team+4+Iraq



Iraq **__ Introduction __**

Iraq is a country in Western Asia in a region known as Mesopotamia. It borders Iran in the east, Kuwait in the south, Saudi Arabia in the southwest, Jordan in the west, Syria in the northwest, and Turkey in the north. Two major rivers, the Euphrates River and the Tigris River, run through the center of Iraq from northwest to southeast. Iraq has access to the northern Persian Gulf.

The population consists of Iraqi Arab s as the majority, followed by Kurds, Assyrians, and Turkmen. The people of Iraq are predominantly Muslim of which Shi'a represents the majority and Sunni represents the minority.

(Jon Benton)

=** 1918-1932 ** = =**__ The New State of Iraq __** = = =

Before WWI, the region was made up of three Ottoman provinces of Basra, Baghdad, and Mosul. As war broke out between the British and the Ottoman in 1914, the British seized control of Basra. By 1918, the British had taken control of Basra, Baghdad, and Mosul. The British consolidated Basra and Baghdad in 1920 and Mosul in 1926 into the State of Iraq under the League of Nations Mandate.

The goal of the British Mandate was to set up an independent, self-governing nation-state. The British gave the throne of Iraq to Amir Faisal in 1921, thereby imposing a Hashemite monarchy on Iraq. The rule of this monarchy was limited by the British authorities. The Kurds and Shi’ites opposed the actions of the British and fought for their independence.

 

(Jon Benton) =** 1932-1958 ** = =**__ Kingdom of Iraq __** = In 1932, Britain under the pressure of King Faisal granted Iraq its independence, and a new parliament was formed. King Faisal ruled up to his death in 1933. Faisal was succeeded by his son Ghazi who lacked interest in politics and hence served as the figurehead of the Kingdom of Iraq (Tripp, 2007). In 1939, King Ghazi died and was succeeded by his 3 year old son Faisal II. Since King Faisal was underage, Prince ‘Abd al-Ilah was appointed regent.

**Political Instability** The Kingdom of Iraq marked a time of political instability in which Iraq worked to establish its identity (Tripp, 2007). There was tension between nationalists and imperialists. Britain retained its presence in Iraq despite the opposition of Arab Nationalist and Iraqi Nationalists. This caused political tension splitting politicians between pro- and anti-British. Nur al-Sa’id was a major decision-maker in the newly independent Iraqi government and was a pro-British politician (Tripp, 2007).

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Sunni-domination of the Iraqi government was also a source of political instability among the variety of religious and ethnic groups in Iraq’s territory. There were a number of Shi’ite, Assyrian, and Kurdish uprisings against the Sunni-dominated government which were suppressed by the Iraqi military through a series of brutal massacres.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">From 1936-1941, five coups were staged by Iraqi military leaders to pressure the government to give in to the armies demands. The one of the most notable coups were the coup d’etat of 1941 during the British military occupation in WWII. The coup overthrew pro-British prime minister Nur al-Sa’id replacing him with anti-British Rashid Ali al-Gaylani. Under Rashid, Iraq restricted Britain’s rights. Britain intervened and ended the coup. Nur al-Sa’id returned to his position as prime minister where he remained until 1958 when the Hashemite monarchy was overthrown.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">(Jon Benton)

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">__Works Cited__ (Jon Benton)

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">King Faisal I of Iraq. 2011. Posters for you. http://posters-for-you.com/index.php?do=cat&category=political

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Map of Iraq. 2011. Lonely Planet. http://www.lonelyplanet.com/maps/middle-east/iraq/

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Sluglett, Peter. "The Making of Iraq, 1900-1963: Capital, Power, and Ideology." //The American Historical Review// 103.4 (1998): 1289,1289-1290. //ProQuest Research Library.// Web. 24 Oct. 2011.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Tripp, Charles. A History of Iraq. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007. 30-142. Print.

=__July 14, 1958 Revolution__= __(Juan Meza)__ After WWII, was when alot of the tension rose and sparked the movement of uprising against the Iraqi government. The slowing down of an economy especially leading into a depression, made people from the state of Iraq grow tired. Iraq's ties with Great Britain did not help their cause when it came to invading or Arab countries. A group called the Free Officers, a secret military group led by General Abd al-Karim Qasim, overthrew the monarchy. Most of the Free officers were Sunni Arabs that came from a modern middle class. The Free Officers sought Nasser’s support and the assistance of the UAR, because they feared the members of the Baghdad Pact would subsequently overthrow the Free Officers as a reaction to the Coup. Nasser only offered moral support, whose material significance remained vague and so Egypt had no practical role in the Iraqi revolution. The day of the revolution Qasim and Asif overthrew the monarchy executing everyone from the royal family.

After the overthrown monarchy, a lot of fighting for the presidency kept going on. Qasim had promised Mustafa Barzani regional autonomy in which he started to go against his word. Qasim started to go push against the upheavals from Barzani since he had been betrayed by Qasim. Barzani forces thoroughly defeated the Iraqi Army at the Battle of Mount Handrin, near Rawanduz. At this battle, it was said that the Kurds slaughtered an entire brigade. A peace plan was announced in March 1970 and the plan also gave Kurds representation in government bodies, to be implemented in four years. On October 6, 1973, the Jewish holy day Yom Kippur, an assault on Israel was launched. Egyptian forces went east across the Suez Canal and pushed the Israelis back and the Syrians came from the north. Iraqi forces joined the war and, in addition, Syria received some support from Jordan, Libya, and the smaller Arab states. By October 25 Israel and Egypt signed a cease-fire agreement in November, but Israeli-Syrian fighting continued until a cease-fire was negotiated in 1974. As a result Israel withdrew back across the Suez Canal and several miles inland from the east bank behind a UN-supervised cease-fire zone. On the Syrian front too, Israeli territorial gains made in the war were given up.War brought about a major shift of power in the Middle East and ultimately led to the signing of the Camp David accords.

=__AL-Bakr's Resigns__=

Al-Bakr became the leader of the Ba'ath party and Iraqi pan-Arabism.He nationalized the Iraq Petroleum Company and compensated all foreign oil companies operating within its borders.The country increased in oil revenues starting in late 1973 when international petroleum prices began to rise. Conflicts intensified between the government and the Kurds. In early 1974, fighting erupted in northern Iraq between government forces and Kurdish nationalists.After Iraq agreed in early 1975 to make major concessions to Iran in settling their border disputes, Iran halted aid to the Kurds, and the revolt was dealt a severe blow. Al-Bakr had appointed Saddam Hussein, as Vice President. In 1976, Saddam became general in the Ba'th party's. Saddam took aprominent role as the face of the government both internally and externally since Al-Bakr couldn't keep up with his duties. On July 16, 1979, Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr stepped down due to health problems and Hussein formally took his part. It was said that Saddam forced the resignition and had several top members of the Ba'ath party arrested and killed.

Works Cited http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/14_July_Revolution http://www.angelfire.com/nt/Gilgamesh/58.html http://www.infoplease.com/spot/iraqtimeline1.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraqi_Kurdistan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Hassan_al-Bakr

(Juan Meza) =__Sadam Hussein’s Rise to Power__= In 1979 on July 16th, Ahmed Hasan Al-Bakr, the president of Iraq and close friend of Saddam Hussein, resigned from his position. Under the leadership of Saddam Hussein, the Ba’ath party again took control of the country. Hussein solidified this transfer of power by killing and arresting all of his political rivals. This change in regime heralded fear and abuse of the Iraqi people by Hussein and his government and was the beginning of twenty four years of an abusive dictatorial regime.

(Brandyn Hockstra) =__The Iran-Iraq War__= In the same year of Hussein’s overthrow of Iraq’s government, the Iranian Revolution occurred. This resulted in a Shi’ite theocracy in Iran and was a threat to Hussein’s regime due to his largely Sunni organization governing over a majority Shi’ite population in Iraq. This threat combined with Iraqi ambitions to become the leading Persian Gulf State. After a surprise attack by Iraq, the Iraqi military had a fairly successful offensive into Iranian territory. This offensive however, while being initially successful, took a turn in favor of Iran and most territory gained by Iraqi forces was regained by Iranian forces by 1982. What followed was a brutal stalemate that lasted six years.

(Brandyn Hockstra) =__United Nations Security Council Resolution 598__= The UN Security Council Resolution 598 was implemented on July 20th, 1987. This led to a true ceasefire between Iraq and Iran and this ceasefire was to be verified by United Nations inspectors. This resolution was the official stopping point between large scale military hostilities between Iraq and Iran.

(Brandyn Hockstra) =__First Gulf War__= Iraq was soon enveloped in another armed conflict starting on August 2nd, 1990. This was when Iraq invaded an unprepared Kuwait. By the end of the first day Kuwait was defeated or retreating. This vaguely explained assault of Kuwait, often stated to be retaliation for Kuwait slant drilling, or stealing Iraqi petroleum, was met with fierce disapproval by the international community. This disapproval culminated in a United States led force including the United Kingdom and Egypt as major military contributors. These allied forces started their assault on Iraqi forces in Kuwait in mid January and had liberated Kuwait by February 25th. In the aftermath of this war, an uprising arose in Iraq. This rebellion was harshly put down by Hussein and it is estimated that over 100,000 people were killed.

(Brandyn Hockstra) =__United States Invasion (Iraq War)__= = On March 20th, 2003 the United States invaded Iraq on the premise that Iraq had failed to stop its Nuclear and Chemical weapons programs as was demanded by the United Nations. The United States planned to find and dismantle these weapons along with capturing and removing Saddam Hussein from power. This invasion by 150,000 United States troops led to a gradual loss of power from Saddam Hussein's regime and his eventual capture. Another result of this invasion was increased attacks by Shi'ite and Sunni militants and terrorists associated with Al-Queda. = (Brandyn Hockstra)

(Works Cited) __[]__ __[]__ __[]__–Iraq_War http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq#Republic_of_Iraq http://usliberals.about.com/od/homelandsecurit1/a/IraqNumbers.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Security_Council_Resolution_598 http://www.parstimes.com/history/un_598.html http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/lcwa/html/iraq/iraq-overview.html (Brandyn Hockstra)

=<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">**2003-Present** = =<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">**//__Fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime__//** = = = <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> Statue of Saddam Hussein being toppled over in Baghdad’s Firdos Square in April 9, 2003

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">“On May 4, 2003, President Bush declared the “end of major combat operations” in Iraq”. Bush was on a USS Abraham Lincoln ship with a large banner behind him displaying “Mission Accomplished”. The removal of Saddam Hussein regime was portrayed by the American media as ecstatic among the Iraqi populace. Jonothan Foreman, a New York correspondent was reporting from Baghdad in May 2003, wrote that there was a wide spread of stealing, but it was directed more towards the former government buildings and remnants of the Saddam Hussein regime.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">**//Insurgency begins//** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The US military is focused on hunting down the remaining leaders of the former regime. Over 200 top leaders were killed or capture. Even after the Ba’ath party organization fell apart, the police and army began to form guerilla units, but in some cases, many had gone home instead of fighting the invading forces. In the fall those units called themselves the Jihadists, who then began to use suicide bombings and targeting coalition forces and check points among other things. In November they attacked a US rotary aircraft with a missile that was bought in the black market.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Saddam Hussein was captured alive by US troops in Tikrit, Hussein's hometown in December 13, 2003 <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">(Vanessa Morales)

**//__Prior to Execution__//**
Saddam Hussein wrote a letter before he was going to be executed. He wrote a letter to the Iraqi people telling them that they should not hate the people of countries that invaded Iraq, like the U.S. He also wrote that he was ready to die a Martyr.



__//**Execution**//__
Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death by hanging on November 5, 2006. He was found guilty and convicted of crimes against humanity by the Iraqi Special Tribunal for the murder of 148 Shi'ite in 1982. Saddam Hussein was President of Iraq from July 16, 1979 until April 9, 2003. After he was captured in 2003, he was incarcerated at Camp Cropper. The Iraqi released an official video tape of his execution, but it did not show Saddam being hung, the video only showed him after the hangman's noose was around his neck. But one of the guards used a cell phone to record Saddam being hung, the video shows him falling through the trap door of the gallows. There were no U.S representatives present at the time of the execution. On December 5, 2006, Saddam Hussein's body was returned to his birthplace of Al-Awja, near Tikrit, and he was buried near the graves of other family members. (Vanessa Morales) =**//__Outbreak of Sandfly fever in Central Iraq, September 2007__//**=

An outbreak of illnesses occurred among the U.S Army in September 2007 in Baghdad, Iraq. Soldiers showed signs of flu-like symptoms of fever, headache, malaise, and myalgia. There were a total of 14 cases that were identified and treated as query fever. Serum specimens confirmed 13 positive for sandfly Sicilian virus, and 3 positive for coxiella burnetii. This outbreak indicates that there is a potential to be exposed to different diseases in nonindigenous military locations in Iraq. There was an investigation team that was formed under the direction of the Division Preventive Medicine Officer. (Vanessa Morales)

=**//__Iraq News__//**= Iraq was invaded and occupied by American forces in 2003. But in 2006 order has been restored for the most part, but there is still a lot of violence. In 2008 Iraq and the United States signed a status of forces agreement that called for the withdrawal of all American troops by the end of 2011. But there was sort of an understanding that some of the troops would still stay there after most of the troop’s withdrawal back home and an anti-American Shiite cleric was contacted to attack American troops if they were still there after the agreement deadline. The number of troops dropped from 50,000 to only 3,000 to 5,000 that remain there. In 2010 there was a creation of government of national unity, but it only lasted about eight months and it was mostly along the sectarian lines. Then in October 2011, Iraq’s leaders agreed to keep American military trainers in the country in 2012, but there was a deal breaker for the United States, and it was that the troops that remained in Iraq would not be granted immunity from Iraq law. In October 21, President Obama declared to the U.S that all American troops will be coming home by the end of the year. This nine year engagement caused the lives of 4,400 troops and $ 1 trillion dollars. (Vanessa Morales)

[|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Iraq_(2003%E2%80%93present)] [] [] <span style="color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">Ellis, Shannon B.,M.C.U.S.A., et al. "Outbreak of SandFly Fever in Central Iraq, September 2007." //<span style="color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">Military medicine //<span style="color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> 173.10 (2008): 949-53. //<span style="color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">ProQuest Psychology Journals. // <span style="color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">Web. 4 Dec. 2011.