Highlighting the Most Signifi cant Work of Iraq’s Social, Political, and Military History: Volume II of the Multivolume Collection of Dr. Ali al-Wardi

Foreword Understanding the area of operations, in particular, the Middle East, requires much reading, discussion, and reflection. For years, Commander Aboul-Enein has been committed to bringing Arabic works of military significance to the pages of Army professional journals. The multivolume work of the late Iraqi sociologist, Dr. Ali al-Wardi (hereafter Wardi), represents six concentrated volumes in eight books that provide a comprehensive look into the complex facets of Iraq from an external and internal view. Much like the Cold War, when Soviet military thought was translated and analyzed, we must make an effort to translate the works of Arab academics, counterterrorism specialists, and military leaders and yes, even terrorists. A measure of success for any military writer is determined by the use of his writings to stimulate debate and train a future generation of leaders. Commander Aboul-Enein’s essay on the Muslim brotherhood published in Military Review was used in teaching electives at the Joint Forces Staff College, and his assessment of Bin Laden was used at the Joint Advanced Warfare School. I commend the U. S. Army’s ARMOR journal for dedicating several issues to highlighting the importance of Wardi’s work, offering future and current American military leaders access to this important work published only in Arabic. — Admiral James Stavridis, U. S. Navy, Commander, U. S. Southern Command The Battle of the Pyramids by Louis-François Baron Lejeune

Iraq’s Social, Political, and Military History: of Dr. Ali al-Wardi In the March-April 2009 edition of ARMOR, Wardi’s Volume 1 of “Social Aspects of Modern Iraqi History,” features the internal and external pressures on Iraq from during the struggle between the Persian Safavid and Ottoman Empires from the 14th to late 18th centuries. In this edition, Volume II focuses on the arrival of French forces in Egypt, the heart of the Ottoman Empire in 1798. This sent a shock through the Islamic world, and according to Wardi, who quotes an Ottoman chronicler of the period, Sultan Selim III did not know of the occupation of Egypt by Napoleon until 2 months after the invasion. The Sultan called for a jihad, but it was ineffective and took Horatio Nelson’s fleet to evict the French from Egypt, but not before Napoleon left an indelible mark on the region during 3 years of occupation, which saw his forces push into Palestine and the Levant. Napoleon’s arrival with his army was the first time a Christian force invaded the heart of the Islamic Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans and other Islamic sultanates challenged Dutch, British, and French encroachment on the periphery, the Caucasus, India, the Persian Gulf, and the Red Sea, but these incursions were small and unnoticed by the mass of Muslims. The arrival of 30,000 French trained troops and their easy victory against Mameluke warriors could not be ignored by the Muslim populace, or easily hidden from public view by Ottoman authorities. Wardi spends half of Volume II discussing events outside Iraq that were followed with interest, as Iraq’s fate was tied to the fortunes of the Ottoman Sultan. Muhammad Ali Pasha of Egypt From this shock of French arms emerged the Macedonian cavalry officer in Ottoman service, Muhammad Ali, who seized upon 4 years of chaos imposed by the withdrawal of French forces in 1801 to impose order on Egypt and become supreme leader of

Egypt. Muhammad Ali would expand his reach from Egypt to Syria, the Balkans, Arabia, the Sudan, and threaten the Ottoman Empire. This leader would modernize Egypt and, in particular, Egyptian forces. Born in 1769, the same date as Napoleon, Muhammad Ali would view the French forces with awe. In 1801, he was nearly killed as Anglo-Ottoman forces fought French forces in Abu Qir in Alexandria. By 1805, he would start what would be 43 years of rule and extract from the Sultan the concession to be Khedive (Viceroy) versus Vali (Governor) of Egypt, giving him autonomy and allowing him to pass on the vice-regency to his heirs. Wardi discusses how Muhammad Ali was illiterate until the age of 40; however, he had books on Napoleon, Machiavelli, and Ibn Khuldun read to him. Muhammad Ali had 10 pages of Machiavelli’s work, The Prince, and his lesser known, Dell’arte della Guerra (the Art of War), translated into Turkish and read to him every day, until he completed the books. Muhammad Ali was reputed to have dismissed Machiavelli’s work as useless, but it is likely he consumed its lessons and, much like the Italian renaissance leaders and the papacy, saw in his work dangerous lessons for those willing to upset the status quo. The recently installed Vali of Egypt had contempt for his subjects, and ruled through European, Turkish, Circassian, Albanian, and Kurdish leaders, commenting that Egyptians were worthy only of manual labor and driving donkeys. The first order of business for Muhammad Ali was the modernization of his forces, transforming the Egyptian system from village levies, in which communities provided and equipped forces based on the demands of Mameluke or Ottoman masters, to a regular standing modern force. In Arabic, this medieval feudal system was called firqa (groups) and each firqa had a commander. The Egyptians faced Napoleon’s squares, cannons, and modern drill tactics with separate commanders fighting as individuals with the support of their firqa. Muhammad Ali coveted a Napoleonic-style army, and in 1819, imported the first of what would be a string of western military advisors that, by the 1870s, included former Confederate officers. Muhammad Ali could not wait for his forces to modernize when he was challenged by the Wahabis. Sultan Mahmoud II ordered Muhammad Ali to address the rabble that had occupied the holy sites of Mecca and Medina and were attacking pilgrims. The Sultan declared the Wahabis kharijeen (outside the place of Islam) for their brutality and intolerance. In 1811, Egyptian forces landed in Yen-bu under the command of Muhammad Ali’s eldest son, Tousson Pasha, and easily took Mecca and Medina; however, in the summer of 1812, Wahabi forces from the interior collected, struck leading Egyptian forces, and garrisoned in Mecca and Medina. Muhammad Ali personally arrived in Arabia with reinforcements and to rally his forces. The defeat can be attributed to Egyptian soldiers who resented their non-Egyptian overlords and felt that while the Wahabis were primitive, the Muslim call to prayer could not be heard in Egyptian camps, and their officers partook of alcohol, surely God was not on their side. “…Sultan Selim III did not know of the occupation of Egypt by Napoleon until 2 months after the invasion. The Sultan called for a jihad, but it was ineffective and took Horatio Nelson’s fleet to evict the French from Egypt, but not before Napoleon left an indelible mark on the region during 3 years of occupation, which saw his forces push into Palestine and the Levant.” Sultan Selim III in Audience by Konstatin Kapidagli (1803) “Napoleon’s arrival with his army was the first time a Christian force invaded the heart of the Islamic Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans and other Islamic sultanates challenged Dutch, British, and French encroachment on the periphery, the Caucasus, India, the Persian Gulf, and the Red Sea, but these incursions were small and unnoticed by the mass of Muslims. The arrival of 30,000 French trained troops and their easy victory against Mameluke warriors could not be ignored by the Muslim populace, or easily hidden from public view by Ottoman authorities.” The Battle of the Pyramids by François-Louis-Joseph Watteau 28 —

Tousson would die in the Wahabi campaigns and Muhammad Ali returned to Egypt from Arabia, determined to annihilate the Wahabis. He sent his second son, Ibrahim Pasha, who would emerge as a brilliant military commander; his first campaign was against the Wahabis in 1816. First, he prayed at the Tomb of Prophet Muhammad in Medina and then set out to roll up the Wahabis through force, French tactics, cannon, and undermining the tribal fabric through bribes and protection that made up the First Saudi State established in 1744. Ibrahim vowed he would release his slaves and never touch alcohol if God granted him victory against the Wahabis. After returning to his military camp, he ordered every drop of wine dumped, which may have been done to motivate the foot soldiers, made up of Egyptian and Sudanese peasants. In 1818, he arrived with his army in the Wahabi capital of Dir’iyah, leveling the city and capturing Abdul-Aziz al-Saud alive, he would send him to Istanbul as a gift to Sultan Mahmoud II. Cannon was not only a tactical weapon, but a psychological one against the Bedouin; it was the first crack of cannon they had heard and it demoralized al-Saud’s forces. Iraqis rejoiced at the Egyptian victory against the Wahabis, as Iraq suffered from consistent tribal raids and never forgave the sacking of Karbala by the Wahabis in 1802. Ibrahim Pasha also held Wahabi clerics responsible for inciting tribes, and invited them to 4 days of religious debate that ended with execution of all Wahabi clerics present. Greek War of Independence The Ottomans would face a challenge in 1821 with the yearning for Greek independence and support from western groups, such as the Friends of Greece. Among the prominent volunteers was British poet Lord Byron, who died in the Greek rebellion against the Ottomans. Victor Hugo wrote of the romantic side of the Greek war. The Ottoman Sultan ordered the Vali of Damascus to conduct a massacre of Syrian Orthodox Church members, an order he avoided by referring the matter to consultation and deriving an opinion that there are no rebels among the Christians in Syria. The Sultan’s order was a reaction to the massacres conducted against Muslims in Greece and Macedonia. In 1824, stuck in a quagmire, Mahmoud II called for help from Muhammad Ali Pasha in Egypt, who sent a fleet within months, holding 17,000 troops under the command of Ibrahim Pasha. Upon landing in Peloponnese, Ibrahim linked with Ottoman forces and rallied them to victory upon victory until they arrived and occupied Athens in 1827, setting camp on the Acropolis. The combined Egyptian-Ottoman victory was on the verge of suppressing Greek resistance, when a combined British, French, and Russian fleet destroyed the Egyptian fleet in the Battle of Navarino. Ibrahim consolidated his forces and returned to Egypt. — 29 “From this shock of French arms emerged the Macedonian cavalry officer in Ottoman service, Muhammad Ali, who seized upon 4 years of chaos imposed by the withdrawal of French forces in 1801 to impose order on Egypt and become supreme leader of Egypt. Muhammad Ali would expand his reach from Egypt to Syria, the Balkans, Arabia, the Sudan, and threaten the Ottoman Empire. This leader would modernize Egypt and, in particular, Egyptian forces.” Mehemet-Ali, Viceroy of Egypt by Auguste Couder (1841) Battle of Navarino (1827) Ambroise-Louis Garneray “Upon landing in Peloponnese, Ibrahim linked with Ottoman forces and rallied them to victory upon victory until they arrived and occupied Athens in 1827, setting camp on the Acropolis. The combined Egyptian-Ottoman victory was on the verge of suppressing Greek resistance, when a combined British, French, and Russian fleet destroyed the Egyptian fleet in the Battle of Navarino. Ibrahim consolidated his forces and returned to Egypt.”

Muhammad Ali Demands Compensation Muhammad Ali, to make up for his losses, demanded that the Sultan grant him the governorship of the Levant for his services against the Wahabis in Arabia and the Greeks. His demands were dismissed, and Muhammad Ali sought to seize the Levant by force. He dispatched Ibrahim Pasha once more with an army up through Gaza and toward Acre. It was Acre and, in particular, the Citadel that frustrated Napoleon, a fact that was not lost on Ibrahim, who laid a 6-month siege, bombarding the city walls and the Citadel. In one day alone, 3,000 grenades and 10,000 cannonballs rained on the city; finally, a breach was achieved and a three-pronged assault ensued, leading to the Vali of the Levant Abdullah Pasha to surrender in 1832. Muhammad Ali must have been pleased with his adopted son, whose mother, a Greek, married Ali and he adopted Ibrahim as his own. A century after the fall of Acre in 1932, one of Cairo’s main streets and city centers was renamed Ibrahim Pasha, where his statue, astride a horse, still remains. Taking Acre demoralized Ottoman forces, which was no match for the tactics of Ibrahim and his use of European methods of warfare. In 1833, the Ottoman Sultan capitulated, granting him the title, “Khedive of Egypt,” a hereditary title, and “Vali of the Levant,” a nonhereditary title. Ibrahim Pasha took the governorship of the Levant, and set about using Arab identity to rule. He named himself Siraskar al-Jaysh al-Arabi (commander of the Arab Armies), and delivered speeches in which he stated, “I arrived Egypt a boy, and my blood was shaded, and soul given an Arab coloring.” But Ibrahim’s popularity was eroded by taxes that were three times higher than the Ottoman authorities. However, these taxes were used partly to modernize the Levant, much like Muhammad Ali modernized Egyptian arms. One chief complaint of the people of the Levant was forced conscriptions into the military that Ibrahim had imposed, coupled with the disarming of the local population. As Egyptian soldiers attempted to apprehend conscription evaders, draft reports surfaced of people seeking asylum in foreign consulates, retreating into the hills and mountains, and even throwing themselves into the Mediterranean Sea. Muhammad Ali faced similar problems of Egyptians engaging in self-mutilation to avoid conscription; it was deemed by the Egyptian viceroy that Egyptians as farmers were more valuable than them serving as soldiers, so he acquired Sudanese slaves and conscripts. Ibrahim Pasha would find problems in suppressing the autonomy of Palestinian families, beginning with Abu Ghoush of Jerusalem, and the rebellion would grow, to include the Nablus families of Toukan and Jazar, who rejected conscription and taxation. In 1833, these families charged Ibrahim Pasha of being a drunkard, eating the flesh of pigs, and not praying inside the mosques. It is estimated Ibrahim Pasha lost 4,000 troops to suppress these Palestinian families, in an Egyptian scorched-earth policy. In 1836, Ibrahim diverted his attention to subjugating the Druze. The problem was an invitation sent by Sherief Pasha, Ottoman Overseer of Damascus, when Yahya Hamdan, the leader of the Druze, arrived in Damascus, the Ottoman Vali requested 170 Druze youths for military conscription. The Druze leader said he could not fulfill this request, as every able bodied Druze male was needed to deter Bedouin incursions. In retort, the Ottoman Vali slapped him, creating a revolution by this assault on the dignity of Sheikh Yahya that cost Ibrahim Pasha 10,000 casualties and mired him in a 10-month rebellion. In 1839, the Ottoman Sultan felt strong enough to challenge Muhammad Ali and sent an army to challenge his authority in the Levant. The Ottoman and Egyptian armies met north of Halab, near the Syrian-Turkish border. The Egyptians were commanded by Joseph Anthelme Sève, an officer under Napoleon, who trained Egyptian forces and converted to Islam, taking the name “Suleiman Pasha al-Fransi” (the Frenchman); the Ottomans were commanded by Helmuth von Moltke (the Elder). Little is known about the details of the battle in Wardi’s book, except that Ottoman Hafiz Pasha refused to alter his plans, despite Moltke’s advice, and the Egyptians fought a fluid campaign, crushing the Ottomans in what would be called, “the Battle of Nizip.” The power of Muhammad Ali was challenged by the Europeans, which led him to withdraw from the Levant in

1840. Both Muhammad Ali and Ibrahim Pasha died in 1848 and were succeeded by Abbas, and later Said Pasha, who started the Suez Canal Project, which would be completed in 1869 under Ismail Pasha. The Muhammad Ali dynasty would continue until the removal of King Farouk I from power in 1952 and the declaration of Egypt as a republic. Ali Rida Pasha: Re-Assertion of Ottoman Rule over Iraq In Volume 1, Wardi introduces us to strong Ottoman Valis of Baghdad such as Ahmed Pasha; however, there were weak Pashas, who became overwhelmed with internal tribal dissent and the external incursions from the Wahabis in the south and Mamelukes from the west. The Mamelukes would forcibly take over Baghdad, and the Ottoman Sultan conceded their authority until 1831, when he found a commander and army strong enough to regain this territory. Ali Rida Pasha, a Bektashi Shiite from Tarb-zon, a city on the Black Sea, was a good 30 — “Ibrahim Pasha took the governorship of the Levant, and set about using Arab identity to rule. He named himself Sir-askar al-Jaysh al-Arabi (commander of the Arab Armies), and delivered speeches in which he stated, “I arrived Egypt a boy, and my blood was shaded, and soul given an Arab coloring.” But Ibrahim’s popularity was eroded by taxes that were three times higher than the Ottoman authorities.” Ibrahim Pacha by Charles-Philippe Larivière (1846) general, but incapable of handling the pestilence, disease, and Euphrates River flooding that characterized Baghdad. A drunkard, Ali Rida Pasha left power to rest on three ruthless brigands in Baghdad, Ali Agha Sirji, Abdel-Kader Mosuli, and Ali al-Khasi, who used extortion, assassination, murder, intimidation, rape, racketeering, and crime to rule Baghdad and its environs. As long as these gangsters paid tribute to Ali Rida Pasha and subjugated themselves to Ottoman authority, they were given free hand. The torture of a protected woman and the violation of her honor would lead to the Jameel Zadah rebellion. In 1832, the Mufti (religious scholar) protecting the women, would be violated in the cleric’s home by an angry mob, which violated not only the sanctity of the cleric’s home, but also the right of the cleric to protect those seeking shelter, both inherent in Iraqi tribal custom. This violent protest led to Ottoman intervention, which led to Ottoman cannons being turned on the protestors and causing a massive fire in Baghdad’s central market. Another challenge came the same year, when the Shammar tribe threatened Baghdad. Ali Rida Pasha used their nemesis, the Anayzah tribe, to fight the Shammar, promising them a reward that was never forthcoming, so the Ottoman Vali Ali Rida turned and allied with the Shammar against the Anayzah, all in an effort to remain in power in Baghdad. Under Ali Rida Pasha, the Shiites of Iraq were allowed to express their public mourning ceremonies over the martyrdom of Hussein, Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, who was ambushed in Karbala. Overall, the stewardship of Ali Rida Pasha, which ended in 1842, was disastrous for Baghdad and Iraq. Neguib Pasha In 1842, Neguib Pasha took over as Vali of Baghdad, sent by the Ottomans to reform Iraq. His tenure was marked by the competition between Britain and France over the good graces of Ottoman officials. Neguib was pro-British and visited the British consul first, which offended the French. This led to the deterioration of the relationship between the French and Neguib Pasha, which included retaliations such as four European women being accosted for being at a local address with an unrelated male, their Iraqi servant. Neguib Pasha is better known for the 1842 massacre in Karbala, which was rooted in the trend that Karbala had evolved into a city in which every criminal, brigand, smuggler, and escapee from Ottoman authority convened. The city became ano-go zone for Ottoman forces, and Neguib Pasha resolved to address this criminal autonomous region. Neguib Pasha sent notice that the criminal oligarchs of Karbala, led by Ibrahim al-Zafarani, were to disarm in one month. This order was ignored and Neguib laid siege in Karbala, a holy city and site of the martyrdom of Hussein, and began bombarding it with artillery. Neguib had explained what he was doing to British and French consuls, as well as the Persian Wakil (representative). The Qajar Persians and Ottomans nearly declared war over the shelling of Karbala and a peace by the European powers. In 1846, an Ottoman warship appeared near Basra, which led to Persian protests. Neguib Pasha’s tenure was also marked by several charismatic religious movements and significant events in Iraq that included:  The arrival of Muhammad Ali, the Bab, Muhammad Ali al-Shirazi, who was believed by some to be the 12th Imam returned; he was executed by Qajar Persian Shiite city leaders of Tabriz. This movement evolved into the Baha’is.  A cholera epidemic in Baghdad.  Struggles for power between the Ottoman Vali and the Mufti of Baghdad Sheikh al-Alusi.  Intrigues by the French consul.  The charismatic female, Qurat Ayn (1814-1852), a striking blonde who advocated and preached the arrival of the Bab. Both the Bab and Qurat Ayn advocated the views of Shiite cleric Ahmed al-Ihsaai (1753-1826), such as the 14 infallible ones (Muhammad, Fatima, and the 12 imams). Qurat Ayn was executed in 1852 by the Qajar Shah for heresy and not renouncing the Bab as the awaited Imam. Wardi’s book delves into a series of Ottoman governors of Baghdad after the tenure of Neguib Pasha ended in 1849. They were unremarkable, except for Rashid Pasha (1852-1857), who collected funds and taxes for the Crimean War from 1854 to 1856, in which the Ottomans sided with the British and French against the Russians. The British Royal Navy sent two warships to the Shatt al-Arab waterway to dissuade Persians from taking advantage of their Ottoman ally. Omar Pasha (1858-1860), who with Ottoman forces, faced down a posturing of 20,000 Persian troops along the border, which was the first serious threat by the Persians since the end of the Safavid Dynasty in 1760. Finally, Midhat Pasha (1869- 1872), who renewed conscription and faced tribal rebellions of the Shammar, began converting tribal leaders into bureaucrats, which worked to pacify sub-clans, such as the Saadoun, but not all clans abandoned their hatred of central authority. Midhat Pasha organized a military expedition of 4,000 regulars and 1,500 tribal irregulars aboard 80 ships with cannons that left Kuwait to rid the Persian Gulf coastal region of al-Hasa of Wahabis of Ibn Saud; he succeeded in 40 days and appointed an Ottoman mutasarif (overseer) in al-Hasa. Today, the region is the oil-producing area of Saudi Arabia. Midhat hosted the visit of Nasr-al-Din Shah of the Persian Qajar Dynasty to visit the Shiite holy cities of Iraq. It was the first time an Ottoman official had hosted a Persian ruler for the purpose of facilitating his pilgrimage to Shiite sites. The next expose, Volume III of Wardi’s seminal work, takes readers through the events of Iraq and the wider Middle East, Persia, and Ottoman Empire from 1876 to 1914. Wardi’s work must be translated, analyzed, and taught to future American military leaders deploying to Iraq. Commander Youssef Aboul-Enein is a U. S. Navy Medical Service Corps Officer and Middle East foreign area officer. He currently serves as a senior counterterrorism advisor, warning officer, and instructor on militant Islamist ideology, Joint Task Force for Combating Terrorism, Washington, DC. He received a B. B. A. from the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss), an M. B. A. and M. A. from the University of Arkansas, and an M. S. from the National Defense Intelligence College. His military education includes the U. S. Naval War College, Marine Corps Command and Staff College with additional electives in International Relations and International Law, the Army War College Defense Strategy Course, the Marine Corps University Amphibious Warfare School, and advanced analytic courses at the Joint Military Intelligence College. His most recent assignments include country director for North Africa and Egypt, assistant country director for the Arabian Gulf, and special advisor on Islamist Militancy at the Office of the Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, Washington, DC. This work would not have been possible without the help of the librarians of the Library of Congress Middle East Reading Room and the librarians of the John T. Hughes Library in Washington, DC. A special note of thanks to Mr. Gary Greco for his support and encouragement and Lieutenant Commander Margaret Read, Medical Service Corps, U. S. Navy, who provided valuable edits and comments. — 31