1914-1945 campaigns in Iraq: Learning from the past

[davidbfpo]

Joel,

A good reminder of how history can appear to repeat itself. The British inter-war experience in Iraq was far from pleasant; one unit was massacred, a Manchester Regiment battalion IIRC earlier than this battle.

One feature needs to be pointed out. Your refer to the 'levies', as the loyalty of local forces is now a "hot" topic, as is inter-communal strife.

In the inter-war period when the British used air control in Iraq, their bases needed to be defended and a locally recruited force, the iraq Levies, was formed:

After Iraq became a British Mandate, the force became a minority manned force of mostly, Iraqi Turkmen, Kurds and Assyrians who lived in the north of the country while the nascent Iraqi Army was manned by Arabs. Eventually it became mostly Assyrian manned and British officered force while it was used mostly for the guarding of the RAF bases in Iraq....The Assyrians were prized for their discipline, loyalty, bravery and fighting skills by the British.

Link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_Levies

Added:
Just rediscovered two threads that cover Air Power in COIN; this one refers to air policing and a key text:http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...ghlight=omissi

A much bigger thread, with 387 posts and 137,244 views is:http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...&highlight=air