From The Ashes, Into The Fire - A 1936 Iraq DD AAR

[Elias Tarfarius]

From The Ashes

Into The Fire
A 1936 Iraq DD AAR
by
Elias Tarfarius

Baghdad
23.15 hours, 4.3.1939

The two men stood silent in the darkness on the roadside, looking at their work. Before them was a Rolls-Royce only slightly damaged by its run in with an electric column. In the vehicle lay the lifeless body of Ghazi I, second King of Iraq, sole son and heir of the great Faisal. Blood was now slowly running from the back of his head on to the floor of the vehicle.

“This is far too obvious, no one will believe that the King died in such a foolish way... I mean... he loved to drive fancy cars... it... it was one of his true passions. He always knew what he was doing... *stutters* This can only point to murder... regicide!” the shorter, more nervous man whispered to his partner.

“Calm yourself, Ahmed! What is done is done. Our success an only mean it was the will of God that this fool, our so-called 'king', be eliminated from the world and sent off to Paradise. What is there to question? The man is dead and no one can change that. Furthermore, our tickets to Cairo are waiting for us down the road. There are no culprits to blame... we shall get away 'scot-free' as the Englishmen say.” The taller man stared at his partner for a moment, hoping that his words had given Ahmed confidence in their mission. He then rose and stared to walk quickly down the road.

Ahmed leaped up and ran after the taller man, almost tripping over a rock as he grabbed him by the arm. “But we have killed him! We know that we have done this... this... wicked thing! Not all the money and the crafty escapes in the world can change that.”

The taller man became angry now, ripping his arm away from Ahmed's grasp. “Fool, Ghazi was an ingrate that let much evil befall this country in his time. Let the old, toothless women weep for him, because I will not... Never will I!! Your will is by far too weak for this. You might even confess!” The taller man laughed even as he reached into his pocket for his pen knife. “Perhaps it is better you joined your king in the afterlife, Ahmed.”

 

[Elias Tarfarius]

The Prologue - A New Country In An Old Land

The Prologue
*
A New Country In An Old Land

The Tides Of History​

Iraq, blessed land, cursed land... the Land between the Two Rivers, it was the cradle of civilized man. For 10,000 years Man had dwelt in that land and seen the greatest succession of kings, tyrants, empires, and barbarian horde that any part of the world had had to play host to.

The city-states of Sumer were followed up by the the Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian cultures, whose influence extended into neighboring regions as early as the 6th millennium before Christ. These civilizations produced the earliest writing and some of the first sciences, mathematics, laws and philosophies in the world, but all this did not prevent their fall. In the sixth century, the region became a part of the Persian Empire under Cyrus the Great for nearly 4 centuries, before it was conquered by Alexander the Great, remaining under Greek rule for nearly two centuries. Then came the steppe tribe of Iranian peoples called Parthians who annexed the region, followed by the Sassanid Persians for 9 centuries, until the 7th century and the advance of Islam.

Beginning in the seventh century AD, Islam spread to Iraq. The prophet Mohammed's cousin and son-in-law, Ali, moved his capital to Kufa "fi al-Iraq" when he became the fourth caliph. After the destruction of his line in a series of assassinations, and the collapse of the Syrian Umayyads, Baghdad was build as the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate in the eighth century. It became the leading city of the Arab and Muslim... nay, the world for five centuries.

Then came the Mongol horde of Hulegu and wiped it all away again. For the next 300 years, Iraq served often as the battleground between the great Sunni, Turkish empire and the Shiite, Persian one, finally settling into Ottoman hands by the mid-seventeenth century. From there on, Iraq suffered 300 years of Ottoman neglect and misrule, till the Great War.

The war in Mesopotamia was almost accidental in its scope. The British had no serious interest in this part of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman government lead by Enver Pasha didn't care much about it either, it ranked in priorities below the Caucasus Campaign and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign. Mesopotamia was also rather isolated from the rest of the Ottoman Empire. Although work had started on a Berlin to Baghdad Railroad as early as 1888, by the start of 1915 there were four gaps in the tracks and it took 21 days to travel from Constantinople to Baghdad.

The British interests were to protect their oil refinery at Abadan and to defend their allies in the area (Persia and Kuwait). Ottoman interests were to maintain the status quo. Yet, such disinterest by both power could only make for all the more bloody a campaign. The British lost 92,000 soldiers in the Mesopotamian campaign. Ottoman losses are unknown but the British captured a total of 45,000 prisoners of war. By the end of 1918 the British had deployed 410,000 men into the area.

 

[Lafayette53]

Looks like really good stuff! Good Luck!

 

[GeneralHannibal]

So this coup/regicide takes place before the war, interesting.

 

[unmerged(58579)]

Well written - really nice - and an Iraqi AAR - Great! - I will surely follow this!

 

[Elias Tarfarius]

The Prologue, continued

Emir Faisal's party at Versailles, during the Paris Peace Conference of 1919. At the center, from left to right: Rustum Haidar, Nuri as-Said, Prince Faisal, Captain Pisani (behind Faisal) T.E. Lawrence, Faisal's slave (name unknown), Captain Tahsin Qadri. In the three years Faisal would be proclaimed King of Greater Syria by his people, ousted by the French, and finally put on the new throne of Iraq by the British​

Mandate, Client State, But A Nation?​

The British Mandate of Iraq was a League of Nations 'Class A' mandate under Article 22 and entrusted to Britain when the Ottoman Empire was divided in 1919 by the Treaty of Versailles following World War I. This award was completed on April 25, 1920, at the Sanremo Conference in Italy.

France controlled the Mandates of Lebanon and Syria. Faisal ibn Husayn, who had been proclaimed king of Syria by a Syrian national congress in Damascus in March 1920, was ejected by the French in July of the same year. The civil government of postwar Iraq was headed originally by the high commissioner, Sir Percy Cox, and his deputy, Colonel Arnold Talbot Wilson. British reprisals after the murder of a British officer in An Najaf failed to restore order. British administration had yet to be established in the mountains of Kurdistan. From the Hakkari Mountains beyond Iraq's northern frontier and from the plains of Urmia in Iran, thousands of Assyrians began to pour into Iraqi territory seeking refuge from Turkish abuse. The most striking problem facing the British was the growing anger of the nationalists, who felt betrayed at being accorded mandate status. The nationalists soon came to view the mandate as a flimsy disguise for colonialism.

Three important anti-colonial secret societies had been formed in Iraq during 1918 and 1919. At An Najaf, Jamiyat an Nahda al Islamiya (The League of the Islamic Awakening) was organized. Al Jamiya al Wataniya al Islamiya (The Muslim National League) was formed with the object of organizing and mobilizing the population for major resistance. In February 1919, in Baghdad, a coalition of Shia merchants, Sunni teachers and civil servants, Sunni and Shia ulama, and Iraqi officers formed the Haras al Istiqlal (The Guardians of Independence). The Istiqlal had member groups in Karbala, An Najaf, Al Kut, and Al Hillah.

The grand mujtahid of Karbala, Imam Shirazi, and his son, Mirza Muhammad Riza, began to organize the insurgent effort. Shirazi then issued a fatwa (religious ruling), pointing out that it was against Islamic law for Muslims to countenance being ruled by non-Muslims, and he called for a jihad against the British. By July 1920, Mosul was in rebellion against British rule, and the insurrection moved south down the Euphrates River valley. The southern tribes, who cherished their long-held political autonomy, needed little inducement to join in the fray. They did not cooperate in an organized effort against the British, however, which limited the effect of the revolt. The country was in a state of anarchy for three months; the British restored order only with great difficulty and with the assistance of Royal Air Force bombers.

Ath Thawra al Iraqiyya al Kubra, or the Great Iraqi Revolution (as the 1920 rebellion is called), was a watershed event in contemporary Iraqi history. For the first time, Sunnis and Shias, tribes and cities, were brought together in a common effort. The building of a nation-state in Iraq always would depend upon the same two major factors: the integration of Shias and Sunnis into the new body politic and the successful resolution of the age-old conflicts [between the tribes and the riverine cities and among the tribes themselves over the food-producing flatlands of the Tigris and the Euphrates]. The 1920 rebellion brought these groups together, if only briefly; this constituted an important first step in the long and arduous process of forging a nation-state out of Iraq's conflict-ridden social structure.

King Faisal picnicking with his British 'advisers'​

At the Cairo Conference of 1921, the British set the parameters for Iraqi political life that were to continue for the next two decades. They chose a Hashemite, Faisal ibn Husayn, son of Sherif Hussein ibn Ali former Sharif of Mecca* as Iraq's first King; they established an indigenous Iraqi army; and they proposed a new treaty. In order to confirm Faisal as Iraq's first monarch, a one-question plebiscite was carefully arranged that had a return of 96 percent in his favor. The British saw in Faisal a leader who possessed sufficient nationalist and Islamic credentials to have broad appeal, but who also was vulnerable enough to remain dependent on their support. Faisal traced his descent from the family of the Prophet Muhammad. His ancestors held political authority in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina since the tenth century. The British believed these credentials would satisfy traditional Arab standards of political legitimacy; moreover, the British thought Faisal would be accepted by the growing Iraqi nationalist movement because of his role in the 1916 Arab Revolt against the Turks, his achievements as a leader of the Arab emancipation movement, and his general leadership qualities.

The final major decision taken at the Cairo Conference related to the new Anglo-Iraqi Treaty of 1922. Faisal was under pressure from the nationalists and the anti-British mujtahids of An Najaf and Karbala to limit both British influence in Iraq and the duration of the treaty. Recognizing that the monarchy depended on British support — and wishing to avoid a repetition of his experience in Syria — Faisal maintained a moderate approach in dealing with Britain. The twenty-year treaty, which was ratified in October 1922, stated that the king would heed British advice on all matters affecting British interests and on fiscal policy as long as Iraq had a balance of payments deficit with Britain, and that British officials would be appointed to specified posts in eighteen departments to act as advisers and inspectors. A subsequent financial agreement, which significantly increased the financial burden on Iraq, required Iraq to pay half the cost of supporting British resident officials, among other expenses. British obligations under the new treaty included providing various kinds of aid, notably military assistance, and proposing Iraq for membership in the League of Nations at the earliest moment. In effect, the treaty ensured that Iraq would remain politically and economically dependent on Britain. While unable to prevent the treaty, Faisal clearly felt that the British had gone back on their promises to him.

An Iraqi army unit being inspected by its commander. In later years the British would come to regret their arming and training of the Iraqi military.​

The British decision at the Cairo Conference to establish an indigenous Iraqi army was significant. In Iraq, as in most of the developing world, the military establishment has been the best organized institution in an otherwise weak political system. Thus, while Iraq's body politic crumbled under immense political and economic pressure throughout the period, the military gained increasing power and influence; moreover, because the officers in the new army were by necessity Sunnis who had served under the Ottomans, while the lower ranks were predominantly filled by Shia tribal elements, Sunni dominance in the military was preserved.

Before the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the British-controlled Turkish Petroleum Company (TPC) had held concessionary rights to the Mosul wilaya (province). Under the 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement — an agreement in 1916 between Britain and France that delineated future control of the Middle East — the area would have fallen under French influence. In 1919, however, the French relinquished their claims to Mosul under the terms of the Long-Berenger Agreement. The 1919 agreement granted the French a 25 percent share in the TPC as compensation.

Beginning in 1923, British and Iraqi negotiators held acrimonious discussions over the new oil concession. The major obstacle was Iraq's insistence on a 20 percent equity participation in the company; this figure had been included in the original TPC concession to the Turks and had been agreed upon at Sanremo for the Iraqis. In the end, despite strong nationalist sentiments against the concession agreement, the Iraqi negotiators acquiesced to it. The League of Nations was soon to vote on the disposition of Mosul, and the Iraqis feared that, without British support, Iraq would lose the area to Turkey. In March 1925, an agreement was concluded that contained none of the Iraqi demands. The TPC, now renamed the Iraq Petroleum Company (IPC), was granted a concession for a period of seventy-five years.

With the signing of the Anglo-Iraqi Treaty and the settling of the Mosul question, Iraqi politics took on a new dynamic. The emerging class of Sunni and Shia landowning tribal shaykhs vied for positions of power with wealthy and prestigious urban-based Sunni families and with Ottoman-trained army officers and bureaucrats. Because Iraq's newly established political institutions were the creation of a foreign power, and because the concept of democratic government had no precedent in Iraqi history, the politicians in Baghdad lacked legitimacy and never developed deeply rooted constituencies. Thus, despite a constitution and an elected assembly, Iraqi politics was more a shifting alliance of important personalities and cliques than a democracy in the Western sense. The absence of broadly based political institutions inhibited the early nationalist movement's ability to make deep inroads into Iraq's diverse social structure.

A second Anglo-Iraqi Treaty was signed in June 1930. It provided for a "close alliance," for "full and frank consultations between the two countries in all matters of foreign policy," and for mutual assistance in case of war. Iraq granted the British the use of air bases near Basra and at Al Habbaniyah and the right to move troops across the country. The treaty, of twenty-five years' duration, was to come into force upon Iraq's admission to the League of Nations, which finally occurred in October of 1932.


_______________________________________________
*In the wake of the Great War, Ibn Saud led his forces in a drive unite all Arabia under his banner. Sherif Hussein ibn Ali, as Ruler of Hejaz and Protector of the Two Cities (Mecca and Medina) was a prime target of this campaign. The Sherif was defeated and Hejaz annexed to the expanding Saudi territory.

 

[unmerged(58579)]

Oh, this is superb! - a very good map! - may I ask where you found that?
Very good info! - I have just had the chance to add a lot of details to my somewhat limited knowledge of Iraq (atleast compared to this!)

I Thank You.

 

[unmerged(47162)]

very nice start and history!

 

[elbasto]

Great start!

 

[unmerged(60719)]

Great start!

Seconded.

 

[Elias Tarfarius]

Oh, this is superb! - a very good map! - may I ask where you found that?
Very good info! - I have just had the chance to add a lot of details to my somewhat limited knowledge of Iraq (atleast compared to this!)

I Thank You.

I just Googled Sykes-Picot and found it among other. I picked it because it fit in with my nice black and white photo theme.

Glad everyone is enjoying the AAR so far. I'll do a few more rp post then great into the game as soon as my copy of DD arrives in the mail today or tomorrow.

 

[unmerged(61606)]

this looks cool. good luck.

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

This is a very thrilling start. Good luck and best wishes!

 

[Elias Tarfarius]

The Prologue, continued

Even as Great Britain allowed Iraq to move toward nationhood, the problems of past centuries (exacerbated by the British since the Great War) came down on the fragile government like a ton of bricks. While King Faisal was able to build consensus and even lessen outright fighting, in the later years of his reign he in Europe too much to do anything effective. So it fell to the politicians and army to “solve” the problems of the listless state, most notably the Kurdistan Question.

"In the steep hill of victory ahead of us, I expect unity from you and sacrifice from myself." - Sheikh Mahmud Barzanji, the King of Kurdistan, 1918 ​

The Kurdistan Question​

During the war, Colonel Sir Arnold Wilson, the British Civil Commissioner in Iraq, told the encouraged the Kurdish people to rise up against the Ottomans. Wilson also told them that the British intention was to form an independent Kurdish country after the war.

Under the Treaty of Sevres, there was supposed to be an independent nation of Kurdistan. However, it was rejected by the Turkish republican movement, which put enough pressure on the British (including near open war) that they renegotiated, and ended up with the Treaty of Lausanne. Of course the Kurds were never part of these treaties.

Sheikh Mahmud Barzanji was made the governor of Suleimaniya on behalf of the British in November of 1918. Most Kurdish tribes accepted this. However, when the Kurds approached Wilson a month later asking for certain rights for the Kurdish people they were ignored. Mahmud took the initiative and declared himself king of an independent Kurdish state in May 1919. He led the first (of many) Kurdish revolt and quickly pushed the small British contingent out of Suleimaniya and its surroundings. Among his many supporters was 16-year old Mustafa Barzani, a future Kurdish revolutionary.

An army of 1,500 Kurds engaged in a fierce battle with British forces in the Baziyan region, near Sulaimaniya. "Shari Darbandi Baziyan" is a national pride in the Kurdish history. Unsurprisingly, Kurdish forces were defeated by the superior numbers and technology of the British force, and ‘The great Sheikh was injured and arrested; he was then exiled to India.’ This treatment of a religious leader was seen as a great insult to the Muslim Kurds, and left a deep mistrust between Kurds and Britain for generations to come. The Kurds refused to acknowledge their annexation by Iraq and didn't take part in the July 1921 referendum to choose Faisal as monarch of Iraq. The revolt never completely ended despite the British victory.

In 1922 the brother of Mahmoud Barzanji, Sheikh Qadyir, began getting aid from Turkey to fight the British and the fighting began to get serious. The British, afraid that Kurdistan might fall into the hands of the Turks, decided to bring Sheikh Mamoud back from exile and appoint him as governor again. Again Mahmoud Barzanji defied the British and proclaimed himself king on 18 November 1922. In 1923 the British recognized Kurdish autonomy. However, that didn't stop the war, and in 1924, with the help of the RAF, the British finally defeated the Kurds and Kurdistan was once again annexed into Iraq.

Mahmoud Barzanji escaped with some of his forces into the mountains along the Iranian border where he once again lived in exile. But by 1930 the British troops had long since left and Mahmoud forces crept back into Kurdistan. In September 1930 the third Kurdish revolt began, aided by Mustafa Barzani and his brother Ahmad. By March of 1931 the RAF was once again bombing Kurdish villages, but this time with a newly formed Iraqi army supporting it. Unable to defend themselves from the aerial bombardment, Barzanji retreated to Persia and surrendered on 13 May 1931. Sheikh Mahmud was captured and sent into prison exile in southern Iraq.

Map of Ethnic And Tribal Groups in Iraq​

The Assyrians​

The Assyrians were a Christian minority that were massacred by the tens of thousands under the Ottomans. By the end of the war no significant Assyrian population was left in Turkey or Iran. Only the population around Mosul remained. In the Treaty of Lausanne, Assyrian rights were supposed to be protected. As part of the agreement for full Iraqi independence in 1932, minority rights were supposed to be observed. Yet, the Assyrians began feeling threatened and appealed for more assurances for their safety.

In the summer of 1933 King Faisal was visiting in Europe when the Assyrian situation came to a head when Assyrian leaders refused to sign a declaration of loyalty to King Faisal. The opposition party was now in power and they wanted to assert their authority. The situation quickly got out of hand and nearly the entire village of Simele was massacred by Iraqi troops on the 7th of August. In all, about 3,000 Assyrians died.

No Iraqi soldiers ever had to answer for this massacre, and Assyrians began leaving Iraq for French controlled Syria.

 

[Elias Tarfarius]

The Prologue, concluded

King Faisal I and his Iraqi advisers in Europe, circa 1930. The latter years of Faisal's reign were often spent in Europe, more for medical treatment than international diplomacy.​

The Death of Faisal I​

By 1933, the government was weaker than Iraq’s tribes and was at their mercy, not only in terms of coordination and alliances, but also in terms of weaponry. King Faisal I explained in a memorandum that the number of rifles in the country was more than 100,000 while those at the government’s disposal was 15,000! Therefore, by this year, the tribes (Arabs and Kurds) were a leading force in Iraq's political life.

Returning in the wake of the Assyrian debacle, Faisal found the political leadership in turmoil. His health failing, Faisal left once more for Switzerland for medical treatment. The King took with him Nuri As-Said, former Prime Minster (till 1932) and current Foreign Minister. During his convalescence, Faisal had a sudden heart attack after drinking a cup of tea (September 7, 1933). Nuri As-Said refused to perform autopsy on the King’s body to verify the reason for the death. He accompanied the King’s corpse on a ship from Europe to Palestine, then transferred the body to be buried in Iraq.

Faisal I was known to have been physically weak and had some health problems that necessitated several treatments and operations in Iraq and Europe. He was known to be quiet, sad, and rarely smiled.

In his book on Rashid Ali al-Gailany, Dr. Waleed Hamdi evaluated King Faisal I by stating that, “he had been a great national leader and politician, his greatest political virtue having been his ability to bargain and knowing when to compromise…… He was able to maintain the balance between the British and the Iraqi nationalists; and also between rival factions, races and sects within Iraq itself.”

King Ghazi I of Iraq, circa 1934. At first totally ineffectual, Ghazi manipulated the discontent of the military and the people to his own ends.​

Ghazi​

King Ghazi I is one of those enterprising men in history which one is hard pressed to love or hate, unless you are an Iraqi. He was a charmer, but not charismatic. He was a pan-Arab nationalist, but did not have the skill of his father in organizing such a mass movement. He wished to stabilize the domestic politics of Iraq, so he gave a free-hand to generals to coup the civilian government and replace it with a military junta. Furthermore, he eventually wished to destroy British power in the Muslim world, from Alexandria to Malaya, so he set about turning Iraq's diplomatic efforts towards the only power that could aid him in this quest, Nazi Germany. The majority of these events took place in or after the year 1936, but first, one must know who Ghazi was and the trials of the first few years of his reign.

Ghazi ibn Faisal was born in Mecca in March, 1912. As Ghazi was the only son of Faisal I (after three daughters), he was left to take care of his grandfather, Hussein ibn Ali, the Grand Sharif of Mecca, while his father was busy in his campaigns and travels. He therefore grew up, unlike his worldly father, a shy and inexperienced young man. He left the Hejaz to Jordan with the rest of the Hashimites in 1924 after their defeat by the forces of Ibn Sa'ud. He came to Baghdad at the same year and was appointed as the crown prince.

He passed the rest of the '20s quietly, being entertained and given gifts by British officials and American businessmen. His interests in planes and sports cars began during this period, and he showed not the slightest inclination to become involved in the bitter struggles of his kingdom.

The death of his father, however, shook Ghazi out of his complete disinterest. On the day of Faisal's death being announced (8th of September) Ghazi was appointed Admiral of the Fleet in the Royal Iraqi Navy, Field Marshal of the Royal Iraq Army and Marshal of the Royal Iraqi Air Force, being coroneted later in December, 1933. King Ghazi had inherited none of his father's diplomacy especially with the tribes. He was only twenty-one and inexperienced, a situation that weakened the monarchy politically and encouraged the army to penetrate in politics, but the first problem which faced King Ghazi was that of his marriage.

Queen Alia of Iraq, circa 1934. Despite being the cousin of the Anglophilic Nuri As-Said, she could stop her husband's increasing devotion to the liberation of the Arab world from British domination in the late '30s​

He liked a lady by the name of Nimat, daughter of Yaseen Al-Hashimi (the Prime Minister since 1932), who was a friend of his sisters. Nuri As-Said interfered because he did not want his opponent, Yaseen Al-Hashimi, to have the royal prestige and be called 'uncle' by King Ghazi. Nuri even requested the mediation of Prince Abdullah of Jordan. He wanted him to marry his first cousin, Alia, who was living in Istanbul. After numerous attempts and prolonged pressures, King Ghazi married Alia Bint Ali on January 25, 1934.

King Ghazi's reign would witness revolts and coup attempts in 1934, 1935 and 1936. In all of these events, the army enforced the law and order. The disillusionment of the army officers was reflected in voicing certain grievances such as that the army was excessively used to put down inspired tribal uprisings, while the politicians were to gain the fruits of victory. “Why should not the army itself,” it was whispered among the army officers, “put an end to the quarrel and vices of the politicians and rule the country through a military dictatorship?” King Ghazi, though he never openly said it, agreed with this sentiment, as he too was already tired of the Baghdad politicians always vying to use his prestige in their petty brawls. With both King and Army convinced that the only way to save Iraq and their power would be by a coup d'etat, the state was set for the events of 1936 and the new government that came out of it.

 

[Roman_legion]

Holy mother this is good stuff! Kepp up das good work!

 

[GeneralHannibal]

The history section is very good, but could that map with the Ethnic groups be in color so we can see it better? What will you be able to do with only a little IC though?

 

[Elias Tarfarius]

The history section is very good, but could that map with the Ethnic groups be in color so we can see it better? What will you be able to do with only a little IC though?

Glad you asked. I have been playing with Iraq before in HoI2 [1.3a patch]. I noticed these things [note I play until '41 without breaking the puppet status].

*You start without basic construction so you cant build more factories till thats done.
*If you are researching, you are losing money fast, so I sell supplies and oil around, especially to Britain and the Allies. This makes a lot of money and even get you the good economic events (boost in industrial efficiency +5%).
*In a good year, Iraq can produce 5 new tech, even though theres only one team. The British also give you lots of nice blueprints for everything (even carriers and battleships ).
*And finally to your question, IC is the big prob with Iraq. Once you are able to build factories, it will take until 1938-1941 to build them in succession. Its hard to raise an army with that going on, and furthermore put out consumer good to reduce dissent, produce supplies for the army and trade, and do the upgrades that the army disparately needs. Its a big balancing act, but I think I have figured out.

Plus, why build Iraqi factories when I could take the ones in India or Egypt.
:rofl:

Hope that answered some questions about Iraq, gamewise.


ET

 

[Elias Tarfarius]

Here's the map in full color for ya...

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

Each post increases the quality of the AAR. I'm impressed. Go on like this, please!