| Iraqi Armed Forces | |
|---|---|
 Emblem of the Ministry of Defense of Iraq | |
| Motto | Arabic: الجيش سور الوطن transl. 'The army is the wall of the homeland' |
| Founded | 6 February 1921 |
| Current form | 18 August 2003[1] |
| Service branches | Branches
|
| Headquarters | Republican Palace, Baghdad |
| Website | www |
| Leadership | |
| President of Iraq[2] |  Abdul Latif Rashid |
| Prime Minister of Iraq, commander-in-chief[3] | Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani |
| Minister of Defence | Thabet Al Abbasi |
| Chief of the General Staff | General Abdel Emir Yarallah |
| Personnel | |
| Military age | 18[4] |
| Conscription | No[5] |
| Active personnel | 193,000 (2024)[6] |
| Expenditure | |
| Budget | $10.3 billion (2023)[6] |
| Industry | |
| Foreign suppliers | |
| Annual imports | $2.4 billion (2023)[7] |
| Annual exports | $1.8 billion (2023)[7] |
| Related articles | |
| History | |
| Ranks | Military ranks of Iraq |
The Iraqi Armed Forces[a] are the military forces of the Republic of Iraq. They consist of the Ground forces, the Army Aviation Command, the Iraqi Air Force, the Air Defence Command and the Iraqi Navy. The armed forces are administered by the Ministry of Defence (MoD). Effective control of the MOD armed forces rests with the Prime Minister of Iraq.
Along with these primary service branches, there exists two non-MOD agencies that are part of the armed forces and report directly to the Prime Minister; namely, the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service and the paramilitary Popular Mobilization Committee.[8]
The armed forces of Iraq were initially formed in the early 1920s. Six military coup d'états were mounted by the army between 1936 and 1941. They first saw combat in the Anglo-Iraqi War of 1941. They fought against Israel in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, in the 1967 Six-Day War, and in the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Two wars against the Kurds were fought during 1961-1970 and 1974–1975. A much larger conflict was the Iran–Iraq War, initiated by the Iraqis in 1980, which continued until 1988. Thereafter Iraq began the invasion of Kuwait, which led to the Gulf War of 1991, which led in turn to confrontations over the Iraqi no-fly zones during the 1990s, and finally the Iraq War of 2003, which resulted in the dissolution of the Iraqi armed forces imposed by the Coalition Provisional Authority. The nascent post-Iraq war Iraqi armed forces were engaged in anti-insurgency during the insurgency and civil war that followed the US-led invasion of the country. The latest major conflict in which the armed forces of the country participated was the war against ISIS during 2013-2017. Logistics and combat engineering have been traditional strong points. Iraqi soldiers have also usually fought hard in difficult situations.[9]
After the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, which resulted in the toppling of the Saddam Hussein regime and the dissolution of the whole armed forces, the United States sought to rebuild them anew, and so the country received substantial assistance from the United States Department of Defense. Since the implementation of the U.S.-Iraq Status of Forces Agreement on January 1, 2009, the Iraqi Armed Forces and the forces of the Iraqi interior ministry are responsible for providing security and upholding law and order throughout most of Iraq.
The Iraqi armed forces were historically one of the more competent militaries in the Arab world. However, during Saddam Hussein's dictatorship and interference in military organization, the competence of the Army severely declined.[10] The Army, in particular, is one of the most trusted national institutions of Iraq. Iraqi Armed Forces deficiencies have been identified in enabling functions, such as, logistics and military intelligence. In high-end conventional operations, Iraqi capabilities are currently limited by lack of artillery and air power.
- ^ Coalition Provisional Authority (August 18, 2003). "Coalition Provisional Authority Order No. 22 of 2003, Creation of a New Iraqi Army".
- ^ "Constitution of Iraq (article 73)". ConstituteProject.
- ^ "Constitution of Iraq (article 78)". ConstituteProject.
- ^ "CIA – The World Factbook – Iraq". Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
- ^ "Iraq".
- ^ a b International Institute for Strategic Studies (February 13, 2024). The Military Balance 2024 (1st ed.). Routledge. p. 358. ISBN 978-1032780047.
- ^ a b Tian, Nan; Fleurant, Aude; Kuimova, Alexandra; Wezeman, Pieter D.; Wezeman, Siemon T. (24 April 2022). "Trends in World Military Expenditure, 2022" (PDF). Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Archived from the original on 25 April 2022. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
- ^ "Counter Terrorism Service Law (Article No.1)" (PDF). Ministry of Justice.; "PMC Law 2016 (Article No.1)". Ministry of Justice.; "AAH - FTO".
- ^ Pollack 2002, pp. 264–66.
- ^ Woods, Kevin M. (2019), Mansoor, Peter R.; Murray, Williamson (eds.), "The Weight of the Shadow of the Past: The Organizational Culture of the Iraqi Army, 1921–2003", The Culture of Military Organizations, Cambridge University Press, pp. 272–298, doi:10.1017/9781108622752.013, ISBN 978-1-108-48573-9, S2CID 211419988
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