A People's History of Syria--Part 17: 1957 to 1961 Period

According to Albert Hourani’s foreword to Patrick Seale’s The Struggle for Syria, “the Anglo-American-Iraqi plan to overthrow the Syrian regime in 1957 broke down because the Syrian politicians who were supposed to carry it out proved unable to do so.” As Trinity University Professor of Middle East History David Lesch observed in his Syria and The United States book:

“The covert operation was apparently masterminded by the second secretary to the American legation in Damascus, Howard Stone, who had become somewhat notorious for his role in similar activities in Iran, Guatemala, and the Sudan. Reportedly, the objective was to return Colonel Adib al-Shishakli and his associate Colonel Ibrahim al-Hussayai to power…Among the Syrians Stone had recruited were several officers who…upon hearing about the details of the plot decided to divulge its contents to Syrian intelligence…”

So after an Aug. 6, 1957 announcement by a Syrian government delegation of “an external economic agreement with the Soviet Union,” the Syrian government “announced” on Aug. 12, 1957 that “it had uncovered an American plot to overthrow the regime” according to the same book.

Following the failure of the CIA’s apparent plot to install a pro-U.S. government regime in Syria in 1957, the anti-imperialist Syrian nationalist regime—with the support of the Syrian Communist Party—united with Nasser’s anti-imperialist, neutralist Egyptian regime on Feb. 1, 1958 to form the United Arab Republic. But apparently the Nasser regime then attempted to exercise too much control over Syria’s internal political life when it was part of the United Arab Republic. As Dilip Hiro observed in his Holy Wars: The Rise of Islamic Fundamentalism, when Syria joined Egypt in early 1958 to form the United Arab Republic [UAR], “the ban on political parties in Egypt”—including the Baath Party—“was extended to Syria;” and, in addition, Nasser’s UAR regime nationalized certain Syrian business firms and was accused of trying to dominate Syria’s economy.  

According to an essay by Joseph Bahout, titled “The Syrian Business Community, its Politics and Prospects,” that appeared in the 1994 book Contemporary Syria, which Eberhard Kienle edited, “the rural landed and urban `aristocracy’…virtually ruled Syria from the mid-19^th century until the late 1950s,” but “nationalizations first began in 1958, with the setting up of the United Arab Republic under the leadership of Nasser’s Egypt.”

So, not surprisingly, on Sept. 19, 1961 a Lt. Colonel in the Syrian military named Abd al-Karim al-Nahlawi led a rightist military coup which withdrew Syria from the Nasser regime’s United Arab Republic and restored Syrian parliamentary rule in Syria and Syrian political independence. As Alan George’s Syria: Neither Bread nor Freedom noted:

“The UAR disintegrated…because of a rightist military coup in Damascus...The putsch was backed by Saudi Arabia and Jordan, and by a well-to-do Syrian business community jolted by the nationalization decrees of July 1961…”

(end of part 17)

A People's History of Syria--Part 15: 1953 to 1954 Period

On July 4, 1953, “representatives of all” Syrian political “parties and groups hostile to Syrian military dictator Shishakli met secretly” and “put their signatures to a National Pact which was, in effect, a pledge to bring the” Syrian “dictator down,” according to Patrick Seale’s The Struggle For Syria.

But on July. 10, 1953, Shishakli was still elected president of the Syrian republic, following “a referendum in which a new Syrian constitution was approved by a large majority (primarily because the opposition parties boycotted the referendum and the fact that Shishakli supporters `stuffed’ the ballot boxes),” according to David Lesch’s Syria and The United States; and on Oct. 9, 1953 general elections were held for the Syrian parliament which were described “as being held…with the rigging of voters.” And, as a result, “Shishakli felt secure enough in his position to allow a certain amount of freedom of the press and initiate democratic reform” so that “anti-Shishakli criticism surfaced in certain sections of the” Syrian “press, in pamphlets distributed throughout the country, and at organized meetings,” according to the same book.

Anti-Shishakli student protests then soon broke out in Aleppo in early December 1953. As Syria and The United States recalled:

“The growing opposition to Shishakli manifested itself in December 1953, when there occurred violent student demonstrations against the regime in Damascus and Aleppo. The Syrian University was closed down in January 1954 for fear of further disturbances. The opposition press attacked the regime for its dealings with the Zionists and the `creators of the Zionist state,’ the United States and Britain…”

But on Feb. 25, 1954, Shishakli (who had previously deposited his money in a foreign bank account) was overthrown in a military coup and allowed to go into exile. As Syria and The United States observed:

“The Syrian president [Shishakli] was overthrown by a group of…officers, led by Colonel `Adnan al-Malki, in a bloodless coup on Feb. 25, 1954. This section of the army had become dissatisfied with Shishakli’s arbitrary dismissals and transfers, as well as the totalitarian manner in which he was running the military and civilian bureaucracies…Some of the officers had family ties with the civilian politicians who were ordered arrested by Shishakli at the end of January…in his attempt to crackdown on the opposition.”

After the Feb. 25, 1954 Syrian military coup that overthrew the undemocratic Shishakli regime, according to the same book, the following then happened in Syria:

“Agreement was reached among the leaders of the political parties to revert to the constitution of 1950, dissolve the Shishakli parliament, and install Hashim al-Atassi, as president, a position from which he had been removed by Shishakli in December of 1951. A right-wing coalition government of Nationalists and Populists was formed on March 1 [1954] led by Prime Minister Sabri al-Assali, and the holding of parliamentary elections was promised.”

But according to Syria and The United States, this “Assali coalition” government “was weak and divided, and in reality, subservient to the pro-Baathist army faction led by Colonel ‘Adnan al-Maliki, who led the coup against Shishakli;” and, “the Baath” was associated “with various elements of the Syrian army, which would soon become the final political arbiter in the country.” So on June 19, 1954 the “Assali regime in Syria was replaced” by a non-partisan government led by Said al-Ghazzi,” according to the same book; and in September 1954 members of Syria’s parliament were chosen by Syrian voters in a free, democratic election.

(end of part 15)

A People's History of Syria--Part 14: 1949 to 1953 Period

According to Patrick Seale’s The Struggle for Syria, Husni al-Za’im (who had been the Syrian Army’s Chief of Staff--although just a colonel prior to his Mar. 29-30, 1949 coup) was initially “supported by a handful of nationalist officers and radical politicians” in Syria; and apparently al-Za’im’s March 1949 military coup was also supported by the Democratic Truman Administration. As David Lesch’s Syria and The United States noted, “the United States intervened in Syria in early 1949 to place an individual in power who American officials admitted was a `Banana Republic dictator type’ who `did not have the competence of a French corporal’ but did have a `strong anti-Soviet attitude’ and showed he was willing to talk peace with Israel;” and “in assisting General Husni al-Zai’im to overthrow the discredited Shukri al-Quwatli regime in March 1949, the United States felt it was riding a wave of popular discontent in Syria.”

The same book also observed that “Za’im was all and more of what the United States thought he could be” and “he concluded an armistice agreement with Israel.., approved the TAPLINE (Trans-Arabian Oil Pipeline) concession which transported ARAMCO (Arab-American Oil Company) oil from Saudi Arabia to the Mediterranean, cracked down on communists and leftists in Syria, and displayed a willingness to accept American military assistance…”

According to The Struggle For Syria, “to seize power, Za’im had harnessed the resentment of a group of nationalist officers” and “`Palestine’ had been the magic slogan with which he had won the dissident army to his cause.” Yet after the French government whose troops had occupied Syria until 1946 also expressed support for Za’im’s new regime in early April 1949, “the eagerness with which Zai’m” then “sought to conclude an armistice” with the Israeli government “came as a shock to his entourage,” who also thought “his alliance with the French was too blatant,” according to the same book.

In addition, after Za’im’s new Syrian military coup regime began formal talks with the Israeli government in April 1949, “most sources agree that the” then-monarchist but still anti-Zionist “Iraq government, displeased with Za’im’s attitude…and impatient to see established in Damascus a government more friendly to itself, was ready to bring him down,” according to The Struggle For Syria; and the then-monarchist Iraqi government got “in touch with a group of Syrian officers and politicians who included the commander of the First Brigade, Colonel Sami al-Hinnawi,” according to the same book.

So, not surprisingly, the following happened in August 1949 in Damascus, a week after “Colonel Hinnawi moved” a column of his troops “within 20 miles of Damascus, on the pretext that the armoured cars, recently withdrawn from the first [brigade], needed servicing,” according to The Struggle For Syria:

“…A few hours before dawn on Aug. 14 1949, the column moved on the capital…Small detachments of 2 or 3 vehicles made for the houses of Prime Minister…and police headquarters.., radio station, and central bank. Lt. Fadlallah Abu Mansar led a task force of 6 armored cars…to the presidential residence…Fadlallah shot his way in and confronted Za’im in pajamas in the hall…Za’im was bundled into an armored car…The High Command had sentenced [Syrian President] Za’im and [then-Syrian prime minister Mashind] Barazi to death…They were then shot and the news of the coup was announced to the public.”

But on Dec. 19, 1949, another Syrian colonel named Adib al-Shishakli “engineered the third coup’d’etat within a year,” according to Syria and the United States; and “there is some indication that the United States might have encouraged Shishakli’s coup, although it is not yet known what role, if any, it played.” And after December 1949, “Shishakli chose to rule behind the throne (manipulating 7 different civilian cabinets in the next 23 months) until late 1951, when he came out in the open and established a military dictatorship,” according to the same book. As The Struggle For Syria observed:

“…Adib al-Shishakli…was the dominant…influence on Syrian affairs from his first coup in December 1949 to his fall in February 1954…Shishakli’s rule made the Syrian army an unashamedly political instrument…

“To quell any opposition, the Government in mid-January 1952 ordered the dissolution of the Syrian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, closing its offices and schools throughout the country. Similar repressive measures were taken against Faysal al-`Aval’s Socialist Cooperative Party. Civil servants and trade unionists were prohibited from taking part in political activity, a measure which was followed in April [1952] by a general ban on all political parties…Shishakli had, within 6 months, set up a highly centralized dictatorship, silencing his critics by traditional police methods…”

So, not surprisingly, an unsuccessful attempt was made in December 1952 to overthrow Shishakli in another military coup that was “allegedly initiated” by the anti-imperialist, socialist, non-communist, pan-Arab nationalist Baath party leaders, Salah al-Din Biter and Michel Afleq, according to David Lesch’s Syria and The United States; and “by the beginning of 1953 Shishakli was still without any significant organized political support,” according to the same book.

(end of part 14)