The American forces and their allies began carrying out their military operations aimed at invading Iraq on March 19, 2003, and ended on May 1 of the same year with the overthrow of the Iraqi regime, with the takeover of the capital, Baghdad, on April 9.

The fierce war that Iraq was subjected to from the United States and its allies;

However, the most intense battles were represented by the battle of Baghdad International Airport, which lasted for several days and culminated on April 5, when a fierce battle took place between the Iraqi and American forces, which was decided in favor of the Americans, and paved the way for them to enter Baghdad and overthrow the regime.

Mobilization of American forces after taking control of Baghdad International Airport (Getty Images)

Baghdad International Airport

Baghdad International Airport is located to the west of the capital Baghdad, about 16 km away, and is the largest airport in Iraq, as well as being the main operations center for Iraqi Airways.

The airport has great strategic importance at the military level, as it is located in the southwestern flank of the capital, and opens to the capital through a highway leading to the city center of Baghdad.

During the war, the airport witnessed the fiercest battle between the Iraqi forces defending the capital and the American forces, who rushed towards the capital less than two weeks after the start of the invasion.

The war was not equal. Iraq has been groaning under an international blockade that has extended since 1991, during which the army was unable to develop its equipment in addition to the almost complete neutralization of the Iraqi air force, due to the tremendous superiority of the US Air Force.

The commander of the Second Republican Guard Corps, Lieutenant General Raad Al-Hamdani, says in his book (Before History Leaves Us) that the direct reason that enabled the American forces to rush quickly towards Baghdad and its airport was that on April 2, 2003, the Iraqi military leadership received a direct instruction to withdraw the majority of the forces. From the sectors south of Baghdad, and directing it towards the north and west of the capital from the direction of Anbar Province.

Al-Hamdani states that this directive stemmed from the belief of Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi president at the time, that the US operations south of the capital were nothing but military deception in order to launch a greater attack on the capital from the northern and western sectors.

Although Al-Hamdani confirmed in his book that he did not agree to this military directive;

However, the orders had been issued, which caused a rapid shift in the course of the war, and the collapse of the Iraqi military units versus the US, which had benefited from the technical and air superiority, which led to the entry of US forces into Baghdad International Airport, according to him.

An American armored vehicle during one of the rounds facing the airport (Getty Images - Archive)

The steadfastness of the Iraqis

The battle of Baghdad airport was not easy for the US forces, as although the airport was a closed military zone, and did not contain civilian population centers, the US forces faced fierce resistance that they did not expect.

An Iraqi military officer - on condition of anonymity - notes that the battle for Baghdad airport decided the invasion of Iraq and the capital, and that the Iraqi forces that participated in the battle of the airport were completely wiped out using unconventional weapons.

The source - who was an officer in the Republican Guard - added in his interview with Al-Jazeera Net that the battle for the airport delayed the fall of the capital, Baghdad, for about 3 days, and that the Iraqi forces defending the airport were falling, successively.

Because of the American air superiority of the American Apache helicopters and artillery, which were targeting everything that moved in the airport and its surroundings.

The source continues that the Iraqi forces' ability to hold out for 72 hours is due to factors the most important of which are trenches, minefields, and the surge of the 26th Brigade in the Republican Guard, which was divided into small groups. The airport was commando, and it knows its operations are only for delays.

Kamel says that he personally saw a number of burnt American military armored vehicles on Airport Road (Al-Jazeera Net)

This statement confirms Mustafa Kamel, who was the only witness to the battle for Baghdad airport, as he says in an exclusive testimony to Al-Jazeera Net that the areas surrounding the airport were military zones.

However, he was able to visit the Airport Street area, to see the details of what happened in the battle between the Iraqi and American forces.

Kamel, who was a secretary for the official newspaper of the Republic, continues that on April 5, at the statue of Abbas bin Firnas, he met a group of fighters from the Special Security Agency, and confirmed that a battle was led by the Iraqi President at the time against the American forces, which had infiltrated from the direction of Baghdad airport.

Kamel notes that he saw with his own eyes a number of burning American military armored vehicles at Airport Street, and picked up parts of them, as they were destroyed during their attempt to advance towards the capital Baghdad, explaining that the charred American military armored vehicles were found in 3 areas near the airport, the first of which is in the middle of the airport street, and under a bridge The highway passing by the Umm al-Tabbool mosque, and also opposite the central market in the Amil neighborhood near the airport.

The narrator pointed out that Baghdad airport witnessed 3 battles, and that the Iraqi forces in these battles were exterminated (Al-Jazeera Net)

3 fights

For his part, Walid Al-Rawi, a former brigadier general in the Iraqi army and secretary of the Iraqi defense minister between 1996 and 2003, said in a televised testimony he gave years ago that the battle for the airport had settled the invasion of Iraq.

Al-Rawi added that Baghdad airport witnessed 3 battles, not one, pointing out that the main effort of the American forces was from southern Baghdad, specifically the American Third Infantry Division, which advanced towards the airport on April 3 and took control of parts of it.

He continues that the Iraqi Special Guard and the 26th Republican Guard Brigade (human frogs) launched a counter-attack, wiping out the vanguards of the attacking force, which included 7 American armored vehicles, as the American forces withdrew on that same day towards the highway traffic line, which connects the Yusufiya area with the Abu Ghraib area .

Al-Rawi states in his testimony that as a result, the American forces opened 7 lines of fire towards the force defending the airport.

This led to the annihilation of Iraqi forces, and the occupation of Baghdad airport for the second time on April 4.

As for the last battle on the 5th of the same month, Al-Rawi confirmed that the Republican Guard launched a large counter operation at the airport, and inflicted losses on the attackers

However, the force was annihilated by the unequal fire between the US and Iraqi forces, which led to the fall of about a thousand Iraqi soldiers, he said.

In the conclusion of his speech, the narrator believes that the American forces used special equipment to confront the Iraqi forces, especially since the Iraqi soldiers were charred during the repulsion operations.

As for the officer in the Republican Guard, he stresses, for his part, that it would have been possible to hinder the US forces' control of the airport if the Iraqi leadership had followed the Ministry of Defense plan, which indicated that the airport should be completely bombed, and thus prevent the invaders from using it, according to him.

Al-Qaisi considered that the American plan to invade Iraq focused on reaching the heart of Baghdad by controlling the airport first (Al-Jazeera)

Causes of defeat

Returning to al-Hamdani in his book, he points out that the lack of wisdom of the military decisions that were taken during the invasion of Iraq led to the rapid fall of the airport and Baghdad, pointing out that no one expected the ability of the American forces to enter Baghdad with the ease and speed that took place, especially since the American and British forces were confronted. Violent resistance to the south of the country in the early days of the invasion.

As for the director of the Security and Defense Program at the Policy-Making Center for International Studies, Major General Majid Al-Qaisi, he confirms for his part that the American goal of the plan that was used in the invasion of Iraq, called the "Wide Hook", was centered on reaching the heart of Baghdad through controlling the airport first. .

In his interview with Al-Jazeera Net, Al-Qaisi added that the Americans leaked to the Iraqis a similar plan for the user;

But it is deceptive, which led the Iraqi leadership to keep 13 military divisions north of Baghdad, and thus not to use them in the battles of the airport and the capital, thinking that the Iraqi leadership might start a surprise attack from the north, he said.

With the control of the American forces on Baghdad International Airport, they were able to rush quickly towards the capital, and within 3 days the invading forces imposed their control over the entire capital, so that on April 9, 2003, the Iraqi capital (Baghdad) fell at the hands of the American forces.