Editing Saddam Hussein (section)

=== Assassination attempt on Qasim ===
{{Main|Attempted assassination of Abdul-Karim Qasim}}
The Ba'ath Party was originally represented in Qasim's cabinet; however, Qasim—reluctant to join Nasser's newly formed [[United Arab Republic|union between Egypt and Syria]]—sided with various groups within Iraq (notably the [[National Democratic Party (Iraq, 1946)|social democrats]] and the [[Iraqi Communist Party]]) that told him such an action would be dangerous. Instead, Qasim adopted a ''wataniyah'' policy of "Iraq First".<ref>{{cite book |last=Polk |first=William Roe |year=2005 |title=Understanding Iraq |publisher=[[I.B. Tauris]] |isbn=978-0857717641 |page=111}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Simons |first=Geoff |year=1996 |title=Iraq: From Sumer to Saddam |publisher=[[St. Martin's Press]] |isbn=978-0312160524 |page=221}}</ref> To strengthen his own position within the government, Qasim also had an alliance with the Iraqi Communist Party (ICP), which was opposed to the notion of pan-Arabism.{{sfn|Coughlin|2005|pp=25–26}} His policies angered several pan-Arab organizations, including the Ba'ath Party, which later began plotting to [[Attempted assassination of Abdul-Karim Qasim|assassinate]] Qasim at Al-Rashid Street on 7 October 1959 and take power. Saddam was recruited to the assassination conspiracy by its ring-leader, Abdul Karim al-Shaikhly, after one of the would-be assassins left.{{sfn|Coughlin|2005|p=29}} During the ambush, Saddam (who was only supposed to provide cover) began shooting prematurely, which disorganised the whole operation. Qasim's chauffeur was killed and Qasim was hit in the arm and shoulder. The assassins thought they had killed Qasim and quickly retreated to their headquarters, but Qasim survived.{{sfn|Coughlin|2005|p=29}} Saddam himself is not believed to have received any training outside of Iraq, as he was a late addition to the assassination team.<ref>{{cite book|last=Osgood|first=Kenneth|title=America and Iraq: Policy-making, Intervention and Regional Politics|chapter=Eisenhower and regime change in Iraq: the United States and the Iraqi Revolution of 1958|publisher=[[Routledge]]|year=2009|isbn=978-1-134-03672-1|page=22}}</ref>

[[Richard Sale (journalist)|Richard Sale]] of ''[[United Press International]]'' (UPI), citing former United States diplomat and intelligence officials, [[Adel Darwish]], and other experts, reported that the unsuccessful assassination attempt on Qasim was a collaboration between the United States [[Central Intelligence Agency]] (CIA) and [[General Intelligence Directorate (Egypt)|Egyptian intelligence]].<ref>{{cite web |author-link=Richard Sale (journalist) |last=Sale |first=Richard |url=https://www.upi.com/Exclusive-Saddam-key-in-early-CIA-plot/65571050017416/ |title=Exclusive: Saddam Key in Early CIA Plot |work=[[United Press International]] |date=10 April 2003 |access-date=2 April 2018}}</ref> Pertinent contemporary records relating to CIA operations in Iraq have remained classified or heavily redacted, thus "allow[ing] for plausible deniability."<ref name="Osgood p. 16">{{cite book|last=Osgood|first=Kenneth|title=America and Iraq: Policy-making, Intervention and Regional Politics|chapter=Eisenhower and regime change in Iraq: the United States and the Iraqi Revolution of 1958|publisher=[[Routledge]]|year=2009|isbn=9781134036721|pages=16|quote=The documentary record is filled with holes. A remarkable volume of material remains classified, and those records that are available are obscured by redactions – large blacked-out sections that allow for plausible deniability. While it is difficult to know exactly what actions were taken to destabilize or overthrow Qasim's regime, we can discern fairly clearly what was on the planning table. We also can see clues as to what was authorized.}}</ref> It is generally accepted that Egypt, in some capacity, was involved in the assassination attempt, and that "[t]he United States was working with Nasser on some level."<ref name="Osgood pp. 21–23">{{cite book|last=Osgood|first=Kenneth|title=America and Iraq: Policy-making, Intervention and Regional Politics|chapter=Eisenhower and regime change in Iraq: the United States and the Iraqi Revolution of 1958|publisher=[[Routledge]]|year=2009|isbn=9781134036721|pages=21–23}}</ref>

At the time of the attack, the Ba'ath Party had fewer than 1,000 members;{{sfn|Coughlin|2005|p=30}} however, the failed assassination attempt led to widespread exposure for Saddam and the Ba'ath within Iraq, where both had previously languished in obscurity, and later became a crucial part of Saddam's public image during his tenure as [[List of presidents of Iraq|president of Iraq]].<ref name="Osgood pp. 21–23" /><ref>{{cite book |author-link1=Efraim Karsh |last1=Karsh |first1=Efraim |last2=Rautsi |first2=Inari |title=Saddam Hussein: A Political Biography |publisher=[[Grove Press]] |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-8021-3978-8 |pages=15–22, 25}}</ref> [[Kanan Makiya]] recounts:

<blockquote>The man and the myth merge in this episode. His biography—and Iraqi television, which stages the story ad nauseam—tells of his familiarity with guns from the age of ten; his fearlessness and loyalty to the party during the 1959 operation; his bravery in saving his comrades by commandeering a car at gunpoint; the bullet that was gouged out of his flesh under his direction in hiding; the iron discipline that led him to draw a gun on weaker comrades who would have dropped off a seriously wounded member of the hit team at a hospital; the calculating shrewdness that helped him save himself minutes before the police broke in leaving his wounded comrades behind; and finally the long trek of a wounded man from house to house, city to town, across the desert to refuge in [[Syria]].<ref>{{cite book|author-link=Kanan Makiya|last=Makiya|first=Kanan|title=Republic of Fear: The Politics of Modern Iraq, Updated Edition|url=https://archive.org/details/republicoffearpo00maki|url-access=registration|publisher=University of California Press|year=1998|isbn=978-0-520-92124-5|page=[https://archive.org/details/republicoffearpo00maki/page/118 118]}}</ref></blockquote>