Saddam Hussein's First War: An Assessment of Iraqi Operational Art in the Iran-Iraq War,

Abstract

This monograph examines the Iran-Iraq War from an operational perspective. This eight year war represents the Iraqi's only experience with successful operational maneuver. As such, it is likely that lessons learned, particularly in the final campaign where they synchronized successive battles, will shape their operational thinking for the foreseeable future. This examination of Iraqi performance reveals little evidence of operational art early in the war. However, by their final campaign it is apparent that the Iraqis were practicing operational art. They were able to conduct joint operations, effectively integrating major army operations with navy, air force and guerrilla actions. Throughout the final campaign, operational synchronization was apparent. Multiple corps were employed to attain a combination of terrain and force oriented objectives. Finally, the operations were executed and supported across a broad, 700 kilometer front.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 22, 1991
Accession Number
ADA240184

Entities

People

  • David B. Lacquement

Organizations

  • United States Army Command and General Staff College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter WMD
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Air Power
  • Army Operations
  • Combat Areas
  • Command And Control
  • Contingency Operations (Military)
  • Employment
  • Families (Human)
  • Geography
  • Iraqi-War
  • Lessons Learned
  • Logistics
  • Middle East
  • Military Organizations
  • Military Strategy
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Irregular Warfare and Special Operations Cyberspace Operations against Adversarial Threats.
  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.
  • Military and Counterinsurgency Studies.