Military history of Iraq
Encyclopedia
The military history of Iraq
, due to a rich archaeological
record, is one of the longest in written human history. The region of Iraq
, which used to be Mesopotamia, has been referred to as the "cradle of civilization", and wars of conquest have been recorded in this region as far back as the third millennium BC. The area possesses strategic value, initially for the rich, fertile agricultural region in the Mesopotamian plain, and more recently for large petroleum
deposits and access to the oil-rich Persian Gulf
. The present territory of Iraq lacks significant strategic barriers, making it difficult to defend against foreign invasion. The border between Iraq and Iran
, or in ancient times between Babylonia
and Persia
, has been regarded as the most fought over frontier in the world.
There were several revolts in this time:
Baghdad was sacked on February 10, 1258 by Hulagu Khan
in the Battle of Baghdad (1258)
, with between 250,000 and 800,000 people killed during the Mongol invasion. It had been under siege for several weeks.
overthrew the pro-British
Iraqi government. The British were concerned that the Axis powers
might get involved in Iraq since the new government was pro-Axis. The British landed troops at Basra
while Iraqi forces besieged RAF Habbaniya
.
On 2 May, the British launched pre-emptive air strikes against Iraqi forces. On 7 May, the Iraqis abandoned the positions above RAF Habbaniya. By about 11 May, the Iraqi Air Force was neutralized. From about 13 May, the "Flyer Command Iraq
" (Fliegerführer Irak
) of the German Air Force (Luftwaffe
) started to arrive. The aircraft of Fliegerführer Irak started to fly sorties under Iraqi colours from Mosul
against the British and Commonwealth forces. For a variety of reasons, Fliegerführer Irak was able to achieve little in the way of results. British ground forces from Habbaniya
attacked Iraqi forces in Fallujah
and, by 22 May, had withstood an Iraqi counter-attack. The British forces then attacked Baghdad
, Rashid Ali and his government fled, and an armistice
was signed on 31 May.
The pro-British Iraqi government was restored and the Kingdom of Iraq
declared war on the Axis on 17 January 1943.
The Iraqi Army participated in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
against Israel.
A garrison in Mosul rebelled against Qassem, and Kurdish leader Barzani returned from exile in the Soviet Union to suppress them.
Iraq claimed sovereignty over Kuwait after it gained independence from Britain in 1961, but it backed down after the British sent troops to Kuwait.
Iraq sent troops and planes to Jordan during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war (the Six-Day War
).
On June 7, 1981 Israeli F-15s
and F-16s bombed and destroyed the Osirak nuclear reactor, 18 miles (29 km) south of Baghdad following the orders of Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin
.
On May 17, 1987 an Iraqi Mirage
fighter fired two Exocet
missiles at the American ship USS Stark (FFG-31)
, killing thirty-seven of the crew.
In January 1993 the US launched a cruise missile attack against Iraq, because of it not dismantling police posts near the border with Kuwait.
In June 1993 another US cruise missile attack was launched because of a suspected assassination plot against former US president George H. W. Bush
.
In 1996, Iraqi troops moved into northern Iraq to support the Kurdish Democratic Party against the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. The US responded with limited air attacks in the south.
There were Iraqi attacks against allied aircraft in the no fly zones in January 2001, with American and British responding with bombing of targets in northern Iraq in February.
The United States led a "coalition of the willing" which invaded Iraq on March 20, 2003 in a war that took three weeks to get control of the country, yet the fighting lasted much longer. Baghdad was captured on April 9. Saddam Hussein was deposed, but remained in hiding until December 14, 2003, when he was captured by the US, tried by a US appointed court and killed as a result of a death sentence.
(see Military of Iraq). The effort to create a new national military is being complicated by focused insurgent attacks on recruitment centers and claims of insurgents' infiltration of the new forces.
Saddam Hussein was executed on December 30, 2006 after a court appointed by the interim government found him guilty of ordering the deaths of the inhabitants of an Iraqi village almost 10 years earlier.
History of Iraq
Iraq, known in Classical Antiquity as Mesopotamia, was home to some of the oldest civilizations in the world, with a cultural history of over 10,000 years. hence its common epithet, the Cradle of Civilization. Mesopotamia, as part of the larger Fertile Crescent, was a significant part of the...
, due to a rich archaeological
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
record, is one of the longest in written human history. The region of Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, which used to be Mesopotamia, has been referred to as the "cradle of civilization", and wars of conquest have been recorded in this region as far back as the third millennium BC. The area possesses strategic value, initially for the rich, fertile agricultural region in the Mesopotamian plain, and more recently for large petroleum
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
deposits and access to the oil-rich Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...
. The present territory of Iraq lacks significant strategic barriers, making it difficult to defend against foreign invasion. The border between Iraq and Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, or in ancient times between Babylonia
Babylonia
Babylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia , with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as a major power when Hammurabi Babylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq), with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as...
and Persia
History of Iran
The history of Iran has been intertwined with the history of a larger historical region, comprising the area from the Danube River in the west to the Indus River and Jaxartes in the east and from the Caucasus, Caspian Sea, and Aral Sea in the north to the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman and Egypt...
, has been regarded as the most fought over frontier in the world.
Ancient times
- In 2525 BC, there was a battle between King EannatumEannatumEannatum was a Sumerian king of Lagash who established one of the first verifiable empires in history. One inscription of his, found on a boulder, states that Eannatum was his Sumerian name, while his "Tidnu" name was Lumma.-Conquest of Sumer:...
of LagashLagashLagash is located northwest of the junction of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers and east of Uruk, about east of the modern town of Ash Shatrah. Lagash was one of the oldest cities of the Ancient Near East...
, and UmmaUmmaUmma was an ancient city in Sumer. Note that there is some scholarly debateabout the Sumerian and Akkadian names for this site.-History:...
. The battle is recorded on the Stele of the Vultures. The king won the battle by using armored soldiers who were in phalanx formationPhalanx formationThe phalanx is a rectangular mass military formation, usually composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, sarissas, or similar weapons...
, and also used chariotChariotThe chariot is a type of horse carriage used in both peace and war as the chief vehicle of many ancient peoples. Ox carts, proto-chariots, were built by the Proto-Indo-Europeans and also built in Mesopotamia as early as 3000 BC. The original horse chariot was a fast, light, open, two wheeled...
s pulled by onagerOnagerThe Onager is a large member of the genus Equus of the family Equidae native to the deserts of Syria, Iran, Pakistan, India, Israel and Tibet...
s. - About 2300 BC, Sargon of AkkadSargon of AkkadSargon of Akkad, also known as Sargon the Great "the Great King" , was an Akkadian emperor famous for his conquest of the Sumerian city-states in the 23rd and 22nd centuries BC. The founder of the Dynasty of Akkad, Sargon reigned in the last quarter of the third millennium BC...
attacked and conquered 34 SumerSumerSumer was a civilization and historical region in southern Mesopotamia, modern Iraq during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age....
ian cities, beginning the Akkadian Empire. - The SumerSumerSumer was a civilization and historical region in southern Mesopotamia, modern Iraq during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age....
ians living in Iraq had to battle the ElamElamElam was an ancient civilization located in what is now southwest Iran. Elam was centered in the far west and the southwest of modern-day Iran, stretching from the lowlands of Khuzestan and Ilam Province, as well as a small part of southern Iraq...
ites from western Iran. - KassitesKassitesThe Kassites were an ancient Near Eastern people who gained control of Babylonia after the fall of the Old Babylonian Empire after ca. 1531 BC to ca. 1155 BC...
attacked BabyloniaBabyloniaBabylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia , with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as a major power when Hammurabi Babylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq), with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as...
in the sixteenth century BC - About 1263 BC, the AssyriaAssyriaAssyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
n king Shalmaneser IShalmaneser IShalmaneser I was a king of Assyria.Son of Adad-nirari I, he succeeded his father as king in 1265 BC....
defeated a rebellion led by ShattuaraShattuaraShattuara, also spelled Šattuara, was a king of the Hurrian kingdom of Hanigalbat in the thirteenth century BC.Shattuara was a vassal of the Assyrian king Adad-nirari I...
II of Hanigalbat. - Nebuchadnezzar I (1119-1098 BC) attacked Assyria.
- The ChaldeaChaldeaChaldea or Chaldaea , from Greek , Chaldaia; Akkadian ; Hebrew כשדים, Kaśdim; Aramaic: ܟܐܠܕܘ, Kaldo) was a marshy land located in modern-day southern Iraq which came to briefly rule Babylon...
ns took over Babylonia in the 9th century BC, forming the Neo-Babylonian EmpireNeo-Babylonian EmpireThe Neo-Babylonian Empire or Second Babylonian Empire was a period of Mesopotamian history which began in 626 BC and ended in 539 BC. During the preceding three centuries, Babylonia had been ruled by their fellow Akkadian speakers and northern neighbours, Assyria. Throughout that time Babylonia...
, and had to fight many revolts and aggressors. - Nebuchadrezzar IINebuchadrezzar IINebuchadnezzar II was king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, who reigned c. 605 BC – 562 BC. According to the Bible, he conquered Judah and Jerusalem, and sent the Jews into exile. He is credited with the construction of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and also known for the destruction...
(605-562 BC) conquered Jerusalem taking 15,000 Jewish captives, who were put into exile for 70 years. (See Babylonian captivityBabylonian captivityThe Babylonian captivity was the period in Jewish history during which the Jews of the ancient Kingdom of Judah were captives in Babylon—conventionally 587–538 BCE....
.) - Cyrus the GreatCyrus the GreatCyrus II of Persia , commonly known as Cyrus the Great, also known as Cyrus the Elder, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire. Under his rule, the empire embraced all the previous civilized states of the ancient Near East, expanded vastly and eventually conquered most of Southwest Asia and much...
, founder of the AchaemenidAchaemenid EmpireThe Achaemenid Empire , sometimes known as First Persian Empire and/or Persian Empire, was founded in the 6th century BCE by Cyrus the Great who overthrew the Median confederation...
Persian Empire, defeated the Neo-Babylonian Empire and conquered the region in 539-538 BC - In 331 BC, Alexander the Great defeated Darius III of Persia at the Battle of GaugamelaBattle of GaugamelaThe Battle of Gaugamela took place in 331 BC between Alexander the Great and Darius III of Persia. The battle, which is also called the Battle of Arbela, resulted in a massive victory for the ancient Macedonians and led to the fall of the Achaemenid Empire.-Location:Darius chose a flat, open plain...
, east of present day MosulMosulMosul , is a city in northern Iraq and the capital of the Ninawa Governorate, some northwest of Baghdad. The original city stands on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh on the east bank, but the metropolitan area has now grown to encompass substantial...
. Alexander died in BabylonBabylonBabylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
in 323 BC. - In later centuries, starting from 190 BC, the PersiansPersian peopleThe Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...
ruled Iraq for hundreds of years under different dynasties including the ParthiaParthiaParthia is a region of north-eastern Iran, best known for having been the political and cultural base of the Arsacid dynasty, rulers of the Parthian Empire....
n and SassanidSassanid EmpireThe Sassanid Empire , known to its inhabitants as Ērānshahr and Ērān in Middle Persian and resulting in the New Persian terms Iranshahr and Iran , was the last pre-Islamic Persian Empire, ruled by the Sasanian Dynasty from 224 to 651...
dynasties, after the first conquest in the 6th century BC. - In 627 AD, the ByzantinesByzantine EmpireThe Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
sacked CtesiphonCtesiphonCtesiphon, the imperial capital of the Parthian Arsacids and of the Persian Sassanids, was one of the great cities of ancient Mesopotamia.The ruins of the city are located on the east bank of the Tigris, across the river from the Hellenistic city of Seleucia...
, which was invaded again in 637, this time by MuslimMuslimA Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
ArabArabArab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
s. The battle between 18,000 Arab tribesmen led by General Khalid ibn al-WalidKhalid ibn al-WalidKhālid ibn al-Walīd also known as Sayf Allāh al-Maslūl , was a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He is noted for his military tactics and prowess, commanding the forces of Medina and those of his immediate successors of the Rashidun Caliphate; Abu Bakr and Umar...
(The Sword of Allah) and the Persians led by Rostam FarrokhzādRostam FarrokhzadRostam Farrokhzād was the Ērān Spāhbod of the Sāsānian Empire under the reign of Yazdgird, r. 632 - 651...
, was fought at the Battle of al-QādisiyyahBattle of al-QadisiyyahThe Battle of al-Qādisiyyah was fought in 636; it was the decisive engagement between the Arab muslim army and the Sassanid Persian army during the first period of Muslim expansion. It resulted in the Islamic conquest of Persia, and was key to the conquest of Iraq...
, south of BaghdadBaghdadBaghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
.
Middle Ages (634 - 16th century)
- Muslim Arab forcesMuslim conquestsMuslim conquests also referred to as the Islamic conquests or Arab conquests, began with the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He established a new unified polity in the Arabian Peninsula which under the subsequent Rashidun and Umayyad Caliphates saw a century of rapid expansion of Muslim power.They...
led by Khalid ibn al-WalidKhalid ibn al-WalidKhālid ibn al-Walīd also known as Sayf Allāh al-Maslūl , was a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He is noted for his military tactics and prowess, commanding the forces of Medina and those of his immediate successors of the Rashidun Caliphate; Abu Bakr and Umar...
and Sa`d ibn Abī WaqqāsSa`d ibn Abi WaqqasSaad ibn Abī Waqqās was an early convert to Islam in 610-11 and one of the important companions of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Sa'd was the seventeenth person to embrace Islam at the age of seventeen...
conquered the area from the Sassanid Persian EmpireSassanid EmpireThe Sassanid Empire , known to its inhabitants as Ērānshahr and Ērān in Middle Persian and resulting in the New Persian terms Iranshahr and Iran , was the last pre-Islamic Persian Empire, ruled by the Sasanian Dynasty from 224 to 651...
during the Islamic conquest of PersiaIslamic conquest of PersiaThe Muslim conquest of Persia led to the end of the Sassanid Empire in 644, the fall of Sassanid dynasty in 651 and the eventual decline of the Zoroastrian religion in Persia...
in the 8th century, despite the occupying Persian forces being numerically and technologically superior.
There were several revolts in this time:
- 680 Hussein bin Ali, the grandson of the Islamic prophet MuhammadMuhammadMuhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
killed at KarbalaKarbalaKarbala is a city in Iraq, located about southwest of Baghdad. Karbala is the capital of Karbala Governorate, and has an estimated population of 572,300 people ....
, in the Battle of KarbalaBattle of KarbalaThe Battle of Karbala took place on Muharram 10, in the year 61 of the Islamic calendar in Karbala, in present day Iraq. On one side of the highly uneven battle were a small group of supporters and relatives of Muhammad's grandson Husain ibn Ali, and on the other was a large military detachment...
on October 10 which happens to be a Muslim holy day called Aashurah (means the tenth day). - 701 a revolt crushed by Syrian armies
- 747 revolt by Abbas, leading to Abbasid caliph proclaimed in 750. Baghdad was founded in 762.
- Baghdad was the centre of the AbbasidAbbasidThe Abbasid Caliphate or, more simply, the Abbasids , was the third of the Islamic caliphates. It was ruled by the Abbasid dynasty of caliphs, who built their capital in Baghdad after overthrowing the Umayyad caliphate from all but the al-Andalus region....
Caliphate from the eighth century, an empire which ruled much of the Arab world. - Baghdad was sacked in 809 after a civil war
- By 865 the new northern capital of SamarraSamarraSāmarrā is a city in Iraq. It stands on the east bank of the Tigris in the Salah ad-Din Governorate, north of Baghdad and, in 2003, had an estimated population of 348,700....
and Baghdad were at war - In 945 the Buyid people from the Caspian SeaCaspian SeaThe Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. The sea has a surface area of and a volume of...
took over Baghdad, with the Abbasid caliphs becoming puppet rulers. - MosulMosulMosul , is a city in northern Iraq and the capital of the Ninawa Governorate, some northwest of Baghdad. The original city stands on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh on the east bank, but the metropolitan area has now grown to encompass substantial...
was captured in 977. - In 1055 the SeljukSeljuq dynastyThe Seljuq ; were a Turco-Persian Sunni Muslim dynasty that ruled parts of Central Asia and the Middle East from the 11th to 14th centuries...
leader Togrul Beg overran the central area of Iraq. - The Abbasids regained control in 1135.
- Baghdad repelled an attack by the Mongols in 1245
Baghdad was sacked on February 10, 1258 by Hulagu Khan
Hulagu Khan
Hulagu Khan, also known as Hülegü, Hulegu , was a Mongol ruler who conquered much of Southwest Asia...
in the Battle of Baghdad (1258)
Battle of Baghdad (1258)
The Siege of Baghdad, which occurred in 1258, was an invasion, siege and sacking of the city of Baghdad, the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate at the time and the modern-day capital of Iraq, by the Ilkhanate Mongol forces along with other allied troops under Hulagu Khan.The invasion left Baghdad in...
, with between 250,000 and 800,000 people killed during the Mongol invasion. It had been under siege for several weeks.
- Baghdad was sacked in 1401 by Tamerlane
- From 1405 Turkish tribes from AnatoliaAnatoliaAnatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
took over Iraq and there was much infighting between themselves, and against local groups. The Black Sheep Turkmen at first ruled Iraq until 1466 when the White Sheep Turkmen took control. - 1508 or 1509 Iraq conquered by the Safavid dynasty of Iran
- 1533-1534 Iraq was conquered by the Ottoman EmpireOttoman EmpireThe Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
.
Ottoman rule (16th century - World War I)
- Baghdad was put under Persian rule between 1623 and 1638, when Murad IVMurad IVMurad IV Ghazi was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1623 to 1640, known both for restoring the authority of the state and for the brutality of his methods...
restored Ottoman rule and massacred many local Shiites. - In 1776, BasraBasraBasra is the capital of Basra Governorate, in southern Iraq near Kuwait and Iran. It had an estimated population of two million as of 2009...
was occupied by the Persians. They held it until 1779 when Karim Khan Zand's death precipitated a period of internal disorder and resulted in withdrawal from Basra.
British Mandate of Mesopotamia (1918-1932)
- The British invaded Iraq during World War IWorld War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
in the Mesopotamian CampaignMesopotamian CampaignThe Mesopotamian campaign was a campaign in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I fought between the Allies represented by the British Empire, mostly troops from the Indian Empire, and the Central Powers, mostly of the Ottoman Empire.- Background :...
. They invaded southern Mesopotamia in November 1914. The Battle of CtesiphonBattle of CtesiphonThe Battle of Ctesiphon may refer to several battles fought near Ctesiphon:* Battle of Ctesiphon * Battle of Ctesiphon * Battle of Ctesiphon , between Roman emperor Julian the Apostate & Persian emperor Shapur II outside the walls of Ctesiphon...
was fought in November 1915. The undermanned and overstretched British forces were defeated by the Turks, who besieged the British in the city of Kut-al-Amara for 143 days in the Siege of KutSiege of KutThe siege of Kut Al Amara , was the besieging of 8,000 strong British-Indian garrison in the town of Kut, 100 miles south of Baghdad, by the Ottoman Army. Its known also as 1st Battle of Kut. In 1915, its population was around 6,500...
, ending with a British surrender, with 10,000 men becoming prisoners in April 1916. The British took the middle eastern campaign more seriously following this defeat, transferring command from India to the main British command, and General Frederick Stanley MaudeFrederick Stanley MaudeLieutenant General Sir Frederick Stanley Maude KCB, CMG, DSO was a British commander, most famous for his efforts in Mesopotamia during World War I and for conquering Baghdad in 1917.-Family:...
was put in charge of British forces, leading the British to a series of victories. The battles of Mohammed Abdul Hassan, Hai and Dahra were won by the British in January 1917. In February they recaptured Kut. On March 11, 1917 the British occupied Baghdad after the Fall of Baghdad (1917)Fall of Baghdad (1917)The British Indian Army fought the Ottoman Empire in the First World War. On 11 March 1917, after a series of defeats, it captured Baghdad after a two-year campaign.-Arrival of General Sir Frederick Stanley Maude:...
. - Between 1920 and 1922 the British put down an Iraqi revolt costing them 40 million pounds to do so.
- In January 1921 the Royal Air ForceRoyal Air ForceThe Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
's Mesopotamian GroupGroup (air force unit)A group is a military aviation unit, a component of military organization and a military formation. Usage of the terms group and wing differ from one country to another, as well as different branches of a defence force, in some cases...
was formed by raising Mesopotamian WingWing (air force unit)Wing is a term used by different military aviation forces for a unit of command. The terms wing, group or Staffel are used for different-sized units from one country or service to another....
to group status - On 1 October 1922 Mesopotamian Group was absorbed into the newly formed RAF Iraq CommandRAF Iraq CommandIraq Command was the RAF commanded inter-service command in charge of British forces in Iraq in the 1920s and early 1930s, during the period of the British Mandate of Mesopotamia. It continued as British Forces in Iraq until 1941 when it was replaced by AHQ Iraq...
which was given control of all British forces in Iraq.http://www.rafweb.org/Cmd_O3.htm - Faisal I, leader of Iraq from 1921–33, helped to make his country fully independent in 1932.
Post-colonial monarchy (1932-1958)
On 1 April 1941, Rashid Ali and four generalsGolden Square (Iraq)
The Golden Square was a group of four officers of the Iraqi armed forces who played a part in Iraqi politics throughout the 1930s and early 1940s...
overthrew the pro-British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Iraqi government. The British were concerned that the Axis powers
Axis Powers
The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...
might get involved in Iraq since the new government was pro-Axis. The British landed troops at Basra
Basra
Basra is the capital of Basra Governorate, in southern Iraq near Kuwait and Iran. It had an estimated population of two million as of 2009...
while Iraqi forces besieged RAF Habbaniya
RAF Habbaniya
Royal Air Force Station Habbaniya, more commonly known as RAF Habbaniya, was a Royal Air Force station at Habbaniyah, about west of Baghdad in modern day Iraq, on the banks of the Euphrates near Lake Habbaniyah...
.
On 2 May, the British launched pre-emptive air strikes against Iraqi forces. On 7 May, the Iraqis abandoned the positions above RAF Habbaniya. By about 11 May, the Iraqi Air Force was neutralized. From about 13 May, the "Flyer Command Iraq
Fliegerführer Irak
Flyer Command Iraq was a unit of the German Air Force sent to Iraq in May 1941 as part of a German mission to support the regime of Rashid Ali during the Anglo-Iraqi War...
" (Fliegerführer Irak
Fliegerführer Irak
Flyer Command Iraq was a unit of the German Air Force sent to Iraq in May 1941 as part of a German mission to support the regime of Rashid Ali during the Anglo-Iraqi War...
) of the German Air Force (Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
) started to arrive. The aircraft of Fliegerführer Irak started to fly sorties under Iraqi colours from Mosul
Mosul
Mosul , is a city in northern Iraq and the capital of the Ninawa Governorate, some northwest of Baghdad. The original city stands on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh on the east bank, but the metropolitan area has now grown to encompass substantial...
against the British and Commonwealth forces. For a variety of reasons, Fliegerführer Irak was able to achieve little in the way of results. British ground forces from Habbaniya
Habbaniya
The Habbaniya, or Habbania, are a Sunni Muslim tribe of the nomadic Bedouin Baggara people in the plains of Sudan's Darfur, North Kurdufan, and South Kurdufan provinces....
attacked Iraqi forces in Fallujah
Fallujah
Fallujah is a city in the Iraqi province of Al Anbar, located roughly west of Baghdad on the Euphrates. Fallujah dates from Babylonian times and was host to important Jewish academies for many centuries....
and, by 22 May, had withstood an Iraqi counter-attack. The British forces then attacked Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
, Rashid Ali and his government fled, and an armistice
Armistice
An armistice is a situation in a war where the warring parties agree to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, but may be just a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace...
was signed on 31 May.
The pro-British Iraqi government was restored and the Kingdom of Iraq
Kingdom of Iraq
The Kingdom of Iraq was the sovereign state of Iraq during and after the British Mandate of Mesopotamia. The League of Nations mandate started in 1920. The kingdom began in August 1921 with the coronation of Faisal bin al-Hussein bin Ali al-Hashemi as King Faisal I...
declared war on the Axis on 17 January 1943.
The Iraqi Army participated in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
1948 Arab-Israeli War
The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, known to Israelis as the War of Independence or War of Liberation The war commenced after the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and the creation of an independent Israel at midnight on 14 May 1948 when, following a period of civil war, Arab armies invaded...
against Israel.
Early republic (1958-1963)
The US began military aid to Iraq in 1954, and Iraq joined the pro western Baghdad Pact in 1955. Iraqi troops along with the Syrians occupied parts of Jordan during the 1956 Suez War.A garrison in Mosul rebelled against Qassem, and Kurdish leader Barzani returned from exile in the Soviet Union to suppress them.
Iraq claimed sovereignty over Kuwait after it gained independence from Britain in 1961, but it backed down after the British sent troops to Kuwait.
Iraq sent troops and planes to Jordan during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war (the Six-Day War
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...
).
Pre-Saddam Ba'ath Party (1963-1979)
Iraqi divisions fought in the 1973 October War against Israel.Iran–Iraq War
Iraq invaded Iran on the 22nd of September, 1980, in the Iran–Iraq War and with some initial successes, eventually the war dragged on into a long stalemate, with between 1 and 2 million casualties. The war ended with a ceasefire on August 20, 1988.On June 7, 1981 Israeli F-15s
F-15 Eagle
The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is a twin-engine, all-weather tactical fighter designed by McDonnell Douglas to gain and maintain air superiority in aerial combat. It is considered among the most successful modern fighters with over 100 aerial combat victories with no losses in dogfights...
and F-16s bombed and destroyed the Osirak nuclear reactor, 18 miles (29 km) south of Baghdad following the orders of Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin
Menachem Begin
' was a politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of the State of Israel. Before independence, he was the leader of the Zionist militant group Irgun, the Revisionist breakaway from the larger Jewish paramilitary organization Haganah. He proclaimed a revolt, on 1 February 1944,...
.
On May 17, 1987 an Iraqi Mirage
Mirage
A mirage is a naturally occurring optical phenomenon in which light rays are bent to produce a displaced image of distant objects or the sky. The word comes to English via the French mirage, from the Latin mirare, meaning "to look at, to wonder at"...
fighter fired two Exocet
Exocet
The Exocet is a French-built anti-ship missile whose various versions can be launched from surface vessels, submarines, helicopters and fixed wing aircraft. Hundreds were fired in combat during the 1980s.-Etymology:...
missiles at the American ship USS Stark (FFG-31)
USS Stark (FFG-31)
USS Stark , 23rd ship of the Oliver Hazard Perry class of guided-missile frigates, was named for Admiral Harold Rainsford Stark ....
, killing thirty-seven of the crew.
Gulf War
On August 2, 1990 Iraq invaded and annexed Kuwait. The United States led an international coalition which heavily bombed Iraq and freed Kuwait in 1991. After this war, sanctions were imposed on Iraq as well as a north and south no fly zones, and during the 1990s, Iraq was frequently bombed by American and British aircraft in small sorties.In June 1993 another US cruise missile attack was launched because of a suspected assassination plot against former US president George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
.
In 1996, Iraqi troops moved into northern Iraq to support the Kurdish Democratic Party against the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. The US responded with limited air attacks in the south.
There were Iraqi attacks against allied aircraft in the no fly zones in January 2001, with American and British responding with bombing of targets in northern Iraq in February.
Invasion of Iraq
The United States led a "coalition of the willing" which invaded Iraq on March 20, 2003 in a war that took three weeks to get control of the country, yet the fighting lasted much longer. Baghdad was captured on April 9. Saddam Hussein was deposed, but remained in hiding until December 14, 2003, when he was captured by the US, tried by a US appointed court and killed as a result of a death sentence.
Interim government (2003-)
Iraq is currently rebuilding its military with the aid of countries from the Coalition of the WillingCoalition of the willing
The term coalition of the willing is a post-1990 political phrase used to collectively describe participants in military or military-humanitarian interventions for which the United Nations Security Council cannot agree to mount a full UN peacekeeping operation...
(see Military of Iraq). The effort to create a new national military is being complicated by focused insurgent attacks on recruitment centers and claims of insurgents' infiltration of the new forces.
Saddam Hussein was executed on December 30, 2006 after a court appointed by the interim government found him guilty of ordering the deaths of the inhabitants of an Iraqi village almost 10 years earlier.