ABSTRACT
Iraq has one of the richest mixes of ethnic, tribal, religious, and linguistic populations in the Middle East. Political power in Iraq is concentrated in the hands of Saddam Husayn and, to a lesser extent, the Ba’th Party. Human rights have long been subsumed under the banner of Arab unity, Iraqi nationalism, and whatever Saddam defined as measures of loyalty to the state. The pattern of Sunni dominance of an officer corps subscribing to Arab nationalist sentiments became the mold for the military that has survived the monarchy and the various republics. The government signed the Baghdad Pact, putting Iraq at odds with the rest of the Arab world, broke relations with the Soviet Union, and rode out the Suez crisis. The Kurds pay lip service to ideals of civil liberties and human rights but apply their own brand of judicial revenge in the areas under their control.
