Habbaniyah, Iraq (CNN) Iraq's history is writ large among the ruins of Habbaniyah military base: wrecked aircraft, crumbling buildings and much-used military hardware all telling a part of the country's troubled tale.

A relic of the British Empire, Habbaniyah fell into the hands of Saddam Hussein when he came to power in 1979; what little remains of his regime's MIG fighter jets lie in the dust at the roadside.

Taken over and built up by the U.S. as they tried to stabilize Anbar province, the sprawling base was handed over to the Iraqi army when American troops withdrew from the region.

In the years since, cared for by an Iraqi army who at times look as if they have been left to fend for themselves, it has become overgrown and neglected in places.

But now, Habbaniyah is preparing for a key role in the fight against ISIS, as the staging ground for the Iraqi government's attempt to take Ramadi back from the terror group.

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