Iranian boat with M40 recoilless rifle and DShK mount navigating through the Mesopotamian marshes during the Iran-Iraq war.

Posted by Nemoralis99@reddit | shittytechnicals | View on Reddit | 26 comments

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YouLostTheGame@reddit

Everything about that war was wild. The Iraqis would put high voltage power lines into the marshes to electrocute the Iranians

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The Americans gave Iraq chemical weapons and then sanctioned Iran to prevent them from buying gas masks. Absolute brutality. Then those chemical weapons went on to be the basis of the Iraq WMD scare despite them having been used on Iranians or destroyed.

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YouLostTheGame@reddit

Whilst the US did undisputably support Iraq, there is no evidence that they supplied chemical weapons.

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teslawhaleshark@reddit

France did, and American pesticide factories are suspected to be responsible for producing some

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SmoovSamurai@reddit

According to Dave Chappelle, they had the receipts.

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sxeandy@reddit

Yep it was as close to total war that we've seen since ww2

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smellybathroom3070@reddit

Ukraine? Lol

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Illustrious-Sky-4631@reddit

Let me put it simple

Almost half of the weapons factories in the world from eastern Europe /Asia/latin america and even African were nearly breaking down from the huge supplies demand , almost every male from age 16 up to 70 was in the front line , almost every ecosystem and even histrionical sites where destroyed , whole cities where completely emptied and occupied by foreign labor because the inhabitants where all sent to the War leaving ghost cities behind

And this is just talking about the Iraqian side

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sxeandy@reddit

Hmmm comes close but no extensive use of chemical weapons or child soldiers in human wave attacks

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Rob_Cartman@reddit

Ukraine has been brutal but the Iran-Iraq war was worse.

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smellybathroom3070@reddit

I have no doubt it was a wider scale conflict, i’m just pointing out that Ukraine is very much a conventional conflict

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thelordchonky@reddit

Until one side drops literal mustard gas, it ain't a total war like Iran-Iraq.

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SemiDesperado@reddit

The Russians have been using gas against Ukraine since the beginning of the war...

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Dial595@reddit

Yeah like riot gas

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YouLostTheGame@reddit

Conventional war is by no means the same as total war.

The fact that you suggest it shows how far WW2 has slipped from collective memory.

In total war every element of the economy is reorientated to support the war effort. Factories become purely focused on armament. Food goes to the army first, civilians second. If you are able bodied then whatever your work is, it is aid of the war effort. Civilians become valid targets because every single one of them has become a component in the war.

Total war has only been experienced in WWI and WWII. Let us hope we never experience it again.

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