US Plots Against Gen Qasim

In 1958, a group called the Free Officers overthrew the Iraqi monarchy. Its two leaders were General Abd al-Karim Qasim who commanded an army unit in Baghdad and Colonel Abd al-Salam Arif who was stationed in Jalawla, Diyala. The United States was caught completely by surprise. No one knew who the two soldiers were. What they did know was that Gamal Abdel Nasser’s pan-Arab radio station welcomed the coup. The CIA thought that the Free Officers were either pro-Nasser or worse were directed by the Soviets in a Communist attempt to enter the Middle East. Washington’s fears appeared to be realized because Colonel Arif was pro-Egyptian and General Qasim turned to Moscow for weapons and aligned with the Iraqi Communist Party. As a result, the CIA launched two plans to undermine Qasim . The first was sending a handkerchief laced with a substance in 1960 that was meant to incapacitate the general, which failed. Later, the Agency began sending weapons to the Kurds who started a rebellion against the government in 1961. In 1963, Qasim was killed in a coup led by the army and Baath Party that many believed was supported by the CIA.