Iraq marks army's 90th anniversary

Fri Jan 7, 2011

Iraq's army has marked the 90th anniversary of its 1921 founding with a huge military parade that included tanks and artillery weapons.

Top Iraqi officials, members of the country's military forces as well as foreign diplomatic missions attended Iraq's Armed Forces Day ceremony, which took place in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki visited the tomb of the Unknown Soldier and attended a military parade in the Green Zone, which houses the Iraqi government offices and some foreign embassies, a Press TV correspondent reported from Baghdad.

"We in the national unity government will not let the army be politicized, and it will be for all, not for a specific faction," Maliki said in a speech after placing a wreath on the tomb.

He hailed the efforts of the army in fighting terrorism and bringing law and order to the country and reiterated that the Iraqi armed forces will not be used against any neighboring country.

"While we are working on building a stable country, we want an army that doesn't carry any hatred for any country, and that is be based on protecting the people, not like it was during the collapsed regime (under Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein)," Maliki, who is also the commander-in-chief of the army, said.

On parade were also 10 Abrams tanks Iraq has purchased from the withdrawing United States forces, the first of 140 that are to be delivered by the end of the year.

The Iraqi army took over responsibility of security control across the country in mid-2010 as the US military formally ended its combat mission in the country and reduced its troop strength to about 50,000.

In May 2003, the US civilian administrator for Iraq, L. Paul Bremer, abolished several ministries and institutions of Saddam's regime, and disbanded the army, declaring them illegal, something that is blamed for the widespread chaos in the following years.

Iraq has signed contracts with the United States to buy planes, tanks and warships worth $ 13 billion in the coming years. The contracts also include training and maintenance, something that makes sure that some members of the US military will remain in Iraq for long.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/159001.html.