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{{Short description|1963 pro-Nasserist coup in the Iraqi Ba'ath Party}}
{{lead too short|date=June 2013}}
{{Infobox military conflict
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict = November 1963 Iraqi coup d'état
| conflict = November 1963 Iraqi coup d'état
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| caption =
| caption =
| date = 13–18 November 1963
| date = 13–18 November 1963
| place = {{flag icon|Iraq|1963}} [[History of Iraq (1958–1968)|Republic of Iraq]]
| place = [[History of Iraq (1958–1968)|Republic of Iraq]]
| coordinates = | map_type = | latitude = | longitude = | map_size = | map_caption =
| coordinates = | map_type = | map_size = | map_caption =
| result = {{ublist |Overthrow of [[Ba'ath Party]] government |Establishment of [[Arab Socialist Union (Iraq)|pro-Nasserist government]]}}
| result = {{ublist |Overthrow of [[Ba'ath Party]] government |Establishment of [[Arab Socialist Union (Iraq)|pro-Nasserist government]]}}
| combatant1 = {{ublist|class=nowrap |{{flagicon image|Flag of the Ba'ath Party.svg}} [[Ba'ath Party|Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party]] |{{flagicon image|Flag of the Ba'ath Party.svg}} [[Ba'ath Party|Ba'ath National Guard Militia]]}}
| combatant1 = {{flag icon|Iraq|1963}}{{flagicon image|Flag of the Ba'ath Party.svg}} [[Ba'athists]]
| combatant2 = {{flagicon image|Flag of Egypt without eagle.svg}} [[Nasserism|Nasserists]]
| combatant2 = {{ublist|class=nowrap |{{flag icon|Iraq|1963}} Pro-Nasserists |{{flag icon|Iraq|1963}} [[Iraqi Armed Forces]]}} '''Supported by:'''<br>{{flag|United States}}
| commander1 = {{nowrap|{{flagicon image|Flag of the Ba'ath Party.svg}} [[Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr]]}}
| commander1 = {{nowrap|{{flagicon image|Flag of the Ba'ath Party.svg}} [[Ali Salih al-Sa'di]]}}
| commander2 = {{ublist|class=nowrap |{{flag icon|Iraq|1963}} [[Abdul Salam Arif]] |{{flag icon|Iraq|1963}} [[Abdul Rahman Arif]]}}
| commander2 = {{ublist|class=nowrap |{{flagicon image|Flag of Egypt without eagle.svg}} [[Abdul Salam Arif]] |{{flagicon image|Flag of Egypt without eagle.svg}} [[Abdul Rahman Arif]]}}
| strength1 = {{nowrap|34,000 National Guard milita}}
| strength1 = {{nowrap|34,000 National Guard militia}}
| strength2 =
| strength2 =
| casualties1 = | casualties2 =
| casualties1 = | casualties2 =
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{{Ba'athism sidebar}}
{{Ba'athism sidebar}}


The '''November 1963 Iraqi coup d'état''' took place between November 13 and November 18, 1963 when, following internal party divisions, pro-[[Nasserism|Nasserist]] Iraqi officers led a military coup within the [[Ba'ath Party]].
The '''November 1963 Iraqi coup d'état''' took place between November 13 and November 18, 1963, when, following internal party divisions, pro-[[Nasserism|Nasserist]] Iraqi officers led a military coup within the [[Ba'ath Party]]. Although the coup itself was bloodless, 250 people were killed in related actions.<ref name="ucairaq"/>


The government subsequently lasted until the [[17 July Revolution]] in 1968.
Although the coup itself was bloodless, 250 people were killed in related action.<ref name="ucairaq"/>


== Background ==
== Background ==
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After seizing Iraqi state power in February 1963, divisions between pro and anti-Nasser Ba'ath leaders, as well as between right and left pan-Arab nationalist Ba'ath leaders led to the first Ba'ath government in Iraq's collapse in November 1963, while 7,000 Iraqi communists remained imprisoned.
After seizing Iraqi state power in February 1963, divisions between pro and anti-Nasser Ba'ath leaders, as well as between right and left pan-Arab nationalist Ba'ath leaders led to the first Ba'ath government in Iraq's collapse in November 1963, while 7,000 Iraqi communists remained imprisoned.


Qasim's former deputy [[Abdul Salam Arif]] (who was not a Ba'athist) was given the largely ceremonial title of President, while prominent Ba'athist general [[Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr]] was named prime minister. The most powerful leader of the new government was the secretary general of the [[Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region|Iraqi Ba'ath Party]], [[Ali Salih al-Sa'di]], who controlled the National Guard militia and organized a massacre of hundreds—if not thousands—of suspected communists and other dissidents following the coup.<ref>{{cite book|last=Gibson|first=Bryan R.|title=Sold Out? US Foreign Policy, Iraq, the Kurds, and the Cold War|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2015|isbn=978-1-137-48711-7|pages=59–60, 77}}</ref>
Although the presidency was occupied by [[Abdul Salam Arif]], a non-Ba'athist Arab nationalist and a member of the [[Homeland Officers' Organization]], most of the ministries were divided among Ba'athists. The virtual ruler of the country was the prime minister [[Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr]].


Ali Salih al-Sadi, Secretary General of the Regional Command of the Iraqi Ba'ath Party, supported a union with Syria, while the more conservative military wing supported Qasim's "Iraq first policy". Factionalism, coupled with the ill-disciplined behaviour of the National Guard, led the military wing to initiate a coup against the party's leadership; al-Sadi was forced into exile in Spain. al-Bakr, in an attempt to save the party, called for a meeting of the National Command of the Ba'ath Party. The meeting exacerbated the Party's problems. Aflaq, who saw himself as the leader of the pan-Arab Ba'athist movement, declared his intent to take control of the Iraqi Ba'ath Party. The "Iraq first" wing was outraged, President Arif lost patience with the Ba'ath, and the Party was ousted from government on 18 November 1963. The 12 Ba'ath members of government were forced to resign and the National Guard replaced by the [[Republican Guard (Iraq)|Republican Guard]].<ref name="Coughlin p.44-46">{{cite book |author=[[Con Coughlin|Coughlin, Con]] |pages=44–46 |title=Saddam: His Rise and Fall |location= |publisher=[[Harper Perennial]] |year=2005 |isbn=0-06-050543-5}}</ref>
al-Sa'di supported a union with Syria, while the more conservative military wing supported Qasim's "Iraq first policy". Factionalism, coupled with the ill-disciplined behaviour of the National Guard, led the military wing to initiate a coup against the party's leadership; al-Sadi was forced into exile in Spain.<ref>"Revolt Fails In Iraq— Palace Hit; Former Aide Flees Nation", ''Salt Lake Tribune'' (Salt Lake City, UT), November 14, 1963, p1, p10</ref> al-Bakr, in an attempt to save the party, called for a meeting of the [[National Command of the Ba'ath Party]]. The meeting exacerbated the Party's problems. [[Michel Aflaq]], who saw himself as the leader of the pan-Arab Ba'athist movement, declared his intent to take control of the Iraqi Ba'ath Party. The "Iraq first" wing was outraged, President Arif lost patience with the Ba'ath, and the Party was ousted from government on 18 November 1963. The 12 Ba'ath members of government were forced to resign and the National Guard replaced by the [[Republican Guard (Iraq)|Republican Guard]].<ref name="Coughlin p.44-46">{{cite book |author=Coughlin, Con |author-link=Con Coughlin |pages=[https://archive.org/details/saddam00conc/page/44 44–46] |title=Saddam: His Rise and Fall |publisher=[[Harper Perennial]] |year=2005 |isbn=0-06-050543-5 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/saddam00conc/page/44 }}</ref>


== Coup ==
== Coup ==
On Tuesday, November 12, al-Sadi and 18 of his Ba'ath Party colleagues were seized at gunpoint and flown to Madrid. The next day, without mentioning al-Sadi, Radio Baghdad announced that the ruling Ba'athist Party was now led by a 15-member council headed by al-Bakr. A few minutes before 11:00, the radio went off the air and fighter jets, large crowds of al-Sadi supporters demonstrated in Baghdad, and planes strafed the Presidential Palace in Baghdad. By the afternoon, Prime Minister al-Bakr's forces had reclaimed control, gun point and flown to Madrid.<ref>"Revolt Fails In Iraq— Palace Hit; Former Aide Flees Nation", ''Salt Lake Tribune'' (Salt Lake City, UT), November 14, 1963, p1, p10</ref> The next evening in Madrid, al-Sadi announced that eight of the new Ba'ath leaders had been ousted and flown to Beirut, and that al-Sadi would return to Baghdad with Syrian Ba'athists.<ref>"Iraq Ousts 8 Leaders Of Its Coup— Exiled Strongman Due Back From Spain in Bewildering Twist", ''Bridgeport (CT) Telegram'', November 15, 1963</ref> By Monday, November 18, November 18, Iraqi president [[Abdul Salam Arif]], his brother, Brigade General [[Abdul Rahman Arif]] and their Iraqi Army supporters suppressed the Ba'ath National Guard Militia (which had increased in size from 5,000 to 34,000 between February and August 1963) and bombed the Ba'ath National Guard Milita headquarters, and removed al-Bakr as Premier; al-Sadi was not included in the new council and remained in exile.<ref>"Iraq's President Stages Coup, Claims Control— Forms New Council, Nips Socialist Camp", ''Salt Lake Tribune'', November 18, 1963, p1</ref>
On Tuesday, November 12, al-Sadi and 18 of his Ba'ath Party colleagues were seized at gunpoint and flown to Madrid. The next day, without mentioning al-Sadi, Radio Baghdad announced that the ruling Ba'athist Party was now led by a 15-member council headed by al-Bakr. A few minutes before 11:00, the radio went off the air and fighter jets strafed the Presidential Palace in Baghdad; large crowds of al-Sadi supporters demonstrated in Baghdad. By the afternoon, Prime Minister al-Bakr's forces had reclaimed control. The next evening in Madrid, al-Sadi announced that eight of the new Ba'ath leaders had been ousted and flown to Beirut, and that al-Sadi would return to Baghdad with Syrian Ba'athists.<ref>"Iraq Ousts 8 Leaders Of Its Coup— Exiled Strongman Due Back From Spain in Bewildering Twist", ''Bridgeport (CT) Telegram'', November 15, 1963</ref> By Monday, November 18, Iraqi president Abdul Salam Arif, his brother, Brigade General [[Abdul Rahman Arif]] and their Iraqi Army supporters suppressed the Ba'ath National Guard Militia (which had increased in size from 5,000 to 34,000 between February and August 1963) and bombed the Ba'ath National Guard Militia headquarters while other senior officers and supporters of Abdul Salam Arif, such as [[Khaleel Jassim|Khaleel Jassim AlDabbagh]], [[Saeed Hamo]], [[Abdul Aziz Al Aqili]] and [[Younis Atar Bashi]] took control of the fourth and third divisions and suppressed the Ba'ath National Guard Militia in [[Mosul]] and [[Karkuk]]. Then he removed al-Bakr as Premier; al-Sadi was not included in the new council and remained in exile.<ref>"Iraq's President Stages Coup, Claims Control— Forms New Council, Nips Socialist Camp", ''Salt Lake Tribune'', November 18, 1963, p1</ref>


As a result, the first Ba'ath government was overthrown and a new, pro-Nasserist government was established with Abdul Salam Arif as Head of State.
As a result, the first Ba'ath government was overthrown and a new, pro-Nasserist government was established with Abdul Salam Arif as Head of State. The [[Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region|Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party of Iraq]] was banned, along with all other political parties, and the [[Arab Socialist Union (Iraq)|Arab Socialist Union of Iraq]] was declared the only legal party in the [[Iraqi Republic (1958–1968)|Iraqi Republic]].

==American Involvement==

In February 1960, the United States planned a coup against the government of [[Iraq]] headed by Prime Minister [[Abd al-Karim Qasim]], who two years earlier had deposed the Western-allied Iraqi monarchy. Qasim's rule has been described as authoritarian and dictatorial. The U.S. was concerned about the growing influence of [[Iraqi Communist Party]] government officials under his administration, as well as his threats to invade [[Kuwait]], which almost caused a war between Iraq and Britain.

According to the [[Church Committee]], the CIA planned a "special operation" to "incapacitate" an Iraqi Colonel believed to be "promoting Soviet bloc political interests in Iraq." The aim was to send Qasim a poisoned handkerchief, "which, while not likely to result in total disablement, would be certain to prevent the target from pursuing his usual activities for a minimum of three months." During the course of the Committee's investigation, the CIA stated that the handkerchief was "in fact never received (if, indeed, sent)." It added that the colonel: "Suffered a terminal illness before a firing squad in Baghdad (an event we had nothing to do with) after our handkerchief proposal was considered."

Qasim was killed on 8 February 1963 by a firing squad of the [[Ba'ath]] party in collaboration with Iraqi nationalists and members of the [[Arab Socialist Union (Iraq)|Arab Socialist Union]], in what came to be known as the [[Ramadan Revolution]]. Of the 16 members of Qasim's cabinet, 12 of them were Ba'ath Party members; however, the party turned against Qasim due to his refusal to join [[Gamel Abdel Nasser]]'s United Arab Republic.<ref name="iraqfirst">{{cite book | author = [[Con Coughlin|Coughlin, Con]] | pages = 24–25 | title = Saddam: His Rise and Fall | location = | publisher = [[Harper Perennial]] | year = 2005 | isbn = 0-06-050543-5}}</ref> Washington immediately befriended the successor regime. "Almost certainly a gain for our side," [[Robert Komer]], a National Security Council aide, wrote to President Kennedy on the day of the takeover.<ref>{{citation
| chapter = C. Institutionalizing Assassination: the "Executive Action" capability
| title = Alleged Assassination Plots involving Foreign Leaders
| author = Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
| date = 20 November 1975
| url = http://history-matters.com/archive/church/reports/ir/contents.htm
| page = 181
}}</ref> The Ba'ath Party was subsequently purged from the government in the November 1963 Iraqi coup d'état after the Ba'athist Prime Minister, [[Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr]], attempted to seize power from the U.S.-backed President, [[Abdul Salam Arif]].

Writing in his memoirs of the 1963 coup, long time OSS and CIA intelligence analyst Harry Rositzke presented it as an example of one on which they had good intelligence in contrast to others that caught the agency by surprise. The overthrow "was forecast in exact detail by CIA agents." "Agents in the Ba’th Party headquarters in Baghdad had for years kept Washington au courant on the party’s personnel and organization, its secret communications and sources of funds, and its penetrations of military and civilian hierarchies in several countries.... CIA sources were in a perfect position to follow each step of Ba’th preparations for the Iraqi coup, which focused on making contacts with military and civilian leaders in Baghdad. The CIA’s major source, in an ideal catbird seat, reported the exact time of the coup and provided a list of the new cabinet members.... To call an upcoming coup requires the CIA to have sources within the group of plotters. Yet, from a diplomatic point of view, having secret contacts with plotters implies at least unofficial complicity in the plot."<ref>Harry Rositzke, The CIA’s Secret Operations: Espionage, Counterespionage, and Covert Action (Boulder, CO: 1977), 109–110.</ref>

Qasim was aware of U.S. complicity in the plot and continually denounced the U.S. in public. The [[U.S. Department of State]] was worried that Qasim would harass U.S. diplomats in Iraq because of this. The CIA was aware of many plots in Iraq in 1962, not just the one that succeeded.<ref>Kennedy Library, "Telegram from Department of State to Embassy Baghdad of February 5, 1963," National Security Files, Countries, Box 117, Iraq 1/63-2/63.</ref>

The best direct evidence that the U.S. was complicit is the memo from Komer to President Kennedy on February 8, 1963. The last paragraph reads:
"We will make informal friendly noises as soon as we can find out whom to talk with, and ought to recognize as soon as we’re sure these guys are firmly in the saddle. CIA had excellent reports on the plotting, but I doubt either they or UK should claim much credit for it."<ref>JFK Library, Memorandum for The President from Robert W. Komer, February 8, 1963 (JFK, NSF, Countries, Iraq, Box 117, "Iraq 1/63-2/63", document 18), p. 1.</ref>


== See also ==
== See also ==
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*[[List of modern conflicts in the Middle East]]
*[[List of modern conflicts in the Middle East]]


== Notes ==
==Notes==
{{reflist|30em}}
{{Reflist|30em}}


{{Ba'ath Party}}
<!--More specific to more general:-->
{{Protests in Iraq}}{{Arab nationalism}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:November 1963 Iraqi coup d'etat}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:1963 11 Iraqi coup d'etat}}
[[Category:1960s coups d'état and coup attempts|Iraq]]
[[Category:1960s coups d'état and coup attempts|Iraq]]
[[Category:1963 in Iraq]]
[[Category:1963 in Iraq]]
[[Category:Arab nationalism in Iraq]]
[[Category:Arab nationalism in Iraq]]
[[Category:Ba'ath Party]]
[[Category:Arab nationalist rebellions]]
⚫
[[Category:Ba'athism]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1963]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1963]]
[[Category:History of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region]]
[[Category:Military coups in Iraq]]
[[Category:Military coups in Iraq]]
⚫
[[Category:Nasserism]]
[[Category:Rebellions in Iraq]]
[[Category:Rebellions in Iraq]]
[[Category:1960s in Baghdad]]
[[Category:Political violence in Baghdad]]
[[Category:Egypt–Iraq relations]]

Latest revision as of 10:53, 8 December 2024

November 1963 Iraqi coup d'état
Part of the Arab Cold War
Date13–18 November 1963
Location
Republic of Iraq
Result
Belligerents
Iraq Ba'athists Nasserists
Commanders and leaders
Ali Salih al-Sa'di
Strength
34,000 National Guard militia
Casualties and losses
250 killed[1]
Part of a series on
Ba'athism
Flag of the Ba'ath Party
Organizations
Arab Ba'ath1940–1947
Arab Ba'ath Movement1940–1947
Ba'ath Party1947–1966
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Baath Party (pro-Syrian)1966–2024
Variants
Neo-Ba'athism1966–2024
Saddamism1979–2003
People
Literature
History
Regional organizations
Algeria
Bahrain
Egypt
Iraq
Jordan
Kuwait
Lebanon
Libya
Mauritania
Palestine
Sudan
Syria
Tunisia
Yemen
Splinter groups
Arab Socialist Revolutionary Ba'ath Party1960–1962/63
Socialist Lebanon1965–1970
Arab Revolutionary Workers Party1966–present
Democratic Socialist Arab Ba'ath Party1970–present
Sudanese Ba'ath Party2002–present
Armed groups
Related topics

The November 1963 Iraqi coup d'état took place between November 13 and November 18, 1963, when, following internal party divisions, pro-Nasserist Iraqi officers led a military coup within the Ba'ath Party. Although the coup itself was bloodless, 250 people were killed in related actions.[1]

The government subsequently lasted until the 17 July Revolution in 1968.

Background

[edit]
Main article: Ramadan Revolution

After seizing Iraqi state power in February 1963, divisions between pro and anti-Nasser Ba'ath leaders, as well as between right and left pan-Arab nationalist Ba'ath leaders led to the first Ba'ath government in Iraq's collapse in November 1963, while 7,000 Iraqi communists remained imprisoned.

Qasim's former deputy Abdul Salam Arif (who was not a Ba'athist) was given the largely ceremonial title of President, while prominent Ba'athist general Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr was named prime minister. The most powerful leader of the new government was the secretary general of the Iraqi Ba'ath Party, Ali Salih al-Sa'di, who controlled the National Guard militia and organized a massacre of hundreds—if not thousands—of suspected communists and other dissidents following the coup.[2]

al-Sa'di supported a union with Syria, while the more conservative military wing supported Qasim's "Iraq first policy". Factionalism, coupled with the ill-disciplined behaviour of the National Guard, led the military wing to initiate a coup against the party's leadership; al-Sadi was forced into exile in Spain.[3] al-Bakr, in an attempt to save the party, called for a meeting of the National Command of the Ba'ath Party. The meeting exacerbated the Party's problems. Michel Aflaq, who saw himself as the leader of the pan-Arab Ba'athist movement, declared his intent to take control of the Iraqi Ba'ath Party. The "Iraq first" wing was outraged, President Arif lost patience with the Ba'ath, and the Party was ousted from government on 18 November 1963. The 12 Ba'ath members of government were forced to resign and the National Guard replaced by the Republican Guard.[4]

Coup

[edit]

On Tuesday, November 12, al-Sadi and 18 of his Ba'ath Party colleagues were seized at gunpoint and flown to Madrid. The next day, without mentioning al-Sadi, Radio Baghdad announced that the ruling Ba'athist Party was now led by a 15-member council headed by al-Bakr. A few minutes before 11:00, the radio went off the air and fighter jets strafed the Presidential Palace in Baghdad; large crowds of al-Sadi supporters demonstrated in Baghdad. By the afternoon, Prime Minister al-Bakr's forces had reclaimed control. The next evening in Madrid, al-Sadi announced that eight of the new Ba'ath leaders had been ousted and flown to Beirut, and that al-Sadi would return to Baghdad with Syrian Ba'athists.[5] By Monday, November 18, Iraqi president Abdul Salam Arif, his brother, Brigade General Abdul Rahman Arif and their Iraqi Army supporters suppressed the Ba'ath National Guard Militia (which had increased in size from 5,000 to 34,000 between February and August 1963) and bombed the Ba'ath National Guard Militia headquarters while other senior officers and supporters of Abdul Salam Arif, such as Khaleel Jassim AlDabbagh, Saeed Hamo, Abdul Aziz Al Aqili and Younis Atar Bashi took control of the fourth and third divisions and suppressed the Ba'ath National Guard Militia in Mosul and Karkuk. Then he removed al-Bakr as Premier; al-Sadi was not included in the new council and remained in exile.[6]

As a result, the first Ba'ath government was overthrown and a new, pro-Nasserist government was established with Abdul Salam Arif as Head of State. The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party of Iraq was banned, along with all other political parties, and the Arab Socialist Union of Iraq was declared the only legal party in the Iraqi Republic.

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Iraq (1932-present), Political Science Department, University of Central Arkansas.
  2. ^ Gibson, Bryan R. (2015). Sold Out? US Foreign Policy, Iraq, the Kurds, and the Cold War. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 59–60, 77. ISBN 978-1-137-48711-7.
  3. ^ "Revolt Fails In Iraq— Palace Hit; Former Aide Flees Nation", Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, UT), November 14, 1963, p1, p10
  4. ^ Coughlin, Con (2005). Saddam: His Rise and Fall. Harper Perennial. pp. 44–46. ISBN 0-06-050543-5.
  5. ^ "Iraq Ousts 8 Leaders Of Its Coup— Exiled Strongman Due Back From Spain in Bewildering Twist", Bridgeport (CT) Telegram, November 15, 1963
  6. ^ "Iraq's President Stages Coup, Claims Control— Forms New Council, Nips Socialist Camp", Salt Lake Tribune, November 18, 1963, p1
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