Security In Iraq Mar 8-14, 2019

(Al Forat)

Violence in Iraq remained exceptionally low during the start of March. There were very few attacks by the Islamic State. There was a high casualty number, but that was due to another mass grave being discovered with victims of the insurgents.

This Day In Iraqi History - Mar 18

1918 British officer in charge of Najaf Captain Marshall assassinated leading to eventual uprising in

city

1933 British official warned King Faisal was attempting to make himself dictator of Iraq

1948 Railway strike against Anglo-Iraq Treaty

1981 US senator told press Iraq was trying to build a nuclear bomb

(Musings On Iraq article on the origins of Iraq’s WMD programs)

1985 Iran attacked South Majnoon Island but gained nothing

1985 Iraq bombed Tehran in retaliation for Iran bombing Baghdad War of Cities

1985 Pres Mubarak visited Baghdad to show support Asked Gulf States to donate more money to Iraq

during Iran-Iraq 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 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)

1987 Revolutionary Command Council made Ali Hassan al-Majid head of Baath Northern Bureau

covering Kurdistan

1988 PUK retreated from Jafati Valley Kurdistan during Anfal campaign

(Musings On Iraq article on Anfal campaign)

1991 Sec of State Baker after tour of Middle East and Soviet Union said most leaders thought Saddam

would be gone by end of year

(Musings On Iraq book review The United States And Iraq Since 1990: A Brief History with Documents)

1991 Kurdish leader Rahman called for international help with food and medicine during uprising

None came

(Musings On Iraq interview with National Univ of Singapore’s Fanar Haddad on the Impact of the 1991 Uprising)

(Musings On Iraq article on 1^st hand accounts of 1991 Uprising)

(Musings On Iraq article on Saddam’s view of 1991 Uprising)

(Ahulbayt Video on 1991 Uprising)

(Musings On Iraq article on how US encouraged 1991 uprising)

2002 UK Amb Meyer met with Dep Sec of Def Wolfowitz who said he was against going to UN against Iraq

2003 Saddam refuted Bush’s ultimatum to step down and leave Iraq

2003 UN weapons inspectors ended work in Iraq Did 731 inspections at 411 sites and found no WMD or

nuclear programs

(Musings On Iraq article on UN weapons inspections)

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

2003 UN suspended Oil for Food program for Iraq due to impending war

2003 US reconnaissance found 6-7 oil wells in Basra set afire by Iraqis Led Gen Franks to move up

invasion plan by a few days to try to stop further fields being set on fire

2003 US military official told CNN Iraqi troops had VX and mustard gas munitions

2003 UK military given official order to prepare for Iraq invasion

2003 Joint Chief of Staff met to discuss withdrawal plans for post-invasion Iraq

2003 UK Gen Cross warned Blair that there wasn’t enough post-war planning for Iraq

2003 2 British ministers and legal adv to Foreign Office resigned in protest against the war

2003 British parliament voted 412 to 149 to endorse Iraq invasion

2003 US named 30 countries willing to join Iraq war Became known as Coalition of the Willing

2003 CIA source claimed he saw Saddam and his family at Dora farm south of Baghdad CIA Dir Tenet told

Bush

2003 US rep Khalizad went to Turkey offering to allow Turkish troops to enter Kurdistan buffer zone

disarming Peshmerga ops vs PKK if US could use Turkey for invasion 

2004 Fmr OHRA head Garner said he was replaced in Iraq because wanted early elections to return power to

Iraqis

2006 NSC report Iraqi army largely rebuilt but attacks not decreasing War stalemated PM Jaafari

incompetent

2006 Gen Casey and Marine Expeditionary Force I Cmdr Gen Zilmer agreed Ramadi would be main focus

of Anbar campaign

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

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

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

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

2009 Sadr issued statement calling on his followers to give up on violence

2011 KRG said that it would form committee to deal with protests in Sulaymaniya

(Musings On Iraq interview with journalist Wladimir Van Wilgenburg on 2011 KRG protests)

2013 Kurdish MPs meet with Pres Barzani and agreed on boycotting Iraqi parliament over disputes with

Maliki

2016 Sadr started protests in Baghdad demanding cabinet reforms

(Musings On Iraq interview with Cambridge’s Michael Clark on Sadr, protests and PM Abadi’s reforms)

2018 PM Abadi ended flight ban into KRG airports and agreed to pay all Kurdish public employees and

Peshmerga

(Musings On Iraq article Baghdad lifting some sanctions on KRG) 

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Musings On Iraq In The News

I was quoted in “Iraq and Sudan show how climate change fuels war” by Austin Bodetti for the New Arab and by the European Asylum Support Office in its report “EASO Country of Origin Information Report Iraq Security Situation”.

Link to all of Musings On Iraq’s Original Writings, Appearances, Citations

This Day In Iraqi History - Mar 17

1917 British forces captured Baquba from Ottomans

1935 Yasin al-Hashemi became PM of Iraq 2^nd time

1941 After consulting with UK For Min Suwaidi convinced PM Hashemi and Regent to move

against Golden Square officers Golden Square called on army to overthrow Hashemi

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

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

(Musings On Iraq book review The Role of the Military In Politics, A case study of Iraq to 1941)

(Musings On Iraq book review Iraq 1941, The Battles for Basra, Habbaniya, Fallujah and Baghdad)

1975 Iraq and Iran Foreign Ministers signed agreement to create three committees to resolve outstanding

issues

1975 US Sec State Kissinger responded to Barzani please for help saying that US understood struggle Kurds

were facing

(Musings On Iraq book review Killing Hope, U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II)

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

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

(Musings On Iraq article on Nixon admin support for Kurdish revolt)

1982 Iran launched Operation Fath with diversionary attack towards Hoveyzah and Hamid across from

Maysan Worked as Iraq sent reserves there

1984 Belgian labs confirmed mustard gas used by Iraq from samples taken from two wounded Iranians

(Musings On Iraq article on the origins of Iraq’s WMD programs)

1985 Iran captured section of Basra-Baghdad highway for first time

(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 of Iran-Iraq War Volume 2: Iran Strikes back, June 1982-December 1986)

1991 Iraqi army began assault to retake Karbala from Shiite rebels

1991 Refugee claimed govt killed 250-300 people of Najaf after Shiite uprising

1991 Kurds began fleeing Tuz Kharmato in face of govt offensive to retake it

1991 Baghdad held 1^st tribal loyalty ceremony to shore up support during uprising

(Musings On Iraq interview with National Univ of Singapore’s Fanar Haddad on the Impact of the 1991 Uprising)

(Musings On Iraq article on 1^st hand accounts of 1991 Uprising)

(Musings On Iraq article on Saddam’s view of 1991 Uprising)

(Ahulbayt Video on 1991 Uprising)

(Musings On Iraq article on how US encouraged 1991 uprising)

1991 Saddam said he would introduce democracy and create a new constitution

1992 Report in 91 Bush admin tried to block release of information about White House support for Iraq

before Kuwait invasion

1994 English scientists est 57% of southern marshes had been drained by Saddam to drive out displaced and

rebels

1996 UN inspectors said work was moving forward and Iraq was not hiding WMD as some suggested

(Musings On Iraq article on UN weapons inspections)

1999 Uprising in Basra after Saddam killed Ayatollah Sadiq al-Sadr

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

2002 Dep Sec Def Wolfowitz and Blair’s adv Manning talked about building intl support for military action

vs Iraq

2002 UK Amb to US Meyer told Dep Sec Def Wolowitz that if US wanted military action against Iraq it

needed to go through UN

2002 Dep Sec of Def Wolfowitz told UK Amb to US Meyer that Iraq was linked with terrorism and

harboring member of 1993 World Trade Center bombing Was based upon conspiracy theories of Laurie Mylroie

(Musings On Iraq article on Mylroie’s Iraq conspiracy theories)

2002 Times of London article quoted Iraqi defector provided by INC that Iraq had WMD programs

2002 Bahrain Foreign Minister Salamn ibn Hamda al-Khalifa told press Arab world did not see Iraq as the

threat but Israel for its actions against Palestinians

2003 UN Draft resolution saying Iraq in non compliance and open to military action withdrawn by US

because couldn’t be passed

2003 Bush met with Congressional leaders telling them UN route with Iraq was dead Blamed France Sen

Byrd only one who said he opposed war

2003 Bush in TV speech said Iraq had WMD and was hiding them Gave Saddam and sons 48 hours to leave

office or face invasion

2003 Blair gave Saddam ultimatum to comply with UN resolutions

2003 UK Attny Gen Lord Goldsmith gave legal advice that war with Iraq was legal

2003 UN Sec Gen Annan announced he would order withdrawal of weapons inspectors due to impending

war

(Musings On Iraq article on UN weapons inspections)

2003 ORHA staff that was to run postwar Iraq began leaving US for Kuwait

(Musings On Iraq book review Iraq and Back, Inside The War To Win The Peace)

2003 ORHA head Garner met with his oil team Said concerned Rumsfeld picked ex-Shell CEO Carroll to

join group Oil team told Garner if Iraq oil sector destroyed by war would need someone with standing of Carroll to deal with situation

(Musings On Iraq book review Iraq and the Politics of Oil, An Insider’s Perspective)

2004 Bombing of Mount Lebanon hotel in Baghdad killed 27 wounded 40 

2004 Iraqi Governing Council asked UN to return to Baghdad and advise the creation of interim govt

2007 Report Education Ministry run by Shiite United Iraqi Alliance refused to give any aid or support to

schools in Sunni areas of Baghdad

2007 Gen Odierno said Baghdad belts key to securing Baghdad

2007 Report captured ISI docs said 06 decided to move into Baghdad to fight militias and wanted to force

Shiites from west Baghdad and attack Shiites in Anbar Diyala Salahaddin Mahdi Army took initiative and pushed insurgents out of large parts of Baghdad Insurgents now operating out of Baghdad belts more than Baghdad itself

2008 Female suicide bomber hit crowd of Shiites in Karbala 40 killed 65 wounded

(Musings On Iraq article on female suicide bombers)

2012 Baghdad claimed KRG-Exxon oil deal was frozen but wasn’t

View the Iraq History Timelines 

This Day In Iraqi History - Mar 16

1917 UK War Cabinet created Mesopotamia administration committee to decide on form of govt in

captured areas

1921 Churchill told Foreign Secretary Lloyd George there was no longer a plan for a Kurdish state

            Instead Kurds would be included in new Iraq

(Musings On Iraq article on Churchill’s views on Mesopotamia)

(Musings On Iraq book review Churchill’s Folly, How Winston Churchill Created Modern Iraq)

1959 Gen Qasim signed economic agreement with Soviet Union to move away from England and

west

1959 Nasser organized 50,000 anti-Iraq protest in Cairo

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

1975 Iraqi forces launched new offensive against Kurds after Iran stopped supporting them as part of

Algiers agreement

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

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

(Musings On Iraq book review Killing Hope, U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II)

1982 Iraq’s Dep PM Yassin Ramadan said Iraq ready to withdraw from Iran and would accept ceasefire in

Iran-Iraq War

1984 Iran fought off Iraqi effort to free Majnoon Islands Iran-Iraq War

1984 CIA Station Chief in Lebanon William Buckley kidnapped by Islamic Jihad-Hezbollah and sent

to Iran Was retaliation for US support for Iraq

(Musings On Iraq article on Buckley’s kidnapping)

1985 Republican Guard joined counterattack against Iran Op Badr in south Iran threw in reserves Iraq

recaptured Ajrada Sabkha Beida 2,000 Iranians captured

(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 of Iran-Iraq War Volume 2: Iran Strikes back, June 1982-December 1986)

(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)

1988 Saddam accused residents of Halabja of working with Iran Said “Kill them all” Ordered mustard and

nerve gas attack upon town Killed 5,000 Kurds to recapture town

(Musings On Iraq article on the attack upon Halabja)

1991 Saddam made 1^st address since Gulf War Blamed southern uprising on Iran Said Kurds worked

with foreigners and always defeated

(Musings On Iraq interview with National Univ of Singapore’s Fanar Haddad on the Impact of the 1991 Uprising)

(Musings On Iraq article on 1^st hand accounts of 1991 Uprising)

(Musings On Iraq article on Saddam’s view of 1991 Uprising)

(Ahulbayt Video on 1991 Uprising)

(Musings On Iraq article on how US encouraged 1991 uprising)

1992 Saddam govt set off car bomb in Irbil after warning Kurds not to ally with foreign powers

2003 Azores summit with Bush Blair Portuguese Premier Barroso Bush said that Iraq war would start in

days not weeks

2003 Blair got transcript of 60 Minutes interview with Pres Chirac who said he wanted 30 more days for UN

inspections

2003 Blair Bush Barroso agreed to give 2^nd UN resolution 24 more hours and pull it if didn’t have enough

votes

2003 Bush and Blair gave UN 24 hour ultimatum to enforce its own resolutions on Iraq disarming or they

would invade

2003 Blair complained that US screwed up a 2^nd UN resolution on Iraq

2003 VP Cheney told Meet The Press that Americans would be greeted as liberators in Iraq Said that Army

Chief of Staff Gen Shinseki was wrong that US would not more troops to occupy Iraq than invade Told NBC that if world didn’t deal with Iraq it would go back to producing WMD Was already reconstituting its nuclear weapons program Claimed UN inspectors were wrong about Iraq’s weapons program in general citing Iraq buying aluminum tubes which US claimed were for centrifuges Said Iraq had had long standing relationship with Ql Qaeda

(Musings On Iraq article on the aluminum tubes story)

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

2004 UK Parliament report said British forces had bad intel on Iraq and govt limited them due to fears of

anti-war sentiment

2004 DepDefSec Wolfowitz said Iraq invasion proved US view on Iraq’s links to terrorism

2006 New Iraqi parliament seated after Dec 05 elections

2007 2 PM Maliki aides said premier had told Sadr to stand down Mahdi Army start of Surge In return

Maliki would push U.S. to focus upon insurgency rather than militias

2007 ISI set off chlorine bomb in Anbar Killed 2 sheikhs in Fallujah and Ramadi that opposed ISI

(Musings On Iraq interview with author Green on Fallujah during the Surge)

(Musings On Iraq review Fallujah Redux The Anbar Awakening and the Struggle With Al Qaeda)

2007 Sadr called on followers to resist U.S. occupation 1000s of Sadrists marched

2008 PM Maliki said he was going to take on security in Basra and that he was going to lead effort

personally

2015 PM Abadi asked US for airstrikes to help Tikrit operation that was stalled

2018 Turkey launched operation against PKK moving 15km into Irbil province

2018 Hundreds protested in Baghdad over lack of services Blocked a main road

Review Iraq and Back, Inside The War To Win The Peace

Review Olson, Kim, Iraq and Back, Inside The War To Win The Peace, Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2006

Iraq and Back, Inside The War To Win The Peace describes Retired Colonel Kim Olson’s time being the executive officer for Retired General Jay Garner who was in charge of the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA) the first U.S. organization to run Iraq after the 2003 invasion. ORHA was completely overwhelmed by what it found and handicapped by a lack of institutional support from the rest of the U.S. government. Olson also relates her time being a female pilot in the U.S. Air Force. Those struggles basically prepared her for the challenges in Iraq. The book is like a journal that gives snapshots into the ORHA’s operations in Iraq as well as her career in the Air Force.

This Day In Iraqi History - Mar 15

1935 PM Midfai resigned over tribal revolt in Diwaniya King Ghazi asked Yasin al-Hashemi to

form new govt

1959 Nasser gave 5^th speech against Iraqi Communists Said party was anti-religious

(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)

1980 Ayatollah Khomeini called on Iraqis to rise up against Saddam

1981 Saddam said unless Iran agreed to ceasefire he would aid Iranian opposition groups

1985 Iraq carried out air raid on Tehran Iran fired SCUDs at Baghdad in War of Cities

1985 Iraq launched counterattack against Iran Op Badr Pushed Iranians back across Tigris

1988 Iran seized areas south of Mawat 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 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 of Iran-Iraq War Volume 2: Iran Strikes back, June 1982-December 1986)

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

1988 First detention center for Kurds displaced during Anfal campaign set up

(Musings On Iraq article on Anfal campaign)

1990 Iraq executed UK Observer journalist Batoft for reporting on missile program Condemned in West

1991 Rebels in Diwanaiya attempted and failed to take Hillah

1991 Saddam declared southern revolt over

1991 Iraqi govt forces began operation to retake Tuz Kharmato from Peshmerga

1991 U.S. shot down Iraqi fighter after warned it no flights allowed during uprisings

(Musings On Iraq interview with National Univ of Singapore’s Fanar Haddad on the Impact of the 1991 Uprising)

(Musings On Iraq article on 1^st hand accounts of 1991 Uprising)

(Musings On Iraq article on Saddam’s view of 1991 Uprising)

(Ahulbayt Video on 1991 Uprising)

(Musings On Iraq article on how US encouraged 1991 uprising)

2003 Iraqi state TV said country was on a war footing Baghdad had been divided into four military districts

2003 Special Republican Guard withdrew $1 bil from Central Bank of Iraq under Uday Hussein to pay off

sheikhs to put down expected rebellions

2003 Iraqi security forces tried to stamp out signs of Kurdish opposition in Kirkuk City

2003 ORHA head Garner told Sec Def Rumsfeld plan was only to dismiss top two officials from each Iraqi

ministry and not carry out any deBaathification policy Rumsfeld okayed plan

2003 Rumsfeld complained Garner picked non-Pentagon people to run some Iraqi ministries Wanted them

all from Defense

2003 CIA gave explosive to Kurdish team which blew up Mosul-Baghdad railway starting covert action

campaign before invasion

2004 Bush told Blair Chalabi up to no good using deBaathification committee for his own ends

2005 Mahdi Army attacked college engineering students in Basra for having mixed male-female party in

park Led to protests vs Sadrists

2005 Report leaked that Halliburton overcharged US for fuel imports to Iraq by more than $108 mil

2005 Italy announced it would withdraw its approximate 3,000 troops from Iraq

2005 Ukraine withdrew 130 of its soldiers from Iraq

2006 Iraq Study Group began creating alternative Iraq strategy for Bush admin

2007 Report when White House presented Surge said would be progress on political benchmarks by Mar 07

Was none Cabinet approved draft oil law US officials said they were backing off pushing Maliki govt on changing deBaathification law in fear of backlash

2012 One of VP Hashemi’s guards who had accused him of terrorism died in custody Authorities claimed

kidney failure but pictures showed torture

View the Iraq History Timelines