Iraq Before 2003: Saddams Rule

Sunni Community in Iraq

After the Ottoman period, the question was who are Iraqis?

Arab nationalism, Iraq nationalism did not work because there are several ethnicities.

Population (1932):

21% Sunni Arab speakers

14% mostly Sunni Kurdish speakers

53% Shia Arab speakers

5% non-Muslim Arab speakers (mostly Baghdad Jews)

6% other religious-linguistic groups (Sunni Turkmen of Northern Iraq, various Assyrian-speaking Christian sects)

Sunni Community in Iraq

The absence of political (civil) organisations led to ethnic politics from the very beginning

1946 - Kurdish Democratic Party

1975 - Patriotic Union of Kurdistan

1957 - Islamic Dawa Party

1995 - Iraqi Turkmen Front

Sunni Community in Iraq

1936:

61 high officers - 59 Sunni Arabs

During the monarchy:

15% Kurds in the higher ranks and 25% in the lower ranks

1958-68:

2% Kurds in the higher ranks and 13% in the lower ranks

The Baath Party:

Shia among the members of the Central Command

19521963 - 54%

19631970 - 6%

Sunni Community in Iraq

Saddam s Rule(1979-2003)

July 1979 - Saddam Husain becomes president

November 1979- Mesud Barzani was elected KDP chairman - call for continuing armed struggle inside Iraq

April 1980 - over 40,000 Shia expelled to Iran

September 1980 - Iraq invades Iran and Iran-Iraq War begins

Saddam s Rule February 1988 - al-Anfal Campaign begins

July 1988 - Iran-Iraq War ends

August 1990 - Iraq invades Kuwait, UN imposes total embargo on Iraq

January 1991 - Desert Storm begins

February 1991 - liberation of Kuwait

March 1991 - al-Intifada uprisings in in North by Kurds and in South by Shia

October 1991 - Iraqi forces blockade Kurdistan

May-August 1994 - fighting between KDP and PUK

August 1996 - KDP invites Iraqi forces to Kurdistan in order to help them capture Erbil from PUK

December 1996 - Iraqi oil flows pipelines from Turkey, Iraq returns to world oil market

March 2003 - Operation Iraq Freedom is launched

Saddam s Rule

1990s - TribalismYaphe (2000):

A tribe is a self-contained and autonomous organisation having social, economic, cultural, protective and political functions.

Unlike other Arab societies, Iraqi tribes were more loyal to family, clan and tribe rather than the land and village.

During the Ottoman rule, tribes in Iraq were mobile mini-states, headed by a patriarch, with their own military force and codes of justice and retribution.

Tribal chiefs as tax farmers and agents of the state (also during the British Mandate)

1990s - Tribalism Saddams tribe (the Bayjat) to sensitive security units: the Republican

Guards, the Special Republican Guards, the bodyguard units, intelligence and security units in the military and the party, the Baghdad Garrison

His half-brother Barzan: Intelligence Minister (a position later held by his other half-brothers Sibawi and Watban)

His cousins Adnan Khayrallah Talfah and Ali Hassan al-Majid: both as Defence Minister

His second son, Qusay: controlled the intelligence and security forces, including the Special Republican Guards

In 1976, the government ordered Iraqis to drop their tribal family names (e.g. at-Tikriti, al-Mosuli, ad-Duri)

1990s - Tribalism War and sanctions in 1980s weakened the economy

and tribalism grew.

After the Gulf War:

allowing tribal law to prevail in many areas

giving guns, cars and privileges

29 March 1991: a major delegation of tribal chiefs vowed a covenant (ahd) to support and obey Saddam who now became shaykh mashayikh or chief of chiefs.

1990s - Tribalism The manufacture of new tribal groups based on economic ties

Led by educated, middle-class professionals and civil servants (chieftains made in Taiwan) were permitted to manufacture an entity from non-leading families in order to gain power and wealth.

May 1996: High Council of Tribal Chiefs (Sheikhs) with direct access to the president

ensure security and stability in their districts, settle disputes, collect taxes and penalties

in return, receive light arms, electronic communication devices, vehicles, tracts of land, diplomatic passports, exemption from in military service etc.

Conclusion Iraq was a highly divided society before 2003.

Kurds and Shia (and other minorities) were systematically excluded from the administration.

Saddam Hussein regulated the conflict among the communities by:

repressing them with several methods (including chemical weapons) on several occasions

creating a network of patronage among certain families and clans who in return maintain the sustainment of the regime