The Iran-Iraq War: A Military and Strategic HistoryCambridge University Press, 2014 M09 4 - 397 pages The Iran-Iraq War is one of the largest, yet least documented conflicts in the history of the Middle East. Drawing from an extensive cache of captured Iraqi government records, this book is the first comprehensive military and strategic account of the war through the lens of the Iraqi regime and its senior military commanders. It explores the rationale and decision-making processes that drove the Iraqis as they grappled with challenges that, at times, threatened their existence. Beginning with the bizarre lack of planning by the Iraqis in their invasion of Iran, the authors reveal Saddam's desperate attempts to improve the competence of an officer corps that he had purged to safeguard its loyalty to his tyranny, and then to weather the storm of suicidal attacks by Iranian religious revolutionaries. This is a unique and important contribution to our understanding of the history of war and the contemporary Middle East. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
A context of bitterness and anger | 9 |
The opponents | 51 |
The Iraqi invasion begins | 85 |
Stalemate | 138 |
Defeat and recovery | 171 |
A war of attrition | 205 |
Dog days ofa long | 258 |
People | 348 |
Place names | 354 |
Order of battle | 356 |
1 | 357 |
Bibliography | 359 |
385 | |
386 | |
391 | |
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The Iran-Iraq War: A Military and Strategic History Williamson Murray,Kevin M. Woods No preview available - 2014 |
Common terms and phrases
advisors air defense air force aircraft Arab nation Armed Forces armored army’s artillery attack Ayatollah Ba’ath Party Ba’athist Baghdad Basij Basra battle battlefield bomb brigades captured casualties chemical weapons Circa combat conflict Corps defeat Despite Division enemy enemy’s equipment Fao Peninsula fighting Forces General Command Gulf Gulf War Halabjah Hamdani Ibid III Corps infantry Intelligence Directorate GMID Intelligence Report Iran Iran–Iraq War Iran’s Iranian Military Iranian offensive Iraq Iraq’s Iraqi Air Iraqi Army Iraqi forces Iraqi intelligence Iraqi military Islamic Israel Israeli January July Kharg Khomeini Khorramshahr Kurdish Kurds large number launched leaders major March Meeting between Saddam Memorandum Middle East Military Intelligence Directorate Minister missiles November O’Ballance October officers operations Osirak Pasdaran Persian political regime Republican Guard revolution Saddam Hussein senior September 1980 Shah’s Shatt al-Arab Shi’a soldiers Soviet strategic Susangard Syrian tactical tankers tanks targets Tariq Aziz Tehran Transcript troops units victory