MONGABAY.COM
Mongabay.com seeks to raise interest in and appreciation of wild lands and wildlife, while examining the impact of emerging trends in climate, technology, economics, and finance on conservation and development (more)
WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
|
|
Iraq
Index
Iranian soldiers in a prisoner of war camp at Ar Ramadi, Iraq
Courtesy International Committee of the Red Cross
Photo by J.J. Kurz
In addition to the regular armed forces, Iraq's state
security system consisted of at least six organizations charged
with a wide variety of security functions. Little was publicly
known about these paramilitary and police organizations, but
their importance was undisputed. In addition to the People's
Army, discussed above, internal security organizations consisted
of the Security Troops (or Presidential Guard), the Border Guard,
the Frontier Force, the regular civil police, and the Mukhabarat
(or Department of General Intelligence).
The Security Troops formed an elite group of 4,800 whose
primary task was to protect the Baath leadership in Iraq. Their
ranks were filled with the most loyal troops serving in the Iraqi
armed forces, whose dedication to Baathism and to Saddam Husayn
personally had been tested on numerous occasions. These troops
faced considerable danger because the frequent assassination
attempts on the president and on his close associates usually
meant loss of life among bodyguards. Survivors were generously
rewarded, however.
The Frontier Guard and the Mobile Force accounted for an
estimated 50,000 additional men within the security system.
Unlike the People's Army, these forces consisted of full-time,
professional men-at-arms. Frontier Guard personnel were stationed
principally in northern Iraq along the borders with Iran, Turkey,
and Syria to guard against smuggling and infiltrations. Before
1974 the Frontier Guard was under the control of local Kurds,
but, after the defeat of the Kurdish revolt in 1975, it was
administered by the central government. The Mobile Force was a
strike force used to support the regular police in the event of
major internal disorders. It was armed with infantry weapons,
with artillery, and with armored vehicles, and it contained
commando units trained to deal with guerrilla activities.
The regular civil police handled state security in addition
to its routine duties of fighting crime, controlling traffic, and
the like. After 1982, many of these routine functions were taken
over by People's Army "volunteers" to free more able-bodied men
for duty on the war front. The regular police were under the
Ministry of Interior, and they were commanded by the director of
police in Baghdad. There were thought to be several specialized
components of the police, including forces assigned exclusively
to traffic, to narcotics investigation, and to railroad security.
The police operated at least two schools: the Police College for
those with secondary degrees and the Police Preparatory School
for those without secondary education. Police officers held
military ranks identical to those of the regular armed forces,
and many were called to serve in the war with Iran.
The Department of General Intelligence was the most notorious
and possibly the most important arm of the state security system.
It was created in 1973 after the failed coup attempt by Director
of Internal Security Nazim Kazzar. In 1982 the Department of
General Intelligence underwent a personnel shake-up. At that
time, it was headed by Saadun Shakir, who was an RCC member and,
like Saddam Husayn, a Tikriti, and who was assisted by Saddam
Husayn's younger half-brother, Barazan Husayn. Foreign observers
believed that the president was dissatisfied because the agency
had not anticipated the assassination attempt at Ad Dujayl. It
was also believed that several separate intelligence networks
were incorporated within the department, and that Iraqi
intelligence agents operated both at home and abroad in their
mission to seek out and eliminate opponents of the Baghdad
regime.
Data as of May 1988
|
|