Ba'athist Iraq, under the brutal rule of the dictator Saddam Hussein, was feared throughout the Middle East, and the world, for its erratic policy backed by the manpower of its massive, well-equipped military that had almost a million men at its peak, the fourth largest military in the world, and thanks to oil sales, a budget surpassing the entire national income of several Middle Eastern neighbors. The Iraqi military had also fought in the brutal Iran-Iraq war, not only gaining valuable combat experience, but also showing the world an appetite for total brutality. Saddam made no secret of his expansionist ambitions, targeting his smaller neighbor, Kuwait, quickly overwhelming it in a 2 day invasion between August 2nd and 4th, 1990. This was the beginning of the end for Saddam's Iraq, turning it into an international pariah state, and launching Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm, the US-led liberation of Kuwait backed by a multi-national coalition. Despite the Iraqi military's on-paper strength, it proved to be no match for high tech American weaponry, being forced to withdraw in less than 2 months of fighting and taking at least 10 times as many casualties as the coalition. The US would invade Iraq itself in 2003, finally bringing down Saddam's brutal regime.

US troops brought home captured Iraqi gear as souvenirs in both conflicts. Iraqi soldiers were largely equipped with Cold War era tech, meaning mostly canvas webbing equipment based on British gear, most commonly the Pattern 58 webbing system. However, it was usually a lower quality version of the original. The item in this listing is a captured P58 field pack, of the kind issued to regular troops. It definitely looks like it's been through a war, with the fading, rust, and wear and tear you wold expect from a battlefield pickup. There is a small paint rectangle on the outwards facing side of the tag, likely a unit marking. Unfortunately, there is not much remaining. The sewn-on cloth tag on the opposite side has Arabic writing in pen, probably the soldier's name. There is also a poncho roll attached to the backpack.

Desert Storm turned out to be more than just a quick, triumphant "just war" since it led to the 9/11 terrorist attacks and launched the War on Terror, which ended up becoming America’s longest war that is receiving increased attention from collectors and historians for the way it fundamentally changed American society. Desert Storm era and early GWOT gear is getting hard to find, even though it was used in recent living memory. Buy now to own a piece of modern American history! Please see my other listings for more awesome militaria items. If you buy or win multiple items from me, please message me about combined shipping.

Iraqi P58 Field Bag Webbing Backpack + Poncho Roll Desert Storm/OIF Capture