Development And Setbacks Of The Current Iraqi Military, Interview with CSU San Marco’s Prof Marashi

(AFP/Getty Images)

The Iraqi military has gone through several stages since the 2003 U.S. invasion. There was its disbandment by the Coalition Provisional Authority, the hasty attempt at rebuilding by the Americans, its collapse in the face of the Islamic State in 2014, and others. To help give some insights into the recent history of the force is California State University San Marcos’ Middle East Professor Ibrahim al-Marashi who has written about the Iraqi forces over the years including Iraq’s Armed Forces: An Analytical History. He can be followed on Twitter @ialmarashi.

This Day In Iraqi History - Oct 15

1906 Protests in Mosul ended against Ottoman census that included counting women

1927 1^st successful oil well started at Baba Gargur field in Kirkuk

1960 Islamic Party complained to Gen Qasim that his govt neglected religion while accepted Communists

Asked Qasim to ban Communists and their media while releasing any cleric arrested since 1958 coup

(Musings On Iraq book review Red Star Over Iraq, Iraqi Communism Before Saddam)

(Musings On Iraq Interview with Prof Johan Franzen on the history of the Iraqi Communist Party)

1973 Syrian-Jordanian-Iraqi offensive in southern Syria failed to achieve results

1980 Iraq Foreign Minister Hamadi presented Iraq’s case to UN claiming it acted in self-defense in Iran-Iraq

War

1980 Iran launched large counter attack against Iraqi forces around Andimeshk

(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)

1984 Iraq and Turkey made deal to fight PKK Allowed each country to enter 3 miles into others

territory to combat group

1994 Iraq withdrew troops from Kuwait border after Russian diplomacy and UN Res 949 that

demanded withdrawal UN Res 949 demanded Iraq’s full cooperation with UN inspectors

1995 Saddam won referendum for 7 more years as president with 99.9% of vote Was meant to

show public was behind Saddam after Hussein Kamal defected to Jordan

1997 Ayatollah Mohammed Sadiq al-Sadr gave sermon saying No! Yes is just for God mocking

Yes to Saddam slogan

(Musings On Iraq interview with Univ of Haifa’s Prof Baram on legacy of Ayatollah Sadiq al-Sadr)

1997 Turkey’s Op Dawn ended against PKK in Kurdistan

(Musings On Iraq book review of The Kurds, A Modern History)

2000 Iran announced it was returning to 1975 Algiers Treaty Meant rapprochment with Iraq but

also Iraq gained nothing from Iran-Iraq War

2001 CIA report from Rome said that Italian intel said Iraq tried to buy uranium from Niger but

didn’t see much merit in it

2001 CIA DIA Energy Dept thought Iraq-Niger uranium deal was possible State Dept thought

story suspect

(Musings On Iraq article on Iraq-Niger uranium story)

(Musings On Iraq Review Hubris, The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, And The Selling Of The Iraq War)

2001 White House spokesman said no connection between Iraq and anthrax letters sent to Wash DC

2002 Def Sec Rumsfeld wrote list of 29 things that could go wrong with Iraq War Including finding no

WMD ethnosectarian conflict List was to point out possible problems so war could be successful Had no follow up on how to deal with any problems listed

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

Tragedy)

2002 Italy’s SISMI intel agency told CIA of Iraq-Niger uranium deal documents

(Musings On Iraq article on Iraq-Niger uranium story)

2002 Under Sec of Def Feith briefed NSC on plan for governing postwar Iraq with 3-star general in

charge of military and civilian administrator

2003 Sec of State Powell said that his claims about Iraq’s WMD program had been proven

(Musings On Iraq article Iraq, One Of The Worst Intelligence Failures In US History)

2003 Natl Sec Adv Rice said CPA’s schedule for Iraq wouldn’t work and new one had to be created

(Musings On Iraq book review Squandered Victory, The American Occupation And the Bungled Effort to Bring Democracy to Iraq)

2003 Sadr followers failed to take over Karbala shrine

2003 UK intel report Worried that Iraq would become new base for jihadists Significant number of Islamists

had already travelled to Iraq Could become base for recruiting training and attacks and could get worse

(Musings On Iraq book review Iraq’s Sunni Insurgency)

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

2004 US put Zarqawi on its terrorist list

2004 VP Cheney said Iraq could have given WMD to terrorists

(Musings On Iraq article Iraq, One Of The Worst Intelligence Failures In US History)

2005 Referendum on new Iraqi constitution held

(Musings On Iraq interview with constitutional scholar Zaid al-Ali on Iraq’s constitution)

(Musings On Iraq book review Iraq From War To A New Authoritarianism)

2006 Reconciliation conference indefinitely postponed due to weekend violence Setback for PM

            Maliki’s reconciliation plans

2006 Mujahedeen Shura Council again announced ISI and Islamic State in Baghdad Anbar Diyala

Kirkuk Salahaddin Ninewa Babil Said its goal was to govern

(Musings On Iraq article on change in perceptions that led to Awakening)

2006 Report auditors found ¼ of US funded water projects had broken down since being turned

over to Iraqis

2006 2 days Shiite gunmen killed 47 Sunnis in Balad in retaliation for 26 dead Shiites being found

in Dhuluiya

2006 6 car bombs in Kirkuk killed 10 and wounded dozens 52 killed in attacks in Baghdad

2006 500 Sunni sheikhs held meeting condemning federalism plan by SIIC objected to breaking

            up Iraq

(Musings On Iraq book review Iraq After America, Strongmen, Sectarians, Resistance)

2006 Islamic Party accused Interior Min of Oct 9 murder of VP Hashemi’s brother

2007 State Dept official told reporters corruption in Iraq was systemic and hindering govt Claimed PM

            Maliki was dealing with it

(Musings On Iraq interview with Special Inspector Gen for Iraq Reconstruction Bowen on corruption in Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq interview with fmr anti-graft official Vincent Foulk on corruption in Iraq)

2015 Immediately after Baiji refinery liberated Hashd began looting facility and selling off equipment to

Iraqi and Iranian businesses

2017 Hashd burned PUK office in Tuz Kharmato after fighting stopped there over independence

referendum

(Musings On Iraq book review The Great Betrayal, How America Abandoned The Kurds And Lost The Middle East)

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Crackdown Continues Against Protesters While Iraq Govt Announces Investigations

Baghdad has announced creation of 2 committees to investigate violence during protests (Al Mada)

The last protests in Iraq took place on October 9. Prime Minister Abdul Mahdi claimed he made a deal to hold off on further activism until after the Arbaeen pilgrimage. Now demonstrators said they would return October 25. There have been posts on social media on preparations such as making metal shields for protection against the security forces. It’s yet to be seen whether the government will respond again with violence, which cost over 100 lives, and saw attacks upon the media.

This Day In Iraqi History - Oct 14

1927 Turkish Petroleum Company struck oil at Baba Gurgur field, Kirkuk starting Iraq’s oil

industry

1973 3^rd day fighting between Israeli and Iraqi forces in Syria

1980 Iraqi forces entered Khorramshahr Iranians began phased withdrawal from city in south Took

Abadan-Ahwaz road Began attack on Abadan but didn’t have numbers to take it

1980 Iranian counterattack stopped Iraqi advance in Dezful area

1982 Iraqi air force ended two month bombing campaign against Kharg Island Iran’s major oil port with

little to show for it

(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 Iraqi Mirages, The Dassault Mirage Family In Service With The Iraqi Air Force, 1981-1988)

1990 Iran and Iraq officially restored diplomatic relations as Saddam tried to secure his eastern flank

as war neared with US

1997 Britain, Turkey, US asked for KDP to withdraw from PUK territory

(Musings On Iraq book review of The Kurds, A Modern History)

2001 Frontline TV show interviewed INC provided Iraqi defector Khodada who claimed Iraq trained

terrorists to hijack planes at Salman Pak implying 9/11 connection

2003 White House told Congress 70,000 new Iraqi forces on duty and 13,000 in training

2003 Sadrists tried to seize Karbala shrine leading to fighting with Sistani followers

2003 Zarqawi suicide car bombing of Turkish Embassy in Baghdad 2 dead 13 wounded

2004 Insurgents suicide bombers penetrated Green Zone killed 5 wounded 18

2004 US forces began encircling Fallujah and sending reinforcements to Ramadi

(Musings On Iraq book review The Battle for Fallujah, Occupation, Resistance and Stalemate in the War in Iraq)

2006 After 26 bodies of men from Balad found in Dhuluiya Mahdi Army began arriving in Balad from

Baghdad Shiite gunmen set up checkpoints in Balad and started killing Sunnis Shiite mosques began broadcasting messages that Sunnis needed to leave

2008 1795 Christians fled Mosul after 14 killed PM Maliki sent 2 National Police Brigades to try to stop

killings

(Musings On Iraq article on Christians in Mosul)

(Musings On Iraq book review Christianity in Iraq)

2008 140 Iraqi refugee families returned from Syria as part of PM Maliki’s campaign to encourage

refugees to come back to Iraq

(Musings On Iraq article on PM Maliki’s refugee return policy)

(Musings On Iraq book review Children of War, Voices Of Iraqi Refugees)

2009 Iraq’s Human Rights Ministry reported 85,694 dead 147,195 wounded civilians and ISF from 2004 to

Oct 2008

(Musings On Iraq Iraq Ministry Counts 85,000 Dead From 2004-Oct 2008)

2012 MP announced arrest warrant issued for head of Central Bank of Iraq Shabibi after he refused

to cooperate with PM Maliki over the dinar

2014 IS captured Hit Anbar after Iraq army unit abandoned base

2015 Baiji refinery in Salahaddin finally freed from IS

2017 IRGC Gen Suelimani met with Talabani family Went over govt take over of Kirkuk Warned PUK to

distance itself from KDP or suffer the consequences after independence referendum

(Musings On Iraq book review The Great Betrayal, How America Abandoned The Kurds And Lost The Middle East)

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Musings On Iraq In The News

Musings On Iraq was mentioned in "In Iraq and Syria, a new phase of the war against Islamic State begins" by Nabih Bulos and Melissa Etehad for the Los Angeles Times. Musings On Iraq was also cited in "Irak Zwei Jahre nach dem Sieg uber den "Islamischen Staat,"" by von Joachim Guilliard in Ausdruck.

Link to all of Musings On Iraq citations

This Day In Iraqi History - Oct 13

1973 Continued fighting between Israeli and Iraqi forces in Syria

1996 PUK counterattacked Recaptured Sulaymaniya from KDP with Iranian support Baghdad made deal

with Iran to allow PUK back into Kurdistan to counter KDP

1997 Heavy fighting restarted between KDP and PUK during civil war

(Musings On Iraq book review of The Kurds, A Modern History)

2000 Iran’s Foreign Minister Kharrazi visited Iraq for 3 days Highest ranking Iranian official to visit

Iraq since 1979 Revolution After Karrazi’s trip Iran announced Iran and Iraq would re-open discussion on border and POW issue largely ended

2004 PM Blair told parliament that Iraq Study Group proved Saddam wanted WMD and violated UN

resolutions

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

2004 Mass grave with hundreds of Kurds killed by Saddam in 1987-88 discovered in Hatra Ninewa

2004 PM Allawi said that if Fallujah didn't turn over Zarqawi would be major operation to take city

City council refused to do so

(Musings On Iraq book review The Battle for Fallujah, Occupation, Resistance and Stalemate in the War in Iraq)

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

2006 Mujahedeen Shura Council became ISI Announced Islamic State in Baghdad Anbar Diyala

Kirkuk Salahaddin Ninewa Babil

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

2006 New ISI announced Abu Omar al-Baghdadi emir of Islamic State

(Musings On Iraq interview with Naval War College’s Prof Whiteside on who was Abu Omar al-Baghdadi)

2006 Report splits within ISI between Zarqawi’s lieutenants and followers of military chief Masri

2006 Interior Min Bolani said he had PM Maliki’s backing to purge ministry of sectarian actors Same time

denied its forces were involved in sectarian killings Blamed Facilities Protection Service and imposters using police uniforms

2006 Report Talk of PM Maliki stepping down and 5 man council ruling Iraq and declaring martial

law

2006 Report Sadr complained about Shiite death squads using the name of Mahdi Army and backed

by Iranian Rev Guard and Hezbollah

2006 Insurgents kidnapped 26 Shiite workers from Balad Bodies were found decapitated in neighboring

Dhuluiya Was retaliation for ISI commander being killed in Balad Shiite elders in Balad called on Mahdi Army in Baghdad to send fighters to take revenge

2015 PM Abadi cabinet approved new pay scale for govt workers to cut costs pushed as reform move Led

to protests by civil workers

(Musings On Iraq interview with Reidar Visser on PM Abadi’s reform program)

2015 KRG PM Barzani removed four Gorran ministers from KRG cabinet

2017 PUK Peshmerga withdrew from areas of Bashir and Taza in south Kirkuk ceding territory to Iraqi

forces

(Musings On Iraq Escalation In Iraq Continues After KRG Referendum, The Kirkuk Challenge)

(Musings On Iraq book review The Great Betrayal, How America Abandoned The Kurds And Lost The Middle East)

2017 PM Abadi gave Kurds 48 hours to vacate territory military bases oil fields occupied in 2014 by

Peshmerga

2017 Fighting broke out between Peshmerga and Hashd in Tuz Kharmato again

(Musings On Iraq article on Kurds withdrawal from disputed areas)

View the Iraq History Timelines 

This Day In Iraqi History - Oct 12

1920 Tribes lost Rwairij to British during 1920 Revolt Led to clerics in Karbala to begin to surrender

(Musings On Iraq book review of Reclaiming Iraq, The 1920 Revolution and the Founding of the Modern State)

1957 Meeting at Ayatollah Muhsin Hakim’s house founding Dawa Party

(Musings On Iraq Interview with Lowy Institution’s Shanahan on history of the Dawa Party)

1958 Gen Qasim sent Arif to Germany as Iraq’s ambassador to eliminate him as opponent

1973 Israeli 210^th Div attacked Iraqi forces in Syria Destroyed 20 Iraqi tanks and forced withdrawal

Later in day Israeli and Iraqi tanks re-engaged forcing Israelis to withdraw 3^rd engagement between Israelis and Iraqis forced Iraqis to withdraw

1973 Israel sent in paratroops 250km into Syria to disrupt Iraqi reinforcements moving to front and

stopped their advance

1984 Saddam told Arabic newspaper he was ready to reestablish diplomatic relations with U.S.

1994 SCIRI claimed clashes between Iraqi forces and opposition in Diwaniya

2001 Jim Hoagland Wash Post OpEd quoted INC defector Khodada that Iraq training terrorists on

            hijacking airplanes at Salman Pak implying 9/11 connection

2002 Report questioned Bush’s claim Iraq still working on nuke program based upon ex-nuke scientist

Hamza Former UN inspector Albright said Hamza exaggerated Albright said he talked with nuclear experts at Oak Ridge and Lawrence Livermore who didn’t believe aluminum tubes were for Iraq’s nuclear program

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

(Musings On Iraq article on the aluminum tubes story)

2003 Zarqawi hit Baghdad Hotel with suicide car bomb 8 dead 32 wounded

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

2004 Ayatollah Sistani fatwa called on followers to register to vote Aides to set up offices to help

people with process

2004 4 Sadr leaders including Qais Khazali and Hadi al-Darraji refused to follow ceasefire ending 2^nd

Battle of Najaf

2005 Report Iraq army’s 1^st Bgd 6^th Div carrying out sectarian raids and attacks on Sunnis in WBaghdad

2005 UK paper said draft constitution put off major issues that would risk a weak Iraqi govt

(Musings On Iraq interview with constitutional scholar Zaid al-Ali on Iraq’s constitution)

2006 Joint Chiefs head Gen Pace said Iraq forces increasing but violence going up Contradicted US

strategy for Iraq

2006 US military said attacks on Coalition up from 14 per day at start of Aug 06 to 36 per day

            in mid-Sep 06

2006 New UK Army Chief Gen Dannatt said England should withdraw its forces because only

            causing problems in Iraq Called PM Blair’s Iraq policies “naïve”

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

2006 Al Qaeda in Iraq’s Mujahedeen Shura Council joined 6 tribes to create Mutayibeen Coalition

2006 Special Insp Gen for Iraq Recon found major problems with construction of Mosul Police HQ

Didn’t have number of contracted facilities like toilets Tree was cemented over and included in foundation

2006 Sunni parties criticized passage of federalism law SCIRI’s Hakim attacked them as Baathists

Saddamists and Takfiris

(Musings On Iraq book review Iraq After America, Strongmen, Sectarians, Resistance)

2006 Men in police uniforms attacked Shaabiya TV station Executed 11 workers

2010 Turkey opened consulate in Irbil as part of improved relations with KRG

2014 IS magazine Dabiq article justified enslavement of Yazidis

2017 Iraqi joint forces crossed Kurdish lines in southern Kirkuk Told Peshmerga to vacate their

positions Disputed reports over whether Iraqi forces and Peshmerga shot at each other in southern Kirkuk

(Musings On Iraq article on Kurds withdrawal from disputed areas)

(Musings On Iraq Escalation In Iraq Continues After KRG Referendum, The Kirkuk Challenge)

(Musings On Iraq book review The Great Betrayal, How America Abandoned The Kurds And Lost The Middle East)

View the Iraq History Timelines