This book will give a good background of the history of the CP and trade unions in Iraq.
I picked up a copy in the US on a recent visit, but I think you can get it by mail from
 http://www.haymarketbooks.org/

Rounding Out Iraq's History

By RON JACOBS

I just read a news report from Ramadi, Iraq that detailed an armed
takeover of a hospital there by US forces. It seems that there was an
explosion in the town and the soldiers invaded the hospital,
interrupting medical care, including a caesarian section, and holding
some of the staff at gunpoint. As most anybody who follows the
occupation of Iraq knows, Ramadi is a stronghold of rebel resistance.
Meanwhile, I'm reading a new history of Iraq recently published by
Haymarket Books that describes the history of the workers and popular
anti imperialist movements in Iraq, especially that of the Iraqi
Communist Party. The sad story of that party's collaboration with its
enemies can only lead me to wonder how the Iraq situation might have
been quite different if the communist movement's history had also been
different.

The People's History of Iraq: The Iraqi Communist Party, Workers'
Movements, and the Left 1924-2004, by Ilario Salucci, is a brief
introduction to the ups and downs of leftist popular movements in Iraq
since the end of the First World War. Because of the dominant role it
plays in this history, much of the book concerns itself with the Iraqi
Communist Party (ICP). Salucci provides a general overview of this
party and its various splits and policy decisions. Like that of many
other communist parties, it is a tale of divisions and realignments,
some which are dependent on the world communist movement and some that
aren't. Unlike many other communist parties, the story Salucci unveils
in these pages is the story of a party that seems to misunderstand the
will of its potential base not once or twice, but constantly. The
Iraqi Communist Party is a party whose history is one of repeated
growth followed by state repression, than by factionalization and
then, open collaboration with the same state that repressed it.

To its credit, the party and the other leftist groupings in Iraq have
been a consistent voice for the rights of women. In addition, the
Iraqi Left's understanding of the role British and US imperialism
played in Iraq's development was fundamental to their analysis until
the current occupation of their country. This understanding enabled
the Party to gain a hearing and, at times, a substantial amount of
support among the Iraqi population. Unfortunately for all concerned,
the Party today is but an appendage to the US occupation. What this
means in real terms is that the ICP sees the US-installed regime as
the source of power in Iraq, not the people who live and work there.
This analysis has made them enemies of many Iraqis both in and out of
the resistance. However, according to Salluci's history, this approach
is standard operating procedure for the ICP. Given that, it is no
wonder that the ICP has never enjoyed overwhelming support.

Even during the years immediately following the 1958 July Revolution,
when the Free Officers' movement overthrew the British-installed
monarchy and began progressive land reforms and other
socialist-oriented programs, the ICP failed to consider the workers
and peasants their base and ultimately sealed their fate by not
organizing these elements of Iraqi society. Instead, they took a more
timid path and refused to demand changes that might offend the
nationalist bourgeoisie-the same bourgeoisie that was consolidating its
power at the expense of the workers and peasantry. This insight is but
one aspect of this revolution provided by Salucci. The discussion of
this period in Iraq's history is quite valuable since very little is
understood about it in the West. Furthermore, most of what has been
available in the West has not been favorable to the Free Officers and
their allies.

The tales of bloody repression and internal revolts told throughout
this history prove that Iraq does indeed have a bloody history, but
that the bloodiness stems from the nation's colonial legacy, not from
the so-called Arab mind, or any other Orientalist fantasy. This is one
of the text's most valuable contributions to the Left's understanding
of Iraqi history. For the reader not of a leftist persuasion, the
facts presented here are important not only in their presentation, but
also in their presentation from a viewpoint that is neither
Washington's view or Baghdad's (although today that distinction is
much less than at most other periods in Iraq's history.) Besides the
actual text, there are several appendices, including speeches and a
very valuable timeline of Iraq's history from a left perspective.

In terms of recent history, the descriptions of the 1991 popular
rebellions after Hussein's defeat by the US military are quite
interesting and informative. Salluci reveals not only the breadth of
this uprising, but also Washington's complicity in repressing it. Once
again, one is left wondering what might have happened if this uprising
had been allowed to take its course. Instead, the Iraqis are left
with a tattered country under a brutal occupation and a resistance
quite susceptible to influences that do not necessarily have what's
best for the Iraqi people in mind.

After reading A People's History of Iraq, I was reminded once again
of the mistakes inherent in a political analysis that does not stem
organically from the people, but comes instead from an ideology that
while generally appropriate, lacks local flexibility. Meanwhile, the
Iraqis live with the consequences. This text is not only important to
understanding Iraq's past and present; it is also useful in
understanding what might be useful to its (and ours) future.

Ron Jacobs is author of The Way the Wind Blew: a history of the
Weather Underground, which is just republished by Verso. Jacobs' essay
on Big Bill Broonzy is featured in CounterPunch's new collection on
music, art and sex, Serpents in the Garden. He can be reached at:
 rjacobs@zoo.uvm.edu