border incidents resulted in Iraq invading

Iran and in a full outbreak of war on 22 September 1980.

Massive losses were experienced by both sidesand in 1986 a stalemate was reached.

Iraq was supported by its Arab neighbors, particularlySaudi Arabia and Kuwait, and by the US, the SovietUnion and France.



The Iran/Iraq War

The Iran/Iraq war resulted in an estimated 400,000deaths (roughly 1/4 Iraqi and 3/4 Iranian), and

around 750,000 people were injured. Despite large foreign debts and damaged

infrastructure, the Iraqi regime was actuallystrengthened militarily by the war with Iran.

Military production had increased significantly, andthe army had also increased in size, to a total forceof around one million. This consolidated SaddamHussein's grip on power.



The Gulf War

By the late 1980s Iraq was experiencing aneconomic crisis, largely caused by misguided

economic reforms.$5 billion a year had been allocated to military re-

armament projects.

Inflation and the cost of living were rising

dramatically. Iraq's relations with its neighbors declined,

particularly when Saddam laid claim to the Rumaila

oilfield that ran from Iraq into northern Kuwait.



The Gulf War

On August 2, 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait. On August 8 Iraqannounced its annexation of Kuwait.

The UN Security Council quickly passed a series of resolutions condemning Iraq's actions.

Murders and abuses of Kuwaitis by Iraqi troops wereprevalent.

Iraq was backed politically by the PLO, and also, rather hesitantly, by Jordan.

Forces from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria, Morocco, Britain,France, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the US began gathering inSaudi Arabia. Iraq did not receive military support from anystate.



The Gulf War

The UN Security Council passedResolution 678, authorizing military force tobe used against Iraq, at the end of November 1990.On 17 January 1991, the allied forces

began their aerial bombardment of Iraq.

The Iraqi army surrendered in largenumbers on February 23 and 24.The US declared a cease-fire on February

28 1991 and the Gulf War was over.



Post-Gulf War

Immediately after the Gulf War, the UNbegan carrying out its program of

dismantling Iraq's weapons of massdestruction.

Weapons inspection teams were set up tomake regular visits to Iraq to see that it wascomplying with the terms of the UNceasefire resolutions.



Lecture Based on aSpecial Report by the

BBC NewsNovember 7, 1997

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