1. IAFS 1000Iraq and the Counterinsurgency Debate

2. Lecture Outline • Counterinsurgency • Feisal I of Iraq • Cairo Conference • British Withdrawal and Return • Independent Iraq

3. Counterinsurgency (COIN) • John Nagl (interview) • 2005: Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife • 2006: role in writing COIN Field Manual • Defying categorization: • Andrew Bacevich • Sarah Sewall

4. Andrew Bacevich on COIN • 2005: The New American Militarism • 2008: The Limits of Power • Force is “an exceedingly uncertain instrument”

5. Sarah Sewall on COIN • Member of Defense Policy Board • 2007: introduction to COIN FM reprint • Humanitarians must engage with military (see also Montgomery McFate)

6. Faisal I of Iraq (1883-1933) • Son of Sherif Hussein of Mecca • Early Arab nationalist • 1921-33: King of Iraq

7. Cairo Conference (1921) • Growing Arab unrest • British desire to reduce financial burden of empire, legitimize Middle East involvement • Kurdistan http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iraq/images/iraq-map-group1.gif

8. British Withdrawal • Faisal’s resistance • British domestic pressure to withdraw • 1932: Iraqi independence

9. . . . and Return • 1936 military coup (precedent) • 1938: Nuri al-Said to power • 1939: death of King Ghazi • 1941: pro-German coup, British invasion • 1948: British withdrawal

10. Republican Iraq • 1958: republican coup, Nuri killed • 1963: Baath party coup • 1979: Saddam Hussein to power

11. Iraq under Saddam Hussein • 1980-1988: Iran-Iraq war • 1990-1991: Iraqi invasion of Kuwait >>> Gulf War • 2003: US invasion of Iraq >>> insurgency

12. Lessons • Value of ambiguity, shades of gray