History
Following an unsuccessful assassination attempt by the Ba'ath Party on Iraq's ruler Abdul Karim Qasim in October 1959, Saddam Hussein was placed in charge of Jihaz al Khas (Special Apparatus), sometime between 1964 and 1966. Codenamed Jihaz al-Haneen (Instrument of Yearning), the organisation concentrated on security and intelligence work.
After the Ba'ath Party seized power on July 17, 1968, Saddam expanded the Special Apparatus and took control of the Amn (State Internal Security Department).
Following the failed coup attempt led by Director of Internal Security Nadhim Kzar in 1973, Jihaz was transformed into Da'irat al Mukhabarat al Amah (The General Intelligence Department or the GID).
In 1983, under the leadership of Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, the GID organized the massacres of the villagers of Dujail and Jezan Al Chol, the disappearance of the Barzanis from the Qushtapa camp, and the assassination of 18 members of Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim's family.
As a result of the Gulf War (1991), the department dealing with external affairs was reduced to less than half of its pre-1990 size, while the department dealing with internal affairs was enlarged to deal with increasing anti-Saddam activities within Iraq.
In April 13, 1993, the IIS planned and executed an assassination attempt against former US President George H. W. Bush and the Emir of Kuwait through the use of a large car bomb driven by two Iraqis. However the plan was foiled and Kuwaiti officials arrested 16 persons suspected of carry out the plot after a car bomb was found. Two Iraqi nationals, during the FBI interviews in Kuwait, admitted of attempting to carrying out an attack under the direction from the IIS. On June 26 of that year, in response to an attempted assassination by IIS on former US President George H. W. Bush, US President Bill Clinton ordered two U.S. warships, namely USS Peterson and USS Chancellorsville, to fire Tomahawk cruise missiles on the IIS principal command and control complex in Baghdad. 16 of the 23 missiles hit their target; three struck a residential area, killing nine civilians and wounding 12. Four of the missiles were unaccounted for.
In June 1995, Saddam Hussein dismissed his stepbrother Sabawi Ibrahim al-Tikriti from his role as head of the IIS, due to his failure to increase domestic security within Iraq. Brigadier General Majid Hasan al-Majid was named as his successor.
The IIS was officially dissolved on May 23, 2003 by the Administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority of Iraq, Paul Bremer, per Order Number 2 of the Coalition.
Read more about this topic: Iraqi Intelligence Service
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