Word: baghdad
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...midnight press conference in Baghdad's Defense Ministry, Iraq's "sole leader,'' Major General Abdul Karim Kassem...
Relations between Mustafa and Kassim gradually worsened after the former's return to Iraq and in August, 1961, Mustafa led his followers into open revolt against the Baghdad government. During the fall and winter of that year he consolidated his position among the various Kurdish tribes, defeated tribal groups armed by Kassim, such as the Lolans and Harchis, and attacked government outposts in Western Iraq. Barzani's success led him to shift his guerrillas to the Eastern Front where he has consistently defeated Kassim's troops. The Kurds, whose total forces number between 12,000 and 15,000 men, have...
...present rate of advance might seem to indicate that Kassim has little chance of withstanding them, all is not in their favor. Barzani's guerrilla tactics, which have cost the Iraqi army forty men for each Kurdish casualty, will be much less effective on the open plains before Baghdad where Kassim can bring his armament into play. Moreover, Mustafa does not have enough men to occupy any sizable towns. The Iraqi air force is taking a rising toll of women and children through its attacks on Kurdish villages, and this pressure may hamper further Kurdish advance...
...revolt may have several disturbing consequences. First, it has weakened and will further weaken Kassim's regime, perhaps causing its eventual collapse. Were the Baghdad government to fall, a Communist or Communist-controlled regime might easily come to power. If Mullah Mustafa succeeds in creating an autonomous Iraqi Kurdish state, the three million Kurds in Turkey and Iran will probably wish to join him. Such a movement towards a larger independent Kurdistan would seriously disrupt the internal affairs of our closest allies. Moreover, any emerging Kurdish state will make an already seething Middle East even more unstable...
...that Kassem had made the charges only to cover up his inability to crush the Kurdish rebellion, was using them as a means to stir up new public support for his shaky government. But in a pointed warning to the Iraqis, the Turks last week ordered their ambassador in Baghdad back to Turkey "to complete his vacation period" and announced that the annual military maneuvers of the Turkish army would take place next month. Where? Along the Iraqi frontier, where a little sabre rattling might help the diplomats...