National Guard

National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards.

National Guard may refer to:

Africa

Americas

National Guard (Iraq)

The Iraqi National Guard (NG; Arabic: الحرس الوطني, al-Ḥaras al-Waṭanī‎) was part of the new Military of Iraq but has since been absorbed by the Iraqi Army controlled by the interim government. Following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, United States Coalition Provisional Authority Chief Paul Bremer disbanded the military apparatus of Iraq as existed under Saddam Hussein. As the security situation in occupied Iraq deteriorated and the Iraqi insurgency became increasingly active, the U.S. set up, recruited and trained the new security force in order to combat the insurgency. Despite attacks by insurgent and terrorist groups, the Iraqi National Guard was able to recruit many Iraqis from the vast ranks of the unemployed. The force has been used to assist Coalition troops in combatting the insurgency. However, there have been several instances where they have refused to take military action against fellow Iraqis, such as in Fallujah, deserted, or allegedly aided the resistance.

National Guard (El Salvador)

The Guardia Nacional (National Guard) of El Salvador was the Salvadoran gendarmerie. It was founded in 1912 by President Dr. Manuel Enrique Araujo. As agreed in the Chapultepec Peace Accords, it was disbanded on 16 January 1992. Its motto was "El honor es nuestra divisa" (Honor is Our Emblem).

History

Owing to increased demands for higher wages by coffee pickers in rural areas, Salvadoran land owners in the countryside felt the need to create a special public security force to protect their interests. Previous law enforcement and task force efforts failed to yield satisfactory results. The task forces were patrolling soldiers, commanded by an army officer, scattered throughout the country. They were unprepared in the fight against crime in its various guises, and were thus incapable of stopping thefts, killings, rapes and so on. Criminals of that era were using topographical features to hide from the authorities.

This was the primary reason that prompted the President of the Republic Dr. Manuel Enrique Araujo, to create the National Guard. A corps made up of specially trained men with modern equipment and uniformed appropriately for the type of coffee plantations where they were going to act was needed. Furthermore, it was legally constituted to support its actions and proceedings against the offenders to extended the scope of justice to the most remote areas.