Ministry of Defence (Iraq)#Minister of defence
{{Short description|Government ministry of Iraq}}
{{Infobox government agency
| name = Republic of Iraq
Ministry of Defence
| native_name = وزارة الدفاع
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| type = Department
| seal = Iraqi Ministry of Defence Emblem.png
| seal_width = 150px
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| formed = * {{start date and age|df=yes|1921}}
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| jurisdiction = Government of Iraq
| headquarters = Green Zone, Baghdad
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| budget = $21.1 Billion (2024){{cite web | url=https://www.sipri.org/sites/default/files/2020-04/fs_2020_04_milex_0_0.pdf |title=Trends in World Military Expenditure, 2019 |publisher=Stockholm International Peace Research Institute |first1=Nan |last1=Tian |first2=Aude |last2=Fleurant |first3=Alexandra |last3=Kuimova |first4=Pieter D. |last4=Wezeman |first5=Siemon T. |last5=Wezeman |date=27 April 2020 |access-date=17 December 2020}}
| minister1_name = Thabit al-Abassi
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| website = {{url |https://www.mod.mil.iq/}}{{in lang|ar}}
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The Ministry of Defence ({{langx|ar|وزارة الدفاع العراقية}}) is a central government ministry of Iraq responsible for national defence. It is also involved with internal security.
Authority
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.
History
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.{{cite book
|title=Developing Iraq's security sector: the coalition provisional authority's experience
|year=2005
|url=https://archive.org/details/developingiraqss00rath
|url-access=limited
|first=Andrew
|last=Rathmell
|pages=[https://archive.org/details/developingiraqss00rath/page/n51 27]
|publisher=Rand Corporation
|isbn=0-8330-3823-0}}
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.
Minister of defence
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.{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/what-has-happened-to-iraqs-missing-1bn-507397.html |title=What has happened to Iraq's missing $1bn? |last=Cockburn |first=Patrick |date=19 September 2005 |work=The Independent |accessdate=1 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091005233721/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/what-has-happened-to-iraqs-missing-1bn-507397.html |archive-date=5 October 2009 |url-status=dead}}
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
=[[Kingdom of Iraq]] (1921–1958)=
{{Expand section|date=April 2017}}
| class="wikitable"
! colspan=2|Name ! Portrait ! colspan=2|Term of office ! Political party ! colspan=2|Prime Minister |
| bgcolor="#DDDDD"|
| 60px | 23 October 1920 | 16 November 1922 | | rowspan="1" bgcolor="#DDDDD"| | rowspan="1"|Abd Al-Rahman Al-Gillani |
| bgcolor="#DDDDD"|
| | 20 November 1922 | 2 August 1924 | | | |
| bgcolor="#DDDDD"|
| | 2 August 1924 | 2 June 1925 | | | |
| bgcolor="#DDDDD"|
| | 26 June 1925 | 8 January 1928 | | | |
| bgcolor="#DDDDD"|
| | 14 January 1928 | 20 January 1929 | | | |
| bgcolor="#DDDDD"|
| | 28 April 1929 | 25 August 1929 | | | |
| bgcolor="#DDDDD"|
| | 19 September 1929 | 19 March 1930 | | | |
| bgcolor="#DDDDD"|
| | 23 March 1930 | 27 October 1932 | | | |
| bgcolor="#DDDDD"|
| | 3 November 1932 | 18 March 1933 | | | |
| bgcolor="#DDDDD"|
| | 20 March 1933 | 28 October 1933 | | | |
=[[Iraqi Republic (1958–68)|Iraqi Republic]] (1958–1968)=
| class="wikitable"
! colspan=2|Name ! Portrait ! colspan=2|Term of office ! Political party ! colspan=2|President |
| bgcolor="#DDDDD"|
| 60px | rowspan="1" bgcolor="#0000FF"| | rowspan="1"|Muhammad Najib ar-Ruba'i |
| bgcolor="Orange"|
| | rowspan="5" bgcolor="#FF0000"| | rowspan="5"|Abdul Salam Arif |
| bgcolor="#DDDDD"|
| 60px | 2 March 1964 | |
| bgcolor="#FF000"|
| | 2 March 1964 | 3 September 1965 |
| bgcolor="#FF000"|
| 60px | 6 September 1965 | 16 September 1965 |
| bgcolor="#DDDDD"|
| | 21 September 1965 | 18 April 1966 | |
| bgcolor="#DDDDD"|
| | 18 April 1966 | | rowspan="1" bgcolor="#FF0000"| | rowspan="1"|Abdul Rahman Arif |
=[[Ba'athist Iraq]] (1968–2003)=
| class="wikitable"
! colspan=2|Name ! Portrait ! colspan=2|Term of office ! Political party ! colspan=2|President |
| bgcolor="#DDDDDD"|
| | 17 July 1968 | 30 July 1968 | rowspan="5" bgcolor="Orange"| | rowspan="5"|Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr |
| bgcolor="Orange"|
| 60px | 30 July 1968 | April 1970 |
| bgcolor="Orange"|
| April 1970 | 30 June 1973 |
| bgcolor="Orange"|
| Abdullah al-Khadduri (acting) | | 30 June 1973 | 11 November 1974 |
| bgcolor="Orange"|
| 60px | 11 November 1974 | 15 October 1977 |
| bgcolor="Orange"|
| 60px | 15 October 1977 | 4 May 1989 | Iraqi Ba'ath Party | rowspan="5" bgcolor="Orange"| | rowspan="5"|Saddam Hussein |
| bgcolor="Orange"|
| 60px | 4 May 1989 | 1990 |
| bgcolor="Orange"|
| 60px | 12 December 1990 | 6 April 1991 |
| bgcolor="Orange"|
| 60px | 1991 | 1995 |
| bgcolor="Orange"|
| 60px | 1995 | 2003 |
=[[Iraq|Republic of Iraq]] (2004–present)=
| class="wikitable"
! colspan=2|Name ! Portrait ! colspan=2|Term of office ! Political party ! colspan=2|Prime Minister |
| bgcolor="#DDDDDD"|
| 60px | April 2004 | June 2004 | rowspan="2" bgcolor="#00009F"| | rowspan="2"|Ayad Allawi |
| bgcolor="#EEFF00"|
| | June 2004 | 1 June 2005 |
| bgcolor="#DDDDDD"|
| 60px | 1 June 2005 | 6 March 2006 |bgcolor="#008000"| | rowspan="1"|Ibrahim al-Jaafari |
| bgcolor="#DDDDDD"|
| 60px | 6 March 2006 | 21 December 2010 | rowspan="6" style="background-color: red" | | rowspan="3"|Nouri al-Maliki |
| rowspan="1" style="background-color: red" |
| rowspan="1"|Nouri al-Maliki | rowspan="1"|60px | rowspan="1"|21 December 2010 | rowspan="1"|17 August 2011 | rowspan="1"|State of Law Coalition |
|---|
| bgcolor="#000000"|
| 60px | 17 August 2011 | 18 October 2014 |
| bgcolor="#000000"|
| 60px | 18 October 2014 | 19 August 2016 | rowspan="3"| Haider al-Abadi |
| rowspan="1" style="background-color: red" |
| Othman al-Ghanmi (interim) | | 19 August 2016 | 30 January 2017 |
| rowspan="1" style="background-color: red" |
| 60px | 30 January 2017 | 24 June 2019{{Citation needed|reason=See /Talk:Ministry of Defence (Iraq)|date=November 2019}} |
| | Najah al-Shammari
| 60px | | bgcolor="#DDDDDD"| | rowspan="1"| Adil Abdul-Mahdi |
| | Juma Inad
| 70px | 6 May 2020 | Independent | bgcolor="#DDDDDD"| | rowspan="1"| Mustafa Al-Kadhimi |
| | Thabit al-Abassi
| 60px | 27 October 2022 | Incumbent | | |
References
{{cite web
|url = https://archive.defense.gov/pubs/pdfs/9010-Final-20070608.pdf
|title = Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq; June 2007;
|author = United States Department of Defense
|author-link = United States Department of Defense
|date = 7 June 2007
|page = 37
|access-date = 24 November 2019
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181125202201/http://archive.defense.gov/pubs/pdfs/9010-Final-20070608.pdf
|archive-date = 25 November 2018
|url-status = dead
}}
|url = http://home.comcast.net/~djyae/site/?/blog/view/4/&PHPSESSID=04700ad4bc8fe7915911381bd8f84aae
|title = Iraqi Special Operations Force
|last = Elliot
|first = D.J.
|date = 30 June 2009
|work = Montrose Toast
|access-date = 26 October 2012
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151009133541/http://home.comcast.net/~djyae/site/?%2Fblog%2Fview%2F4%2F&PHPSESSID=04700ad4bc8fe7915911381bd8f84aae
|archive-date = 9 October 2015
|url-status = dead
}}
|title = Iraqi official: Parliament approves 3 key Cabinet ministers
|url = https://federalnewsnetwork.com/government-news/2019/06/iraqi-official-parliament-approves-3-key-cabinet-ministers/
|accessdate = 25 October 2019
|agency = The Associated Press
|publisher = Federalist News Network
|date = June 24, 2019
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191025182649/https://federalnewsnetwork.com/government-news/2019/06/iraqi-official-parliament-approves-3-key-cabinet-ministers/
|archive-date = 25 October 2019
|url-status = dead
}}
Further reading
- {{cite book
|title=Developing Iraq's security sector: the coalition provisional authority's experience
|year=2005
|url=https://archive.org/details/developingiraqss00rath
|url-access=limited
|first=Andrew
|last=Rathmell
|pages=[https://archive.org/details/developingiraqss00rath/page/n51 27]–32
|publisher=Rand Corporation
|isbn=0-8330-3823-0}}
External links
- [http://www.mod.mil.iq/ Ministry of Defence] {{in lang|ar}}
{{Iraqi security forces}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:2004 establishments in Iraq