Word: iraq
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...Unity between Syria and Iraq will become the axis for a strong, unified-Arab policy," declares Syria's Information Minister Ahmed Iskander, 35. "We have gone far beyond a first step." The Iraqis clearly agree. "By the will of God," says Iraq's Vice Chairman Saddam Hussein Takriti, "the unity between our two countries will be made permanent." The negotiations are proceeding, adds an excited Foreign Ministry official in Baghdad, "like a rocket to the moon...
Syria and Iraq have been enemies for years, ruled by feuding wings of the Baathist Party. So they surprised just about everybody in the Middle East when they announced that they were seriously thinking of merging into one unified state...
Under the plan, Syria and Iraq would share their oil and water, and would unite their military establishments into a force of 440,000 troops, 4,500 tanks and more than 730 combat aircraft. The Defense, Foreign and Information ministries of the two governments would also be united, and the presidency would rotate every six months between Damascus and Baghdad...
...political logic to the merger. The militant Arab states, and even many of the more moderate ones, were badly shaken by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat's peace initiative. With Egypt neutralized, they would have a hard time presenting a credible threat to Israel. But a united Syria and Iraq, acting with the cooperation of Jordan and Saudi Arabia, would constitute what one Jerusalem official calls "a serious military defense problem along our northern borders." Moreover, the governments of Syria and Iraq are worried about the current upheaval in Iran and the rising militancy of Iran...
...merger plan represents more of a turnaround for Iraq, a country that for 20 years has been a kind of odd-man-out in the Arab world...