Introduction - The mandate army - Creation, conscription and cohesion 1921-1936 - Praetorian Iraq - Iraq's military moderator regimes 1936-1941 - Dismantling the military moderator regime 1941-1958 - Military coups and the ruler regimes 1958-1968 - The totalitarian military - The Baathification of the military 1968-1980 - The totalitarian military and the Iran-Iraq War 1980-1984 - The reassertion of the Iraqi officers 1984-1988 - Wars, coups, sanctions and collapse 1988-2003 - The mandate army redux - The US and the Iraqi army - Conclusion.