Editing Iran–Iraq War (section)

====State of Iraqi armed forces====
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| caption1          = Iraqi [[Dassault Mirage F1#Iraq|Mirage F1EQ]] pilots prior to a mission into Iran.
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The fighting had battered the Iraqi military: its strength fell from 210,000 to 150,000 troops; over 20,000 Iraqi soldiers were killed and over 30,000 captured; two out of four active armoured divisions and at least three mechanised divisions fell to less than a brigade's strength; and the Iranians had captured over 450 tanks and armoured personnel carriers.<ref name=cooper03_214>{{cite web|url=http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/article_214.shtml|author=Thomas Cooper and Farzad Bishop|title=Fire in the Hills: Iranian and Iraqi Battles of Autumn 1982|date=9 September 2003|work=Arabian Peninsula & Persian Gulf Database|publisher=Air Combat Information Group|access-date=17 September 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140822073723/http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/article_214.shtml|archive-date=22 August 2014|url-status=usurped}}</ref>

The Iraqi Air Force was also left in poor shape: after losing up to 55 aircraft since early December 1981, they had only 100 intact [[fighter-bomber]]s and [[interceptor aircraft|interceptors]]. A defector who flew his [[MiG-21]] to [[Syria]] in June 1982 revealed that the Iraqi Air Force had only three squadrons of fighter-bombers capable of mounting operations into Iran. The Iraqi Army Air Corps was in slightly better shape, and could still operate more than 70 helicopters.<ref name="cooper03_214" /> Despite this, the Iraqis still held 3,000 tanks, while Iran held 1,000.<ref name="Farrokh 03" />

At this point, Saddam believed that his army was too demoralised and damaged to hold onto Khuzestan and major swathes of Iranian territory, and withdrew his remaining forces, redeploying them in defence along the border.<ref name=efraimkarsh /> However, his troops continued to occupy some key Iranian border areas of Iran, including the disputed territories that prompted his invasion, notably the Shatt al-Arab waterway.<ref name="Farrokh 03" /><ref name=Viewpoints>{{cite web|title=Viewpoints of the Iranian political and military elites|url=http://en.merc.ir/default.aspx?tabid=98&ArticleId=272|access-date=10 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303213700/http://en.merc.ir/default.aspx?tabid=98&ArticleId=272|archive-date=3 March 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> In response to their failures against the Iranians in Khorramshahr, Saddam ordered the executions of Generals [[Juwad Shitnah]] and Salah al-Qadhi and Colonels Masa and al-Jalil.<ref name="Woods 2010" /> At least a dozen other high-ranking officers were also executed during this time.<ref name="csis 5" /> This became an increasingly common punishment for those who failed him in battle.<ref name="Woods 2010" />