Word: iraqi
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...most hate in the region stands to gain the most from our decision to defend open navigation of the sea; Iran sends most of its exports out of the Gulf by sea, while Iraq transports its oil through overland pipelines. By keeping the waters open, we inadvertently prevent Iraqi attacks on Iranian ships...
...with Iraq continues to dominate Iranian policy at home and abroad. Since Baghdad started the conflict by invading Iran in September 1980, some 300,000 Iranians and 200,000 Iraqis have lost their lives in the fighting. Tehran's hopes for victory soared in January, when its troops pushed within a few miles of Basra, Iraq's second largest city. In the past few months, however, Iran has made little headway in its drive to crush Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Indeed, the Iraqis have succeeded in reclaiming much of their lost ground...
...Women in black chadors still peer into shopwindows filled with Western-style wedding dresses and lingerie. As always, automobiles choke the city, creating a blanket of smog. Near the airport, concrete walls are covered with political cartoons, some depicting America as the "Great Satan" and others attacking Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. One drawing shows Saddam's face peering out of a pot surrounded by hand grenades, and another depicts the U.S. as a skeleton clutching bombs in its hands...
...army, women are being given basic military training for civil defense. Apart from worries about loved ones at the front, there is the fear of a revival of the "war of the cities," which flared up again early this year when Tehran and other urban centers were bombed by Iraqi planes. Since then the attacks have abated, but the nervousness remains. When a severe thunder-and-lightning storm struck the capital last month, causing heavy flooding, some city dwellers thought an air raid was in progress and rushed to an underground passageway, where an unknown number drowned in the torrent...
...between Iraq and Iran, however, Iraqi Shi'ites, who make up almost 60% of their country's population, have chosen to be Iraqis first and Shi'ites second. The ancient animosity between Arabs and Persians apparently transcends religious sympathies. Nonetheless, the Iraqis receive constant reminders of Iranian Shi'ite fervor. Tehran's major offensives are named Karbala, after the place where Hussein died, and captured Iranian soldiers proudly show off the "keys to Heaven" issued to them when they enlisted. The celestial keys: dog tags. Observes an Iraqi official: "The Iranians are still fighting the Battle of Hussein...