Democracy Destroyed: Stories of American Sponsored Coups - Iraq

posted on: Oct 8, 2020

By: Noah Robertson/Arab America Contributing Writer

Iraq under King Faisal II was the perfect situation for the U.S.: He was amenable to their wishes and was willing to support them in their attempted coups in Syria, also forming the Baghdad Pact with them. Unfortunately for Iraq, as soon as American interests were threatened with a coup in 1958, the US decided to mimic their actions in Iran and Syria and work to install a pro-American government through covert operations.

This is the story of the CIA’s support for coups and death in Iraq, and how they paved the road to power for Saddam Hussein.

14 July Revolution: The First of the Iraq Coups

Our story begins with a simple, but critical, mistake leading to the first in a series of Iraqi coups between 1958 and 1968. As ­­­­­Gamal Nasser’s power grew through the United Arab Republic, the U.S. urged Iraq to push back against him. The British did not support this and asked the Iraqis and Prime Minister Nuri Sa’id to not confront Nasser.

This British resistance eventually broke in 1958 as the UAR increased pressure on Lebanon and Jordan and Sa’id ordered troops to the Syrian border. In doing so, he ignored protocol, issued ammunition to troops, and allowed them to pass through Baghdad. Brigadier Abd al-Karim al-Qassim and Colonel Abd al-Salam al-Arif had been waiting for this opportunity and quickly overthrew the government executing the royal family.

British and American Reactions

Initially, the rebel troops targeted Western citizens and buildings, but Qassim quickly realized he needed Western support; he ended the rioting and ensured British oil rights. London was happy with Qassim’s government and oil revenues, plus, his anti-Nasser beliefs meant they supported his regime and expected their American allies to do the same.

In America, the situation was not so calm. With Cold War tensions high, the public and Congress were pushing hard for American intelligence to do something about Qassim and his perceived relationships with the CPI (Communist Party of Iraq) and Nasser who was courting the Soviets. Under this pressure, Allen Dulles’s CIA began issuing more reports about a “dire situation” in Iraq. In reality, the general consensus in Washington was that Qassim was not a Communist, but relied too heavily on the CPI and could not “stem the movement toward a Communist takeover.”

America’s Shifting Beliefs Between Iraq Coups

Initially, the Eisenhower administration was convinced Nasser was behind the 1958 coup, but as Qassim cracked down on pro-Nasserists they realized they had been wrong. At this point Nasser became disillusioned with the Soviets due to their support of anti-Nasser Iraq, leading Washington to determine he was no longer a threat. By the end of 1958 Nasser offered “a scarcely-veiled invitation to collaborate on Iraq” and Washington happily supported him. On March 6, 1959, a planned Communist rally in Mosul led to pro-Nasser elements, supported by Washington, launching a coup. It was premature and failed.

As a result, Qassim allowed Communists to run freely in the streets killing perceived and real enemies and began to seem more open to a growing Communist influence. Despite this, Eisenhower rejected any actions because he knew they would only stoke more anti-U.S. sentiment. Despite American intelligence fears, Eisenhower’s patience was rewarded when Qassim severely curtailed Communist influence. At this point, the U.S. was supposedly happy to sit back like the British and see what happened. Recent evidence has shown this was not entirely true and the CIA likely put Ba’athists such as Saddam Hussein on their payroll as early as 1959 before he and others attempted to assassinate Qassim. Saddam fled Iraq after this attempt, but it had already gained him notoriety and during his exile U.S. intelligence officers provided him with training and funding.

The 1963 Iraq Coup: The Second of the Iraq Coups

To distract from problems in the country, and due to increasing paranoia, Qassim began to make anti-imperialist threats. Then, in late June 1961, Qassim moved troops and tanks to the Iraqi-Kuwait border, which proved to be a fatal mistake. The Kuwait royal family immediately reached out to the British and they quickly deployed forces. Arab League troops soon replaced the British and Iraq backed down.

At this point, the U.S. saw a chance to encourage growing dissent in Iraq and ensure Communists were purged from the country with no chance of a future resurgence. By now, Iraqi nationalists, Nasserists, and Ba’athists all wanted Qassim gone, so on February 8, 1963, they rose up killing Qassim and taking power.

Initially, the CIA involvement was hidden, but since then James Critchfield, who helped organize the 1963 coup, said it was the CIA’s favorite coup:

“We regarded it as a great victory,” and “we had really crossed the Ts on what was happening.”

“We came to power on a CIA train,” said Ali Saleh Sa’adi, the Minister of the Interior of the new regime. The CIA reportedly helped coordinate the entire effort from their station in Baghdad by using a radio station in Kuwait to communicate with rebels.

Not only was this coup coordinated by the CIA, but it has recently been alleged that they provided death-lists of suspected Communists. These lists were reportedly gathered from Iraqi dissidents in exile as well as others around the Arab World including Saddam in Egypt.

These lists led to the deaths of “no fewer than 5,000 ‘citizens’;” not all deaths were on the lists, but they incited the new regime to go door to door finding Communists – both real and suspected. As well as the killing, tens of thousands were arrested and tortured. Many have said Saddam was involved in much of the killing and torture when he returned from exile.

The Rise of the Ba’ath Party and Saddam Hussein

Despite heavy Ba’ath involvement in the 1963 coup, Salam Arif took control of the country and swiftly suppressed Ba’athist influence. When he died, Abd al-Rahman Arif took power, but did not gain much legitimacy and was a weak leader. During this period Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr and Saddam worked to reorganize and strengthen the Ba’ath party, and eventually, on July 17, 1968 al-Bakr led a bloodless coup to overthrow Rahman Arif.

The new regime quickly created the Revolutionary Command Council and elected al-Bakr to lead it. As al-Bakr grew older, Saddam gained influence and swiftly removed Prime Minister Abd al-Razzaq al-Naif, a non-Ba’athist. In the role of Vice President, Saddam effectively controlled the country and filled the government with loyalists. This quick rise of the Ba’ath party was again rumored to be supported by America. A member of the National Security Council under Nixon purportedly heard CIA officers often talking about close relations with Iraqi Ba’thists.

Saddam Hussein’s Brutal Regime

In 1979 al-Bakr stepped down – officially because of illness, but many say Saddam forced him out – and Saddam officially took power, quickly arresting 68 top officials and killing 21 of them. He then proceeded to continue his purge of supposedly non-loyal officials with hundreds executed in a few weeks’ time. All of Saddam’s actions since his CIA backed assassination attempt in 1959, had been leading up to this point. Finally, with official control of Iraq, he forged the iron and brutal grip on power many know today. It is also worth noting that Washington initially supported his regime and provided him weapons and advisors.

From this point, most of the world knows of Saddam’s oppressive crackdowns, human rights violations, and his multiple wars culminating with the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. On December 10, 2003, he was captured and later sentenced to death on November 5, 2006. This ended the brutal rule of the man whose road to power was paved by the CIA.

The Repercussions

While this history is abbreviated, it shows the main points of U.S. involvement and how they played a large role in Saddam’s rise along with the Iraqi Ba’ath party. Not only that, but one of their “most successful coups” resulted in 5,000+ dead and many more imprisoned and tortured as well as providing no chance for democracy for many years.

Finally, when America tried to correct the ripple effects of its coup and support of Saddam, they caused even more problems and losses of lives during the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. Overall, it cannot be determined exactly what American interference in Iraq did in the long run, but their efforts surely led to a massive loss of lives and contributed to Saddam’s rise to a brutal dictatorship.

This is a history few Americans know, and still, many only see Iraq as the poor and backward country we saved from Saddam Hussein. As we work to help Iraq rebuild and move towards a democratic society, this history must be acknowledged and addressed before many Iraqi citizens will trust America again.

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