Posted on 07/14/2007 11:35:27 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
A military revolt in Iraq overthrows the monarchy and prompts King Hussein of Jordan to call for British and US military help to avert a similar rebellion in his country.
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1958: Coup in Iraq sparks jitters in Middle East A group of Iraqi army officers have staged a coup in Iraq and overthrown the monarchy.
Baghdad Radio announced the Army has liberated the Iraqi people from domination by a corrupt group put in power by "imperialism".
From now on Iraq would be a republic that would "maintain ties with other Arab countries". It said some 12,000 Iraqi troops based in neighbouring Jordan have been ordered to return.
Major-General Abdul Karim el Qasim is Iraq's new prime minister, defence minister and commander-in-chief.
Baghdad Radio also announced that Crown Prince Abdul Illah and Nuri es Said, prime minister of the Iraq-Jordan Federation, had been assassinated.
King Faisal reported killed
It said the body of the Crown Prince, the powerful uncle of 23-year-old King Faisal, was hanging outside the Defence Ministry for all to see.
Reports from the US Embassy in Baghdad say the British Embassy has been ransacked and set on fire. The ambassador, Sir Michael Wright, and his wife were held at the embassy until late this afternoon when they were released. They are now in a Baghdad hotel.
Unconfirmed reports suggest King Faisal himself has also been killed.
His cousin, King Hussein of Jordan, has declared himself head of the Arab Federation - the five-month alliance between Iraq and Jordan - in the "absence" of King Faisal.
In a broadcast to his subjects, King Hussein condemned the coup as the work of outsiders.
While Iraqis are celebrating on the streets of Baghdad, the news is a cause for concern for western powers worried about their oil interests and instability in the region.
Mixed reaction in Arab world
The insurrection was probably inspired by a similar uprising staged in Egypt by Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser six years ago. In February this year he formed a political union between Egypt and Syria known as the United Arab Republic (UAR).
Radio stations in the UAR are naturally delighted by news of the Iraq coup.
But leaders of Jordan and Lebanon fear it might inspire Arab nationalist rebellions in their own states and have appealed to Britain and the United States to send troops to their countries.
The US President Dwight D Eisenhower is said to be "extremely disturbed" by the Iraqi revolt and has called for an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council.
Officials in Washington fear the Iraqi coup will mean the end of the Baghdad Pact whose members include Turkey, Persia and Pakistan. It was intended to stem the influence of the Soviet Union in the region.
There are fears the Iraq coup will have a domino effect and that the pro-Western oil regimes of Kuwait, Bahrain and the Trucial States may fall to Arab nationalists.
Interesting you mention this; I am reading Tim Weiner’s “Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA”; and he counts that coup as one of the only covert operations the CIA ever ran that actually succeeded at what it set out to accomplish.
As for the rest of Mr. Weiner’s scathing book, I’ll decide once I finish reading it....
US Troops To Lebanon- 1958- President Eisenhower
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Yesterday morning, I received from President Chamoun of Lebanon an urgent plea that some United States forces be stationed Lebanon to help maintain security and to evidencence the concern of the United States for the integrity and independence of Lebanon. President Chamoun's appeal was made with the concurrence of all the members of the Lebanese Cabinet. President Chamoun made clear that he considered an immediate United States response imperative if Lebanon's independence, already menaced from without, were to be preserved in the face of the grave developments which occurred yesterday in Baghdad whereby the lawful government was violently overthrown and many of its members martyred. In response to this appeal from the government of Lebanon, the United States has dispatched a contingent of United States forces to Lebanon to protect American lives and by their presence there to encourage the Lebanese government in defense of Lebanese sovereignty and integrity. These forces have not been sent as any act of war. They will demonstrate the concern of the United States for the independence and integrity of Lebanon, which we deem vital to the national interest and world peace. Our concern will also be shown by economic assistance. We shall act in accordance with these legitimate concerns. The United States, this morning, will report its action to an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council. As the United Nations charter recognizes, there is an inherent right of collective self-defense. In conformity with the spirit of the charter. the United States is reporting the measures taken by it to the Security Council of the United Nations, making clear that these measures will be terminated as soon as the Security Council has itself taken the measures necessary to maintain international peace and security. The United States believes that the United Nations can and should take measures which are adequate to preserve the independence and integrity of Lebanon. It is apparent, however, that in the face of the tragic and shocking events that are occurring nearby, More will be required than the team of United Nations observers now in Lebanon. Therefore, the United States will support in the United Nations measures which seem to be adequate to meet the new situation and which will enable the United States forces promptly to be withdrawn. Lebanon is a small peace-loving state wig which the United States has traditionally had the most friendly relations. There are in Lebanon about 2500 Americans and we can not, consistently with our historic relations and with the principles of the United Na tions, stand idly by when Lebanon appeals itself for evidence of our concern and when Lebanon may not be able to preserve internal order and to defend itself against indirect aggression.
Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA (Hardcover)
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Editorial Reviews
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Review
“Tim Weiner has read widely and dug deeply to produce this marvelous and convincing history of the CIA across six decades. That every quote is also on the record is a testament to his skill and also, thankfully, to the transparency that endures in the American political system.”
—Steve Coll, author of Ghost Wars
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“Legacy of Ashes, like all first-rate histories, is not only richly informative but provocative and insightful. It is a combustible mix of deeply-researched history, solid reporting and revealing anecdotes. Tim Weiner’s history of the CIA explains not merely the past but the present, laying out in fine detail the structural and philosophical flaws that have dogged the Agency from day one and which continue to leave the country unduly vulnerable.”
—Ted Gup, author of The Book of Honor and Nation of Secrets
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“This is a fascinating, deeply scary book. With prodigious reporting and on-the-record sources, Tim Weiner shows why the CIA has done so poorly in traditional intelligence. It’s a riveting tale and also a warning. America must develop the ability—and the will—to know and face the facts about the world.”
—Walter Isaacson, author of Benjamin Franklin: An American Life and Einstein: His Life and Universe
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See all Editorial Reviews ******************************************************
“This is a fascinating, deeply scary book. With prodigious reporting and on-the-record sources, Tim Weiner shows why the CIA has done so poorly in traditional intelligence. It’s a riveting tale and also a warning. America must develop the ability—and the will—to know and face the facts about the world.”
—Walter Isaacson, author of Benjamin Franklin: An American Life and Einstein: His Life and Universe
And then, in 1963, Qasim was overthrown by Baathists, or a group in league with the Baathists.
And sometime shortly after that Saddam appeared....thanks...was going to search for that.
1979 Sadam came to power, i think
I find it hard to believe that the CIA would support the overthrow of the pro-Western King Faisal in favor of the anti-American Abdul Karim al-Qasim. King Faisal and his premier, Nuri al-Said even brought their country into the Western alliance by joining the Baghdad Pact, also known as the Middle East Treaty Organization (METO) in 1955—Iraq was the only Arab country to do so. After taking power, al-Qasim promptly withdrew from METO in 1959.
Exactly what doesn’t spark jitters in the Middle East?
As I recall he was a hitman for the Baathists.
That was soon after the Suez Crisis, when Ike talked the Brits, Israelis & French out of overthrowing Nasser in Egypt.
The lack of resolve shown by the Western powers emboldened “revolutionaries” throughout the ME, and likely made the Iraq coup possible.
I don't find it difficult at all to believe. The US Dept of State has long been a hotbed of pro-Arabist sentiment, and has more than once done things which were actually detrimental to US interests on behalf of radical Arabists, even as they've done things detrimental to US interests on behalf of the Soviets, when the Soviet Union was still an active concern.
You're assuming that all those in policy making, and policy implementing postions within either half of the State Department are 100% loyal Americans, and this just simply has never been so...
the infowarrior
If you read Weiner’s book, you won’t find things like that difficult to believe at all. Some of the bumbling escapades of the CIA during the Eisenhower Administration alone would be hilarious if they had not cost so many people’s lives.
I’ll bet you are one of those people who thinks Secret Agent Maxwell Smart was an imaginary spy...
I thought Maxwell Smart was imaginary and James Bond was real, but if Weiner is correct, it must be the other way around.
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