Syria vs. Iraq
Military
| Syria | Iraq | |
|---|---|---|
| Military branches | Syrian Armed Forces: Syrian Arab Army (includes Republican Guard), Syrian Naval Forces, Syrian Air Forces, Syrian Air Defense Forces, National Defense Forces (pro-government militia and auxiliary forces) (2021) note: the Syrian government is working to demobilize militias or integrate them into its regular forces | Ministry of Defense: Iraqi Army, Army Aviation Command, Iraqi Navy, Iraqi Air Force, Iraqi Air Defense Command, Special Forces Command National-Level Security Forces: Iraqi Counterterrorism Service (CTS; a Special Forces Division aka the "Golden Division"), Prime Minister's Special Forces Division, Presidential Brigades Ministry of Interior: Federal Police Forces Command, Border Guard Forces Command, Federal Intelligence and Investigations Agency, Emergency Response Division, Facilities Protection Directorate, and Energy Police Directorate Popular Mobilization Commission and Affiliated Forces (PMF); Ministry of Pershmerga (Kurdistan Regional Government) (2020) note: the PMF is a collection of approximately 50 paramilitary militias of different sizes and with varying political interests |
| Military service age and obligation | 18-42 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service; conscript service obligation is 18 months; women are not conscripted but may volunteer to serve (2019) | 18-40 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription (2019) |
| Military - note | the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) has operated in the Golan between Israel and Syria since 1974 to monitor the ceasefire following the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and supervise the areas of separation between the two countries; as of late 2020, UNDOF consisted of about 1,100 military personnel | as of early 2021, Iraqi military and security forces continued to conduct counterinsurgency and counter-terrorism operations against the Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham (ISIS) terrorist group, particularly in northern and western Iraq Shia militia and paramilitary units from the Popular Mobilization Committee and Affiliated Forces (PMF) have fought alongside the Iraqi military against ISIS since 2014, but the majority of these forces continue to largely ignore the 2016 Law of the Popular Mobilization Authority, which mandated that armed militias must be regulated in a fashion similar to Iraq's other security forces and act under the Iraqi government's direct control; the Iraqi prime minister legally commands the PMF, but most of the militia brigades take orders from associated political parties and/or other government officials, including some with ties to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps the Kurdish Peshmerga are formally recognized as a legitimate Iraqi military force under the country's constitution and have operated jointly with the Iraqi military against ISIS militants, but they also operate outside of Iraqi military command structure; the Peshmerga report to the Kurdistan Regional Government or Kurdistan Democratic Party and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan parties instead of the Iraqi Ministry of Defense |
| Military and security service personnel strengths | N/A; since the start of the civil war in 2011, the Syrian Armed Forces (SAF) have taken significant losses in personnel; prior to the civil war, the SAF had approximately 300,000 active troops, including 200-225,000 Army; by 2018, its estimated size was reportedly less than 100,000 due to casualties and desertions; currently, the SAF is trying to rebuild and integrate government-allied militias and auxiliary forces while continuing to engage in active military operations (2021) | information varies; approximately 200,000 personnel under the Ministry of Defense (190,000 Army/Aviation Command/Special Forces; 5,000 Navy; 5,000 Air/Air Defense Forces); approximately 25,000 National-Level Security Forces (10,000 Iraqi Counterterrorism Service; 10,000 Presidential Brigades; 5,000 Prime Minister's Special Forces Division); est. 100-160,000 Popular Mobilization Forces; est. 150,000-200,000 Peshmerga Forces (2020-21) |
| Military equipment inventories and acquisitions | the SAF's inventory is comprised mostly of Russian and Soviet-era equipment; since 2010, Russia has supplied nearly all of Syria's imported weapons systems, although China and Iran have also provided military equipment (2020) | the Iraqi military inventory is comprised of Russian and Soviet-era equipment combined with newer European- and US-sourced platforms; since 2010, Russia and the US are the leading suppliers of military hardware to Iraq (2020) |
Source: CIA Factbook
