Saddam's rusting arsenal

More than a decade after its retreat from Kuwait and eventual defeat at the hands of a US-led coalition, Iraq's armed forces are at an even greater relative disadvantage compared with those of the United States.

Iraq's military strength
424,000 active troops
1,900 tanks
2,400 armoured personnel carriers
1,900 wheeled guns
300 combat aircraft
Some short-range rocket systems

On paper Iraq still retains what seems like an impressive military arsenal.

It has troops, equipment that may include a small number of Scud-type missiles, and a reasonably effective air-defence system that is used regularly against patrolling US and British warplanes.

But this is, in many ways, a wasting and increasingly obsolete arsenal.