War

1. “War does not determine who is right - only who is left.” Bertrand Russell Iran Iraq Jose Paulo Citolin Junior War

2. “We know more about war that we know about peace, more about killing that we know about living.” Omar Bradley • 1.5 million of innocents killed. • More then $200 billion invested. • Thousands of injured people. • Incalculable lives destroyed… “Give me the money that has been spent in war and I will clothe every man, woman, and child in an attire of which kings and queens will be proud.  I will build a schoolhouse in every valley over the whole earth.  I will crown every hillside with a place of worship consecrated to peace.” Charles Sumner

3. Mohammad-Reza Shah Iran’s former leader, lost his power during the Iranian revolution, that transformed Iran from an absolute monarchy to an Islamic republic. “Let me tell you quite bluntly that this king business has given me personally nothing but headaches.” Mohammed Reza Pahlavi

4. Saddam Hussein Dictator of Iraq from 1979 until 2003, when his regime was overthrown by a United States-led invasion. He was hanged after the Trials of Saddam Hussein, when he answered for all of his crimes against humanity. "The only thing that ever consoles man for the stupid things he does is the praise he always gives himself for doing them.” Oscar Wilde

5. Ruhollah Khomeini Iranian religious leader and politician, and leader of the 1979 Iranian Revolution which saw the overthrow of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Following the revolution and a national referendum, Khomeini became the country's Supreme Leader—a position created in the constitution as the highest ranking political and religious authority of the nation—until his death.

6. Iraqi spokesperson said that Iran was already attacking some Iraqi towns since September 4. “It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.” Voltaire The war officially began in September 22 of 1980, when Iraq invaded Iran, trying to conquer the land of Shatt al-Arab.

7. Iran's military was called the Middle East's most powerful by General John Abizaid chief of United States Central Command (U.S. forces' commander in the region). “Everyone's a pacifist between wars.  It's like being a vegetarian between meals.” Colman McCarthy In 1975, a militarily weaker Iraq had by treaty signed over to Iran partial control of the waterway (Shatt al-Arab). In 1979, after the fall of Mohammad-Reza Shah, when Iran’s military was weak because of the Iranian revolution, Iraq seized an opportunity to reclaim the land of Shatt al-Arab, and tried to conquer Khuzestan, an area known for its extensive oil fields.

8. Iranian leader Ruhollah Khomeini declared that Iran would not cease fighting until Saddam's regime was toppled. The Iraqi offensive was initially successful, capturing the port city of Khorramshahr by the end of 1980. Iranian resistance proved strong, however, and Iraqi troops had withdrawn from the occupied portions of Iran by early 1982. “The direct use of force is such a poor solution to any problem, it is generally employed only by small children and large nations.” David Friedman

9. “I dream of giving birth to a child who will ask, ‘Mother, what was war?’” Eve Merriam

10. “In peace, sons bury their fathers. In war, fathers bury their sons.” Herodotus Iran’s attacks sullied it’s international reputation considerably, making it difficult for Khomeini to obtain arms.

11. “If we don't end war, war will end us.” H. G. Wells Finally, in July, 1988, Iran was forced to accept a United Nations–mandated cease-fire, once the country was being pressed by the Iraqi attacks and the USA influence.

12. Iraq’s fielding the world's fourth largest military. Iraq’s ended up making the same treaty for Shatt al-Arab as the one of 1975. Iraq's foreign exchange reserves, devastated its economy, and left the country saddled with foreign debt of more than $40 billion. IRAQ “The problem in defense is how far you can go without destroying from within what you are trying to defend from without.” Dwight D. Eisenhower

13. IRAN In 1988, the United States launched Operation Praying Mantis against Iran, claiming that it was retaliation for the Iranian mining of areas of the Persian Gulf as part of the Iran-Iraq war. The attack neutralized Sassan oil platform and the Sirri oil platform of Iran. “If you wish to be brothers, drop your weapons.” Pope John Paul II

14. “When the rich wage war, it's the poor who die.”Jean-Paul Sartre Iraq Allies The Arabs, and the Western Europe. the Soviet Union was its largest supplier of arms.

15. Iran In its war effort, Iran was supported by Syria and Libya, and received much of its weaponry from North Korea and China, as well as from covert arms transactions from the United States. Allies “I don't know whether war is an interlude during peace, or peace an interlude during war.” Georges Clemenceau

16. If you want to know more… • “Why do we kill people who are killing people to show that killing people is wrong?” Holly Near Iran–Iraq War in the Air 1980–1988 is a book by Tom Cooper and Farzad Bishop. The book offers a history of the aerial warfare in the Iran–Iraq War of 1980–1988.