In the 50s, every Arab seemed to be a pan-Arabist. The Hashemites offered a traditional Kingdom structure. Nasser showed how to tell off the west and live to tell about it. In Iraq and Syria, a pan-Arabist, socialist and secular Ba’ath movement offered an alternative. Pan of course means come together though and how does that happen when everyone keeps getting assassinated. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.
Here we have the new emblem of the new Republic of Iraq. It is trying to be hopeful and is somewhat in the United Nations style. Prime Minister Qasim came into office promising Pan Arabism, oil nationalization, and socialist reforms. This stamp tries to build that spirit. The King and his ministers were dead and many were happy about it. However some more ministers would soon also be dead and the same people will be happy about that as well.
Todays stamp is issue A58, a 1 Fils stamp issued by the Republic of Iraq in 1959. It was part of a 16 stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used. The official overprint adds nothing to the value.
In 1958, the young King Faisal II achieved a measure of pan Arabism by entering a federation with Jordan. They were also putting pressure on Kuwait to join. Arab youth had been given hope by the collapse of colonialism and the Hashemites were just not what they had in mind. A troop movement was cover for an unopposed military coup that saw the Royal Family assassinated in the palace’s courtyard. The unloved Prime Minister tried to escape dressed as a women but with men’s shoes. He was discovered, and killed and buried. Then he was dug up, burned, hung, and then run over by a Baghdad city bus until there was nothing left. Not taking a hint, a former Coronel name Qasim declared himself Prime Minister.
Qasim’s agenda in power turned out to be more socialist the pan-Arabist. The federation with Jordan was over, oil was nationalized, women were given rights, and polygamy and early marriage was banned. Land reform was started and much low income housing was built in the cities. He was not willing to turn over sovereignty to Nasser’s Egypt and join a United Arab Republic. It is after all difficult to join an oil rich country with a poor one. It is just a formula for rich to poor wealth transfer that you can’t expect the rich one to look forward to.
Citing lack of progress in pan Arabist goals, there was another coup in 1963. This one was fought tooth and nail until Qasim offered to give in in exchange for safe passage out of the country. This was reneged upon and there was a televised show trial culminating in Qasim’s being shot. The next guy also reneged on his previous pan-Arabist goals and just to spice things up, his plane was tampered with and he died in a plane crash. He had managed to take away the new rights of women. After all this the Ba’ath party movement took power that it would hold till 2003. that does not mean the intrique ended but from now on it was within the party. Pan-Arabist ambitions would now be persused by force of arms.
Qasim is slightly better remembered in Iraq than some of the other pan-Arabist heroes. There is a new statue to him as of 2007 and when his remains were discovered in 2006 they were not desecrated.
Well my drink is empty and Iraq is just to rough a place to toast anyone. Maybe losers get the leaders they deserve. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.