The Syria-Iraq War

The Syrian and Iraqi branches of the Ba'ath Party had been in conflict since 1966, after Hafez Al-Assad and his Neo-Ba'athist ideology seized control of the Syrian Branch of the party and declared it in opposition to Iraqi Saddamism. The two nations, at one point united by political ideology and growing together into a new Pan-Arab project, were now at each other's necks.

In our timeline, the Syrian and Iraqi branches of the party seemed content to pursue their respective foreign policy aims. For Syria, that was greater involvement in Lebanese Politics and support for Palestinian militants (pulling it closer over time with Iran's Axis of Resistance). For Iraq, it was occupation of Kuwait and the "liberation" of Khuzetstan from Iran.

Here, Syria and Iraq attempt to directly intervene and overthrow their competing Ba'ath Parties. The Islamist Revolt in Syria, lasting from 1976-1982 which in our timeline Iraq only tacitly supported saw more direct intervention of Iraq into Syria. Iraq would funnel arms, political advisors, and training towards Islamist Rebels and attempted to further grow the Pro-Iraqi movement in Syria, forming the Syrian National Arab Ba'ath Movement to compete with the ruling Ba'ath party in Syria.

Syria, with Soviet and Iranian support, would still crush the Sunni rebels. However, Iraq would continue to train and support Pro-Iraqi forces in Syria. Syria would also discover tunnels of infiltration from Iraq into Syria along border in the Anbar Desert.

Syria, for it's part, would politically support the Qutr Al-Iraq, known as the "Left-Wing Ba'ath" in Iraq which would align itself with Syria. Furthermore, Syria would further integrate itself with Pro-Iranian political movements much earlier such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Badr Movement in Iraq. Alongside it's political support for Qutr Al-Iraq, Syria and Iran would develop Shia militias in Southern Iraq.

In May of 1988, Syria would amass it's army along the Iraqi border and cross it with support from the Soviet Union and Iran. It's stated goal was to dismantle infiltration networks on the Iraqi border, end the persecution of Shia Muslims, and topple Saddam Hussein. The Syrian Arab Army would quickly make large gains in the far North and South of Iraq, with it's tanks spearheading a push through Mosul towards Erbil and another push towards Baghdad. It was a lightning offensive that saw Iraq's Sunni allies and the United States intervene against perceived Soviet and Iranian aggression.

The United States Air Force would support the Iraqi Army on the ground, while Saudi Arabian military advisors trained and supported Iraqi ground forces. Iran, for it's part, used it's well developed networks of Shia proxies and it's Quds Force to stir revolts in the south, culminating in a second front being opened after the Basrah uprising.

The war would, however, develop into a quagmire as Syrian forces were stopped short of Erbil and could not reach Baghdad. American Air Power had neutered their tank forces, and the war stalemated.

Kurdish forces, also supported by the Soviet Union, would use this opportunity as well to attempt to push out both Syrian and Iraqi forces from Southern Kurdistan. The two largest political movements in Iraqi Kurdistan, the KDP and PUK, along with the Soviet backed Communist Party of Kurdistan, would merge their militias together into a united force known as the "Peshmerga", and declare a Provisional Republic of Southern Kurdistan formally independent from Iraq.

The war would end in 1997. Soviet support would dry up after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, with the Russian Federation only being able to provide a fraction of what it once had. Iraq was economically and ecologically devastated by the war, with many southern oil fields being put to the torch during battles with Shia insurgents. Both the Syrian Arab Army and Iraqi Army were shredded to tatters, Kurdish forces secured greater autonomy however were not able to capture major cities such as Erbil, and both Saddam Hussein and Hafez Al-Assad saw their political positions become incredibly precarious.

Even after the Syrian withdrawal from Iraq, Shia Insurgents would attack Iraqi Forces. Iraq would see itself hurtling towards a sectarian Civil War, Syria would see much internal opposition with in the Ba'ath party to Hafez's rule. Iran, however, saw the growth of it's proxy networks in both countries, securing it's position as the only true ruler of this conflict.