Military Officers Attempted a Coup in Iraq

New York Sun ^ | August 7 2006 | ELI LAKE

[jmc1969]

The government of Iraq is secretly holding a Baathist cabal of military officers it claims attempted a coup against Prime Minister al-Maliki.

The plotters were rounded up July 5 with the help of American military authorities after the Iraqi government's security warning center sent word to Mr. Maliki, who was in Kuwait on his first official visit as head of state, two highly placed Iraqi sources said.

The prime minister quickly canceled a scheduled trip to Amman, Jordan, and returned to Baghdad to attend to the matter. At the time, Mr. Maliki's staff told reporters that the prime minister was cutting his trip short because of Iraq's "security situation."

In an interview last night, an adviser to Mr. Maliki and a member of parliament in Baghdad, Mithal al-Alusi, said a coup attempt indeed took place last month. He said the mutinous attempt to replace the elected government of Iraq was organized by military officers loyal to Saddam Hussein.

"The Baathists were trying to have this coup, and people have been arrested and it has been stopped. There have been a lot of rumors as to who is behind this," Mr. Alusi said, referring to speculation that the plot may have involved a former interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi, whose men worked with the CIA in 1995 to oust Saddam in a military coup.

But Mr. Alusi said Mr. Allawi was not behind the coup attempt. "I have seen the file and their pictures and I can say that this is not Ayad Allawi. These people were in the system, but they are not well-known," he said.

[stuck_in_new_orleans]

haha...dont you need a military for a coup?

[LibWhacker]

Wow, that's pretty nutty. Did they expect the Americans would just sit there and do nothing while they installed another Baathist regime?

[coconutt2000]

Did they expect the Americans would just sit there and do nothing while they installed another Baathist regime?

Probably expected us to be distracted with a Syria/Iranian sponsored terror event somewhere else.

So, what happened a month ago...???

[Allegra]

Saddam thinks he's so clever. ;-)

[EternalHope]

To think the U.S. would allow this requires an incredible level of stupidity.

I have to wonder if the story itself is true. If not, was it made up completely, or is it a cover story for something else?

[jmc1969]

This isn't the first we have heard of it.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1674100/posts

[LibWhacker]

A month ago? Uh-oh, did I tell you I'd do something a month ago?

[tinamina]

And to think the Left says we made our big mistake in Iraq by not allowing the Baathist generals to continue to run the Army in 2003. We caused the insurgency by putting the Iraqi Army out on the street. They say we could have had our troops home by now if we had just trusted the Iraqi Army to perform security for us.

[ChadGore]

I guess this explains the US Forces in Baghdad.

[Wiggins]

I have to wonder if the story itself is true. If not, was it made up completely, or is it a cover story for something else?

Wow, who knows what to believe any more. I'm so confused!

[piasa]

This tidbit was buried in the article:

This week, a London-based organization founded by a former British MI6 officer, the Conflicts Forum, issued a report that said coup plotters met in June in Damascus at the same time American forces assassinated Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
"The Damascus group included some of the more well known lights of the former Baathist regime, who fled the country on the eve of the war, to take up residence in Qatar, Jordan and other nearby countries," the report said.
The Conflicts Forum seeks to open political dialogue between Western governments and political Islamist parties such as the Muslim Brotherhood and Hezbollah.

Oh, great, does this mean more political dialogue to legitimize terror groups?

[GoLightly]

Good point. Just today some silly DUfus suggested reinstalling Saddam Hussein.

[Proud_USA_Republican]

please don't try to understand the thinking of these people.

It will only make your head hurt.

[Textide]

I had a conversation with a guy the other day that suggested that Iraqis were better off with Sadaam. The conversation ended at that point and I started doing something more productive right away.

[Cindy]

It's common sense not to negotiate with terrorists.
If the terrorists were lobbing in rockets or missiles
into this country; I KNOW Bush/Rice, Israel, etc, would
NOT suggest sitting down to tea and crumpets for a
little session of diplomacy and dialog.

[LeoWindhorse]

shoot Saddam , withdraw all forces, nuke the damn place after the last flight is wheels up and out.

[GoLightly]

The conversation ended at that point and I started doing something more productive right away.

Yup. Can't cure someone of that kind of stupidity.

[peyton randolph]

a Baathist cabal of military officers

---

The sooner Hussein is executed and fed to the pigs, the better. Bonus suggestion: air drop the pigs afterwards on Tehran.

[DoughtyOne]

I'm not a big supporter of that theory, but it may have it's merits. One thing I can say is that I don't think the U.S. was better off with Hussein in power.

It seems to me that Iran and Syria are playing the spoiler not only in Lebanon, but in Iraq as well. If we could get the people of Iran to rise up and throw out the Mullah rule, and hopefully bring in the Shah's son, we'd probably have a lot less trouble in Iraq.

The same basically goes for Syria. If we cleaned up that rat's nest, from Lebanon to Afghanistan and even into Pakistan would be a lot more peaceful.

As it is, I think the destabalizers are get a rather easy ride of it. Iran and Syria practice treachery with impunity, and I think that's a mistake.

Let them pay heavily for what they are doing. Kick some ass and see if things shape up.