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Books > Humanities > History > Asian / Middle Eastern history > From 1900
Volume 2 takes up the account after Iraq withdrew from Khuzestan
and is based upon material from both sides, from US Intelligence
data, British Government documents and secret Iraqi files. Iraq's
withdrawal exposed the great southern city of Basra to Iranian
attack but it was shielded by fortifications based upon a huge
anti-tank ditch, the so-called Fish Lake, which the Iranians tried
to storm in the summer of 1982. This bloody failure left Tehran in
a position where prestige prevented a withdrawal into Iran but the
armed forces lacked the resources to bring the conflict to a
favourable conclusion. During the next four years the Iranians
tried to outflank the Fish Lake defences initially through the
marshes in the north and finally through an attack on the Fao
Peninsula which increased national prestige but was a strategic
failure and paved the way for Iraq's massive victories in 1988.
This followed a series of successful defensive battles in which the
Iranians were driven back with great loss. This account describes
the battles in greater detail than before and, by examining them,
provides unique insights and ends many of the myths which are
repeated in many other accounts of this conflict.
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