Not to quibble, does anyone know of a short "lanky" person?
1959 : (IRAQ SENDS 375 STUDENTS TO THE USSR TO STUDY NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY) Iraq sends 375 students to the Soviet Union to study nuclear technology.—"The Development of Iraq's Nuclear and Biochemical Weapons," Shijie Zhishi, 16 January 1999, No. 2, pp. 17-18. via "Iraq Nuclear Weapons Program—An Annotated Chronology"
1950s late : (TARIQ RAMADAN'S FATHER SAID RAMADAN FLEES EGYPT DURING A CRACKDOWN ON MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD AND SETTLES IN GENEVA , SWITZERLAND-- SEE MALCOLM X, IRAQ) In the late 1950's, Mr. [Tariq] Ramadan's father, Said, settled in Geneva after fleeing Egypt during a crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood. * Said Ramadan set up an Islamic center that became a European outpost of the Brotherhood, drawing visitors like Malcolm X. --------Mystery of the Islamic Scholar Who Was Barred by the U.S. [Tariq Ramadan] New York Times ^ | WED October 6, 2004 | DEBORAH SONTAG
1961 : (IRAQ's QASIM THREATENS TO ANNEX KUWAIT) Kuwaiti independence from Britian; General Qasim of Iraq threatened to annex Kuwait; British made it clear that they would defend Kuwai; Qasim backed down.
1962 : (IRAQ : NUCLEAR PROGRAM : TUWAITHA SITE : CONSTRUCTION BEGINS ON IRAQ'S FIRST NUCLEAR REACTOR - SUPPLIED BY USSR) Construction begins on Iraq's first research reactor, the 2 megawatt IRT-5000 supplied by the Soviet Union. The Tuwaitha Site, located about 30 kilometers south of Baghdad, becomes the Nuclear Research Center after it is chosen as the location of the Soviet-supplied reactor and its associated facilities. —"Iraq's Nuclear Weapons Program: From Aflaq to Tammuz," ; David Albright, Corey Gay and Khidhir Hamza, "Development of the Al-Tuwaitha Site: What if the Public or the IAEA Had Overhead Imagery?," Institute for Science and International Security, .via "Iraq Nuclear Weapons Program—An Annotated Chronology"
JUNE 19, 1962 : (KHRUSHCHEV PREDICTS THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WILL WILLINGLY SUCCUMB TO COMMUNISM) Nikita Khrushchev predicted confidently in a speech in Bucharest, Romania that: "The United States will eventually fly the Communist Red Flag ... the American people will hoist it themselves." - "None Dare Call it Treason," by John A. Stormer
The Hashemite Royals were argueably British stooges, but I think the region would have been better off were the pro-Western, anti-socialist monarchies still in power. The “Arab radicalism” of the 1950’s paved the way for a lot of trouble. Not only Iraq, but same goes for Egypt.