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Iraq’s political players

Iraq’s political players. The Case of Iraq. Map of Iraq. Background on Iraq: Four Points To Remember. Iraq did not exist as a state prior to 1921. Created from 3 Ottoman provinces of Mosul, Baghdad, & Basra Diverse Population Religious divisions: Sunnis, Shiites (& Christians)

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Iraq’s political players

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  1. Iraq’s political players The Case of Iraq

  2. Map of Iraq

  3. Background on Iraq:Four Points To Remember • Iraq did not exist as a state prior to 1921. • Created from 3 Ottoman provinces of Mosul, Baghdad, & Basra • Diverse Population • Religious divisions: Sunnis, Shiites (& Christians) • Ethno-linguistic divisions: Arabs, Kurds • Population: 60% Shiite Arab; 15% Sunni Arab; 20 % Kurd (mostly Sunnis) • Urban-Rural divisions • British invasion and colonial administration • Nov 1914 British invasion • Imported monarchy • 1921 Faisal from Arabia becomes king. Iraq gains formal independence in 1932.

  4. Centralizing State vs Established social elites: Iraq as a British-allied constitutional monarchy, 1921-1936 Iraqi Politics, Phase 1

  5. Faisal I, 1st king of Iraq Photos from Iraqipages.com

  6. Formal Institutions of the State • King (a new institution) • Supreme head of state • Could open & dissolve Parliament • Confirms laws • Selects PM • Could grant pardons, issue special ordinances • Parliament • Shares legislative power with the king • Appointed Senate & elected chamber of deputies

  7. Monarchy Infighting = ineffective PM & Parliament Tribal chiefs Re-empowered by Britain Britain Retained military bases, control of Iraqi foreign policy, control over Iraq’s finances, advisors How did the British retain control? Divide and rule: country vs town; tribe vs king; tribe vs tribe Military force (especially air power) “If the writ of King Faisal runs effectively throughout his kingdom it is entirely due to British aeroplanes. If the aeroplanes were removed tomorrow, the whole structure would invariably fall to pieces.” - British Secretary of State report on Iraq, 1925 How politics really worked: actual power

  8. Survival Gradual eradication of British influence in Iraq Creation of a national state Creation of national army Conscription Mass education Faisal’s goals….

  9. And challengers… • British (wanted to maintain power) • Kurds (opposed Arab nationalism) • Shiite Arabs (opposed educational reforms & exclusion from government) • Tribal leaders (opposed efforts to redistribute land and erode their power base) • The “masses” (opposed conscription, etc.) • In 1930s, at least 80 percent of Iraq’s population was rural

  10. Effects of British colonialism on Iraqi political structures? • Perpetuation of Sunni Arab political dominance • Re-empowerment of the tribes in rural areas • Reinforced major schisms in Iraqi society

  11. Major players in Iraqi Politics,1921-1936

  12. Results: Catch 22s • Fledgling sense of Iraqi national identity but “two Iraqs” and no real independence • King wants independence but relies on British to maintain power • British support undermines state legitimacy but necessary for maintaining power • Centralization of power in Baghdad but British support for tribes • to create mass support, land reform needed, but narrow base of state support requires some aid from tribal leaders

  13. Iraqi Politics, Phase II: The rise of the military & the creation of the Iraqi Republic (1936-1968)

  14. Iraqi Politics, Phase II • Divisions within the state • The fading monarchy • Revolving Prime Ministry • The Rise of the Army • Seven military coups 1936-1941 • Expansion of political elites: • The Iraqi Communist Party (1935) • Only Iraqi political party with real grassroots organization • The Baath (Resurrection) Party (1952) • ‘Unity, Freedom, Socialism” • Arab nationalist, secular, Arab socialist, anti-imperialist, populist, revolutionary (not reformist) • Militarism & Political Violence • British occupy Iraq 1941 • Increasing authoritarianism • Pan-Arabism vs the monarchy

  15. 1958 Revolution • Violent overthrow of the monarchy • Creation of the Republic of Iraq • Ceremonial president • Qasim as PM, commander in chief, minister of defense • Reform & Dictatorship under President Abd al-Karim Qasim • Purging of western advisors, efforts to solve Kurdish problem, land reform, public welfare projects • Centralization of authority Abd al Karim Qasim, President of Iraq, 1958-1963 • 1963 military coup (Baath & Army) • Qasim killed

  16. Results: • Violence becomes entrenched part of Iraqi political culture • Army influence over politics prevents civilian access, impedes societal coalition building • Between 1958 and 1968 more than 10 coups and attempted coups, two armed rebellions, semi-continuous civil war against Kurds. • 25-35% of all cabinet posts held by military men • Three presidents, most PMs, and almost all ministers of interior and defense were ex-military men • Newly independent foreign policy • Some land reforms & sporadic inclusion of Shiites & Kurds into the political process

  17. Major Players in Iraqi Politics, 1936-1968

  18. Phase IIISTATE OVER SOCIETY Iraq as a One Party State: The Baath Party and the Authoritarian Rule of Saddam Hussein, 1968-2003

  19. Two coups: 1963 and 1968 • 1963: Baath Party + Military (Arif) • Baath forced out of the new govt after the coup • 1968: Baath Party coup • Reasons for coups: • pan-Arabism vs Iraqi nationalism • Patronage • Those who dominate the state dominate access to resources • Military seeks to maintain control over political process • Lack of leadership linked to preoccupation with managing the dispersal of the state’s resources

  20. The rise and rule of Saddam Hussein • Biography: • DOB: 04/28/37 in Tikrit, 100 m. north of Baghdad • Peasant family with influential army relatives • most prominent: Uncle Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr; a leader of the 1963 coup and later PM. • Tribal society: al-Bejat clan, Albu Nasir Tribe • high school in Baghdad; joined Baath Party when 20, aided in failed assassination of Qasim in Oct. 1959.   Saddam Hussein’s identity card, when he was 10 years old. Photo: PBS Frontline website

  21. After 1963 coup becomes vice chair of the RCC (main decisionmaking body for the Baath regime). Also in charge of the security services. • Becomes president in 1979 when al-Bakr was persuaded to step down. Above left, SH in Cairo after failed ’59 coup; above, SH at 17.

  22. Points to note about S. Hussein: • Ruled through fear as well as charm and brilliant tactical maneuvering. •  Was able to seize 4 main centers of power in Iraq- army, party, tribe, security services •  His rise highlights the paradox of Iraq politics: on the one hand, a huge and elaborate bureaucracy. On the other, real power centered on select few linked to SH through bonds of kinship or a history of personal trust.

  23. Single-Party Oligarchy: Baath consolidation of power, ’68-’79

  24. Regime consolidation within the state • a. internal purging, sentencing and public executions of any suspected political dissidents. • Between 1968-1970, 86 “official” executions. • Saddam Hussein and the “Night of Long Knives” (July 1979). • Purging of Rev. Command Council of all possible challengers to SH. A quarter of the RCC’s membership (five out of 20) were tortured and murdered along with another 16 Baath leaders. Around 500 senior party members killed. • Army brought under Baath control  • new elevation of particular social groups • Tribes, Tikritis

  25. Regime consolidation within society • a.Penetration of the Baath Party into all parts of social and political life- women’s groups, labor unions, student federations.   • b. Substantial economic and political reforms in the 1970s • 1972 nationalization of the Iraqi Petroleum Company (consortium of several foreign-owned companies) VERY popular and soon began bringing the new regime significant new funds.

  26. Resistance • Kurds – open war 1970-1975, with backing of Iran • Shiites- formation of secret, clerically led groups • antigovernment demonstrations in the late 1970s; arrest and execution of prominent Shiite leaders

  27. Autocracy How Saddam Hussein & the Baath maintained power, 1968-1991

  28. 1. Oil • Nationalization of the Iraq Petroleum Company in 1972 + OPEC oil embargo and hike in prices in 1973 = skyrocketing oil revenues for Baath use • 1968 oil revenues: $476 million; 1980- $26 billion • In 1979 Iraq’s oil production second only to Saudi Arabia’s in oil-producing states of the Persian Gulf.

  29. reduction of taxes Subsidies for basic food Free, high quality health care No university tuition fees Improvements in status of women (In ’82 more than 30 % univ. students were female) Extensive literacy campaigns new highway systems & better infrastructure Subsidies of ordinary consumption items Land ownerships & no taxes for many Shiite peasants living in the south Extensive reforms in the countryside; new land distributed to farmers between 1970 and 1982 264,400 farmers received grants of land. (How SH maintained power): 2. Social welfare

  30. Saddam Hussein visiting homes, 1980s

  31. (How SH maintained power)3. Fear & terror • Wholesale political repression and persecution of all potential dissidents • Imprisonment, extrajudicial executions • Death sentences including for non-violent offenses, in 1998 and 1999 hundreds of prisoners summarily executed in a “jail cleaning” program • Public hangings and public executions. •  Creation of multiple, alternative sets of internal security organizations • State internal security, military intelligence, party intelligence • Massive surveillance and informant system •  Forced internal migration to resettle restive areas (especially Kurds and Shiite Marsh Arabs)

  32. (How SH maintained power)4. Cult of Personality

  33. 1989 Victory Arch Baath propaganda clip on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkQXAxjlc8o&feature=related

  34. (How SH maintained power)5. War • Iran-Iraq War 1980-1989 • longest conventional war of the 20th century • Cost: 100-000 200,000 Iraqis dead, 400,000 wounded, 70,000 prisoners. $25 billion debt to Saudis, $10 billion to Kuwait; $40 billion to the US, Europe and rest of the world. • Results: • solidified sentiments of Iraqi national identity among the bulk of the population. • Because of concern over Shiite loyalty SH brought greater numbers of Shiites into the regime as well as repressing any political activity. • Islamicization of the regime

  35. (More results of Iran-Iraq War) • armed forces grew from 190,000 to over 1 million; Republican Guard grows from 1 to 37 brigades. • Iraq becomes major regional military power • Militarization of society as armed forces became most important part of the state. • Gulf War (1990-1991) • After war, SH considerably weaker, forced to rely more on tribes to maintain authority • UN sanctions also help him maintain power

  36. Major Players in Iraqi politics, 1968-1991/2003

  37. Common themes?Who has been in and who has been out? How have those that maintained power done it?

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