Islamic State’s Spring Offensive In Iraq Ends In June

April and May 2020 saw a large surge in violence in Iraq as the Islamic State launched its annual Spring offensive. Incidents reached 2018 levels across the seven provinces the insurgency operates in. That all ended in June however as there were only sporadic incidents across the country.

This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 6

1920 British defeated by tribal forces in Aridiyat during 1920 Revolt British lost 48 dead and 167

wounded

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

1980 Saddam told Baath Party leadership he was going to invade Iran

(Musings On Iraq review Iran-Iraq War Volume 1: The Battle for Khuzestan, September 1980-May 1982)

1991 Baghdad demanded Peshmerga disband close Kurdish radio stations end contacts with foreign govts

Kurds demanded democracy talks over Kirkuk offered to give up heavy weapons close radio stations end contacts with foreign govts

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

(Musings On Iraq review Kurds of Iraq, Tragedy and Hope)

1992 Iraq refused to allow UN inspectors into Agriculture Min causing a crisis

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

(Musings On Iraq 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)

(Musings On Iraq review The Saddam Tapes)

2003 Fmr Amb Wilson NY Times OpEd said Bush exaggerated about Iraq-Niger uranium story in State of

Union Said CIA sent him to Niger to investigate uranium story and found no evidence

2003 Fmr Amb Wilson said he never saw fake Iraq-Niger docs but VP Cheney’s office should’ve been

sent report on his trip Wilson overestimated impact of his visit to discredit Iraq-Niger uranium story Actually increased questions

2003 Fmr Amb Wilson on Meet The Press said VP Cheney should’ve gotten report on his trip to Niger

2003 VP Cheney questioned Wilson’s OpEd and asked why he was sent to Niger

(Musings On Iraq How US Intelligence Failed The Iraq-Niger Uranium Story)

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

2003 US said it would release Turkish Special Forces it arrested in Sulaymaniya

2004 PM Blair told Parliament that he didn’t know what happened to Iraq’s WMD Said they could have

been hidden or destroyed

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

2004 Report 2000 CIA started program to contact relatives of Iraqi WMD scientists that lived in west to

try to collect intel Relatives said Iraq had no WMD programs Intel not included in reports or passed to White House

2004 Car bomb at US-Iraqi National Guard post in Samarra Led to 450 of 500 Iraqi guardsmen to quit

2005 Al Qaeda in Iraq claimed it executed Egypt ambassador to Iraq Ihab al-Sharif

2006 In coordinated attacks across central Iraq insurgents took down every power line to Baghdad Part

of campaign to deprive capital of electricity

2008 Fmr Undersec Def Feith claimed WMD was not one of core argument for Iraq invasion Claimed CIA

pushed Iraq being a WMD threat

2008 UAE cancelled $7 bil in Iraqi debt Announced would be sending ambassador to Baghdad

2018 Protests in Madina over services Abu Khasib cutting road over electricity Basra City cut roads over

unfinished projects Shatt al-Arab over salinity Dhi Qar for recount in election

(Musings On Iraq Summer Protests In Iraq Turn Deadly In Basra)

View the Iraq History Timelines 

This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 5

1920 Revolt leaders in Shamiya passed demands to British Wanted full independence End to

fighting Withdrawal of British administrators from Mid-Euphrates Release of leading cleric Shirazi

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

1923 UK report Shiites wanted a weak Mandate so they could set up their own theocracy Hoped King

Faisal would be able to win loyalty of people and undermine Shiite clerics Shiites also mistrusted elections and believed all power would go to Sunnis Also didn’t seem to like Faisal

1926 Turkey and Britain signed treaty setting Turkey-Iraq border UK agreed to give Turkey 10% of

Mosul oil revenues in return

(Musings On Iraq How The Ottoman Province Of Mosul Became Part Of Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq interview with Princeton’s Sara Pursley on Sykes-Picot and creation of Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review The Creation of Iraq 1914-1921)

(Musings On Iraq review Supremacy And Oil, Iraq, Turkey, and the Anglo-American World Order, 1918-1930)

1940 PM Gaylani made overture to Germany with Justice Min Shawkat meeting German ambassador to

Turkey von Papen Justice Min Shawkat told Ger Amb von Papen Iraq wanted Germany to stop Italian imperialism from spreading in Middle East and to support pan-Arabism instead Papen said Iraq should contribute to war vs England and Shawkat said that would happen

(Musings On Iraq review of Rashid Ali al-Gailani, The National Movement in Iraq 1939-1941)

(Musings On Iraq review of Persian Gulf Command, A History of the Second World War In Iran and Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq And Syria 1941, The Politics and Strategy of the Second World War)

(Musings On Iraq interview with Prof Boich World War II In Iraq and Syria)

1959 Communists plotted a coup to overthrow Qasim Abandoned at last minute

1960 Islamic Party issued statement warning against Communist activities in Iraq

(Musings On Iraq 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)

(Musings On Iraq interview with Western Kentucky’s Prof Romero on the Qasim govt)

1983 Tariq Aziz returned from trip to Egypt to improve relations and ensure Cairo would continue to

supply Iraq with ammunition for the war

(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 review The Iran-Iraq War 1980-1988)

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

(Musings On Iraq review The Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq review The Longest War, The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict)

2002 Talks between Iraq and UN in Vienna brokedown over new weapons inspections

2002 Supporters of Def Sec Rumsfeld leaked CENTCOM doc to NYTimes on invasion plans to use air

strikes Special Forces CIA operatives for covert ops

(Musings On Iraq How Arguments Over Iraq Invasion Plan Were Fought Through Press Leaks)

(Musings On Iraq review of Shaping the Plan for Operation Iraqi Freedom, The Role of Military Intelligence Assessment)

2003 US police training center in Ramadi bombed 7 police killed 40 wounded

2003 CIA Dir Tenet complained to NSC about Iraq-Africa uranium deal getting into Bush’s State of the

Union speech

2003 NSC said DepNatSecAdv Hadley forgot CIA had pulled Iraq-Africa story from previous Bush speech

Tenet didnt read State of Union

2003 CIA Dir Tenet said he and NSC responsible for Iraq-Africa uranium story getting into Bush’s State of

Union

(Musings On Iraq How US Intelligence Failed The Iraq-Niger Uranium Story)

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

2004 Allawi govt announced amnesty for insurgents

2004 Report Zarqawi’s bombing moved him from margins of insurgency to the center

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

2007 Al Qaeda’s Zawahiri released video Called for people to rally around ISI Same time ISI had to find

unity with Iraqis Was acknowledgement insurgent groups were splitting with ISI

2008 PM Maliki claimed terrorists in Iraq were defeated

2008 Head of Islamic Party in Fallujah escaped assassination attempt in campaign against the party

2018 Hundreds protested at Basra provincial council building demanding jobs

(Musings On Iraq Summer Protests In Iraq Turn Deadly In Basra)

View the Iraq History Timelines 

This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 4

1917 Al-Arab paper established Said it was for Arabs but was actually run by British eventually

under Gertrude Bell

(Musings On Iraq review of Gertrude Bell And Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review Gertrude Bell, Explorer of the Middle East)

(Musings On Iraq movie review Letters from Baghdad)

1937 Iraq-Iran Frontier Treaty signed Meant to resolve border dispute Accepted demarcation process that

was done by Ottomans and Persians pre-WWI Set up commission to finish border and created a body to work out navigation of Shatt al-Arab most of which was given to Iraq Political instability in Baghdad and outbreak of WW2 meant treaty never implemented Treaty angered pan-Arabists and led to 1938 coup by Golden Square officers

(Musings On Iraq review The Creation of Iraq 1914-1921)

(Musings On Iraq review of Rashid Ali al-Gailani, The National Movement in Iraq 1939-1941)

(Musings On Iraq review The Modern History of Iraq)

1940 Regent of Iraq asked England to occupy Syria that had joined Vichy France so that pan-Arab union

could be formed of Iraq Syria and other Arab countries

1969 Iraq signed technical agreement with Soviets to help with oil

1986 Iraqis launched counter attack but failed to retake Mehran, Iran Iran Op Karbala 1 entered

second phase to invade Iraq

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

1988 Iraq 5^th Corps attacked Haj Umran Rawandiz and Lake Dukan in Kurdistan

(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 review Iran-Iraq War Volume 4: The Forgotten Fronts)

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

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

(Musings On Iraq review The Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq review The Longest War, The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict)

1991 Parliament passed law allowing opposition parties but with restrictions on their activities

1992 Kurdistan Regional Government formed in safe zone

1994 Barzani and Talabani announced they were still unified against Iraqi govt while PUK and KDP were

in middle of civil war

1995 Turkey launched new operation to attack PKK in northern Kurdistan

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

1998 IAEA report to UN Iraq did not have nuclear weapons Iraqi scientists had not given complete access

IAEA would focus upon long term monitoring

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

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

2003 Marines in control of Najaf set provincial elections for this date but were cancelled by CPA

2003 US arrested 32 Turkish special forces in Sulaymaniya Accused them of plotting to assassinate

Kurdish officials

(Musings On Iraq interview with Kevin Petit of the 173^rd Airborne Bgd On Kirkuk In The Aftermath Of The 2003 Invasion)

2003 Arrest of Turkish Special forces led to protests in Turkey and bombing of US consulate in Istanbul

2003 Saddam tape aired on Al Jazeera Blamed US and UK for destroying Iraq looking for WMD that

didn’t exist Saddam said he would lead resistance to occupation of Iraq

2004 Report Gen Eaton in charge of training ISF said no progress in almost a year of developing Iraqi

forces

2005 US found 170 prisoners at secret prison in Baghdad run by Interior Min Were told to leave it alone

by commanders

2006 Abu Risha tribe in Ramadi district made first police recruiting drive as part of Awakening

(Musings On Iraq How A Change In Perceptions Led To The Anbar Awakening)

(Musings On Iraq interview with author Carter Malkasian on Anbar Awakening)

(Musings On Iraq review of Confronting Al Qaeda, The Sunni Awakening and American Strategy In Al Anbar)

(Musings On Iraq review of The Marines Take Anbar, The Four-Year Fight Against Al Qaeda)

(Musings On Iraq review Illusions of Victory, The Anbar Awakening And The Rise Of The Islamic State)

(Musings On Iraq review The Sheriff of Ramadi, Navy SEALS and the Winning of Anbar)

2006 Bush told US troops they were winning war in Iraq

(Musings On Iraq Did the US Ever Have A Strategy To Win In Iraq Before the Surge?)

(Musings On Iraq review The War Within, A Secret White House History 2006-2008)

(Musings On Iraq review What Happened, Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception)

2006 Gunmen kidnapped and released Electricity Minister

2007 US forces captured ISI’s media emir Mashadani Fed them disinformation that Abu Omar al-

Baghdadi was fake and ISI was still under Al Qaeda Helped contribute to Americans to continue to call the group Al Qaeda in Iraq

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

2007 Bush speech Said Al Qaeda in Iraq was same group that attacked US on 9/11 Said US withdrawal

wrong Would be terrorist victory and would attack US next Said insurgents could take over Iraq and use its oil to blackmail the US Part of PR campaign to gain support for Surge

2007 US accused Iran of using Hezbollah to train Iraqi militias based upon arrest of Ali Musa Daqduq

Daqduq sent to Iraq in 2006 by Iran Rev Guard Quds Force Said Hezbollah trainers worked with Iraqi militiasin 3 camps near Tehran Said Quds Force gave up to $3 mil/mo to militias Daqduq also said Iran planned Jan 07 attack upon US base in Karbala

(Musings On Iraq Hezbollah’s Role In Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq Iran’s Policy Towards Iraq)

2008 Report Anbar council dismissed Anbar police chief from Awakening but refused to step down Said

police would only follow him Sheikh Abu Risha from Awakening said it was now running Anbar and Islamic Party that ran provincial council couldn’t stop it

(Musings On Iraq interview with author Carter Malkasian on Anbar Awakening)

2014 Baghdadi declared caliphate from Nouri Mosque Mosul ISIS would now be Islamic State He was

Caliph Ibrahim

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

2014 1^st issue of IS’s English language Dabiq magazine came out saying caliphate was a de facto state

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Review Religion and Nationalism in Iraq, A Comparative Perspective

Little, David and Swearer, Donald, Editors, Religion and Nationalism in Iraq, A Comparative Perspective, Harvard University Press, 2006

Religion and Nationalism in Iraq, A Comparative Perspective was the result of a 2005 conference held at the Harvard Divinity School’s Center for the Study of World Religion. It brought together a series of historians and academics who presented papers on Iraq, Sudan, Sri Lanka and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The idea was to highlight the ethnosectarian conflicts in each country and try to find any similarities. Ironically at the end they found there were far more different which questioned whether the entire exercise was worthwhile.

This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 3

1923 35 clerics and religious students left Iraq for Persia to protest deportation of Mujtahid Khalisi for opposition activities

1946 Oil workers in Kirkuk led by Communists held meetings about their work conditions Led to strike

(Musings On Iraq review The Modern History of Iraq)

1963 Communist uprising at Rasheed military camp in Baghdad against Baathists

(Musings On Iraq 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)

1977 Iraq signed deal to buy 34 Mirage fighters from France Iraq believed Mirages were key to defeating Israel in next war

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

1981 Saddam offered another truce in war rejected by Iran

1986 Iranian forces recaptured Mehran Iran Iraq lost 1000 dead 1200 prisoners 3000 wounded Iran lost

            3000 dead 9000 wounded

(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 review Iran-Iraq War Volume 4: The Forgotten Fronts)

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

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

(Musings On Iraq review The Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq review The Longest War, The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict)

2001 UN Res 1360 renewed Oil for Food program

2003 38,000 police came back to duty after Bremer threatened to fire them for not working after invasion

(Musings On Iraq interview with Col Ted Spain on how US struggled to establish law and order in post-invasion Iraq)  

(Musings On Iraq interview with Jerry Burke police and Interior Min adviser on how US failed to develop the Iraqi police)

2003 Ex CIA official said White House pushed hard on CIA to find Iraq-Al Qaeda connections but didn't

            find any

2004 3 US military review of 2003 invasion found that logistics were lacking and military intelligence was

            largely useless

2005 Al Qaeda in Iraq kidnapped Egyptian ambassador to Iraq Ihab al-Sharif

2007 Cabinet passed new draft energy bill Cabinet approved another energy bill in February Neither made

it through parliament

2010 VP Biden made surprise visit to Iraq to try to help form new govt after elections

2011 MP said $1 mil fraud case for ISF buying dogs that couldn’t detect bombs used at checkpoints Nothing

happened

2011 ISF launched op in Maysan to block Iranian weapons flowing into Iraq as result of increased militia attacks on US forces

(Musings On Iraq Iran’s Policy Towards Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq interview with Galen Wright of Arkenstone blog on Iranian arms shipments to Iraqi militias) 

2011 Protest in Nasiriya for turning Dhi Qar into autonomous region

2012 Parliament passed $9 bil supplemental budget fueled by high oil prices

2012 Iranian delegation arrived in Iraq to try to improve relations between PM Maliki and Sadr

2014 ISF claimed parts of Jurf al-Sakhr, Babil cleared Was still under IS control

2014 Khalidiya, Anbar cleared by ISF

2014 Report over 2,500 IS cells operating in Baghdad province

2014 Pres Barzani called on KRG parliament to create commission to create referendum on KRG independence

2016 Karrada Baghdad car bomb set off fire in mall killing 324 wounding 200

2016 PM Abadi ordered withdrawal of fake bomb detectors at checkpoints in Baghdad

2017 Protest in Baghdad and Najaf over lack of electricity Night march in Karbala demanding services

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Survey Finds Iraqi Businesses Seriously Effected By COVID-19 Outbreak

(Getty Images)

In April 2020 the International Organization for Migration (IOM) did a survey of 456 business in Anbar, Babil, Baghdad, Basra, Diyala, Kirkuk, Maysan, Najaf, Ninewa, and Salahaddin to see how they were being effected by the Covid-19 pandemic. It found that almost all were having severe problems with maintaining their workforces, production and sales, paying bills, and keeping up profits.