Jafar Al-Askari - Establishment of Iraq and Political Career

Establishment of Iraq and Political Career

In 1921 the British decided that it would be prudent to set up an Arab government in Iraq and chose Faisal ibn Hussein bin Ali al-Hashemi, the son of Sharif Hussein, to be King. Faisal had never even been to Iraq and so chose certain commanders that were from the area to fulfill his various posts, including Ja’far Pasha al-Askari who was appointed minister of defense. During this period one of the important things Ja’far al-Askari did was arrange for the return of 600 Ottoman soldiers who were originally from Iraq in order to form the Officer Corps of the new Iraqi army. His brother-in-law Nuri al-Sa’id became Chief of the General Staff of the army in February 1921.

In November 1923, King Faisal appointed al-Askari to be prime minister of Iraq. Faisal wanted a strong supporter of the king to be prime minister during this key time when the Constituent Assembly opened in March 1924. The dominant issue during this assembly was the Anglo-Iraqi Treaty the British were pushing to help legitimize their League of Nations-appointed Mandate of Iraq. Many Iraqis were opposed to the treaty and it did not look like it would pass. But then High Commersioner Percy Cox threatened to fulfill the British Mandate in a different way unless it was passed. After the passing of the treaty in the Constituent Assembly, al-Askari resigned as prime minister as he did not really enjoy the job and felt he had accomplished what he needed to.

In November 1926, Faisal again appointed Ja’far al-Askari (who at the time was acting as Iraqi minister in London) prime minister of Iraq. Two main issues dominated his term in office: conscription and Shi’i discontent. Conscription was a controversial issue with one side believing that they needed it to encourage a strong Iraq by creating a strong army and the Sharifians (former Ottoman soldiers who had fought in the Arab revolt) seeing it as a holy duty; those in power also saw it as a way to create national unity and an Iraqi identity. On the other side, Shi’is found it repugnant and the various tribes who wished to be autonomous found it threatening. The British were not in favor of conscription as they thought it could lead to issues in Iraq that they would then have to intervene in and they also wanted to keep the country weaker so as to have better control over the country. Further complicating al-Askari’s term was the growing Shi’i discontent in Iraq with massive protests occurring across the country in response to a book written by a Sunni official criticizing the Shi’i majority as well as the promotion of the commanding officer of an army unit that opened fire on Shiite demonstrators during a rally. Also at this time, the British wanted a new Anglo-Iraqi Treaty signed. Among the numbers powers the British retained, the treaty said they would support Iraq’s entry into the League of Nations in 1932 (not 1928 as previously promised) as long as it kept itself progressing in a manner consistent with British supervision. Al-Askari resigned as prime minister in December 1927 as a result of the cool reception the draft treaty received among the Iraqi people and the growing discontent in the Shi’i majority.

In addition to his important period as prime minister, Ja’far also served as minister for foreign affairs, diplomatic minister in London multiple times, and minister of defense four other times.