Editing Basra (section)

===Modern era: 1921–2003===

[[File:Basra Dockyard.jpg|thumb|Model of Basra Dockyard|left]]

During [[World War II]] (1939–1945), Basra was an important port through which flowed much of the equipment and supplies sent to the [[Soviet Union]] by other [[Allies of World War II]].<ref name=":1" />

[[File:Old city of Basra 1954.jpg|thumb|right|[[Shanasheel]] of the old part of Basra city, 1954]]
The population of Basra was 101,535 in 1947,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/1950_round.htm |work=Demographic Yearbook 1955 |publisher=[[Statistical Office of the United Nations]] |location=New York |title=Population of capital city and cities of 100,000 or more inhabitants}}</ref> and reached 219,167 in 1957.<ref>{{cite web |title=National Intelligence Survey. Iraq. Section 41, Population |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/DOC_0001252308.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170123010830/https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/DOC_0001252308.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=23 January 2017 |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |date=1960}}</ref> The [[University of Basrah]] was founded in 1964. By 1977, the population had risen to a peak population of some 1.5&nbsp;million.<ref name=":1" /> The population declined during the [[Iran–Iraq War]], being under 900,000 in the late 1980s, possibly reaching a low point of just over 400,000 during the worst of the war.<ref name=":1" /> The city was repeatedly [[War of the Cities|shelled]] by [[Iran]] and was the site of many fierce battles, such as [[Operation Ramadan]] (1982) and the [[Siege of Basra]] (1987).<ref name=":1" />

After the war, [[Saddam]] erected 99 memorial statues to Iraqi military officers killed during the war along the bank of the Shatt-al-Arab river, all pointing their fingers towards Iran.{{cn|date=September 2024}} After the 1991 [[Gulf War]] a [[1991 uprising in Basra|rebellion against Saddam]] erupted in Basra.<ref name=":1" /> The widespread revolt was against the Iraqi government who violently put down the rebellion, with much death and destruction inflicted on Basra.{{cn|date=September 2024}}

As part of the [[Iraqi no-fly zones conflict]], [[United States Air Force]] fighter jets carried out two [[airstrike]]s against Basra on 25 January 1999.<ref name=":1" /> The airstrikes resulted in missiles landing in the al-Jumhuriya neighborhood of Basra, killed 11 Iraqi civilians and wounding 59.<ref name=":1" /> General [[Anthony Zinni]], then commander of U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf, acknowledged that it was possible that "a missile may have been errant."<ref name=":1" /> While such casualty numbers pale in comparison to later events, the bombing occurred one day after Arab foreign ministers, meeting in Egypt, refused to condemn four days of air strikes against Iraq in December 1998.<ref name=":1" /> This was described by Iraqi information minister Human Abdel-Khaliq{{efn|His proper name and position description appears to be in error, in that he appears to have held a more junior role at the time. Humam Abd al-Khaliq Abd al-Ghafur was Iraqi Information Minister between 1997 and 2001. The Iraqi Information Minister between 1991 and 1996 was Hamid Yusuf Hammadi. See [[List of Iraqi Information Ministers]].}} as giving U.S.-led forces "an Arab green card" to continue their involvement in the conflict.<ref>{{cite news |author=Paul Koring |title=USAF air strikes kill 11, injure 59: Iraq |work=[[The Globe and Mail]] |location=Toronto |date=26 January 1999 |page=A8 |quote=These air strikes, by British and USAF warplanes and U.S. cruise missiles, were said to be in response to a release of a report by UN weapons inspectors stating that, as of 1998, the government of Iraq was obstructing their inspection work. Following the four days of bombing in December, the Iraqi government commenced challenging the "no fly zones" unilaterally imposed on the country by the United States, following the 1991 Persian Gulf war. During the month of January 1999, there were more than 100 incursions by Iraqi aircraft and 20 instances of Iraqi surface-to-air missiles being filed. The January bombing of Basra occurred in the context of retaliatory attacks by the United States.}}</ref>

A [[1999 Shia uprising in Iraq|second revolt in 1999]] led to mass executions by the Iraqi government in and around Basra. Subsequently, the Iraqi government deliberately neglected the city, and much commerce was diverted to [[Umm Qasr]].{{cn|date=September 2024}} These alleged abuses are to feature amongst the charges against the former regime to be considered by the [[Iraq Special Tribunal]] set up by the [[Iraq Interim Government]] following the 2003 invasion.{{cn|date=September 2024}}