Ar-Rutbah

Ar-Rutbah (Arabic: الرطبة ar-Ruṭba, also Romanized Rutba, Rutbah) is an Iraqi town in western Al Anbar province, predominantly inhabited by Sunni Arabs. The population is approximately 28,400. It occupies a strategic location on the Amman–Baghdad road, and the Kirkuk–Haifa oil pipeline. Considered a "wet spot", it receives 114.3 mm (4.5 inches) of rain annually, and is located on a high plateau. It has been described as "the most isolated town of any size in Iraq."

Ar-Rutbah began as a rest stop for Imperial Airways flights in the early 20th century, and also served as a water stop for the Nairn Transport Company. In December 1934, sixteen kilometers south of Ar-Rutbah, the famous Dutch plane Uiver crashed, with all onboard killed. During the Anglo-Iraqi War in 1941, Ar-Rutbah was the site of a clash between British forces, including the Arab Legion, and forces loyal to Rashid Ali al-Gaylani.

During the British administration of Iraq, known as Mandatory Iraq, Rutbah Wells, as it was then known, was a rest stop for Imperial Airways flights from the UK to India and the Persian Gulf. Imperial Airways used an old fort at Rutbah Wells as a resthouse—however, "a common complaint in winter was the cold, for the builders at Rutbah Wells had, unaccountably, made no provision for fireplaces or chimneys." Aircraft were en route from Cairo, to Gaza, to Rutbah Wells, to Baghdad. According to research conduct by Lucy Budd, of Loughborough University, the airstrip and rest house at Rutbah Wells were specifically built for Imperial Airways by the Iraqi government, and assigned a detachment of armed soldiers to defend against hostile tribes. One passenger wrote of the "unforgettable experience of arriving at the most desolate and extraordinary hostelry in the world", while another remarked on "the absurdity of coming down [in the morning] to an English ham and egg breakfast in the middle of the desert". Passengers were not expected to embark or disembark at Rutbah Wells.

The town was also a water stop on the overland drive from Baghdad to Damascus by the Nairn Transport Company, known as the Nairn Way. Travellers who stopped in Rutbah stayed at the fort. Among those who stopped at Rutbah Wells when following the Nairn Way was Mary Bruins Allison.

In 1927, the British built a fort at Rutbah. In 1929, when Francis Chichester completed his solo flight to New Zealand in a de Havilland DH.60 Moth, he stopped at Rutbah Wells. In his autobiography, The Lonely Sea and the Sky, Chichester described it as follows: "Rutbah Wells was a romantic spot in the middle of the desert, a large square fort with buildings backed up inside to the high walls. There were camel caravans inside, and a squad of Iraqi infantry." He also wrote that there was an Imperial Airways mechanic stationed at the fort, who helped him repair his plane, and that he stayed the night in an Iraqi officer's room.

On 19 December 1934, the aircraft Uiver was on a non-scheduled flight from Amsterdam to Batavia (now Jakarta). On 21 December, sixteen kilometers south of Rutbah Wells, the plane was found, completely destroyed, by an RAF pilot. The plane was a KLM DC-2. It was the plane's first flight after coming second in the MacRobertson Air Race that took place in October 1934. All four cockpit crew and three passengers were killed, including Dutch media magnate Dominique Willem Berretty. An investigation into the crash determined that it was likely the bad weather that caused the crash, and that "the bad flying characteristics of the DC-2 during heavy rain were suspected."

During the Anglo-Iraqi War in 1941, forces loyal to Rashid Ali took control of the Fort on 2 May 1941. As a response bombs were dropped by RAF Blenheim V bombers from No. 203 Squadron RAF on and around the fort. The fort was retaken by Arab Legion forces with support from No. 2 Armoured Car Company RAF after the fort defenders left overnight on 10 May.

Prior to the Gulf War, the Iraqi government installed an Intercept Operations Center (IOC) in Ar-Rutbah, which is designed to provide local air defence control. The various IOCs were linked through an extensive optical fiber communications net. The IOCs were subordinate to the National Air Defense Operations Center (ADOC), based in Baghdad, that controlled air defense nationally. In the late 1980s, the Iraqi government also expanded its facility at Ar-Rutbah to produce acids and other chemical compounds. It may also have established a complex called 'Project 9320' in the area, which had three factories to produce secondary chemicals used in manufacturing nerve gas.