Republican Guard (Iraq)

Republican Guard (Iraq)

The Ba'athist Iraqi Republican Guard (Arabic: حرس العراقي الجمهوري‎ ""Ḥaris al-‘Irāq al-Jamhūriyy") was a branch of the Ba'athist Iraqi military from 1969 to 2003, primarily during the presidency of Saddam Hussein. It later became the Republican Guard Corps, and then the Republican Guard Forces Command (RGFC) with its expansion into two corps. The Republican Guard was disbanded in 2003, after the invasion of Iraq by a U.S.-led international coalition.

The Republican Guard were the elite troops of the Iraqi army directly reporting to Saddam Hussein, unlike the paramilitary force Fedayeen Saddam, and the ordinary Iraqi Army. They were easily recognizable by their red or Maroon berets, rather than the ordinary black of the Iraqi Army. Guard members were mainly, but not exclusively, Sunni Arabs rather than Shi'a Arabs, or Sunni Kurds. They were better trained, disciplined, equipped, and paid than ordinary Iraqi soldiers, receiving bonuses, new cars, and subsidized housing.