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talkpoliticsIn 1979, as we all know, the regime of Reza Shah Pahlavi was overthrown. Within a short amount of time Vladimir Lenin arrived through Finland Station and declared All Power to the Soviets-er Ayatollah Khomeini co-opted the Revolution and built out of it the first of the Islamist societies and currently the only one to really show any ability to last. Next door to the Ayatollah was the secular regime of the Ba'ath Party led by one Saddam Al-Tikriti Hussein Al-Majid. This regime was secular, progressive on women's rights, and ruled the sacred sites of the religion Khomeini was building his theocracy over.
When Khomeini began using the Dawa Party as a proxy against Iraq, Saddam decided "Fuck this shit, I'm-a invade." And so he did invade, and never quite made it all the way to Abadan with his army and society at their relative strongest with regard to Iran.
So for eight years Iraq and Iran waged a sustained and bloody war in the marshes near Basra, a war where Iraq through massive foreign aid, including one of the only times in the Cold War where the USA and USSR both aided one side in a war (though the USA also under Ronald Reagan gave Iran a shitload of guns to finance a terrorist movement of nun-rapers known as the Contras, something that is extremely ironic in today's context). Iraq built the fourth largest army in the world off of this, was repeatedly nearly outmatched by teenagers charging through minefields at the most advanced armor, artillery, small arms, and air power of the day. Iraq also waged the longest conventional war of the 20th Century, a war that often looked like WWI in the Italian Front but with the most complex weapons of the 20th Century.
But meanwhile in the 21st Century this war, like the Soviet-Afghan War, has completely fallen off the radar. Now, this one I have some guesses on why this was, guesses that include "USA", "removal from terrorist list" and "Rumsfeld-Saddam Handshake" as part of why, and "Attempted Annexation of Kuwait" as another part. Yet the Iran-Iraq War, where Iraq with the full aid and complicity of both the United States and the Soviet Union Iraq engaged in repeated violations of existing prohibitions on chemical weapons. Yes, Soviet Union includes the one under St. Michael Gorbachev (snerk) here.
My really cynical view of why this war is all but forgotten is that if it were actually viewed in any significant fashion it would thoroughly and completely undercut most of the USA's hubris gained from recreating its military virtuosity at the expense of a tin-pot Third World dictatorship. Not only from the USA of Ronald Reagan deliberately removing Iraq from the list of terrorist-sponsoring states, but in revealing that with the fourth largest army in the world Iranian teenagers without any equivalent firepower regularly came within a hair's breadth of kicking the ass of a regime that in theory in 2003, when far, far weaker, was an existential threat to the United States. This war in general illustrated how in the right circumstances nothing at all changed in terms of the whims and actions of the Great Powers, and thus everyone except Iran has had reason to forget this war, even though remembering it would explain things like the curious irony of Mr. Bush's War promoting an Iranian puppet to rule Iraq......
When Khomeini began using the Dawa Party as a proxy against Iraq, Saddam decided "Fuck this shit, I'm-a invade." And so he did invade, and never quite made it all the way to Abadan with his army and society at their relative strongest with regard to Iran.
So for eight years Iraq and Iran waged a sustained and bloody war in the marshes near Basra, a war where Iraq through massive foreign aid, including one of the only times in the Cold War where the USA and USSR both aided one side in a war (though the USA also under Ronald Reagan gave Iran a shitload of guns to finance a terrorist movement of nun-rapers known as the Contras, something that is extremely ironic in today's context). Iraq built the fourth largest army in the world off of this, was repeatedly nearly outmatched by teenagers charging through minefields at the most advanced armor, artillery, small arms, and air power of the day. Iraq also waged the longest conventional war of the 20th Century, a war that often looked like WWI in the Italian Front but with the most complex weapons of the 20th Century.
But meanwhile in the 21st Century this war, like the Soviet-Afghan War, has completely fallen off the radar. Now, this one I have some guesses on why this was, guesses that include "USA", "removal from terrorist list" and "Rumsfeld-Saddam Handshake" as part of why, and "Attempted Annexation of Kuwait" as another part. Yet the Iran-Iraq War, where Iraq with the full aid and complicity of both the United States and the Soviet Union Iraq engaged in repeated violations of existing prohibitions on chemical weapons. Yes, Soviet Union includes the one under St. Michael Gorbachev (snerk) here.
My really cynical view of why this war is all but forgotten is that if it were actually viewed in any significant fashion it would thoroughly and completely undercut most of the USA's hubris gained from recreating its military virtuosity at the expense of a tin-pot Third World dictatorship. Not only from the USA of Ronald Reagan deliberately removing Iraq from the list of terrorist-sponsoring states, but in revealing that with the fourth largest army in the world Iranian teenagers without any equivalent firepower regularly came within a hair's breadth of kicking the ass of a regime that in theory in 2003, when far, far weaker, was an existential threat to the United States. This war in general illustrated how in the right circumstances nothing at all changed in terms of the whims and actions of the Great Powers, and thus everyone except Iran has had reason to forget this war, even though remembering it would explain things like the curious irony of Mr. Bush's War promoting an Iranian puppet to rule Iraq......
(no subject)
Date: 22/3/12 12:58 (UTC)This war in general illustrated how in the right circumstances nothing at all changed in terms of the whims and actions of the Great Powers, and thus everyone except Iran has had reason to forget this war
And that's probably why it is never mentioned, except for random asides to explain why Iran is on the rise since Saddam fell (a narrative that, conveniently, reinforces the idea that Great Powers always have outsized impacts).
(no subject)
Date: 22/3/12 13:43 (UTC)With the greater irony being that the war showed how little actual impact the Great Powers *had*, let alone the superpowers, given Iran waged war for years with virtually complete isolation with it making surprisingly little impact on their ability to fight battles. Which may be yet another reason it's neglected, as it showed that in actual fact Great Power and Superpower influence can last a long time and get squat.
(no subject)
Date: 22/3/12 15:43 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 22/3/12 16:38 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 22/3/12 17:51 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 22/3/12 21:41 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 22/3/12 22:01 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 22/3/12 20:45 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 23/3/12 12:58 (UTC)Given that, I'm glad in a way that people have forgotten this war. On the one hand it does make the Iraqi army look pathetic and mean that they were never a military threat...but we were always worried about terrorism anyway so people dismiss that. On the other hand, it makes the Iranian army look like a pushover. Ten good minutes and we'll have them fleeing for their lives. I'm glad we've forgotten that lesson because in the current environment it always seems a bit more tempting then reality dictates it should.