Word: iraqis
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...control of forces loyal to Ayatullah Seyed Kazem Sharietmadari, Khomeini's chief rival (see following story). Late in the week, local air force and army units joined in a huge demonstration in favor of Sharietmadari in Tabriz (pop. 500,000), capital of East Azerbaijan province. In addition, Iraqi forces firing heavy artillery attacked an Iranian border post; Tehran Radio said several people were killed before the Iraqis withdrew...
Winter is descending on the Iraqi capital, or so they claim in the coffeehouses on Saadun Street, even though the afternoon temperature hovers above 90°. After comments on the weather, conversations with leather-faced Iraqi peasants, sipping lemon tea or sweet Turkish coffee, or with natty young chain-smoking bureaucrats from nearby ministries turn these days to politics. That means the ascendancy of Saddam Hussein, who has moved decisively to strengthen his grip on the country...
Aided by oil revenues that are expected to hit $20 billion this year, the Iraqi government has decreed free medical services and free education and launched an impressive campaign to stamp out illiteracy, with fines and jail terms for those between 15 and 45 who refuse to learn to read and write. There are also notable failures. Agricultural production has lagged, despite huge irrigation and land-reclamation projects. Housewives frequently do without such basic foods as potatoes, onions or eggs. Baghdad is afflicted by urban sprawl, air pollution and strained water and electrical facilities...
Iraq's biggest problem is the threat that the Islamic revolution in Iran might spread to the Shi'ites who make up the bulk of the labor force in Iraqi oilfields. Last week Baghdad withdrew from a 1975 peace agreement with Iran that had ended three years of border hostilities, presumably because Iraq now believes the power relationship between the two countries has been reversed. The implication of the move is that Saddam Hussein, despite his problems, is feeling very confident these days...
...good news. The Jordanians, emboldened by our moves and by the fact that the Syrian air force (under a general named Hafez Assad) pointedly stayed out of combat, were beginning to attack Syrian tanks around Irbid from the air. The estimate was that Syria had lost 120 tanks. The Iraqi forces [17,000 of them were still encamped in east Jordan three years after the Six-Day War that had brought them there] remained inactive. Egypt informed us that the Soviets had made a serious effort to get Syria to reconsider its course in Jordan. Israeli forces on the Golan...