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Ministry of Defence (Iraq)

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The Ministry of Defence (Arabic: وزارة الدفاع العراقية) is the cabinet-level ministry responsible for national defence in Iraq. It is also involved with internal security.

Republic of Iraq
Ministry of Defence
وزارة الدفاع
Department overview
Formed
  • 1921; 103 years ago (1921)
JurisdictionGovernment of Iraq
HeadquartersGreen Zone, Baghdad
Annual budget$21.1 Billion (2024)[1]
Minister responsible
Websitewww.mod.mil.iq(in Arabic)
Iraqi Ministry of Defense in Baghdad during the period of royal rule

Authority

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The Ministry directs all the Iraqi Armed Forces, comprising a Joint Headquarters, the Iraqi Ground Forces Command (which controls the Army), the Iraqi Special Operations Forces, the Iraqi Army, the Iraqi Navy (including Marines), and the Iraqi Air Force.[2]

History

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The Ministry was dissolved by Coalition Provisional Authority Order Number 2 of mid-2003. It was formally re-established by CPA Order 67 of 21 March 2004. In the interim period, the CPA Office of Security Affairs served as the de facto Ministry of Defence.[3]

The Iraqi Counter Terrorism Bureau directs the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Command, which is a further military force answerable to the Prime Minister of Iraq directly. As of 30 June 2009, there had been legislation in progress for a year to make the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Bureau a separate ministry.[4]

Minister of defence

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The position of Minister of Defence became vacant in the previous Iraqi cabinet, approved on 21 December 2010. While it was vacant, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki served as the acting defence minister. Saadoun al-Dulaimi later served as Minister of Defence from 2011 to 2014. Khaled al-Obaidi served as defence minister in the Iraqi cabinet of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. Juma Inad served as defense minister from May 2020 to October of 2022 under the caretaker government of Mustafa al-Kadhimi. Thabet Muhammad Al-Abasi serves as the current minister of defense as of 2022.

The previous Minister of Defence, Lieutenant General Abd al-Qadr Muhammed Jassim al-Obaidi, is a Sunni career military officer and political independent. He had limited experience and faced a number of hurdles impeding his effective governance. Some of the major problems included inheriting a staff that is notorious for favorism, corruption, and deeply divided along sectarian and ethnic lines. He was a rival of the former Minister of the Interior Jawad al-Bolani, National Security Advisor Muwafaq al-Rubai, and Minister of Staff for National Security Affairs Shirwan al-Waili. He has been criticized for not being able to stand up to the Badr Organization and Mehdi Army members which dominate his own party. In addition, as a Sunni he faced inherent challenges working within a Shiite-dominated government.

On 19 September 2005, The Independent reported that approximately one billion US dollars have been stolen by top ranking officials from the Ministry of Defence including Hazim al-Shaalan and Ziyad Cattan.[5]

Previous defence ministers under Saddam Hussein's regime included Ali Hassan al-Majid ('Chemical Ali'). Iraq's first minister of defence was Jafar al-Askari (1920–1922).

List of ministers of defence

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Kingdom of Iraq (1921–1958)

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Name Portrait Term of office Political party Prime Minister
Jafar al-Askari   23 October 1920 16 November 1922 Abd Al-Rahman Al-Gillani
Nuri as-Said 20 November 1922 2 August 1924
Yasin al-Hashimi 2 August 1924 2 June 1925
Nuri as-Said 26 June 1925 8 January 1928
Abd al-Muhsin as-Sa'dun 14 January 1928 20 January 1929
Muhammad Amin Zaki 28 April 1929 25 August 1929
Nuri al-Sa’id 19 September 1929 19 March 1930
Jafar al-Askari 23 March 1930 27 October 1932
Rashid al-Khawja 3 November 1932 18 March 1933
Jalal Baban 20 March 1933 28 October 1933

Iraqi Republic (1958–1968)

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Name Portrait Term of office Political party President
Abd al-Karim Qasim   14 July 1958 8 February 1963 Independent Muhammad Najib ar-Ruba'i
Salah Mahdi Ammash 8 February 1963 10 November 1963 Ba'ath Party
(Iraq Region) 		Abdul Salam Arif
Hardan al-Tikriti   10 November 1963 2 March 1964
Tahir Yahya 2 March 1964 3 September 1965 Arab Socialist Union
Arif Abd ar-Razzaq   6 September 1965 16 September 1965 Arab Socialist Union
Abd al-'Aziz al-'Uqaili 21 September 1965 18 April 1966
Shakir Mahmud Shukri 18 April 1966 17 July 1968 Abdul Rahman Arif

Ba'athist Iraq (1968–2003)

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Name Portrait Term of office Political party President
Ibrahim Abdel Rahman Dawoud 17 July 1968 30 July 1968 Independent Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr
Hardan al-Tikriti   30 July 1968 April 1970 Iraqi Ba'ath Party
(Iraq Region)
Hammad Shihab   April 1970 30 June 1973 Iraqi Ba'ath Party
(Iraq Region)
Abdullah al-Khadduri (acting) 30 June 1973 11 November 1974 Iraqi Ba'ath Party
(Iraq Region)
Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr   11 November 1974 15 October 1977 Iraqi Ba'ath Party
(Iraq Region)
Adnan Khairallah   15 October 1977 4 May 1989 Iraqi Ba'ath Party
(Iraq Region) 		Saddam Hussein
Abdul Jabbar Khalil Shanshal   4 May 1989 1990 Iraqi Ba'ath Party
(Iraq Region)
Saadi Toma   12 December 1990 6 April 1991 Iraqi Ba'ath Party
(Iraq Region)
Ali Hassan al-Majid   1991 1995 Iraqi Ba'ath Party
(Iraq Region)
Sultan Hashim   1995 2003 Iraqi Ba'ath Party
(Iraq Region)

Republic of Iraq (2004–present)

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Name Portrait Term of office Political party Prime Minister
Ali Allawi   April 2004 June 2004 Independent Ayad Allawi
Hazim al-Shaalan June 2004 1 June 2005 Iraqi National Congress
Saadoun al-Dulaimi   1 June 2005 6 March 2006 Independent Ibrahim al-Jaafari
Abdul Qadir Obeidi   6 March 2006 21 December 2010 Independent Nouri al-Maliki
Nouri al-Maliki   21 December 2010 17 August 2011 State of Law Coalition
Saadoun al-Dulaimi   17 August 2011 18 October 2014 Unity Alliance of Iraq
Khaled al-Obaidi   18 October 2014 19 August 2016 Unity Alliance of Iraq Haider al-Abadi
Othman al-Ghanmi (interim) 19 August 2016 30 January 2017 State of Law Coalition
Erfan al-Hiyali   30 January 2017 24 June 2019[citation needed] State of Law Coalition
Najah al-Shammari   24 June 2019[6] 6 May 2020[7] Adil Abdul-Mahdi
Juma Inad   6 May 2020 27 October 2022[8] Independent Mustafa Al-Kadhimi
Thabit Al Abassi   27 October 2022 Incumbent Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani

References

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  1. ^ Tian, Nan; Fleurant, Aude; Kuimova, Alexandra; Wezeman, Pieter D.; Wezeman, Siemon T. (27 April 2020). "Trends in World Military Expenditure, 2019" (PDF). Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  2. ^ United States Department of Defense (7 June 2007). "Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq; June 2007;" (PDF). p. 37. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 November 2018. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  3. ^ Rathmell, Andrew (2005). Developing Iraq's security sector: the coalition provisional authority's experience. Rand Corporation. pp. 27. ISBN 0-8330-3823-0.
  4. ^ Elliot, D.J. (30 June 2009). "Iraqi Special Operations Force". Montrose Toast. Archived from the original on 9 October 2015. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
  5. ^ Cockburn, Patrick (19 September 2005). "What has happened to Iraq's missing $1bn?". The Independent. Archived from the original on 5 October 2009. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  6. ^ "Iraqi official: Parliament approves 3 key Cabinet ministers". Federalist News Network. The Associated Press. June 24, 2019. Archived from the original on 25 October 2019. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  7. ^ Mamouri, Ali (May 7, 2020). "Meet Iraq's new Cabinet". Al-Monitor.
  8. ^ "Thabet Mohammad Al-Abbasi: The newly appointed Iraqi Minister of Defense". Tactical Report. 2022-11-18. Retrieved 2023-04-12.

Further reading

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