"CIA activities in Iraq The United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has had a long history of its involvement in Iraq. Although the CIA was not directly involved in the 1963 Ba'athist coup that ousted Abd al-Karim Qasim, it had been plotting to remove Qasim from mid-1962 until his overthrow, developing contacts with Iraqi opposition groups including the Ba'ath Party and planning to ""incapacitate"" a high-ranking member of Qasim's government with a poisoned handkerchief. After the 1968 Ba'athist coup appeared to draw Iraq into the Soviet sphere of influence, the CIA colluded with the government of Iran to destabilize Iraq"
"of ""The Washington Post"") or even ""helped arrange"" (according to Timothy Naftali, writing in ""Foreign Policy"") the February 1963 coup that overthrew Abd al-Karim Qasim and first brought the Ba'ath Party to power in Iraq. Qasim's expropriation of the concessionary holdings of the British- and American-owned Iraq Petroleum Company, as well as his threats to invade Kuwait, had caused many U.S. officials to regard his government as a threat to American interests in the Middle East. Chritchfield denied that the CIA had ""actively support[ed]"" the Ba'ath Party, but acknowledged that it was ""better informed on the 1963 coup in Baghdad"
"Abd al-Karim Qasim. On June 25, 1961, Qasim mobilized troops along the border between Iraq and Kuwait, declaring the latter nation ""an indivisible part of Iraq"" and causing a short-lived ""Kuwait Crisis"". The United Kingdom—which had just granted Kuwait independence on June 19, and whose economy was heavily dependent on Kuwaiti oil—responded on July 1 by dispatching 5,000 troops to the country to deter an Iraqi invasion. At the same time, Kennedy dispatched a U.S. Navy task force to Bahrain, and the U.K. (at the urging of the Kennedy administration) brought the dispute to United Nations Security Council, where the"
"by the Ba'athist coup of February 8, 1963. While there have been persistent rumours that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) orchestrated the coup, declassified documents and the testimony of former CIA officers indicate there was no direct American involvement, although the CIA was actively seeking to find a suitable replacement for Qasim within the Iraqi military and had been informed of an earlier Ba'athist coup plot by a high-ranking informant within the Party. Despite evidence that the CIA had been closely tracking the Ba'ath Party's coup planning since ""at least 1961,"" the CIA official working with Archie Roosevelt, Jr. on"
"the military regime, immediately declaring a state of siege and arresting more than 50,000 political opponents within the first month of seizing power, while the US government expressed approval and re-instituted aid and investment in the country. Several sources, notably Said Aburish, have alleged that the February 1963 coup that resulted in the formation of a Ba'athist government in Iraq was ""masterminded"" by the CIA. However, no declassified U.S. documents have verified this allegation. Tareq Y. Ismael, Jacqueline S. Ismael, and Glenn E. Perry state that ""Ba'thist forces and army officers overthrew Qasim on February 8, 1963, in collaboration with"
"with Egypt as part of the United Arab Republic. Qasim's removal took place on 8 February 1963, the fourteenth day of Ramadan. The coup was therefore called the 14 Ramadan Coup. The coup had been in its planning stages since 1962, and several attempts had been planned, only to be abandoned for fear of discovery. The coup had been initially planned for January 18, but was moved to 25 January, then 8 February after Qasim gained knowledge of the proposed attempt and arrested some of the plotters. The coup began in the early morning of 8 February 1963, when the"
"to work together against Qasim in January, the anti-imperialist and anti-communist Iraqi Ba'ath Party overthrew and executed Qasim in a violent coup on February 8, 1963. While there have been persistent rumors that the CIA orchestrated the coup, declassified documents and the testimony of former CIA officers indicate there was no direct American involvement, although the CIA was actively seeking to find a suitable replacement for Qasim within the Iraqi military and the U.S. had been notified of two aborted Ba'athist coup plots in July and December 1962. Despite evidence that the CIA had been closely tracking the Ba'ath Party's"
"coup planning since ""at least 1961,"" the CIA official working with Roosevelt to instigate a military coup against Qasim, and who later became the head of the CIA's operations in Iraq and Syria, has ""denied any involvement in the Ba'ath Party's actions,"" stating instead that the CIA's efforts against Qasim were still in the planning stages at the time. Qasim's former deputy Abdul Salam Arif (who was not a Ba'athist) was given the largely ceremonial title of President, while prominent Ba'athist general Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr was named Prime Minister. The most powerful leader of the new government was the secretary"
"the potential to ""get Iraq back on [a] more neutral keel."" In April 1962, the State Department issued new guidelines on Iraq that were intended to increase American influence there. Meanwhile, Kennedy instructed the CIA—under the direction of Archibald Bulloch Roosevelt Jr.—to begin making preparations for a military coup against Qasim. The anti-imperialist and anti-communist Iraqi Ba'ath Party overthrew and executed Qasim in a violent coup on February 8, 1963. While there have been persistent rumors that the CIA orchestrated the coup, declassified documents and the testimony of former CIA officers indicate that there was no direct American involvement, although"
"with the Ba'ath Party and overthrew the government of Abd al-Karim Qasim, who was killed by the organizers of the coup. In Syria a coalition of Arab nationalist officers, including Nasserists, Ba'athists and independents, toppled the secessionist government of Nazim al-Qudsi in 1963 and vowed to restore the union with Egypt in the United Arab Republic (1958–1961). In Saudi Arabia during the 1960s the Prince Talal invoked a similar idea, the Free Princes Movement, in an unsuccessful effort to overthrow his country's conservative monarchy. He was exiled to Egypt as a result and was given asylum by Nasser. Then Libyan"
"Qasim in February 1959, but the operation (which was led by a young Saddam Hussein) failed. Qasim was overthrown in the Ramadan Revolution led by young Ba'athist officer Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr, and rumoured to be supported by the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Declassified documents and the testimony of former CIA officers indicate there was no direct American involvement, although the CIA had been previously notified of an earlier Ba'athist coup plot in July 1962 by a high-ranking informant within the Party. The CIA official working with Archie Roosevelt, Jr. on a separate plan to instigate a military coup against"
"executed Qasim in a violent coup on February 8, 1963. While there have been persistent rumors that the CIA orchestrated the coup, declassified documents and the testimony of former CIA officers indicate there was no direct American involvement, although the CIA was actively seeking to find a suitable replacement for Qasim within the Iraqi military and the U.S. had been notified of two aborted Ba'athist coup plots in July and December 1962. Despite evidence that the CIA had been closely tracking the Ba'ath Party's coup planning since ""at least 1961,"" the CIA official working with Roosevelt to instigate a military"
"to mediate a truce between the coup leaders and the government, but was unable. After the coup attempt, he was sent to the Syrian embassy in Washington D.C. to serve as the military attache. The officers were imprisoned and brought to military trial, where Atassi was recalled to testify against them, but refused out of his sympathies with officers. Atassi was consequently arrested and jailed in Damascus's Mezzeh Prison. On 8 March 1963, a coalition of Arab nationalist officers organized by the Military Committee of the Ba'ath Party launched a military coup, toppling the secessionist government of Nazim al-Qudsi. The"
"November 1963 Iraqi coup d'état The November 1963 Iraqi coup d'état took place between November 13 and November 18, 1963 when, following internal party divisions, pro-Nasserist Iraqi officers led a military coup within the Ba'ath Party. Although the coup itself was bloodless, 250 people were killed in related action. After seizing Iraqi state power in February 1963, divisions between pro and anti-Nasser Ba'ath leaders, as well as between right and left pan-Arab nationalist Ba'ath leaders led to the first Ba'ath government in Iraq's collapse in November 1963, while 7,000 Iraqi communists remained imprisoned. Qasim's former deputy Abdul Salam Arif (who"
"17 July Revolution, he did not participate in any of those. Yet he played a major role in November 1963 Iraqi coup d'état when the army moved to clear the Bath party militia from Baghdad districts, and he played also a major role in foiling Fayda movement 1963 and Arif Abd ar-Razzaq second coup 1966 and was able to capture the former prime minister who led the coup in mosul airport . Between 1961 and 1970 and after, general Abd al-Karim Qasim and his officers succeeded in their 14 of July 1958 movement and the overthrow of the monarchy in"
"al-Naqib, the Iraqi military attaché in the U.S. who defected to the Ba'ath Party after Qasim ""upheld Mahdawi's death sentences"" against nationalists involved in the 1959 Mosul uprising. Furthermore, ""Weldon C. Mathews has meticulously established that National Guard leaders who participated in human rights abuses had been trained in the United States as part of a police program run by the International Cooperation Administration and Agency for International Development."" The Ba'athist government collapsed in November 1963 over the question of unification with Syria (where a rival branch of the Ba'ath Party had seized power in March) and the extremist and"
"Senior National Security Council adviser Robert Komer worried that if the IPC ceased production in response, Qasim might ""grab Kuwait"" (thus achieving a ""stranglehold"" on Middle Eastern oil production), or ""throw himself into Russian arms."" Komer also made note of widespread rumors that a nationalist coup against Qasim could be imminent, and had the potential to ""get Iraq back on [a] more neutral keel."" The anti-imperialist and anti-communist Iraqi Ba'ath Party overthrew and executed Qasim in a violent coup on February 8, 1963. While there have been persistent rumors that the CIA orchestrated the coup, declassified documents and the testimony"
"held territorial ambitions towards Kuwait. When the Iraqi leader Abd al-Karim Qasim was overthrown in a coup d'état on 8 February 1963, Moscow's relations with Baghdad deteroriated, leading to a warmer attitude towards Kuwait. This led to the two countries establishing diplomatic relations on 11 March 1963. Kuwait saw the establishment of relations as an insurance policy, of sorts, against new Iraqi territorial ambitions, and Russia saw the relationship as a bridge between the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean. In the years that followed, relations between the Soviet Union and Kuwait were not always cordial, which was exemplified by"
"the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and led on the ground by Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr. Declassified documents and the testimony of former CIA officers indicate there was no direct American involvement, although the CIA had been previously notified of an earlier Ba'athist coup plot in July 1962 by a high-ranking informant within the Party. The CIA official working with Archie Roosevelt, Jr. on a separate plan to instigate a military coup against Qasim, and who later became the head of the CIA's operations in Iraq and Syria ""from late 1968 to June 1970,"" has ""denied any involvement in the Ba'ath"
"Abd al-Karim al-Nahlawi Abd al-Karim al-Nahlawi () (born 1926) is a former Syrian military officer and head of the coup which ended the union of Syria and Egypt as the United Arab Republic on Sept. 28, 1961. Al-Nahlawi seized personal power in a second coup the following year, briefly ruling Syria before falling victim to another coup himself. After occupying several diplomatic posts, in Pakistan, Morocco and Turkey, he returned to Syria and attempted to seize power once again in a final and unsuccessful military coup attempt. Al-Nahlawi was a lieutenant colonel in the combined Syrian-Egyptian army when he headed"
"urging America's Arab allies to oppose a Soviet-sponsored diplomatic offensive accusing Iraq of genocide against its Kurdish minority at the United Nations (UN) General Assembly. It is also widely believed that the CIA provided the new government with lists of communists and other leftists, who were then arrested or killed by the Ba'ath Party's militia—the National Guard. This claim originated in a 27 September 1963 ""Al-Ahram"" interview with King Hussein of Jordan, who—seeking to dispel reports that he was on the CIA's payroll—declared: You tell me that American Intelligence was behind the 1957 events in Jordan. Permit me to tell"
"July 1955, but also by Egypt's nationalization of the Suez Canal the following year, resulting in an Anglo-French-Israeli attack on Egypt. This pro-Nasserist stance would eventually become a point of conflict after the 1958 revolution. In 1958, the party supported the revolution and the new government of Abd al-Karim Qasim, who relied to a considerable degree on its support. The relationship between the party and Qasim was very positive. Qasim was very pro communist, giving many ranks to communists and establishing good relations with the Soviet Union. The Ba'athist coup of 8 February 1963 was accompanied by street fighting as"
"of the Revolutionary Command (NCRC). Qasim was given a mock trial over Baghdad radio and then killed. His dead body was displayed on television by leaders of the coup soon after his death. While there have been persistent rumors that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) orchestrated the coup, declassified documents and the testimony of former CIA officers indicate there was no direct American involvement, although the U.S. had been notified of two aborted Ba'athist coup plots in July and December 1962 and its post-coup actions suggested that ""at best it condoned and at worst it contributed to the violence that"
"coup is controversial, but it is clear that US governmental officials, including at least one CIA officer, communicated with the coup organizer, Za'im, before the March 30 coup and were at least aware that it was being planned—and six weeks later on May 16, Za'im approved the pipeline. In 1953, under US President Dwight Eisenhower, the CIA helped Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran remove the democratically elected Prime Minister, Mohammed Mossadegh (although supporters of US policy claimed that Mossadegh had ended democracy through a rigged referendum). In 1954, the CIA launched Operation PBSUCCESS, which deposed the democratically elected Guatemalan"
"and 1960s, with the collapse of the monarchies of Iraq, Egypt, and Libya. Nasser inspired nationalists throughout the Middle East by fighting the British and the French during the Suez Crisis of 1956, modernizing Egypt, and uniting the Arab world politically. In 1958, a year after Saddam had joined the Ba'ath party, army officers led by General Abd al-Karim Qasim overthrew Faisal II of Iraq in the 14 July Revolution. Of the 16 members of Qasim's cabinet, 12 were Ba'ath Party members; however, the party turned against Qasim due to his refusal to join Gamal Abdel Nasser's United Arab Republic."
"the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) into contracts for the supply of U.S. weapons continued throughout 1968. Relations between the United States and Iraq became strained following the overthrow of the Iraqi monarchy on July 14, 1958, which resulted in the declaration of a republican government led by Brigadier Abd al-Karim Qasim. On June 25, 1961, Qasim mobilized troops along the border between Iraq and Kuwait, declaring the latter nation ""an indivisible part of Iraq"" and causing a short-lived ""Kuwait Crisis"". The United Kingdom—which had just granted Kuwait independence on June 19, and whose economy was heavily dependent on Kuwaiti oil—responded"
"assassinated in February 1963, when the Ba'ath Party took power under the leadership of General Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr (prime minister) and Colonel Abdul Salam Arif (president). In June 1963, Syria, which by then had also fallen under Ba'athist rule, took part in the Iraqi military campaign against the Kurds by providing aircraft, armoured vehicles and a force of 6,000 soldiers. Several months later, `Abd as-Salam Muhammad `Arif led a successful coup against the Ba'ath government. Arif declared a ceasefire in February 1964 which provoked a split among Kurdish urban radicals on one hand and Peshmerga (Freedom fighters) forces led by"
"also announced his withdrawal from the 17 April unity agreement. 1963 Syrian coup d'état The 1963 Syrian coup d'état, referred to by the Syrian government as the 8 March Revolution (), was the successful seizure of power in Syria by the military committee of the Syrian Regional Branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party. The planning and the unfolding conspiracy was inspired by the Iraqi Regional Branch's successful military coup. The coup was planned by the military committee, rather than the Ba'ath Party's civilian leadership, but Michel Aflaq, the leader of the party, consented to the conspiracy. The leading members"
"a coalition of moderate officers from Damascus who carried out a bloodless coup against Nasser and (more directly) his deputy 'Abd al-Hakim Amer, who was the Egyptian viceroy in Syria. The Syrian officers were to some degree operating at the behest of the Syrian middle and upper class who opposed Nasser's socialist policies and in particular land reform. Abd al-Karim al-Nahlawi Abd al-Karim al-Nahlawi () (born 1926) is a former Syrian military officer and head of the coup which ended the union of Syria and Egypt as the United Arab Republic on Sept. 28, 1961. Al-Nahlawi seized personal power in"
"a secretive grouping known as the Military Committee and officially, if only nominally, organized by the political party under Alfaq. On 7–8 March 1963 Ziad al-Hariri, an independent unionist officer, headed the coup by leading the takeover of Damascus, capturing several strategic points in the city. Meanwhile, Hatum led the unionists' capture of the city's radio station. It then broadcast that the National Council for the Revolutionary Command had replaced the secessionist government and that it was reinstating several discharged Ba'athist officers into the army, including all of those on the Military Committee, which at that time was made of"
"1963 Syrian coup d'état The 1963 Syrian coup d'état, referred to by the Syrian government as the 8 March Revolution (), was the successful seizure of power in Syria by the military committee of the Syrian Regional Branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party. The planning and the unfolding conspiracy was inspired by the Iraqi Regional Branch's successful military coup. The coup was planned by the military committee, rather than the Ba'ath Party's civilian leadership, but Michel Aflaq, the leader of the party, consented to the conspiracy. The leading members of the military committee throughout the planning process and in"
"and threats from Syria and Egypt. Richard Sale of ""United Press International,"" citing Adel Darwish and other experts, has reported that the October 1959 assassination attempt on Iraqi Prime Minister Abd al-Karim Qasim involving a young Saddam Hussein and other Ba'athist conspirators was a collaboration between the CIA and Egyptian intelligence. Bryan R. Gibson has challenged the veracity of Sale and Darwish, citing declassified documents that indicate the CIA was blindsided by the timing of the assassination attempt on Qasim and that the National Security Council ""had just reaffirmed [its] nonintervention policy"" six days before it occurred. Although the assassination"
"livestock were incinerated by the napalm bombs. The decision to supply napalm and other weapons to the Ba'athist was backed by American President Kennedy. Napalm bombs were also sold to Iraq by the United Kingdom. French Ambassador Bernard Dorin witnessed a girl in Iraqi Kurdistan whose face was burned off by the UK made bombs. After the failure of the Syrian political union with Egypt in 1961, Syria was declared an ""Arab Republic"" in the interim constitution. On 23 August 1962, the government conducted a special population census only for the province of ""Jazira"" which was predominantly Kurdish. As a"