1921: British install King Faisal I on the throne, then sign a treaty with the King placing military and economic control of the country in British hands.
1927: Oil is discovered in Iraq just north of Kirkuk.
1929: The Iraqi Petroleum Company (IPC) is founded with shares to British, French, Dutch, American and Portuguese companies and none to Iraq.
1958: Abdul Karim Qasim leads a military coup overthrowing the pro-British government and executing King Faisal II and his family. Seen even today by Iraqis as the moment of liberation from the British.
1961: Qasim demands the IPC grant Iraq 20% ownership and 55% of the profits. IPC refuses so he decrees that by ’63 IPC will be stripped of 99.5% of its concession in the country and establishing the state-owned Iraq National Oil Company.
1959 — 63: Once again, as in Iran, Arab nationalists are seen as Communist by the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations. After numerous attempts at assassination by the CIA (including a plot using a poisoned handkerchief and another with the young Saddam Hussein playing a role), Qassim is removed by coup. The Ba’ath party comes to power just before the new law on IPC was to go into effect. New regime reaffirms IPC’s control over Iraq oil fields.
1964 — 68: New leadership dismisses and arrests Ba’athist leaders. Saddam is imprisoned until he escapes in ’67. In ’68, Ba’athists overthrow the government; Saddam is made deputy to the president, but quickly emerges as the more powerful.
1972: Iraq becomes the first Arab country to nationalize its oil. By ’79, oil exports flood Iraqi coffers with $47 billion (in that year alone). Unlike Iran, petrodollars in Iraq filter down to the Iraqi people, creating an extensive free public services, a large body of small landowners and a strong public sector.
1979: Saddam takes the presidency after the former president begins making treaties with Syria (also Ba’athist) to unite the 2 countries (and marginalize Saddam forever). He begins purging “disloyal” party members and is considered the worst of all Middle-East tyrants before or since. US considers him a bulwark against Communism, so doesn’t care what he does to his people.
1980 - 88: Opportunistic Saddam invades Iraq with US tacit approval. Envisioning a quick victory, he is rebuffed by the Iranians.
1982: Reagan administration secretly provides Saddam with satellite photos of Iranian troop movements; funnels black market arms to Iraq; takes Iraq off the state terrorist list (even though intelligence showed Saddam supporting terrorism), so Iraq is eligible to buy arms and technology.
1983: While receiving intelligence that Iraq is using chemical weapons on Iranians almost daily, Reagan responds by restoring diplomatic relations with Iraq and authorizing the sale of poisonous chemicals, anthrax and bubonic plague.
1986: American air force officers sent to work with Iraqis; US Navy sinks 3 Iranian patrol boats and 2 offshore oil platforms.
1988: US forces blow up 2 oil rigs and put half the Iranian navy out of action.
1988: After Iran-Iraq war ends, Saddam uses US-made helicopters to drop chemical bombs on 30 Kurdish cities killing 3 – 5, 000. Pentagon concocts story that Iran is responsible.
1989: Iraqi personnel are allowed to attend the 9th annual Symposium on Detonation at Los Alamos; all during the 80s, US military exports are knowingly sent to Iraqi nuclear installations.
1990 I: After the Voice of America broadcasts an editorial criticizing Iraqi’s abysmal human rights record, US ambassador to Iraq is forced to apologize, then all future VOA broadcasts have to be cleared by the State department.
1990 II:
July 24: Margaret Tutwiler, State Department spokesperson: “there are no special defense or security commitments to Kuwait.”
July 25: US Ambassador Glaspie, who is fluent in Arabic, tells Sadddam “we have no opinion on the Arab-Arab conflicts, like your border dispute with Kuwait.”
August 2: Iraq invades Kuwait.
August 6: Bush, Sr. declares intention to eject Iraq from Kuwait.
During August: Saddam’s regime attempts (5 times) to negotiate with US (all are rejected or ignored).
1991: After a young Kuwaiti woman testifies about babies being thrown from incubators to the ground (she is actually the daughter of a Kuwaiti leader, coached by a US PR firm from a script), US invades Iraq, buying off other Arab nations (and punishing those who don’t support the action by cutting aid), stationing troops in Saudi-Arabia (the start of infidels on Arab lands). US bombs Iraqi infrastructure (in violation of international law): 200,000 die. In February, after a cease-fire is in place, US pilots (jokingly calling it a “turkey shoot”) slaughter retreating Iraqi troops, killing upwards of 30,000 (in violation of international law).
1991 – 2003: Sanctions meant to pressure Saddam into resigning only serve to consolidate his power and succeed in killing 500,000 children (over just the first 8 years). US fights aggressively to prevent Iraq from purchasing dangerous weapons such as: items necessary to generate electricity, dialysis, dental and firefighting equipment, water tankers, milk- and yogurt-production equipment, vaccines for children, flour milling contracts, wheelbarrows, toilet paper, the list goes on and on. Images of mal-nourished and dead kids flood the Arab world.
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