Democratic attitudes and practices in Iraq, 1921-1958

Middle East Journal

Volumn 59, Issue 1, 2005, Pages 11-30

  Dawisha, Adeed ^a  

^a MIAMI UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

AUTHORITARIANISM; DEMOCRACY; POLITICAL HISTORY; PUBLIC ATTITUDE;

ASIA; EASTERN HEMISPHERE; EURASIA; IRAQ; MIDDLE EAST; WORLD;

EID: 14044277427     PISSN: 00263141     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.3751/59.1.11     Document Type: Review

References (125)

1. San Francisco Chronicle, April 13, 2003.
2. Middle East Institute Brief, May 3, 2004.
3. Hoover Digest, Spring 2003, p. 2.
4. Washington Post, April 8, 2003.
5. Al-Hayat A. (London), September 7, 2003.
6. GAO-03-792R, Rebuilding Iraq, pp. 2,26. The above is a small, yet representative, sample of this prevailing point of view.
7. See Frances FitzGerald, America Revise: History Schoolbooks in the Twentieth Century (New York: Vintage, 1980), pp. 76-77, 90-91, 132-133.
8. S. Frederick Starr, "A Usable Past," The New Republic, May 15, 1989.
9. 'Ali al-Wardi, Lamahat 'Ijtima'iyya min Tarikh al-'Iraq al-Hadithi, al-Juz'al-Thalith i Social Glimpses from the Modern History of Iraq , Vol. 3] (Baghdad: n.p., 1972), p. 190.
10. 'Abdallah al-Fayad, al-Thawra al-'Iraqiyya al-Kubra, Sanat 1920 [The Great Iraqi Revolution of 1920] (Baghdad: Matba'at al-Irshad, 1963), p. 99.
11. Fayad, A. Thawra, pp. 99-100.
12. Jamil Abu Tibikh, Mudhakarat al-Sayyid Muhsin Abu Tibikh, 1910-1960: Khamsun 'aman min Tarikh al-'Iraq al-Siyassi al-Hadith [Memoirs of Sayyid Muhsin Abu Tibikh, 1910-1960: 50 Years in the Modern Political History of Iraq] (Beirut: al-Mu'asassa al-'Arabiyya li al-Dirasat wa al-Nashr, 2001), pp. 159-161;
13. Muhammad al-Mahdi al-Basir, Tarikh al-Qadiyya al-'Iraqiyya [History of the Iraqi Case] (Baghdad: Matba'at al-Fallah, 1924), pp. 245-249;
14. al-Fayad, al-Thawra al-'Iraqiyya al-Kubra, pp. 275-277.
15. Abu Tibikh, Mudhakarat al-Sayyid Muhsin Abu Tibikh, p. 159.
16. Muhammad 'Ali Kamal al-Din, Thawrat al-'Ishrin fi Dhikraha al-Khamsin: Ma'lumat wa Mushahadat [The Revolution of 1920 on its 50th Anniversary: Information and Testimony] (Baghdad: Dar al-Bayan, 1971), pp. 87-88.
17. See also 'Ali al-Wardi, Lamahat Ijtima'iyya min Tarikh al-'Iraq al-Hadith, al-Juz' al-Khamis, al-Qism al-Awwal. Hawla Thawrat al-'Ishrin[Social Glimpses from the Modern History of Iraq, Vol. 5, Part 1: On the Revolution of 1920] (London: n.p., 1976), p. 306.
18. 'Abd al-Razzak al-Hasani, Tarikh al-Wizarat al-'Iraqiyya, al-Juz'al-Awwal [History of the Iraqi Ministies, Vol. 1] (Baghdad: Dar al-Shu'un al-Thaqafiyya al-'Amma, 1988), pp. 58-60.
19. Ahlam Husayn Jamil, Al-Afkar al-Siyasiyya li al-Ahzab al-'Iraqiyya fi 'Ahd al-Intidab, [Political Thought of the Iraqi Parties in the Era of the Mandate] (Baghdad: Maktabat al-Muthan, 1985), p. 21.
20. Hadi Husayn 'Ulaiwi, Al-Ahzab al-Siyasiyya fi al-'Iraq, al-Siriyya wa al-'Alaniyya [Political Parties in Iraq, Secret and Open] (Beirut: Riad El-Rayyes Books, 2001), p. 54-58.
21. 'Abd al-Majid Kamil al-Tikriti, Al-Malik Faysal al-Awwal wa Dawrahu fi Ta'sis al-Dawla al-'Iraqiyya al-Haditha [King Faysal I and his Role in Establishing the Modern Iraqi State] (Baghdad: Dar a]-Shu'un al-Thaqafiyya, 1991), p. 110.
22. Hasan al-'Alawi, al-Shi'a wa al-Dawla al-Qawmiyya, 1914-1990 [The Shi'a and the National State, 1914-1990] (Baghdad: n.p., 1990), pp. 339-340.
23. Al-Hasani, Tarikh al-Wizarat al-'Iraqiyya, al-Juz'al-Awwal, p. 149.
24. 'Ali al-Wardi, Lamahat 'Ijtima'iyya min Tarikh al-'Iraq al-Hadith, al-Juz'al-Sadis [Vol. 6] (Baghdad, n.p., 1976), pp. 187-189.
25. 'Abd al-Razzaq al-Hasani, Tarikh al-Ahzab al-Siyasiyya al-'Iraqiyya [History of the Iraqi Political Parties] (Beirut: Markaz al-Abjadiyya, 1980), pp. 52-55;
26. Jamil, al-Afkar al-Siyasiyya li al-Ahzab al'Iraqiyya fi 'Ahd al-Intidab, p. 21.
27. Rufa'il Butti, Al-Sahafa fi al-'Iraq [The Press in Iraq] (Cairo: Matb'at al-Hana, 1955), pp. 101-119.
28. Majid Khadduri, Independent Iraq, 1932-1958: A Study in Iraqi Politics, 2nd ed. (London: Oxford University Press, 1960), pp. 29-30.
29. Muhammad Mahdi Kubba, Mudhakarati fi Samim al-Ahdath, 1918-1958 (My Memoirs in the Midst of Events] Beirut: Dar al-Tali'ah, 1965), p. 33.
30. See also Jamil, Al-Afkar al-Siyasiyya li al-Ahzab al-'Iraqiyya fi 'Ahd al-Intidab, p. 86.
31. Jamil, Al-Afkar al-Siyasiyya, p. 24.
32. 'Abd al-Razzaq al-Hasani, Tarikh al-Wizarat al-'Iraqiyya, al-Juz'al-Sadis (Baghdad: Dar al-Shu'un al-Thaqafiyya al-'Amma, 1988), p. 316.
33. Dawlat al-'Iraq, Mahadir Majlis al-Nuwab, 1945-1946, [Chamber of Deputies Debates, 1945-1946] p. 90. (Henceforth cited as Mahadir various years.)
34. 'Ulaiwi, al-Ahzab al-Siyasiyya fi al-'Iraq, pp. 119, 121. As parties with Marxist orientations, al-Sha'b and al-Ittihad al-Watani had to compete for the same ideological space with the clandestine but more popular Communist Party. This might explain the weak popular base of the two parties.
35. Kadhim al-Musawi, al-'Iraq: Safahat min al-Tarikh al-Siyassi, 1945-1958 [Iraq: Pages from Political History, 1945-1958] (Damascus: Dar 'Ala'al-Din, 1998), pp. 34-37.
36. 'Abd al-'Aziz al-Qassab, Min Dhikrayati, 1888-1960 [From my Memories, 1888-1960] (Beirut: 'Uwaidat Publications, 1962), p. 316;
37. Kubba, Mudhakarati fi Samim al-Ahdath, p. 229.
38. 'Abd al-Amir Hadi al-'Akam, Tarikh Hizb al-Istiqlal al-'Iraqi, 1946-1958 [History of the Iraqi Istiqlal Party, 1946-1958] (Baghdad: Dar al-Shu'un al-Thaqafiyya, 1986), p. 219.
39. Kamil al-Chadirji, Mudhakarat Kamil al-Chadirji [Memoirs of Kamil al-Chadirchi] (Cologne: al-Jamal Publications, 2002), p. 193.
40. Al-'Akam, Tarikh Hizb al-Istiqlal, p. 219;
41. 'Ulaiwi, al-Ahzab al-Siyasiyya fi al-'Iraq, p. 111.
42. The most comprehensive account of the meeting can be found in the memoirs of the then Head of the Royal Court. See 'Abd al-Razzaq al-Hilali, Min Hadith al-Dhikrayat [From Events in Reminiscences] (Baghdad: Dar al-Shu'un al-Thaqafiyya al-'Amma, 2002), pp. 67-98.
43. Hilali, Min Hadith al-Dhikrayat, p. 77.
44. Hilali, Min Hadith al-Dhikrayat, p.72.
45. Hilali, Min Hadith al-Dhikrayat, p. 100.
46. Chadirji, Mudhakarat Kamil al-Chadirji, p. 197;
47. al-'Akam, Tarikh Hizb al-Istiqlal, pp. 223-225;
48. Jeanie Singleton, Al-Hizb al-Watani al-Dimuqrati fi al-'Ahd al-Malaki [The National Democratic Party in the Era of the Monarchy] (Beirut: al-Mu'asasa al-'Arabiyya li al-Dirasat wa al-Nashr, 1999), p. 104-110.
49. Khadduri, Independent Iraq, p. 270.
50. 'Adil Ghaffouri Khalil, Ahzab al-Mu'arada al-'Alaniyya fi al-'Iraq, 1946-1954 [Open Opposition Parties in Iraq, 1946-1954] (Baghdad: al-Maktaba al-'Alamiyya, 1984), p. 168.
51. Abd al-Razzaq al-Hasani, Tarikh al-Wizarat al-'Iraqiyya, al-Juz'al-Thamin [History of the Iraqi Ministries, Vol. 8](Baghdad: Dar al-Shu'un al-Thaqafiyya al-Amma, 1988), p. 296;
52. see also al'Akam, Tarikh Hizb al-Istiqlal, p. 255.
53. Hasani, Tarikh al-Wizarat al-'Iraqiyya, al-Juz'al-Thamin, p. 297.
54. Chadirji, Mudhkarat Kamil al-Chadirji, pp. 490-493
55. Hasani, Tarikh al-Wizarat, al-Juz'al-Thamin, pp. 299-302
56. Fadil Husayn, Tarikh al-Hizb al-Watani al Dimuqrati, 1946-1958 [History of the National Democratic Party, 1946-1958](Baghdad: Matba'at al-Sha'b, 1963), pp. 293-297.
57. Khadduri, Independent Iraq, p. 279.
58. Hasani, Tarikh al-Wizarat al-'Iraqiyya, al-Juz'al-Thamin, fn. 1, p. 306.
59. Khadduri, Independent Iraq, pp. 13-20.
60. Tawfiq al-Suwaidi, Mudhakarati: Nisf Qarn min Tarikh al-'Iraq wa al-Qadiyya al-'Arabiyya [My Memoirs: Half a Century in the History of Iraq and the Arab Case] (London: Dar al-Hikma, 1999), p. 102.
61. Fa'iz As'ad, Inhiraf al-Nizam al-Birlamani fi al-'Iraq [Deviation of the Parliamentary System in Iraq](Baghdad: Maktabat al-Sindabad, 1984), fn 10, pp. 32-33.
62. Mohamed al-Adhami, Political Aspects of the Iraqi Parliament and Election Processes, 1920-1932, Unpublished London University Thesis, 1978
63. al-Suwaidi, Mudhakarati, pp. 103-104.
64. Hana Batatu, The Old Social Classes and the Revolutionary Movements of Iraq (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1978), p. 103. In another authoritative publication, the figure is put at 45%, perhaps because large landowners who were not necessarily tribal leaders are added.
65. See Phebe Marr, The Modern History of Iraq, 2nd ed. (Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 2004), p. 78.
66. Phebe Marr writes that the British were "always fearful of a rebellious parliament." Modern History of Iraq, p. 46.
67. Toby Dodge, Inventing Iraq: The Failure of Nation Building and a History Denied (New York: Columbia University Press, 2003), p. 91.
68. 'Abd al-Rahman al-Bazzaz, Al-'Iraq: Min al-Ihtilal ila al-Istiqlal[Iraq: from Occupation to Independence] (London: Dar al-Barraq, 1997), p. 119;
69. 'Abd al-Razzaq al-Hasani, Tarikh al Wizarat al'Iraqiyya, al-Juz'al-Awwal, (Baghdad: Dar al-Shu'un al-Thaqafiyya al-'Amma, 1988), pp. 226-227;
70. al-Wardi, Lamahat Ijtima'iya min Tarikh al-'Iraq al-Hadith, al-Juz'al-Sadis, pp. 288-292.
71. Al-Hasani, Tarikh al-Wizarat al-'Iraqiyya, al-Juz'al-Awwal, p. 232.
72. 'Ali al-Wardi, Lamahat Ijtima'iyya min Tarikh al-'Iraq al-Hadith, al-Juz'al-Sadis, p. 296.
73. Al-Adhami, Political Aspects of the Iraqi Parliament and Election Processes, 1920-1932, pp. 221-222.
74. Al-Chadirji, Mudhakarat Kamil al-Chadirji, pp. 561-562.
75. These were the words of Philip Ireland, a senior American diplomat in Baghdad. See 'Abd al-Karim al-Uzri, Tarikh fi Dhikrayat al-'Iraq, 1930-1958, al-Juz'al-Awal [History in Memories of Iraq, 1930-1958, Vol.I](Beirut: Markaz al-Abjadiyya, 1982), pp. 520-521.
76. Al-Hasani, Tarikh al Wizarat al-'Iraqiyya, al-Juz'al-Awal, p. 215.
77. Elie Kedouri, The Chatham House Version and Other Middle-Eastern Studies (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1970), p. 265.
78. Al-Hukuma al-'Iraqiyya, Majm'at Mudhakarat al-Majlis al-Ta'sisi al-'Iraqi li Sanat 1924, al-Juz'al-Awwal [Collection of Memoirs of the Iraqi Constituent Assembly, 1924, Vol. 1](Baghdad: Matba'at Dar al-Salam, 1924), p. 33 (Hereafter cited as Majmu'at).
79. Majmu'at, p. 320.
80. Majmu'at, p. 445.
81. Mahadir [Debates](1930), pp. 71-90.
82. Mahadir [Debates](1930), pp. 73-78.
83. For some such instances, see Abu Tibikh, Mudhakarat al-Sayyid Muhsin Abu-Tibikh, pp. 306-307;
84. also 'Abd al-Majid Kamil al-Tikriti, Majlis al-Umma al-'Iraqi: al-Barlaman, al-A'yan wa al-Nuwab, 1945-1953 [The National Assembly of Iraq: Parliament, Senate and Debuties, 1945-1953] (Baghdad: Dar al-Shu'un al-Thaqafiyya al-'Amma, 2002), p. 53
85. also al-Hasani, Tarikh al-Wizarat al-'Iraqiyya, al-Juz'al-Thamin, p. 56;
86. al-Hasani, Tarikh al-Wizarat al-'Iraqiyya, al-Juz'al-Sadis, p. 316;
87. al-'Akam, Tarikh Hizb al-Istiqlal al-'Iraqi, pp. 224-225;
88. Khadduri, Independent Iraq, pp.37, 51-3,255-6,269;
89. Philip Ireland, Iraq: A Study in Political Development (New York: Macmillan, 1938), pp. 428-9.
90. Mahadir (1953), p. 388.
91. See for example, al-Hasani, Tarikh al-Wizarat al 'Iraqiyya, al-Juz'al-Tasi' (Baghdad: Dar al-Shu'un al-Thaqafiyya al-'Amma, 1988), p. 77.
92. Mahadir (1954), p. 643.
93. Mahadir, (1950), p. 196;
94. see also 'Abd al-Karim al-Uzri, Tarikh fi Dhikrayat al-'Iraq, 1930-1958 (Beirut: Markaz al-Abjadiyya, 1982), p. 370.
95. Bitter criticisms of the Nuri-engineered Baghdad Pact were voiced in 1955 in what was considered to be the most pliant of all Iraqi parliaments, Mahadir (1956), p. 462.
96. See also Mahadir (1953), pp. 135-141. The eminent historian 'Abd al-Razzaq al-Hasani says that of monarchical Iraq's 59 cabinets, the two consecutive cabinets led by Nuri between August 1954 and June 1957 were the target of the "bitterest criticisms and most strident condemnations."
97. See his Tarikh al-Wizarat al-'Iraqiyya, al-Juz'al-Ashir (Baghdad: Dar al-Shu'un al-Thaqafiyya al-Amma, 1988), p. 140.
98. Al-Qassab, Min Dhikrayati, pp. 320-321.
99. However, this did not include Taha al-Hashimi and Kamil al-Chadirji, who had walked out of the meeting in a huff after the Regent told Hashimi to "shut up" and called him a liar. Al-Hasani, Tarikh al-Wizarat al-'Iraqiyya, al-Juz'al-Thamin, pp. 315-318;
100. Chadirji, Mudhakarat Kamil al-Chadirji, p. 501;
101. al-'Akam, Tarikh Hizb al-Istiqlal al-'Iraqi, p. 266;
102. Muhammad Mahdi al-Ja'fari, Inqilab al-Wasi fi al'Iraq: Dirasa Tarikhiyya, Tahliliyya, Wathai'qiyya [The Regent's Coup in Iraq: Historical, Analytical, and Documentary Study] (Cairo: Maktabat Madbouli, 2000), p. 84.
103. Mir Basri, A'lam al-Siyassa fi al-'Iraq al-Hadith [Political Notables of Modern Iraq](London: Riyad el-Rayyis li al-Tiba'a wa al-Nashr, 1987), pp. 82-83.
104. Al-Wardi, Lamahat min Tarikh al-'Iraq al-Hadith, al-Juz'al-Sadis, p. 303.
105. See, for example, al-Fayad, al-Thawra al-'Iraqiyya al-Kubra, pp. 99-100.
106. Charles Tripp, A History of Iraq (Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2000), p. 65.
107. 'Abd al-Razzaq al-Hasani, Tarikh al-Sahafa al-'Iraqiyya, al-Juz'al-Awwal [Hisotry of the Iraqi Press, Vol. 1](Sayda, Lebanon: Matba'at al-'Irfan, 1971), p. 2.
108. For a detailed discussion of the political parties, their newspapers and their political orientations in this period, see 'Abd al-Jabbar Hassan al-Jubburi, al-Ahzab wa al-Jim'iyat al Siyasiyya fi al-Qitr al-'Iraqi, 1908-1958 [Parties and Political Clubs in the Iraqi Region, 1908-1958](Baghdad: Dar al-Huriyya li al-Tiba'a, 1977), pp. 58-82;
109. see also Rufa'il Butti, al-Sahafa fi al-'Iraq, pp. 93-119.
110. Khalid Habib al-Rawi, Min Tarikh al-Sahafa al-'Iraqiyya [From the History of the Iraqi Press](Baghdad: Wizarat al-Thaqafa wa al-Funun, 1978), p. 37.
111. Al-Rawi, Min Tarikh al-Sahafa al-'Iraqiyya, p. 38.
112. Fa'iq Butti, Sahafat al-'Iraq: Tarikhiha wa Kifah Ajyaliha [The Iraqi Press: its History and its Generational Struggle] (Baghdad: Matba'at al-Adib, 1968), p. 125.
113. Al-'Akam, Tarikh Hizb al-Istiqlal al-'Iraqi, p. 198; for the campaign against 'Umari's government, see pp. 191-200;
114. see also Chadirji, Mudhakarat Kamil al-Chadirji, pp. 141-151.
115. Chadirji, p. 145.
116. Fa'iq Butti, Suhuf Baghdad: fi Dhikra Ta'sisiha [Baghdad Pages: In Commemoration of its Foundation](Baghdad: n.p., n.d.), p. 19;
117. see also Fai'q Butti, Sahafat al-'Iraq, p. 123.
118. Taha al-Hashimi, Mudhakarat Taha al-Hashimi, 1919-1943 [Memoirs of Taha al-Hashimi, 1919-1943](Beirut: Dar al-Tali'ah li al-Nashr, 1967, pp. 432-433.
119. Lawrence Whitehead, Democratization: Theory and Experience (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002), p. 7.
120. The analysis in this article follows Huntington's definition of democracy as a "continuous variable." See Samuel P. Huntington, The Third Wave: Democratization in the Late Twentieth Century (Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1991), p. 11.
121. Kubba, Mudhakarati fi Samim al-Ahdath, p. 170.
122. Kubba, Mudhakarati, p. 227.
123. Butti, Sahafat al-'Iraq, p. 122.
124. James Dobbins, et al., America's Role in Nation-Building: From Germany to Iraq (Santa Monica, California: Rand Corporation, 2003), p. 191.
125. S. Frederick Starr, "A Usable Past:" The New Republic, May 15, 1989.