NPPF Commentary Line 949 - Notes: A pro-Red Revolt

[Otto]

"A pro-Red Revolt"

Obviously this is referring to the Qassem-revolt in 1958 which had ended the
Iraqi monarchy, in Kinbote's (Nabokov's?) eyes another failed regime-change
from feudalism to totalitarianism, like the Russian Revolution not bringing
the freedom that it had promised:

"The monarchy's major foreign policy mistake occurred in 1955, when Nuri
as-Said announced that Iraq was joining a British supported mutual defense
pact with Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey. The Baghdad Pact constituted a direct
challenge to Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser. In response, Nasser
launched a vituperative media campaign that challenged the legitimacy of the
Iraqi monarchy and called on the officer corps to overthrow it. The 1956
British-French-Israeli attack on Sinai further alienated Nuri as-Said's
regime from the growing ranks of the opposition. In February 1958 King
Hussein of Jordan and Abd al Ilah proposed a union of Hashimite monarchies
to counter the recently formed Egyptian-Syrian union. Opening its doors for
any Arab state to join if they wish ... Nuri as-Said concentrated on the
participation of Kuwait as a third country in the proposed Arab-Hashimite
Union, Shaikh Abdullah Al-Salim, ruler of Kuwait, was invited to Baghdad to
discuss Kuwait liberation from the British protection, and on the subject of
tri-unity. Britain opposed declaring Kuwait independent at that time. At
this point, the monarchy found itself completely isolated. Nuri as-Said was
able to contain the rising discontent only by resorting to even greater
oppression and to tighter control over the political process.
Inspired by the example of Gamal Abdel Nasser in Egypt, the Hashimite
monarchy was overthrown on July 14, 1958, in a swift, predawn coup executed
by officers of the Nineteenth Brigade known as "Free Officers", under the
leadership of Brigadier Abdul-Karim Qassem (known as "il-Za`im") and Colonel
Abdul Salam Arif. King Faisal II and Abd al Ilah were executed in al-Rihab
Palace, and displaying the bodies in public, hanging them by their feet
outside the palace; as were many others in the royal family. Nuri as-Said
escaped capture for one day after attempting to escape disguised as a veiled
woman, but was then caught and put to death, his body tied to the back of a
car and dragged through the streets until there was nothing left but half a
leg. Iraq was proclaimed a republic, and the Arab Union was dissolved.
Iraq's activity in the Baghdad Pact ceased.
Later the same year, on two occasions, Aref attempted to assassinate the new
Prime Minister, Qassem, but failed.
In 1959, the Mosul garrison, disillusioned with the new government,
organized a revolt against Qassem. The revolt was ruthlessly suppressed,
with the massacre of many hundreds of disaffected Arab nationalists and
Ba'athists.
Later in 1959, another assassination attempt against Qassem, this time
organized by the Ba'ath Party, failed. Amongst the unsuccessful
assassination squad was the young Saddam Hussein.
Qassem ended Iraq's membership in the Baghdad Pact (later reconstituted as
the Central Treaty Organization- CENTO) in 1959. Qassem remained in power
for more than four years. The Nasserites and the Baathists both wished to
join the UAR (United Arab Republic - Egypt), a means to control the
communists, but Qassem, not wishing to be overshadowed by Nasser, allied
himself with the left and refused their demands. This served to alienate
himself from his strongest supporters."
http://home.achilles.net/~sal/iraq_history.html

http://www.angelfire.com/nt/Gilgamesh/58.html