Editing Iran–Iraq War (section)

====Second Battle of al-Faw====

On 17 April 1988, Iraq launched [[Second Battle of al-Faw|Operation Ramadan Mubarak]] (Blessed [[Ramadan]]), a surprise attack against the 15,000 Basij troops on the al-Faw peninsula.<ref name=pollack04 /> The attack was preceded by Iraqi diversionary attacks in northern Iraq, with a massive artillery and air barrage of Iranian front lines. Key areas, such as supply lines, command posts, and ammunition depots, were hit by a storm of [[mustard gas]] and [[nerve gas]], as well as by conventional explosives. Helicopters landed Iraqi commandos behind Iranian lines on al-Faw while the main Iraqi force made a frontal assault. Within 48 hours, all of the Iranian forces had been killed or cleared from the al-Faw Peninsula.<ref name=pollack04 /> The day was celebrated in Iraq as Faw Liberation Day throughout Saddam's rule. The Iraqis had planned the offensive well. Prior to the attack, the Iraqi soldiers gave themselves poison gas antidotes to shield themselves from the effect of the saturation of gas. The heavy and well executed use of chemical weapons was the decisive factor in the victory.<ref name="Tyler New York Times">{{cite news|last=Tyler|first=Patrick|title=Officers Say US Aided Iraq in war despite use of gas|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/18/world/officers-say-us-aided-iraq-in-war-despite-use-of-gas.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm|newspaper=The News York Times|date=18 August 2002|access-date=9 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180120190328/http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/18/world/officers-say-us-aided-iraq-in-war-despite-use-of-gas.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm|archive-date=20 January 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Iraqi losses were relatively light, especially compared to Iran's casualties.<ref name="Woods 2010" /> [[Ra'ad al-Hamdani]] later recounted that the recapture of al-Faw marked "the highest point of experience and expertise that the Iraqi Army reached."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Murray|first1=Williamson|last2=Woods|first2=Kevin M.|title=The Iran–Iraq War, A Military and Strategic History|chapter=1987–1988: An end in sight?|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|year=2014|isbn=978-1107062290|pages=334–335 (e-book, page numbers approximate)}}</ref> The Iranians eventually managed to halt the Iraqi drive as they pushed towards Khuzestan.<ref name="Farrokh 03" />

To the shock of the Iranians, rather than breaking off the offensive, the Iraqis kept up their drive, and a new force attacked the Iranian positions around Basra.<ref name=efraimkarsh /> Following this, the Iraqis launched a sustained drive to clear the Iranians out of all of southern Iraq.<ref name=brogan89 />{{rp|264|date=November 2012}} One of the most successful Iraqi tactics was the "one-two punch" attack using chemical weapons. Using artillery, they would saturate the Iranian front line with rapidly dispersing [[cyanide]] and nerve gas, while longer-lasting mustard gas was launched via fighter-bombers and rockets against the Iranian rear, creating a "chemical wall" that blocked reinforcement.<ref name="Farrokh 03" />