View source for Free Iraqi Forces

{{Infobox war faction
| name             = Free Iraqi Forces (FIF)
| image            = FIF flag.svg
| caption          = Flag of the Free Iraqi Forces (FIF), seen on Free Iraqi Forces militiamen’s uniform as a flag sleeve patch, and sometimes flown during the invasion of Iraq.
| leaders          = [[Ahmad Chalabi]]
| active           = 2003
| country          = [[Iraq]]
| allegiance       = {{flagicon image|Flag_of_Multi-National_Force_%E2%80%93_Iraq.png}} '''[[Multi-National Force – Iraq|Multi-National Force - Iraq]]'''
*'''{{flag|United States of America}}'''
{{flagdeco|Iraq}} [[Republic of Iraq]]
| motives          = Overthrow of the government of [[Ba'athist Iraq]]
| status           = Dissolved
| partof           = [[Iraqi National Congress]] (2003)
}}
The '''Free Iraqi Forces''' ('''FIF''') were a militia made up of Iraqi expatriates, who served in the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]] and its aftermath, under the control of [[Ahmed Chalabi]]'s [[Iraqi National Congress]] government-in-exile. The specifically paramilitary branch of the program was also known as the '''Free Iraqi Fighting Forces''' ('''FIFF'''), while other elements served as interpreters or on [[civil affairs]] projects.<ref name="Dale2011">{{cite book|author=Catherine Dale|title=Operation Iraqi Freedom: Strategies, Approaches, Results, and Issues for Congress|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1wWp97PNZAYC&pg=PT48|date=April 2011|publisher=DIANE Publishing|isbn=978-1-4379-2030-7|pages=48–}}</ref><ref name="Hodge2011">{{cite book|author=Nathan Hodge|title=Armed Humanitarians: The Rise of the Nation Builders|url=https://archive.org/details/armedhumanitaria00hodg|url-access=registration|date=15 February 2011|publisher=Bloomsbury USA|isbn=978-1-60819-017-1|pages=[https://archive.org/details/armedhumanitaria00hodg/page/66 66]–}}</ref>

==Composition==
[[File:US Navy 030328-A-2018L-009 A member of the Free Iraqi Forces (FIF) is reunited with family members in his home village. Free Iraqi Forces are Shiia and Sunni Muslims, Arabs and Kurds, all exiled from Iraq who are committed to.jpg|left|thumb|An FIF soldier in an American camouflage uniform]]
The original intent of the American [[Office of the Secretary of Defense]] was to recruit and train 3,000 Iraqi expatriates in [[Taszár|Taszar]], [[Hungary]] in preparation for the war.<ref name="Dale2011"/> Recruitment, however, fell well below the target number, and were of dubious military utility, ranging from ages 18 to 55.<ref name="RamptonStauber2003">{{cite book|author1=Sheldon Rampton|author2=John Clyde Stauber|title=Weapons of Mass Deception: The Uses of Propaganda in Bush's War on Iraq|url=https://archive.org/details/weaponsofmassdec00ramp|url-access=registration|year=2003|publisher=Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin|isbn=978-1-58542-276-0|pages=[https://archive.org/details/weaponsofmassdec00ramp/page/61 61]–}}</ref>

==Operations==
[[File:Free Iraqi Force (FIF) coat.jpg|left|thumb|Free Iraqi Forces (FIF) desert battle dress uniform with insignia (Private collection of P-E / Militariabelgium)]]
The program was seen as unsuccessful, with at one point some US$63 million spent to recruit and train 69 troops for the FIF, and the program was dissolved in April 2003. The FIFF never numbered more than 500 troops.<ref name="DoughertyGhareeb2013">{{cite book|author1=Beth K. Dougherty|author2=Edmund A. Ghareeb|title=Historical Dictionary of Iraq|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZmQYAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA299|date=7 November 2013|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-7942-3|pages=299–}}</ref> The units were also seen as undisciplined and pro-Shia and anti-Sunni, and engaged in looting.<ref name="CordesmanDavies2007">{{cite book|author1=Anthony H. Cordesman|author2=Emma R. Davies|title=Iraq's Insurgency and the Road to Civil Conflict|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vk-QiQCSDKAC&pg=PA58|date=30 December 2007|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-34998-0|pages=58–}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Armed Iraqi groups in the Iraq War and the Iraq Civil War}}

[[Category:2003 establishments in Iraq]]
[[Category:Paramilitary forces of Iraq]]
[[Category:Military wings of political parties]]