The United States Operations Mission in Iraq

Abstract

The program of technical co-operation in Iraq, prior to the Revolution of 1958, was frequently cited as an example of the ideal Point Four program. The overthrow of the established government led naturally to questions con cerning the "failure" of American technical assistance in that country. A close examination of the efforts of the United States Operations Mission (USOM) in Iraq indicates, how ever, both that there were some severe obstacles faced by the mission and that, despite these, the success achieved was con siderable. Under the direction of the Iraq Development Board, an agency of the Iraqi Government, three kinds of aid were provided: United States technicians advised or worked with the Iraqi Government; supplies and equipment were pro vided for demonstration purposes; and Iraqi personnel were sent to the United States or third countries for observation or training programs. The bulk of assistance was directed to wards improving agricultural methods, but much also was achieved in such areas as preventive medicine, education, and administrative improvement. To consider the Revolution as proof of failure is to misunderstand both the purposes and po tential achievements of the Point Four program. Economic improvement can be made to serve political ends but is not political in itself. Also, it is a mistake to consider technical assistance as a means to support the status quo; the aim of the Point Four program is to promote the combined growth of economic improvement and political freedom.—Ed.