British Motivations for participating in colonial exploitation of Iraq run deep.
Great Britain and Iraq have a long history..
"To understand the current Iraq crisis, we must look at events and
interests that shaped the modern history of the country. This section
looks particularly at how Western powers – notably the UK and the US –
have used their military might and commercial prowess to dominate Iraq
and control its oil resources. The story includes the secret battles
between Britain and France over Iraqi oil in the World War I era,
Winston Churchill’s 1920 plan to control colonial Iraq from airplanes
armed with mustard gas bombs, and more recent developments such as
Iraq's nationalization of its oil resources in the early 1970s, CIA
support for the coup that first brought Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party
to power, and the US supplies of chemical and biological warfare
materials to Hussein's government in the 1980s."
http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/iraq/histindex.htm
"World War I brought the British Empire to the peak of its expansion,
but in the years that followed came its decline. Victory added, under
the system of mandates, new territories, including Palestine,
Transjordan, Iraq, and several former German territories in Africa and
Asia." www.answers.com/topic/british-empire
"Britain set up a colonial regime in Iraq after a long military
campaign during World War I. In response to Iraqi resistance, including
a country-wide uprising in 1920, British forces battled for over a
decade to pacify the country, using airplanes, armored cars, firebombs
and mustard gas. Air attacks were used to shock and awe, to teach
obedience and to force the collection of taxes. Winston Churchill, as
responsible cabinet minister in the early years, saw Iraq as an
experiment in high-technology colonial control. Though officials in
London sometimes had qualms about the violence, colonial administrators
on the ground like Gertrude Bell expressed enthusiasm for the power of
the imperial military enterprise."
http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/iraq/history/britishindex.htm
"France and Great Britain secretly agreed to partition most of the Arab
provinces of the Ottoman Empire between them and eventually obtained
mandates from the League of Nations: Britain over Iraq, Palestine, and
Transjordan; France over Syria and Lebanon."
http://www.islamicity.com/mosque/ihame/Sec14.htm
"Although loath to lessen its hold over countries it had done much to
develop, and thereby to incur great economic and political loss,
Britain gradually capitulated to the pressures of nationalist
sentiment. Iraq gained full sovereignty in 1932"
www.answers.com/topic/british-empire
"1932 United Kingdom Ends League of Nations Mandate over Iraq. Britain
continues to station troops in the country and influence the Iraqi
government until 1958."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decolonization
The 14th of July 1958 revolution was greatly welcomed by the Iraqi
people. To the poor, it was mainly a great hope for an optimistic
future. From the first hours of the revolution, there was an active
support from Iraqis who took to the streets celebrating and vowing to
defend the revolution. Because of the resistance, the monarchic regime
fell and Iraq was proclaimed an independent republic. Abdul Karim
Qasim, who was the head of the Free Officers movement, became a prime
minister and a true ruler of Iraq. This revolution sparked many
positive developments in Iraq.
On July 26, 1958, the Interim Constitution was adopted, proclaiming the
equality of all Iraqi citizens under the law and granting them freedom
without regard to race, nationality, language or religion. The
government freed political prisoners and granted amnesty to the Kurds
who participated in the 1943 to 1945 Kurdish uprisings. The exiled
Kurds returned home and were welcomed by the republican regime.
"1958 Revolutionary War for Independence in Iraq
The objective of the revolution, as defined by its leaders, was to
liberate Iraq from the oligarchic monarchy and British imperialism and
to rebuild and reconstruct Iraq by adapting social and economic
measures to improve peoples' living standards."
http://www.iraqcp.org/0030711shE.htm
"1958 UN trustee Britain withdraws from Iraq, which becomes an
independent Hashemite Kingdom (like Jordan, but soon to become a
republic through the first of several coups d'état).
"The United States invaded Iraq in alliance with Britain on March 20,
2003, winning a quick military victory and ousting the government of
Saddam Hussein. Though the US and the UK claimed they acted in
accordance with international law, an overwhelming majority of the
world’s governments and people thought otherwise. Since then, the US-UK
occupation has encountered increasing armed resistance in Iraq, and
support for the war and occupation has steadily declined in the
invading countries. US-UK claims about Iraqi weapons threats and terror
links have proven false, and the costs of the operation have risen."
http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/irqindx.htm
--------------------------------
best regards, Tim Flanagan Iraq and Vietnam
Try
![[Buy Opera!]](http://promote.opera.com/banners/opera/windows/ow-get-00-en-mic.gif){kind=small}
an alternative to Microsoft Activism Resource
Alternative News
Computers Issues
International Peace
Peace Resource
Private Tutor Unions
mail: tim@writingresource.org or contactus@writingresource.info © © Copyright 1995-2009: Peaceresource Productions, all rights reserved. |
Administration Access Writing Resource Students