In the fall of 1980, one of the largest and most destructive conflicts to occur from the end of the second world war started between Iran and Iraq. Lasting eight years, the war left approximately 1.5 million dead and around a million casualties with thousands of refugees fleeing both nations. This conflict's roots can be traced backed to conflicts that raged between the powers which controlled the Persian Iran and Arab Iraq regions (Bahadori, 2005). For centuries, the Persians and Arabs have been at war under the banners of opposing empires.. (Karsh, Geopolitical Determinism: The Origins of the Iran-Iraq War, 1990)
According to the Iraqis, the conflict started on the 4th of September when Iranian troops shelled Iraqi towns and villages along the middle border region that separated the two countries. According to Iran and most observers, on the 22nd of September, Iraq launched a full scale invasion of Iran along three fronts; the central, northern and southern border regions (Swearingen, 1988). In the preceding year, deteriorating conditions between the countries lead to numerous small border violations with Iran claimed from March 1979 to September 1980, 363 airspace violations and 434 attacks by Iraqi artillery, infantry and armored forces whilst Iraq claimed 544 similar violations during this time. At outbreak, Iran held the lead in terms of people fit for military service (6.2 million against 2.03 million) but sorely lacked in terms of operational military equipment such as tanks (1,040 to 4,000), armoured fighting vehicles (750 to 3,000), and combat aircraft (70 to 632) (Segal, 1988, pp. 950-951).
The War proceeded in 5 distinct phases:
i. (22 September 1980 - March 1981) - Iraqi Offensive ii. (March 1981 - March 1982) ...
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...he Iran-Iraq War. Research Paper, University of California, Berkeley, Department of History, Berkeley.
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In September 1980, a very destructive war with Iran was started by Saddam Hussein. This was a result of an invasion in Iran. This invasion spurred an eight year war. Saddam used c...
Sixty-three percent of Iraq’s population is Shia Muslim, thirty-three percent is Sunni Muslim (Lunde, 2002). For the past five centuries the minority, Sunni Muslims, have held political power in Iraq. It was not until recently that the majority, the Shia Muslims, was able to experience political power. The tensions between Sunni and Shia in Iraq are not due to religious differences formed after Muhammad’s death 1,382 years ago and are not inevitable, as proven by the relationships between Sunni and Shia in other countries and in the past (Shuster, 2011). The state of unrest surrounding the Sunni and Shia Muslims of Iraq is due to politics, power, and privilege, caused by the change of attitude in Islamic leaders in government and the discrimination of the Shia by the Sunni minority. This has been partly due to the fact that early in their history Shias were not the majority and therefore lost political power. This unbalance and the differences between the two sects are most unstable and evident during times of political unrest (Hunter, n.d).
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The war between Iraq and Iran was a war between two rival states with different religious/fundamental views, ethnic backgrounds, historical ethnic and border tensions, and power-hungry national leadership who were striving for the position as the dominant Persian Gulf state (Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988)). This war is significant for several reasons: it the longest conventional war in the 20th century (lasting from 1980 to 1988), it was witness several unique and horrific tactics and it set the stage for Iraq’s eventual invasion of Kuwait (Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988)). The Iraq-Iran war is a prime example of two competing Nationalist/Fundamentalist states, and its repercussions have left long-lasting effects that are still felt today.
Leenders, Reinoud. "Regional Conflict Formations': Is the Middle East Next? ." Third World Quarterly 28.5 (2007): 959-982. JSTOR. Web. 5 June 2011.
Gerner, Deborah J., and Philip A. Schrodt. "Middle Eastern Politics." Understanding the contemporary Middle East. 3rd ed. Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2008. 85 -136. Print.
A key figure in the history of Iraq is a man named Saddam Hussein. Saddam Hussein was the president of Iraq from 1979 to 2003. Hussein’s rule over Iraq was filled with war and invasions. Two Iraq conflicts which are important to understanding the later Iraq invasion are the Iran-Iraq war and the invasion of Kuwait. Due to the fact that this research paper is primarily focused on the events of the Iraq invasion, this paper will only discuss the primary factors of the Iran-Iraq war and the invasion of Kuwait, which have a relevance to the events later to come in Iraq. The Iran-Iraq war took place in from 1980 to 1988. The primary factor important to this essay is Iraq’s use of chemical weapons against Iran’s forces. The primary factor which is
The Iran – Iraq War started on September 22, 1980, when Iraq invaded Iran (Steele 14). Iraq had many reasons to invade Iran. A couple reasons were border territory issues between the nations, political issues, and the fear of the Islamic Revolution in Iran spreads into Iraq. The war continued on for eight years. In 1988, the United Nations stepped in and created a peace agreement for the two nations. The United Nations Security Council Resolution 598 was the official document that ended the Iran – Iraq War in July 1988. At that point, both nations were drained by the war. Both nations faced a drop in their economy, high death tolls, and other issues (Steele 17), but what was the main reason Iran accepted the peace agreement proposed by the
Woods, Kevin M., Stout Mark E. 2010. “Saddam’s Perceptions and Misperceptions: The Case of ‘Desert Storm’.” The Journal of Strategic Studies (February): 5-41.
The abrupt end of decade long dominating regime in three weeks had created a political vacuum, that is evident in shifting coalitions and divisions among religious groups, ethnic groups, regional groups and even classes (Barnett et al. 2003, 25). US did not realize, moreover, the depth of the hostility between Kurds and Arabs, Sunnis and Shiites, and the members of different tribes and local religious groups. Furthermore, to deal with destruction in Iraq new plan was decided by the US. The plan was to pull out all troops and hand over the responsi...