With the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I, Britain and France moved to fill that vacuum. The British received a mandate from the League of Nations and swiftly moved into Baghdad. The British placed King Faisal on the throne, but the de facto head of state was the British High Commissioner. His first challenge was to negotiate a border settlement between Iraq and Kuwait ns as long as British interests were preserved.

The High Commissioner responded by merely drawing “line in the sand” to separate Iraq from Kuwait, and a formal border agreement was never signed. Essentially the arbitrary border was determined by the general area where Iraqis settled and where Kuwaitis eventually migrated to from the Arabian peninsula in 1756 to settle in present day Kuwait City.

During World War I, the British and French hammered out the Sykes-Picot agreement. On May 16, 1917, Englishman Mark Sykes and Frenchman Francois Georges Picot unilaterally agreed to give parcel out Ottoman Turkish land once the war was over. Russia Constantinople – that later became Istanbul -- received land on either side of the Turkish provinces bordering Russia. Britain received the Ottoman provinces of Basra and Baghdad. France took greater Syria -- that later included Lebanon -- and much of Turkey.

Over one year later, the British promised to return much of the conquered Turkish area to the Arabs. In November 1917, Foreign Minister Lord Balfour declared that Britain favored the establishment of Palestine as a Jewish state.

Under the Treaty of Versailles in 1918, Britain received a mandate to govern Iraq. When news of imminent British control reached the Arab world, the Arab Independence Party was formed in 1919. Iraqis demanded independence for Syria, Palestine, and Iraq. Arabs began demonstrating across Iraq, opposing British control.

According to Point 12 of President Woodrow Wilson’s “Fourteen Points,” both Arabs and Kurds were promised independence. With World War I coming to an end, Point 12 read: “The nationalities now under Turkish rule should … be assured … an absolutely unmolested opportunity of autonomous development.”

The August 1920 Treaty of Sevres recognized that the Kurds formed a distinct nationality and forced Turkey to renounce possessions comprised of non-Turkish populations, such as Kurdistan, and stipulated that the Kurds be given “local autonomy.” The Treaty of Sevres was never ratified. A new treaty was signed in 1923 by allies and the Turkish government, but it made no mention of Kurdish independence. Istanbul subsequently closed all Kurdish schools, organizations, and publications as well as outlawing the Kurdish language.

The British wrote Iraq’s constitution to give sweeping powers to its puppet, King Faisal, a former ally, hero of the Arab revolt of World War I and expected underwriter of British interests in the country. Yet Iraqis were on the verge of revolting. The British response to the Arab threat came quick. First, London convened the League of Nations in May 1920 to ratify its colonial demands in the Middle East. Second, Britain sent troops to forcibly squash the Arab uprising.

The authoritarian rule of the British slowly gave rise to Arab nationalism. The founder of this pan-Arab movement was Satia al-Husri. In June 1920, over 100,000 Shi’ites, Arab nationals, and tribal leaders revolted. Two months later, they proclaimed a provisional government in Iraq. The British responded by destroying villages and executing suspected rebels. The uprising became so intense that Britain demanded that chemical weapons be used.

T. E. Lawrence offered his solution: “By gas attacks, the whole population of offending districts would be wiped out neatly; and as a method of government it would be no more immoral than the present system.” (Larry Everest, On Power and Empire)

The Minister of War Winston Churchill concurred, “I do not understand the squeamishness about the use of gas. I am strongly in favour of using poisoned gas against uncivilized tribes.” ... It is not necessary to use only the most deadly gases; gases can be used which would cause great inconvenience and would spread a lively terror and yet would leave no serious permanent effects on most of those affected.” (Larry Everest, On Power and Empire)

The Royal Air Force never dropped gas bombs. But it bombarded Shia rebels with artillery shells filled with poison gas. The RAF dropped 97 tons of bombs and fired 183,861 rounds against insurgents. Within one year -- by March 1921 – the Iraqi uprising was crushed. Between 6,000 and 9,000 Iraqis were killed. The British lost an estimated 500 to 2,000 soldiers. (Larry Everest, On Power and Empire)

Iraqi Kurds revolted in 1919, and Sheik Mahmoud Barzinji declared himself ruler of an independent Kurdistan in northeast Iraq. With 80 percent of Kurds supporting independence, the British promptly removed Barzinji from power. Subsequent uprisings in northern Iraq were crushed by British forces in 1922 and 1924.

Still the Kurds posed a serious threat to British occupation when oil fields were discovered. Britain promised the Kurds that a new Iraqi government would recognize “the right of the Kurds who live within the frontiers of Iraq to establish a government within those frontiers.” But in December 1925, the League of Nations ruled in favor of the British. The northern Mosul region was incorporated into the new state of Iraq with the understanding that the British would continue for 25 years would insure Kurdish rights. That never happened.

For three years, the majority Shi’ites of southern Iraq intermittently rebelled against the Sunni-dominated government and each time were crushed by the Sunni-led army. In the north, the army took vengeance on the Assyrian Christians, who had served as British troops under the mandate and were thus viewed by Iraqi nationalists as collaborators.

In 1922, Sir Percy Cox, Britain’s High Commissioner for Iraq, met with the leaders of Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait to resolve their border disputes. It was Cox who unilaterally finalized the common borders.

In 1925, the British forced King Faisal to sign a 75-year concession that granted the foreign-owned Iraqi Petroleum Company (IPC) all rights to Iraq’s oil. In return, the British received modest royalties but no ownership of the oil fields. Two years later in 1927, Iraq’s first major oil fields were discovered near Kirkuk.

The United States demanded an “open door” to Middle East oil. In 1928, Washington pressured London to tag along, primarily because the Exxon Oil Company supplied half of Britain’s oil. The Red Line Agreement divided the Middle East between American, British, Durch, and French companies. Exxon and Mobil received 23.75 percent of the IPC. British Petroleum, Royal Dutch Shell, and the Compagnie Francaise des Petroles (CFP) received equal 23.75 percent shares.

The IPC and the oil cartel deliberately restricted Iraq’s oil production and development for decades in order to prevent oil glut which would weaken prices and lower their profits.

In 1932, the Britain ended its 12-year United Nations mandate. Pressured by an economic downturn and warnings of “imperial overstretch,” the British government withdrew a majority of its troops from Iraq, leaving the remainder at a few bases near Iraq’s oil fields. The withdrawal of British troops that year set the stage for the Iraqi army’s seizure of power and the suppression of Shi’ites and ethnic minorities. However, the British kept concessionary oil rights for 75 years.

In 1932 and 1933, Britain continued to show its presence, bombing Kurdish rebels in the north. More RAF bombings were carried out between 1936 and 1941. In 1940, the Iraqi army opened negotiations with Italy and Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich. One year later, Iraqi army officers seized the government and threatened to join the Axis powers, and nationalist and pro-German Prime Minister Rashid Ali ran the government.

Faced with the prospect of an enemy between British Egypt and India, the British army returned to Iraq to reclaim Baghdad once again. As British troops approached the capital, Iraqi thugs, reportedly along with some soldiers and police, went into the streets and slaughtered hundreds of Iraqi Jews. The incident prompted tens of thousands of Jews to flee to what is now Israel.

World War II gave rise to Arab nationalism with numerous groups of pan-Arabists emerged in Syria and in Baghdad. In 1952, the Iraqi Ba’athist Party with 100 members was officially formed as a branch of the Syrian party. Ba’athist philosophy centered around everything which was good: pan-Arabism and socialism. However, different elements within the party occasionally disagreed over the territorial extension of the state. The party was unified on everything considered to be infinitely bad: imperialism, foreign agents, and Zionism. By the 1950s, pan-Arabism became strongly rooted in Islam. The source of Ba’athist philosophy was not in heaven but rather in the people.

Despite rising nationalism and the forging of the Arab Socialist Resurrection Party (Ba’athist Party), Iraq still was at the mercy of European imperialists. British and French corporations owned 25 percent of the Iraq Petroleum Corporation, producing 0.7 million barrels per day. In 1958, the pro-British monarch, King Faisal, was overthrown and executed. In the same year, the United Arab Republic, consisting of Egypt and Syria, was formed as a result of the driving force of the Ba’athists.

The leader of the coup, General Abdul Karim Kassim, took control and reversed the country’s policies, including the renunciation of the Baghdad Pact and the establishment of relations with the Soviets. To maintain its influence in the Middle East, President Eisenhower announced the next day that 10,000 troops were being deployed to Lebanon.

In February 1963, Iraqi leader Kassim was assassinated by Ba’athists, but in less than a year the military gained control in Iraq. The Ba’athist Party was unable to consolidate its power and was ousted by a coup in September 1963. This regime pursued a neutral East-West alignment policy and emphasized the strengthening of relations with its Arab nations, particularly with Egypt.

In June 1968, the short-lived regime of al-Bakr came to an end when he was purged from office. For a month one-third of the members of the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC) were held hostage. It was estimated that 500 top ranking Ba’athists were executed by August 1, 1979. In July 1970, the provisional constitution, which included a national parliament, was adopted.

The Iraqis moved closer to the Soviet Union in 1972 when Hussein negotiated the Iraqi-Soviet Friendship Treaty. However, this did not leak to the West until 1979 by dissident Ba’athists who had been purged. This treaty included: reorganizing Iraq’s internal police with recommendations of the KGB; training for Iraqi agents in KGB schools; and the exchange of intelligence information.

The Mukhabarat or Party Intelligence became the most powerful of the three Iraqi intelligence organizations. It was assigned to look over the other intelligence organizations and controls the military, government offices, and other mass organizations such as the youth, women, and labor.

In July, Bakr crushed a coup attempt and quickly executed 36 coup leaders. The 100-member Revolutionary Command Council was quickly formed, and Saddam Hussein emerged as its leader. In poor health, Bakr stepped down and threw his support to Hussein who was the second most powerful leader of the RCC.

Despite rising nationalism and the forging of the Arab Socialist Resurrection Party (Ba’athist Party), Iraq remained at the mercy of European imperialists. British and French corporations owned 25 percent of the Iraq Petroleum Corporation, producing 0.7 million barrels per day. In 1958, the pro-British monarch, King Faisal, was overthrown and executed. In the same year, the United Arab Republic, consisting of Egypt and Syria, was formed as a result of the driving force of the Ba’athists.

The leader of the coup, General Abdul Karim Kassim, took control and reversed the country’s policies, including the renunciation of the Baghdad Pact and the establishment of relations with the Soviets. To maintain its influence in the Middle East, President Eisenhower announced the next day that 10,000 troops were being deployed to Lebanon.

Seven years of costly and unpopular British military occupation followed, during which Britain again attempted to shore up an Iraqi constitutional monarchy. Its army and air force remained in Iraq until a general British withdrawal from the Middle East in 1947-48, although the British Embassy continued to pull the levers of power in Iraq until 1955. Three years later, the Iraqi army seized power again, ending constitutional government in Iraq for good.

Saddam Hussein was a junior member of a Ba'athist failed in a coup attempt to overthrow Kassim. As a result, Hussein fled to Cairo where the Ba'athists continued as a party in exile. Like the Ba'athist Party, Nasser espoused pan-Arabism by opposing the Soviet Union and its involvement in the 1956 Suez War. While in Cairo, Hussein was deeply influenced by the nationalism of Nasser.

In February 1963, Iraqi leader Kassim was assassinated by Ba'athists, but in less than a year the military gained control in Iraq. The Ba'athist Party was unable to consolidate its power and was ousted by a coup in September 1963. This regime pursued a neutral East-West alignment policy and emphasized the strengthening of relations with its Arab nations, particularly with Egypt.

In June 1968, the short-lived regime of al-Bakr came to an end when he was purged from office. For a month, one-third of the members of the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC) were held hostage. It was estimated that 500 top ranking Ba'athists were executed by August 1, 1979. In July 1970, the provisional constitution, which included a national parliament, was adopted.

The Iraqis moved closer to the Soviet Union in 1972 when Hussein negotiated the Iraqi-Soviet Friendship Treaty. However, this did not leak to the West until 1979 by dissident Ba'athists who had been purged. This treaty included: reorganizing Iraq's internal police with recommendations of the KGB; training for Iraqi agents in KGB schools; and the exchange of intelligence information. The

Mukhabarat or Party Intelligence became the most powerful of the three Iraqi intelligence organizations. It was assigned to look over the other intelligence organizations and controls the military, government offices, and other mass organizations such as the youth, women, and labor.

In July, Bakr crushed a coup attempt and quickly executed 36 coup leaders. The 100-member Revolutionary Command Council was quickly formed, and Saddam Hussein emerged as its leader. In poor health, Bakr stepped down and threw his support to Hussein who was the second most powerful leader of the RCC.

Hussein was responsible for a number of social and economic programs to benefit Iraqis. In 1958, compulsory education laws were passed to eradicate illiteracy which was as high as 99.5 percent in 1919. By 1957, it was reduced to 81.7 percent. After eight years as head of state, Hussein was able to provide education for two million people, ages 15 to 45. Students passed through 21-month courses in education. Peasants were encouraged to return to farming by being given plots and subsidies. The average income of the worker was increased, and massive efforts were made to improve housing, education, and health care for the poor.

In the international arena, Hussein improved foreign relations with Saudi Arabia, the smaller Persian Gulf nations, and Jordan. After Camp David, Hussein hosted a series of Arab conferences in 1978 and 1979. An ardent nationalist, Hussein condemned the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Ethiopia, and South Yemen. To prevent a glut on the oil market, Hussein took a soft line on OPEC by seeking to "gradually" increase oil prices.

In 1981, Amnesty International reported 350 official executions in Iraq. The Committee Against Repression in Iraq cited 798 executions along with 264 killings of unknown persons and 428 unsentenced detainees and disappeared persons. In May 1980, Amnesty International reported that 15 Iraqis died of thallium poisoning. In April 1980, the human rights organization reported the killings and mutilation of 15 other Iraqis who had escaped and brought back into Iraq.

In 1990, Middle East Watch, headquartered in New York, claimed that Amnesty International's statistics were inflated. Amnesty put the figures of those tortured in Kuwait at 1,000, while the statistics of Middle East Watch were 600 tortures.

Hussein compiled his own long record of violations of international humanitarian law. Most were not denounced by the United States, since the White House favored Iraq in the long and incredibly bloody war it launched against Iran. Iraq bombed and rocketed the civilians in several Iranian cities in the eight year war. Hussein resorted to using poison gas intermittently from 1983 to 1988 against Iranian troops. In 1988, Iraqi planes attacked Kurdish villages with poison gas. By the end of the war, half a million Kurds were forcibly resettled by Iraq, while their villages were dynamited.

Yet, in this period, the United States was cultivating improved relations with Iraq, providing billions of dollars of loan guarantees through such agencies as the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) and the Export Bank. In 1989, the Bush Administration doubled the CCC program for Iraq to a level exceeding $1 billion for the year.