Iraq, 1995 — military coup attempt
Event Summary
The dataset records an event coded as an attempted military coup in Iraq on 14 May 1995 against Saddam Hussein, part of the cluster of tribal and military revolts that shook his regime in the mid 1990s, when Iraq was ground down by international sanctions, the humiliation of the Gulf War defeat, and eroding loyalty within the officer corps. In this period, disaffection was especially acute among the powerful Sunni Dulaim tribe of Anbar province, long a pillar of the regime's security forces; the regime's execution of a senior Dulaimi air force officer, General Muhammad Madhlum al-Dulaimi, accused of plotting, ignited a tribal uprising around Ramadi and Abu Ghraib in mid 1995. A coup attempt or military revolt in May 1995 arose from that disaffection and was crushed by Saddam's overlapping security services and Republican Guard, followed by harsh reprisals against the rebellious tribe.
Saddam, an unmatched survivor who had outlasted countless conspiracies through his sprawling intelligence apparatus and ruthless preemption, weathered this challenge. He clung to power despite further plots, defections, and a CIA backed conspiracy in 1996, ruling Iraq until the United States led invasion of 2003.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Sources
Editorial Note
Cross-Reference
Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.
Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:
- Cline Center id
64505141995
How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.
Outcome and Target
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Saddam Hussein crushed the May 1995 Dulaim-linked military revolt and survived through his security apparatus.
Baseline coding: Coup attempt failed to remove the incumbent. Recorded leader fate: remained in office; not physically harmed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.
Baseline Dataset Citation
Baseline Source-Document Entries
CSP
The Observer
Irish Times
This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →