Under the reign of Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi Armed Forces were divided into two primary forces: the conventional armed forces (which included the Iraqi Army, Navy, Air Force and the Republican Guards, and the Popular Army (الجيش الشعبي), a paramilitary organization of Ba'ath Party loyalists whose primary purpose was to prevent a military takeover of the regime from conventional forces. In addition, the Fedayeen Saddam (Men of Sacrifice) were another paramilitary organization of Ba'ath Party loyalists, and were particularly employed to suppress political opponents. Of these, the Republican Guards were the most well-trained and well-equipped of all the armed forces, although special units such as the commandos, paratroops and special forces also received extra pay, better uniforms and equipment, and specialized training. The Iraqi Armed Forces have worn literally dozens of different camouflage patterns since the days of the Iran-Iraq War. Most of these have been sourced from other countries, although in the last days of the Saddam Hussein regime it appears many of the uniforms were locally-made. Historically, camouflage uniforms were only provided to units with "elite" status, such as the commandos and paratroopers of the Army Special Forces, and some units of the Republican Guards. Since the restructuring of the new Iraqi Armed Forces, camouflage uniforms have become standard issue to most military personnel, although some elite units still maintain their esprit de corps by wearing unique or different camouflage designs to those of the more conventional units.
