Iraq election 1950's?

[SHRED]

Shrub is making a big deal about this being the first true democratic election in Iraq.
Help me out here. Didn't the CIA overthrow a 'true' democratically elected government, from the 1950's, in the early '60's?

[illflem]

1. The British wrote a constitution for Iraq in the 1920s

when they left and Iraq had free elections with several flourishing political parties until 1958 when the government was overthrown in a military takeover.
I don't know about the CIA but the first military government, which was the beginning of the Ba'athist party was not friendly toward the west.

[SHRED]

2. So...

this wasn't the first free election after all.

[Ravenseye]

3. Correct

I know for a fact that they had previous elections in iraq because my great-grandfather was an elected official in iraq on and off through the 30's and 40's before the military coups in the 50's when things went to pot.

[Roland99]

4. But, that was after the British attacked the Kurds in 1920 w/Mustard Gas

[EFerrari]

5. Yes. nt

[JoshK]

6. The British imposed a monarchy, led in the '50's by King Faisal

King Faisal II. He was a British puppet, a cousin of King Hussein of Jordan, & was assassinated in 1958. The guy who overthrew him was an Iraqi nationalist, Col. Kassim. He was himself overthrown by the CIA acting together with some fellow named Saddam Hussein in 1963.

Probably the elections Shrub is talking about were under the British puppet Faisal.

[Roland99]

7. Have you read Tariq Ali's books...

Bush in Babylon

Clash of the Fundamentalisms

[JoshK]

9. No, I haven't read those.

I've read some of his articles & essays, though.

[Roland99]

10. I'm halfway through Bush in Babylon and looking forward to reading

his earlier work (Clash in Fundamentalisms)

Ali mentions a book by Hanna Batatu called:
Old Social Classes and the Revolutionary Movements of Iraq: A Study of Iraq's Old Landed and Commercial Classes and of Its Communists, Ba'thists and Free Officers

I want to try and find a copy of that. I believe this:
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=fm6Aipv9vE&isbn=0863565204&itm=2
is a new printing of it.

[OneTwentyoNine]

8. Are you thinking about Iran?

The CIA with their very first bag of dirty tricks overthrew the Iranian Government in 1953 and installed the Shah. We all found out how well that worked when they took hostages in 1979.

Of course it was allll Jimmy Carters fault. Hmmm...who was President in 1953??