Iraq

C

Judiciary

The judicial system of Iraq allowed for separate treatment of civil and religious matters. Civil matters were handled in courts presided over by individual judges. Above these courts were five courts of appeal, located in the major cities, and a court of cassation in Baghdad. Religious matters were usually handled by Muslim courts administering shari’ah law.

D

Local Government

The 18 provinces (or governates) of Iraq were administered by governors appointed by the national government. Towns and cities were run by councils headed by mayors.

E

Health and Welfare

Health standards in Iraq were low prior to the War on Iraq because of poor sanitary conditions, woeful funding, and many endemic diseases and became even worse immediately following the war. Hospitals and doctors lack adequate medical supplies and child vaccination programmes have been erratic. As a result, child mortality has increased significantly over the past decade. A newly formed Ministry of Health was established in early 2004.

In the late 1980s the average life expectancy at birth was about 64 years; by 1991 this had fallen to 46 years for men and 57 for women; and in 2008 it was 68 years for men and 71 years for women. In 2004 there were 1,519 people per doctor, while in 2008 the infant mortality rate was 45 deaths per 1,000 live births. In 2003 Iraq had one hospital bed for every 769 of its population.

F

Defence

Military training in Iraq was compulsory for all males when they reached the age of 18; it consisted of about two years in active service and an additional period in the reserve. In 2004 total armed forces were estimated at 179,800 active troops and 650,000 reserves. Of this total the Iraqi army had about 79,000 personnel (including 100,000 recalled reserves); the air force, 200; and the navy, 700. The Revolutionary Guard was a praetorian force serving only the president and enjoying special privileges and training. At the start of the 21st century there was mounting concern in the West that the government was stockpiling weapons of mass destruction, including chemical, biological, ballistic, and nuclear weapons; there were well-substantiated reports of the use of chemical weapons against the Kurds. President Saddam Hussein denied such allegations, but following Iraq’s defeat in the Gulf War the UN Security Council in 1991 insisted on the monitored elimination of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction as a condition of raising the economic sanctions imposed on the country in August 1990. Weapons inspectors were reluctantly allowed into the country to search for weapons, or evidence of them, but they were pulled out of Iraq prior to the invasion of 2003 (see History below).

More than 300,000 troops were reportedly deployed in Kuwait following the August 1990 invasion. Loss of life and equipment in the Gulf War was considerable; the air force in particular is estimated to have lost around two thirds of its aircraft.

G

International Organizations

Iraq is a member of the United Nations (UN), the Arab League, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).