ABSTRACT
The rapid growth in military technology since 1815 has greatly increased the efficiency of the killing fields, so that one can really say that the Iran-Iraq War was the most severe in human history. In the north, Iraq has again followed a scorched earth policy, just as it did in 1975 when it punished the Kurds for the aid they gave to the Iranians during the war. The surprising Iranian announcement came after weeks of reporting from Iranian experts on the deep divisions within Iran in the power struggle for the succession to the ailing Ayatollah Khomeini. Since the acceptance of the cease-fire, Iran has succeeded in working effectively within the UN framework and putting Iraq on the diplomatic defensive. Both Iran and Iraq turned inward as the war progressed and are strongly committed to the reconstruction and revival of the territorial state and its institutions.
