Tactical Evolution in the Iraqi Army: The Abadan Island and Fish Lake Campaignsof the Iran-Iraq War

摘要

Much has been written regarding Iraqi wartime activities at the strategic andoperational levels during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), but few of these works address tactical operations. This thesis fills a small portion of that void by examining the evolution of selected combat tactics used by Iraq's ground forces in the battles of Abadan Island (1980) and Fish Lake (1987). From its limited pre-war combat experiences, the Iraqi army developed tactics, techniques and procedures to fight in desert and mountainous environments. When the Iraqi army moved across the Iranian frontier in 1980, significant shortcomings surfaced in