The Iran-Iraq War: The View From Baghdad
The enduring legacy of the Iran-Iraq War will be the focus of the panel discussion, The Iran-Iraq War: The View from Baghdad, to take place Tuesday, October 25, at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
WASHINGTON — Documents detailing conversations between Saddam Hussein and his generals and officials during the Iran-Iraq War were released and discussed at an October 25 event at the Woodrow Wilson Center.
The New York Time’s Michael Gordon called the documents “the Iraqi equivalent of the version of the Oval Office tapes that helped bring down President Richard M. Nixon.”
The documents, which shed new light on Saddam Hussein’s Iraq and his mindset as a leader, were released by National Defense University’s Conflict Records Research Center and the Wilson Center’s History and Public Policy Program.
Click here to read the released documents from the Wilson Center’s online archive
Former Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations Mansour Farhang, Wilson Center Senior Scholar and former Ambassador William Miller, and former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq David Newton discussed the enduring legacy of the Iran-Iraq War in light of the new documents.
Hans Binnendijk, director of the National Defense University’s Institute for National Strategic Studies, chaired the event, with introductory remarks provided by Michael Van Dusen, The Wilson Center’s executive vice president and chief operating officer.
Today’s release represents a small portion of a larger collection of digital records stored at the Conflict Records Research Center which will be released over the coming years. This afternoon’s panel discussion marks the largest ever release from this group of records, as well as the start of an academic conference focusing upon how these Iraqi government documents impact policy-makers’ understanding of Iraqi politics today.
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The History and Public Policy Program makes public the primary source record of 20th and 21st century international history from repositories around the world, facilitates scholarship based on those records, and uses these materials to provide context for classroom, public, and policy debates on global affairs. Read more
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The Cold War International History Project supports the full and prompt release of historical materials by governments on all sides of the Cold War. Through an award winning Digital Archive, the Project allows scholars, journalists, students, and the interested public to reassess the Cold War and its many contemporary legacies. It is part of the Wilson Center's History and Public Policy Program. Read more
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