On 19 June 1961 the British Protectorate over the Sheikhdom of Kuwait ended, and the Gulf state became independent. Independence was immediately met by declarations from Iraqi Prime Minister Abd al-Karim Qasim that Kuwait would be annexed, and in response Britain encouraged Kuwait to request its military help, and Operation Vantage, a build-up of British forces, was launched. The Iraqi invasion never emerged, Qasim was couped by the Ba'ath Party and Iraq recognised Kuwait in 1963.
Reading around the topic, things could have been different:
Reading around the topic, things could have been different:
- The British ability to respond was predicated on there being at least four days warning of a build up in Basra. Britain was fortunate that Qasim had decided to very publicly state his desire to annex Kuwait, well in advance of launching any invasion (if there was ever to be one - Britain estimated that if there was to be an invasion it would be launched on 14 July to coincide with the anniversary of the Iraqi Revolution that overthrew the monarchy in 1958). In the event, Britain was only warned on 29 June that a tank regiment could be in Basra on 1 July.
- British analysis was that they needed to ensure that any intervention in Kuwait was pre-emptive, as they didn't feel they would be able to reverse an annexation once it had happened. At the time, Operation Vantage was the first British intervention in the Middle East since Suez.
- It's not a great time for Qasim - he's struggling to balance Communists and Ba'athists, Pan-Arabs and Iraq first types in his own government, Mustafa Barzani has taken power in Kurdistan and is acting independently of Baghdad, the United Arab Republic have complex relations with his Iraq. He's also seen as unpredictable - the sort of person who could suddenly order a surprise invasion of Kuwait, maybe to distract from domestic woes?
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