Free Iraqi Forces

An FIF troop in American camouflage uniform

The Free Iraqi Forces (FIF) were a militia made up of Iraqi expatriates, who served in the 2003 invasion of Iraq and its aftermath, under the control of Ahmed Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress government-in-exile. The specifically paramilitary branch of the program was also known as the Free Iraqi Fighting Forces (FIFF), while other elements served as interpreters or on civil affairs projects.^[1]^[2]

Composition

The original intent of the American Office of the Secretary of Defense was to recruit and train 3,000 Iraqi expatriates in Taszar, Hungary in preparation for the war.^[1] Recruitment, however, fell well below the target number, and were of dubious military utility, ranging from ages 18 to 55.^[3]

Operations

The program was seen as unsuccessful, with at one point some US$63 million spent to recruit and train 69 troops for the FIF, and the program was dissolved in April 2003. The FIFF never numbered more than 500 troops.^[4] The units were also seen as undisciplined and pro-Shia and anti-Sunni, and engaged in looting.^[5]

References

1 2 Catherine Dale (April 2011). Operation Iraqi Freedom: Strategies, Approaches, Results, and Issues for Congress. DIANE Publishing. pp. 48–. ISBN 978-1-4379-2030-7.
↑ Nathan Hodge (15 February 2011). Armed Humanitarians: The Rise of the Nation Builders. Bloomsbury USA. pp. 66–. ISBN 978-1-60819-017-1.
↑ Sheldon Rampton; John Clyde Stauber (2003). Weapons of Mass Deception: The Uses of Propaganda in Bush's War on Iraq. Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin. pp. 61–. ISBN 978-1-58542-276-0.
↑ Beth K. Dougherty; Edmund A. Ghareeb (7 November 2013). Historical Dictionary of Iraq. Scarecrow Press. pp. 299–. ISBN 978-0-8108-7942-3.
↑ Anthony H. Cordesman; Emma R. Davies (30 December 2007). Iraq's Insurgency and the Road to Civil Conflict. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 58–. ISBN 978-0-313-34998-0.

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[Dale2011-1] 1 2 Catherine Dale (April 2011). Operation Iraqi Freedom: Strategies, Approaches, Results, and Issues for Congress. DIANE Publishing. pp. 48–. ISBN 978-1-4379-2030-7.

[Hodge2011-2] Nathan Hodge (15 February 2011). Armed Humanitarians: The Rise of the Nation Builders. Bloomsbury USA. pp. 66–. ISBN 978-1-60819-017-1.

[RamptonStauber2003-3] Sheldon Rampton; John Clyde Stauber (2003). Weapons of Mass Deception: The Uses of Propaganda in Bush's War on Iraq. Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin. pp. 61–. ISBN 978-1-58542-276-0.

[DoughertyGhareeb2013-4] Beth K. Dougherty; Edmund A. Ghareeb (7 November 2013). Historical Dictionary of Iraq. Scarecrow Press. pp. 299–. ISBN 978-0-8108-7942-3.

[CordesmanDavies2007-5] Anthony H. Cordesman; Emma R. Davies (30 December 2007). Iraq's Insurgency and the Road to Civil Conflict. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 58–. ISBN 978-0-313-34998-0.