Global InformationIraqi Armed Forces information
| Iraqi Armed Forces | |
|---|---|
  Emblems of the Armed Forces of Iraq service branches | |
| Founded | 6 February 1921 |
| Current form | 18 August 2003[1] |
| Service branches | Ground Forces Air Force Navy Counter Terrorism Service |
| Headquarters | Baghdad |
| Leadership | |
| Supreme Commander |  Abdul Latif Rashid |
| General Commander | Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani |
| Chief of the General Staff | General Abdel Emir Yarallah |
| Personnel | |
| Military age | 18[2] |
| Conscription | No (ended in 2003) [3] |
| Active personnel | 193,000[4] |
| Expenditures | |
| Budget | $7.4 billion (2021)[5] |
| Industry | |
| Foreign suppliers |
|
| Annual imports | $2.4 billion (2023)[6] |
| Annual exports | $1.8 billion (2023)[6] |
| Related articles | |
| History | Military history of Iraq
|
| Ranks | Military ranks of Iraq |
The Iraqi Armed Forces[a] are the military forces of the Republic of Iraq. They consist of the Iraqi Army, the Iraqi Air Force, and the Iraqi Navy. Along with these three primary service branches, there exists the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service and the Popular Mobilization Forces. The President of Iraq acts as the supreme commander as outlined by the constitution.
The armed forces of Iraq have a long but generally politicized and unsuccessful history. They were initially formed in the early 1920s. Six military coup d'états were mounted by the army between 1936 and 1941. The armed forces 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 with the Kurds were fought from 1961 to 1970 and in 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. The latest major conflict in which Armed Forces of the country participated was the 2013–2017 war against ISIS. Logistics and combat engineering have been traditional strong points. Iraqi soldiers have also usually fought hard in difficult situations.[7]
The armed forces are administered by the Ministry of Defence (MOD). Since the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, which toppled the Saddam Hussein regime, the Iraqi Armed Forces 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 Army was 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.[8] 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, e.g., 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".
- ^ "CIA – The World Factbook – Iraq". Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
- ^ https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/iraq/#military-and-security
- ^ International Institute for Strategic Studies (2022). The Military Balance 2022. London: Routledge. p. 345.
- ^ International Institute for Strategic Studies (2022). The Military Balance 2022. London: Routledge. p. 346.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).