Disaster response management stemming from war operation and terrorism in Iraq

Iraq has experienced various disasters either natural or manmade. Within the context of manmade disaster, war and post-war conflicts have crippled many essential services needed to reduce risks, manage hazards, and respond to disasters. This has impacted on the response phase, which is considered one of the critical phases in the Disaster Management life cycle. Due to the salient of the research model of behavioural response to disaster, which applicable to terrorism events, the effect of war and terrorism in Iraq has been highlighted during the response phase. Because of the lack of empirical data in this field, this research aims to present the significance of disaster management in general and in particular, the response management phase by doing a systematic review of the literature of disaster response management. In order to achieve the aforementioned aim, data collection included information obtained from literature relating to disaster response management. This literature contains central and local government ordinances, reports and regulations along with journal papers and books. Findings show that the paradigm shift in disaster management thinking in Iraq has not changed as regards the adoption of an all-risk disaster reduction system to replace their reactive disaster response operational mechanisms. Furthermore, the government of Iraq has traditionally responded in a reactive manner to disasters associated with flooding, earthquakes, drought, conflict and industrial accidents