IRAQ: RICH PRIZE

Under the leadership of Strongman Nuri asSaid, Iraq was the only Arab nation to align itself firmly with the West. In signing the Baghdad Pact, it united with Britain and the Moslem nations of Turkey, Iran and Pakistan in common defense against Communism. The U.S. refused to join the pact, but worked in close military liaison with it.

Nuri asSaid was the Arab world's sworn enemy of Nasser, who proclaimed Arab "positive neutrality" in the cold war. In many respects it was an unequal battle: Iraq has fewer than 6,000,000 people, Egypt more than 22 million. When Nasser seized power in neighboring Syria last February and proclaimed the United Arab Republic, Iraq countered on February 14 by merging with its Hashemite brother, Jordan, in the Arab Union, Iraq's King Feisal became the head of the union, but the Constitution provided that in his absence, authority would pass to his young cousin, King Hussein of Jordan. Should Hussein now call for outside help, this clause might prove crucial in establishing the legitimacy of foreign intervention.

Iraq is a rich prize. Once the land of the Garden of Eden and the lush valleys of the Tigris and the Euphrates, it lapsed into centuries of neglect and misrule until oil was discovered. Now the world's sixth-largest oil producer, it has allotted 70% of its revenues in a far-sighted Development Board program to double the country's standard of living in ten years. In seven years, Iraq's per-capita income has advanced from $84 to $140. But this slow progress against immense poverty, illness and illiteracy had to contend constantly with the cries of Arab nationalism, the eroding torrent of abuse and incitement to revolt that poured from Cairo Radio, and the intrigues of Nasser-minded army officers.

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