The Iraqi Golden Division, or otherwise colloquially known as the Iraqi CTS, is a force only comparable to those that have invented them; with direct similarities tying to the US SOCOM’s (Special Operations Command) and tactics, training and weaponry being accomplice to this. During the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom, as part of the greater GWOT (Global War on Terror) and Operation Enduring Freedom in the year 2003, American forces saw the need for a highly specialised, and core-integral, counter-insurgency service dedicated to all aspects of combat operations. Even to the present day, Iraqi CTS and Kurdish CTG operators collaborate in both territories (semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan, in Northern Iraq, and Mainland Iraq) to decimate the near-constant threat of terror in a region that has been plagued with the issue since political tensions rose in the early 1950’s. ISOF (Iraqi Special Operations Forces) is the operation arm of the CTS; being those who dedicate themselves and their skills in raids and the takedown of extremism in war and in peacetime. The History: In mid-1950’s Iraq, Colonel Khalil Dabbagh formed what would be known historically as the “Queen Alia Forces); these were the first known specialised force, and consisted of both Sunni and Shia muslims with the addition of other populations of the broader Iraqi population. A main use for these forces were to partake in special mission aspects within Iraq’s borders, during times of emergency, and eventually outside of the country when war occurred. During the Persian Gulf War, or just Gulf War of 1991, the Iraqi 65th, 76th, 78th and 450th Marine and Special Forces brigades involved themselves in the conflict with UN-Coalition troops. This was the first direct conflict between both Iraqi forces and American Special Forces, between two countries that are now considered allies. Of course, the political situations previous-to, during, and following the 1991 Gulf War were much varied from what it is now; Pro-Saddam/Baathist forces loyal to the regime in Iraq were very much led on by the political views of Baathism and fought on the basis of heavy political/religious ideology and viewed America as imperialists and invaders. Throughout the Iraq War, 2003-2011, the Saddam-era forces were disbanded in favour of Coalition-invent direct-action forces; the remainder of these forces were excommunicated by occupation authorities in latter years. A new commando force was planned from scratch, with a more broad population within the recruit population; people from Sunni, Shia, Kurdish, Turkmen, Assyrian and Arabic ethnicities. In November of 2005, after training commenced in Jordan with Jordanian Special Forces and with US Army Special Forces - “Green Berets”, a team of 1,440 individuals were trained to specification through the Iraqi Special Operations Forces and were formed into two battalions, of which were compared in skill to an average US Army infantry battalion, in addition to two support battalions. By March of 2008, the force was reduced in size to a single brigade; made up of a singular Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Force (ICTF) battalion, three commando battalions, a support battalion and a special reconnaissance unit. Operational history, wartime operations: On April 28th of 2010, ISOF operatives, with assistance from US troops, performed a nighttime raid on a terror-related safehouse in the region of Tikrit; ISOF had surrounded the entirety of the building, called upon the militants to surrender, resulting in the militants firing directly towards the operators - causing a firefight to occur - during this ordeal, the leaders of Islamic State of Iraq, Abu Ayyub al-Masri and Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, were killed with 16 other individuals being arrested. After US troops had withdrawn from Iraqi territory in 2011, Iraqi CTS forces struggled to continue operations without assistance from US intelligence, air-strikes, logistics capabilities and necessary medical aid. Journalism/research Michael R. Gordon was told that Iraqi operational capability was fraying without the abundance of US support, Maliki had pushed the CTS “with a burgeoning array of missions that included manning checkpoints, escorting convoys, protecting voting centres and in combat with militants in densely populated Iraqi cities. A specialised force that had been designed to carry out lightning raids against terror cells (bearing in mind, with a considerable level of US assistance) had become a jack-of-all-trades that was being tasked to deal with the upheaval in Iraq.” US Special Operations Major General Mike Nagata had found that Major General Fadhil Jamil al-Barwari (a Kurdish soldier from Dohuk), who commanded 1st Brigade, ISOF, of the Iraqi CTS, was “no longer the confident commander” that he had been in previous years. 2016 Battle of Mosul against Islamic State: In the Battle of Mosul, which sparked from October of 2016, Iraqi Special Operations Forces were the first division to enter the city that had been occupied by the Islamic State of Iraq from 2014. After the fall of IS-controlled Mosul, ISOF battalions increasingly took up infantry positions - a role the Iraqi Army and separate militias struggled to fulfil, and also a role the unit was completely unfamiliar with for nearly the entirety of the conflict. Of course with this change in combat roles, a lot of casualties were seen within ISOF battalions; because of the larger scale of operations, compared to the short scaled targeted ‘hits’ in nighttime raids that had previously been their forte, many troops became unknowing to the aspects of broader warfare and had thus surcome to missions that weren’t within their practice. During the Battle of Mosul, on November 1st 2016, the 1st Iraqi Special Operations brigade stormed into the Gogjali quarter of Mosul City. On the 10th of July 2017, Iraq’s Prime Minister had propagated the liberation of the city of Mosul. The ending of the conflict led the Iraqi CTS to be left with a 40 percent casualty rate, one that could’ve very much been avoided if a basic infantry supplement was formed with the Iraqi Army; seeing as ISOF only realistically had specific capability, and the Iraqi Army were more suited for urbanised infantry-style operations. Article about the 28th April 2010 nighttime raid in Tikrit: "2 Most Wanted Al Qaeda Leaders in Iraq Killed by U.S., Iraqi Forces" (Source: FoxNews)

The Yugoslav Wars were the most brutal of conflicts in Europe since WW2, caused by political and social unrest in all of the former nations; spurred on by religious views, nationalist ideology and historical tension Yugoslavia suffered a crack in its government system that boiled over into near-constant firefights and disgusting atrocities - some of which comparable to those committed during the Second World War by the Nazi party. June 25th 1991. Croatia announces its independence with a referendum and wants out of the Yugoslav pact. The interim Yugoslav parliament is indecisive over the population issues in Croatia, by consequence of the Serb minority within Croatia’s borders - and the growing boiling pot that was the Republika Srpska Krajina (Republic of Serbian Krajina), formed by those angered by the fact that the referendum had been passed, the Yugoslav Army ‘retaliated’ to this by triggering a conflict with an invasion into the country both asymmetrically and by use of proxy warfare. As with the conflicts in Slovenia during the Slovenian War of Independence, during the same year and same month - and with simultaneous referendums, Yugoslav Army officials ordered the seizing of border checkpoints and facilities from Slovenian authorities (Slovenian police and territorial defence); in turn sparking an internal feud where JNA (Yugoslav National Army, Jugoslovenska Narodna Armija) soldiers and the Slovenians stood off against each other - Slovenians blocking off roads and barracks, and the Yugoslav forces occupying border territory. Slovenia, on the other hand, got off very lightly compared to their Croatian counterparts with very limited fighting actually occurring and the war ending the same year - this is unlike Croatia, where the war had lasted 4 years until 1995. Several dozen casualties were the only ones reported during the skirmishes in Slovenia, compared to the many tens of thousands who had died in the Croatian portion of the Yugoslav Wars. Limited conflict in the region led to an agreement being negotiated in Brioni on the 7th of July, luckily ending what could’ve strayed into widespread bloodshed. During the 1991 Croatian War of Independence, music was also influencing the views people had come to relate with; those musicians on the Serbian side, of course more sympathetic to the Serbian campaigns, sang songs about nationalist rhetoric and insults about the Croatian population - a note to take about songs made within the former Yugoslav Republic, otherwise known by their colloquial name “turbofolk”, is that many of the early inter-war lyrics included directed racial, ethnic, religious and overly political slurs and insults - take for example Jadna Bosno Suverena by Miro Semberac, and the use of Serbian nationalist rhetoric seen within the views of Serbian Chetniks (Chetnitsi). Secondly, another odd thing that was featured in many ‘turbofolk’ songs Yugoslav-war era (and especially in music videos, filmed amateurly and normally in VHS) was the representation of the artists country of origin in wearing their military uniform - this trend was seen very popularly with singers Roki Vulovic and even to some extent Baja Mali Knindza. During the wars, two singers became especially prevalent, both in the context of popularity and in nationalism - these women would come to be known as Ceca, a Serb (most famously considered as being the wife of the warlord, organised criminal and war criminal Zeljko “Arkan” Raznatovic) and Lepa Brena, a Bosnian (considered the most successful and famous of all artists in the former Yugoslavia, for the song “Jugoslovenka” and for the fact that she sung in Serbian despite being of Bosnian ethnic origin). The legacy of their music, and the bad timing of the war in correlation to their songs, led to both singers being viewed negatively in certain countries; mainly those with either an Islamic population of diaspora - Ceca’s relation to Arkan, who caused major genocides and incited ethnic violence alongside his unrelated criminal activities in Europe, caused many to view her as a Serbian nationalist in addition to the fact that she was also involved with Arkanovi Tigrovi (the unit of which Arkan founded) politics and advocated a life a crime. A similar incident occurred in Lepa Brena’s case, fleeing the nation of Serbia to escape the fact that her music was being used as some sort of unofficial anthem for those committing atrocities during those conflicts - something that she of course didn’t agree with, with the song “Jugoslovenka” mentioned before being about Lepa Brena herself and her ethnic identity. Eurovision Song Contest, 1989. Two years after the group Riva had won the contest, the original Yugoslav music scene had ceased to exist - as a result of the breakup of the country and the conflict brewing ever closer to a full-scale, intra-border war. In 1990, very ironically, the winning song performed by the Italian singer Toto Cutugno was called “Together in 1992” and had the lyric “Together, Unite, Unite Europe!”, implying the oncoming European unification that would take place that same year (1992) - for context, 1992 was the year the Bosnian War had started. The outbreak of conflict had an impact of Yugoslav musicians, who took up an anti-war stance; against those proposing nationalist rhetoric, and thus being attacked by nationalists in their respective countries. In 1992, multiple Serbian rock bands (Rimtutituki, with members from Partibrejkers, Ekatarina Velika and Elektricni Orgazam) demonstrated an anti-militarist song; with opposition from local jurisdictions and thus authorities, they were barred from performing in a live event so chose to instead host the performance on a trailer towed by a truck through the streets of Serbia’s capital, Belgrade. Despite this, many in the Yugoslav pop and rock scene weren’t so inviting to the concept of anti-war thought; with those either stancing to the idea of national chauvinism, or outright participating in combat during the conflicts. A lot of efforts, both within Serbia and across the former Yugoslavia, were dedicated to be against the war. Croatian group Film heavily advocated songs that mocked Serbian nationalism and Croatian nationalism, with there being a controversy about the song “E, moj druze Beogradski” (Hey, my Belgrade comrade) in Serbia as a result; a frontman for the Serbian band Riblja Corba, Bora Djordjevic, had ‘called back’ at the artists with his own song called “E, moj druze Zagrebacki” (Hey, my Zagreb comrade) and practically flooded it with cynical nationalist references. Many Croatian musicians in the pop and rock genre participated in projects such as “Moja domovina” and Rock Za Hrvatsku during the 1991 Croatian War of Independence. Local music scenes in break-away countries continued to hold a presence, some of which being very much inflicted during the wars; so far so that during the Siege of Sarajevo, local musicians kept performing in bomb shelters and a compilation of songs performed during that time were released in 1995 under the name “Rock under siege”. With the rise in the advent of early-turbofolk during the 1990’s into early 2000’s, the genre has grown majorly in popularity in the wake of the 20th century into the 21st century in former Yugoslav territories; most notably Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Montenegro. Turbofolk was invented as a genre somewhat by accident. A term coined by the Montenegrin musician Rambo Amadeus led to the name being monikered to the style of music that shares both aggressivity and ethnic features (hence the “folk” part, yet most ‘modern’ turbofolk shares similarities to genres such as Arabesque and ‘Kafana’ traditional Serbian/Bosnian music with some influence from the Romani (Gypsy) population, utilising instruments from the Middle East most commonly used in the Dabke genre within Lebanese and Syrian cultures). In the present day, turbofolk is still insanely popular, moreso within the youth population; however many of those who lived in villages and smaller towns became acquainted with the sound of Lepa Brena and Ceca’s music, and this influenced the commercialisation for such music to be the sound of Serbia. Now, other artists in Serbia and across the Balkan peninsula are replicating the ‘traditional’ sound of turbofolk - more traditional sounding music is still vastly popular, music that sounds just like tracks made during the 80’s and 90’s; an example of this being the Serbian singer Sanja Vucic. Also, another artist that became popular to hybridising the genre, and considerably influenced popularity of such music, is Edita Aradinovic; both Vucic and Aradinovic were born in 1993, when the Yugoslav Wars were heightened and fighting became more viced - to prolong the genre wasn’t to reflect upon the conflicts of the past, but to staple it as more of a cultural custom. Another considerably major influence to the style of music could also be Mile Kitic, with a long career even spanning through the Yugoslav Wars - historically, his music was so popular within the Balkans that many of his CD’s and DVD’s were pirated and sold illegally to fund both organised crime and the war in Yugoslavia. A newer generation of singer-songwriters sprang up in Serbia into the 2010’s, who brought more of a pop, rap and club influence to the turbofolk sphere, making the genre indistinguishable from the regular; an example of this dynamic is the link between melodramatic-sounding pop and the ‘dramatisation’ of events in turbofolk music - the strong emotions that Serbians themselves related with. As with the rap segments, they had originated during the 1990’s when the genre itself had boomed in popularity globally and this could also be said for club music and its popularity stemming from the same period in time. Musicians from other former Yugoslav nations, like Miach from Croatia, completely differ from what would otherwise be the usual in the country; songs in various different styles, with club and rap being in the majority of them. Though it might seem as if Miach has chosen a varied approach to music, it could also be seen as comparative to what was produced during the early 2000’s - it syncs well if this is the case. Personally, the rock aspect in the genre is fascinating; not only because it stemmed directly from the history of Yugoslavia but also because of the popularity of rock and metal during the Socialist period - it was almost as popular as italo-disco and euro-pop was in the USSR. You hear rock guitar riffs in anything from a song by Ceca to more recent songs like Tea Tairovic’s “Pozovi” and “Izrael I Palestina”; this was also nearly completely the case with older Yugoslav War productions, though the majority of ‘samples’ used were in fact literal intellectual rights violations. Continuing with the history of the genre during the Yugoslav Wars, many songs were made in or representing territories that no longer exist; Vojvodina, Herzeg-Bosnia and Velika Kladusa (as separate regions from Serbia and Bosnia) for example. Because of the songs being both recorded (music videos and songs themselves) and produced within the height of the war, it can be attributed that the near-constant change of territorial gain and borders caused these songs to be attributed to this. Additionally, there is also the somewhat odd factor that some songs were made by oppositionaries in territory hostile to them; for instance, if a Yugoslav soldier recorded a song in a battlefield or frontline region in Croatia. An instance of unlucky-yet well documented military history, where the frontlines were obfuscated to a level of being unrecognisable. Conclusively, it is to be said that the Yugoslav Republic and the consequent Yugoslav Wars very strangely helped the music industry as a whole in what became 7 different countries; turbofolk as a genre became the king on the throne of Serbia, heavily associating with the background, history and feelings of Serbs. 10 years of skirmish, suffering and survival - music overcame it all.

Desert Night Camouflage itself could be one of the most critiqued, and as one of the most major failures in the development of night-vision concealing uniforms; mainly, for US troops being deployed to countries that have or have had Soviet influence; primarily, it was a pattern born to counteract the sight of one Soviet-allied troop if said individual was utilising Generation 1 NVGs against their adversaries, of which being the US during the Cold War. It is an all infamous, yet interesting take, on the historical development of semi-issued uniforms of the regular and specialised US infantry. With ground roots to the early 1980’s, a period in which various reforms were in practice with the US military, production saw both trial usage and general issue uniforms being manufactured (a note to take into consideration, as US troops were seen in later conflicts like the Afghanistan War/Op. Enduring Freedom, 2001-2021, and the Iraq War/Op. Iraqi Freedom, 2003-2011 wearing either original and/or custom reproduction garments) during its lifespan. In its infancy, when the US were fighting within Panama as Operation Just Cause, the pattern was merely just a concept; the usage of early generation night vision devices had just started to be seen in combat, and the advent of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan during the Soviet-Afghan War (of course, up until the Soviet’s control demised in the year 1989) meant that the under-influence-government had been somewhat supplied or donated equipment by the Soviet Union. Desert Night Camouflage’s first and only major use was during the Gulf War, because of the fact that the Iraqi Army under the Hussein regime was heavily incentivised by the Soviet Union in both donations and bought equipment, with the only way to counter any sort of planned night-time attack against Coalition soldiers by the usage of select pieces of uniform: a duck-tailed parka, in addition to overpants and a boonie hat; all of which to supplement basic standard issued uniform (comprising of fatigues of Six-Colour Desert Pattern, otherwise known colloquially as “Chocolate Chip” or officially as the Desert Battle Dress Uniform). An important factor to take into account is the fact that battlefield impromptu tests were carried out by those on the field, notably a section of scouts/snipers within a Marine Corps battalion, in part to see if the general issue DBDU kit was as effective if not more than the DNC overgarments that some of the group were issued; one thing that was discovered, and the one thing that shocked the troops the most, was the fact that the Desert Night Camouflage performed worse than both their original DBDU uniforms and the winter overwhites whilst comparing them through higher-generation NVG devices. Now, it is broadly said that DNC can only really be effectively used when trying to conceal against those using devices dating back to the 1970’s. A brief investigation of trial camouflage, and patterns that saw both limited usage or no usage at all, shows that many countries have either attempted to “birth” uniforms that specifically cater to specialist operative use. Examples of this represented to this day could include museums in countries who had participated in the Cold War to such extent; East Germany and West Germany both had programs installed by their respective defence departments that set out to research, develop and to some degree manufacture, introducing some very odd and unique patterns purpose-made to fit with some sort of militaristic or policing situation. Another additional great example of this is with the usage of donor equipment, from certain Warsaw-pact countries that trial issued “foreign equipment” (uniforms from within the Soviet-Union, or other Eastern-bloc countries); Bulgaria was documented to have briefly used the Soviet “Solnechny Zaychik” (Sunshine Rays) - or Berezkha - patterns from the 1960’s through to the 1970’s. This deployment of said camouflage was possibly in efforts to “trick” NATO forces in the case of invasion into thinking that the Bulgarians were in fact Soviet soldiers, assuming that Bulgarians used other patterns like the Frogskin camouflage pattern as disguise in conjunction with their doctrine to prepare for eventual attack this could very well be the case. To the present-day collector, DNC garments can be expensive; of course, depending on the condition, the garment itself, whether or not it is a trial piece, a custom reproduction (those seen in the GWOT, during the early-to-mid 2000’s by US Special Forces) or even rare sizes. For further context, some pieces were only made in limited numbers dependent on size; for most jackets, smaller sizes tended to be made only to suit necessity - this can’t be said for medium-large sizes as they were more commonly seen in NATO sizing when regulating the mode (as in, amount) of soldiers height. In terms of the liners for DNC duck-tailed parkas, sizes wildly vary; though, mainly following a standard of size - small size liners for smaller parkas, and vice-versa. In operational use, it wasn’t only those lucky enough in the US military to be issued with DNC; the British soldiers deployed to the Gulf in 1991 during Operation Granby happened to have had the opportunity. The wearer of DNC garments apparently lit up like glow-sticks when exposed to anything above generation 1 night vision; with the heat from the human body generating thermal energy that could very easily be seen by any adversary; the material of all garments was primarily cotton/canvas mix, and because of the thin style of textile that uniforms were outfitted with they allowed the dissipation of heat (contextually, in terms of emitting UV and not actual heat. Also, an important factor to take into consideration regarding specifically the duck-tailed parkas is that they almost all utilised liners; this was due to the unpredictability of weather, and more so the cold than anything - thought hoods were featured to add some level of protection to the user when in the scenario of a sandstorm or immense heat from the sun. These liners featured were only really meant to be worn during the twilight hours, in which weather was at its peak coldest, and could be detached from the jacket using buttons when not in use; many soldiers, however, kept the liner on as to save space in their rucks seeing as when stored it became unnecessary and quite bulky item to carry. The first fully-fledged fielding of these garments was during Operation Desert Shield, a 1990 operation devised to deploy a 42-country coalition led by US forces to Saudi Arabia in order to prepare for a potential invasion and subsequent liberation of Kuwait; Kuwait on the 2nd of August 1990 was invaded by pro-Hussein regime soldiers, fueled by the hatred of their government over plans to expand both the production of crude oil and the expenditure of their oil economy; Saddam himself is quoted to have said that Kuwait was breaching Iraq’s fundamental financial freedoms by manufacturing barrels of oil, saying that it was unfair competition against Iraq’s business within the Middle East. As of recently, talking after the Gulf War which was its last and only combat use, there has been no replacement camouflage for nighttime operations; with the necessity of one diminished, as since the early 2000’s, when soldiers feedback towards camouflage and kit was complemented and thus listened to, anti-IR coatings have been applied to modernised military uniforms to aid in the prevention of unneeded reflections - reflections that could aid the enemy in their offensives. The closest derivative to DNC in the modern age (the more-modern age, from the early 21st century) could be the development of the Ghillie Suit; as said previously, anti-IR is a capability seen throughout different types of garment and uniform being especially critical for people in scout/sniper positions.