News Of Iran Moving Missiles Into Iraq Continue

Iran is said to have sent Fateh-110 missiles and others to Iraq (Missile Threat)

December 4 the New York Times reported that U.S. officials warned that Iran continued to move short range missiles into neighboring Iraq. It noted in August 2018 Reuters reported the same thing. In fact, this was no new news at all. As early as March 2015, there were stories that Tehran was giving missiles to its allies within the Hashd al-Shaabi to use in its war against the Islamic State. Iran has now shifted its strategy to use these missiles as part of its regional and international policy towards its rivals.

This Day In Iraqi History - Dec 10

1949 Ali Aiyubi became premier of Iraq for 2^nd time

1980 Iran launched counteroffensive at Darkhovin to break siege of Abadan in south Failed but put

Iraq on defensive in first year of war

1981 Report that Soviet Union resumed arms deliveries to Iraq after ban when Iran-Iraq War started

1983 PUK made deal with Iraqi govt not to attack Iraqi forces and fight Iran in return for being left

alone 3,000 PUK Peshmerga quit and joined KDP out of protest

(Musings On Iraq interview with author Anthony Tucker-Jones on Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq interview with author Tom Cooper on Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq book review The Iran-Iraq War 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq book review Iran-Iraq War, The Lion of Babylon, 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq book review The Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq book review Iran-iraq War Volume 4: The Forgotten Fronts)

1996 Oil for Food program began in Iraq Helped save Iraqi economy from shortages and inflation

Program allowed Iraq to sell $2 bil in oil every six months Half the money went to the UN Kuwait Kurdistan

1999 UN Res 1281 extended Oil for Food Program for Iraq

2001 Ansar al-Islam formed from 3 Kurdish Islamist groups

(Musings On Iraq Why Didn’t Bush Strike Zarqawi And Ansar al-Islam In 2002?)

2001 Badr leadership Amiri Laquaa Basri met Taked about possible US invasion of Iraq and how to

prepare for it Iran told Badr to come up with action plan for post-Saddam Iraq Ordered to do recon within Iraq Carry out ops vs Iraqi military in south Iraq Prepare 2 battalions to send into Amarah and Nasiriya after a US invasion Battalions would be under Iranian intelligence control

(Musings On Iraq article on the history of Badr Organization)

2002 USAID said Iraq would be small intervention but security needed to be first priority

2002 NSC committee presented humanitarian plan for postwar Iraq based upon secure environment

and small US role

(Musings On Iraq article on Part I Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Hard Lessons Planning for Postwar Iraq September 2001 to May 2003)

(Musings On Iraq article on Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Hard Lessons Chapter 2 The Agencies Engage)

(Musings On Iraq book review Leap of Faith, Hubris Negligence, and America’s Greatest Foreign Policy

Tragedy)

2002 IAEA went to Al Qaim facility US claimed was an active Iraqi nuclear plant Found it

destroyed Went to Al Furat and found no nuclear equipment there

(Musings On Iraq article UN Inspectors Were Right Iraq Was Not A Threat)

(Musings On Iraq article Iraq’s Rejection of UN Inspectors Led To Mistrust Over WMD and 2003 Invasion)

2003 CPA presented list of 1,706 priority projects US and Iraq didn’t have money for all of them

2003 US asked France Germany Russia to forgive some of the debt Iraq owed them

2003 Russia refused US request to forgive its Iraq debt after US banned it from bidding on

reconstruction projects

2006 Sunni families continued to flee Baghdad’s Hurriya after Mahdi Army attack Dec 9 Mahdi

Army rep admitted that militia attacked Sunnis in neighborhood in retaliation for attacks upon Shiites

(Musings On Iraq book review Voices From Iraq, A People’s History, 2003-2009)

(Musings On Iraq Columbia University Charts Sectarian Cleansing Of Baghdad)

2006 Ret Gen Keane and Fred Kagan met at American Enterprise Institute to outline surge idea to

be presented to Bush

(Musings On Iraq interview with Prof Mansoor on the Surge)

2007 Def Sec Gates told NSC that Pres Tabalni told him PM Maliki was intolerable and US should help

remove him

2007 Fmr Dep Def Sec Feith speech said original US plan was for US to quickly turn over power to Iraqis

after invasion Said Bremer’s long term political plan angered Iraqis and started insurgency Said deBaathifiaction was good idea but had problems with implementation

2013 Pro-PM Maliki Sheikh Hayes had his house hit by mortar fire in Jazeera in spate of violence against

Anbar notables

(Musings On Iraq article on Anbar violence)

2017 PM Abadi held victory parade in Baghdad for defeating IS

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Iraqi Forces Kidnapping Protesters As Part Of Intimidation Campaign

Shot from video of captives being released in Baghdad (Bas News)

Over a dozen protesters were rescued by the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) in Baghdad on December 8. They were blindfolded and handcuffed. They said they were taken hostage on December 6, the day that 25 demonstrators were gunned down in Khalani Square. One said that they had been kidnapped by Kataib Hezbollah, the same group accused of the December 6 massacre. Scores more have disappeared from protest sites across Iraq. This is being done by various elements of the ISF. Officers told Al Mada in November that they ignored orders to kidnap leaders of the Baghdad protests. Some taken by the police and army have been put in the prison at the Muthanna airport in the capital. Others taken by the Hashd have been placed in black sites. Human Rights Watch talked with people who were abducted and taken before judges and told they were not being charged with anything, but that that they would not be released. Forced disappearances is just one form of intimidation the government is using in an attempt to end the unrest. It is hoped that this will scare people from taking part. Similar tactics were used in previous years against demonstrators by the Maliki and Abadi governments. It should be no surprise then that they are being used again.

This Day In Iraqi History - Dec 9

1914 Ottomans defeated by British at Battle of Qurna and surrendered Basra province

1958 Former PM Rashid Ali al-Gaylani arrested by Gen Qasim for plotting a coup

1985 Saudis announced attempts at talks with Iran to end Iran-Iraq War failed

(Musings On Iraq interview with author Anthony Tucker-Jones on Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq interview with author Tom Cooper on Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq book review The Iran-Iraq War 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq book review Iran-Iraq War, The Lion of Babylon, 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq book review The Iran-Iraq War)

1998 Over 5 days Iraqis banned three inspections at biological and chemical sites and Baath Party HQ

(Musings On Iraq book review The Saddam Tapes)

(Musings On Iraq article UN Inspectors Were Right Iraq Was Not A Threat)

(Musings On Iraq article Iraq’s Rejection of UN Inspectors Led To Mistrust Over WMD and 2003 Invasion)

(Musings On Iraq Chilcot Report Sec 1.1 UK Iraq Strategy 1990 To 2000)

2001 VP Cheney told NBC 9/11 hijacker Atta meeting with Iraq intel officer in Prague was pretty

much confirmed Said Iraq hosting terrorists and developing WMD Story false

(Musings On Iraq book review Wanting War: Why the Bush Administration Invaded Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq book review Leap of Faith, Hubris Negligence, and America’s Greatest Foreign Policy

Tragedy)

2002 UK Foreign Office legal adv Sir Wood wrote paper saying UN Resolution 1441 did not

authorize war with Iraq

2002 UK Foreign Office officially asked Attny Gen Lord Goldsmith for legal advice on whether 2^nd

UN resolution needed to use force against Iraq

2002 Blair ForPolAdv Manning MI6 head Dearlove met NatlSecAdv Rice Said start 03 US would go

to UN and argue for military action vs Iraq

(Musings On Iraq Book Review The Report of the Iraq Inquiry, Executive Summary)

2002 UN inspectors found Fallujah II chlorine plant out of service US listed it as WMD site

(Musings On Iraq article UN Inspectors Were Right Iraq Was Not A Threat)

(Musings On Iraq article Iraq’s Rejection of UN Inspectors Led To Mistrust Over WMD and 2003 Invasion)

2003 Suicide Car bomb on Mosul camp wounded 41 US troops and 6 Iraqi civilians

2004 22 parties including Dawa SCIRI Sadrists INC announced formation of United Iraqi Alliance

for Jan 2005 elections Ayatollah Sistani helped form list to ensure Shiite rule

(Musings On Iraq book review The Occupation of Iraq, Winning The War, Losing The Peace)

2004 Iraqi Islamic Party submitted 275 candidates for Jan 2005 elections Would be only major Sunni

party to participate

2004 Bush told families his govt was getting best equipment for US troops in Iraq after Def Sec Rumsfeld

downplayed complaints

2004 Al Qaeda in Iraq statement said Shiites were supporting crusaders in Iraq Called Ayatollah

Sistani a collaborator Attacked Iraqi forces fighting in Fallujah Said that Kurds and Christians were working with the Shiites and called Iraqi Islamic Party hypocrites

(Musings On Iraq book review The Caliphate At War, Operational Realities and Innovations of the Islamic State)

2004 UK intel report Iran supported resistance to occupation of Iraq no hard evidence Iran behind attacks

but likely was Said Iran backed elections while also violence of Iraqi militias

2005 Report Al Qaeda’s Libi’s intel about Iraq-Al Qaeda ties that proved false was acquired while he

was being tortured by Egyptians Feb 02 DIA said they were skeptical of his intel while he was in Egypt Libi was highest level Al Qaeda member held by US at time Made statements about Iraq-Al Qaeda ties while in US custody but gave most detailed reports while in Egypt Those were later used by Bush administration in its case for war

2005 United Iraqi Alliance breaking up into factions after elections Complaints that it hadn’t

presented a vision for Iraq because not using qualified people

2006 After 3 Sunni families killed by Mahdi Army mass exodus of Sunnis began out of Baghdad’s

Hurriya

(Musings On Iraq book review Voices From Iraq, A People’s History, 2003-2009)

(Musings On Iraq Columbia University Charts Sectarian Cleansing Of Baghdad)

2006 Pres Talabani called US training program a failure Denounced plans to increase trainers as

putting ISF under foreign control

2006 NSC meeting US Cmdr Iraq Gen Casey told Bush PM Maliki agreed to go after militias that broke

law

2006 Report Chief Justice of Saudi Supreme Judicial Council was videotaped in govt mosque in

2004 calling on young Saudis to go fight US in Iraq because it was fighting Muslims

(Musings On Iraq article on Saudi role in insurgency)

2007 Report Kurds squatting in Kirkuk city said they were told by Kurdish officials in 03 if they didn’t

move back to city they would have their govt aid and support cut

2013 Sheikh Issawi hit by sticky bomb in Ramadi dist in spate of attacks upon Anbar notables

(Musings On Iraq article on Anbar violence)

2017 PM Abadi announced victory over the Islamic State

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Kataib Hezbollah With Help From Security Forces Blamed For Friday’s Massacre Of Baghdad Protesters

Protester holds blood stained shirt as a flag after massacre in Khalani Sq Dec 6 (AP)

An Interior Ministry source told Al Hurra that Kataib Hezbollah was behind the massacre of protesters in Baghdad’s Khalani Square on December 6. A group of fighters gathered at a mosque and then drove towards Khalani Square. Their Hashd ID’s helped them get through government checkpoints. They were also facilitated by the Iraqi Security Forces withdrawing from areas surrounding the square. In total 25 people were killed and around 130 were wounded in the assault.

This Day In Iraqi History - Dec 8

1985 Saudis announced attempt to end the Iran-Iraq War through dialogue with Tehran

(Musings On Iraq interview with author Anthony Tucker-Jones on Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq interview with author Tom Cooper on Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq book review The Iran-Iraq War 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq book review Iran-Iraq War, The Lion of Babylon, 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq book review The Iran-Iraq War)

2002 Iraq admitted that it was close to building a nuclear bomb but was abandoned a long time ago

(Musings On Iraq article on how poor US intel work led to claim Iraq rebuilt its nuclear weapons program)

2002 Gen Thurman and McKiernan went to Gen Franks and asked for more troops for Iraq invasion

2004 In Kuwait after being questioned about lack of up to date equipment for US troops in Iraq

Rumsfeld said “You go to war with the army you have”

2005 Bin Laden’s Pakistani biographer quoted in Osama bin Laden I Know book said bin Laden

hated Saddam

2006 Bush told congressional leaders US needed new way forward in Iraq Wanted new tactics but

goal was still winning

2006 NSC meeting Sec State Rice pushed for not getting involved in civil war and pushing Iraqis to

do more Joint Chiefs head Gen Pace said US forces could not stand by during Iraq civil war Bush told NSC that US couldn’t wait for Iraqis to do more US had to act to reduce violence

(Musings On Iraq article on pre-Surge US Iraq strategy)

(Musings On Iraq interview with Prof Mansoor on the Surge)

2006 Report Iraq Study Group found that Saudis were financing insurgency Much of it came through

religious donations Some money went to Sunni politicians and figures who then distributed it to militants Other money went directly to insurgency Saudis denied any money was going to Iraq but then set up monitoring group under US pressure to crackdown on religious donations

(Musings On Iraq article on Saudi role in insurgency)

2009 ISI set off 5 car bombs hit Finance Justice Foreign Ministries in Baghdad killing 127 wounded 448 3^rd

mass casualty bombing in Baghdad US and Interior Min warned Baghdad Ops Cmd in morning of an impending car bomb

(Musings On Iraq Terrorists Strike Baghdad With Massive Bombings For Third Time)

(Musings On Iraq Islamist Terrorists Return To Sectarian Attacks)

(Musings On Iraq Incompetence Of the Iraqi Security Forces Before the December 8 Baghdad Bombings?)

2009 PM Maliki dismissed Baghdad security chief Gen Qanbar and called for Interior Min Bolani to

resign after Baghdad bombings Dawa tried to blame Bolani for attacks

(Musings On Iraq Baghdad Bombings Set Off Political Bickering Amongst Iraqi Elites)

2009 Parliament demanded to question Interior Defense National Security ministers head of Iraqi

intelligence head of Baghdad Ops Cmd and PM Maliki over Baghdad bombings Maliki refused saying would only help his enemies

2011 Allawi said he was ready to reconcile with PM Maliki if he renounced earlier attacks upon

Iraqiya Invited Maliki and Pres Talabani to conference in January to discuss future of govt

(Musings On Iraq article on Allawi’s comments on PM Maliki)

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Pro-Iran Hashd Carry Out Another More Deadly Attack Upon Baghdad Protesters

Gunmen left behind ammo boxes with Ministry of Sepah on them an Iranian govt agency from the Iran-Iraq War pointing to pro-Iran Hashd being behind the shootings at Khalani Sq, Baghdad (IraqiRevolution)

After the December 5 stabbing of 20 protesters in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square protest site, pro-Iran Hashd showed up at neighboring Khalani Square on December 6 and shot into the crowd. 19 people were killed and more than 70 wounded. A garage in the square was also set on fire, and the power was cut during the attack. Ammunition boxes left behind by the attackers had “Ministry of Sepah” on them. Aram Shabanian of the Fulda Gap blog noted on Twitter that the Ministry of Sepah was an Iranian government agency that supplied the Iranian Revolutionary Guard with arms and supplies during the Iran-Iraq War pointing to pro-Tehran groups being behind the assault.