History
Formed in 1969, it was originally created to be the Presidential bodyguard. Its primary objective was to maintain the stability of the regime and provide protection against internal and external enemies. During the Iran-Iraq War, it was expanded into a large military force. It was disbanded along with the rest of Iraqi military after the U.S.-U.K. invasion of Iraq in 2003 by the Coalition Provisional Authority of the occupying U.S. and U.K. forces.
The force's last commander was Qusay Hussein, the younger son of Saddam Hussein. Saddam Hussein was so confident about the capability of the guard that he had said: "In history when they write about Napoleon's Guard, they will arrange them next to the Republican Guard of Iraq."
Read more about this topic: Republican Guard (Iraq)
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“There is no history of how bad became better.”
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“One classic American landscape haunts all of American literature. It is a picture of Eden, perceived at the instant of history when corruption has just begun to set in. The serpent has shown his scaly head in the undergrowth. The apple gleams on the tree. The old drama of the Fall is ready to start all over again.”
—Jonathan Raban (b. 1942)