This Day In Iraqi History – Sep 26

 

1914 Gen Barrow at India Office said UK had to stop Turkish-Arab alliance and declaration

of jihad which could spread to Afghanistan and threaten India UK should make show of force in Shatt al-Arab to deter Arabs from backing Ottomans and if war started should seize Basra vilayet

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq In World War I, From Ottoman Rule to British Conquest)

(Musings On Iraq review When God Made Hell, The British Invasion of Mesopotamia and the Creation of Iraq, 1914-1921)

1920 Ramadi fell to British during 1920 Revolt

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

1980 Khomeini issued message saying Iran was fighting for God vs Iraq Called on Iraqi soldiers to return to

Islam and not follow Saddam Called on Iraqis to rise up and overthrow Saddam

1980 Iran and Iraq temporarily stopped oil shipments due to attacks on each others’ facilities

1980 Saddam letter to UN Said Iran refused to recognize Iraqi territory and sovereignty to explain war

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq in Wartime, Soldiering, Martyrdom, and Remembrance)

1980 Muslim countries created committee to try to mediate Iran-Iraq War

1980 After 4 days of combat Iraq lost 16 planes vs 5 Iranian ones Another 24 Iraqi and 19

Iranian ones damaged Was too high attrition rate Iraq ordered end to air raids upon Iran as a result

1980 Iraq began assault on Khorrmashahr Khuzistan

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

1981 Iran Op Samen ol-Ameh to break siege of Abadan began Infiltrated Iraqi lines and forced Iraqis to

retreat to Darkhovin in south

(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)

1981 International Atomic Energy Agency condemned Israel’s destruction of Osirak nuclear reactor and

suspended aid to Israel

1996 KDP announced it was forming its own cabinet to run Kurdistan without PUK

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

2001 Bush told Def Sec Rumsfeld to plan for Iraq invasion but do it informally

(Musings On Iraq From 9/11 To The Invasion of Iraq: Analysis of Bush Administration Decision Making)

(Musings On Iraq Was Iraq An Imminent Threat To The West?)

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

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

Tragedy)

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

(Musings On Iraq review The Bush Administrations and Saddam Hussein, Deciding on Conflict)

(Musings On Iraq review The Next Attack, The Failure of the War on Terror and a Strategy for Getting it Right)

(Musings On Iraq review The Endgame, The Inside Story of the Struggle for Iraq, from

George W. Bush to Barack Obama)

2002 Bush met with 18 Congressmen to lobby them on Iraq Said he’d talked to military commanders and

they had no problem with regime change Said Iraq had WMD Building facilities to make more If it got uranium could build a bomb in 6 months Repeated British claim that Iraq could use WMD in 45 min

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

(Musings On Iraq How US Intelligence Created An Iraqi Nuclear Threat In 2002)

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

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

(Musings On Iraq review The WMD Mirage, Iraq’s Decade of Deception and America’s False Premise for War)

2002 CIA Dir Tenet warned Bush not to use the Iraq could use WMD in 45 min claim because came from

questionable source

2002 Bush told press Al Qaeda could become an extension of Iraq and Iraq and Al Qaeda were both part of

war on terror Said each day Iraq could give WMD or a nuke to terrorists

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq’s Future The aftermath of regime change)

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

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

2002 Sec State Powell told Senate Foreign Relations Comm that Iraq-Niger uranium deal was proof had

nuke program Never happened Said Iraq tried to buy aluminum tubes for nuke program Were for rockets

(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)

(Musings On Iraq How A Contested Aluminum Tubes Story Became The Basis For War With Iraq)

2002 Def Sec Rumsfeld said Iraq had active WMD programs Said bulletproof confirmation of ties

            between Iraq and Al Qaeda

2002 White House spokesman claimed Iraq trained Al Qaeda in chemical weapons

2002 Pentagon and intel officials questioned White House claims of Iraq-Al Qaeda ties in the press

2002 32 foreign policy experts ran full page ad in New York Times “War with Iraq is not in America’s

national interest”

2004 US arrested Gen Najm head of Iraqi National Guard in Diyala for ties to insurgency

2005 NSC report on Iraq Security better but insurgents adapting Not enough US troops PM Jaafari not

doing well

2006 NSC report Interior Ministry carrying out extra judicial killings

2006 Anbar Awakening meeting in Ramadi Issued 11 point program Called for talks with

Baathists reviewing ISF Securing highway through Anbar Stand against terrorism No arms unless okayed by govt Condemned tribes working with insurgents Wanted to rebuild economy Strengthen sheikhs Respect rule of Law New Anbar govt

(Musings On Iraq Demise, But Not Death of Al Qaeda In Iraq)

(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 Confronting Al Qaeda, The Sunni Awakening and American Strategy In Al Anbar)

(Musings On Iraq review 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 US brigade from 1^st Armored Div extended tour in Ramadi by 6 weeks Would be crucial to support

Awakening and secure city

2006 Bush forced to release parts of secret intel report after it was leaked to the press on international

terrorism that said Iraq was creating new generation of jihadists and created resentment in Muslim world against US

2006 UN report said that Iraq war providing recruits and training for Al Qaeda Said inspiring Taliban Said

new IEDs used in Iraq were found in Afghanistan less than month after first use

2007 Transparency International report found Iraq 3^rd most corrupt country in world Same as in 2006

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

(Musings On Iraq interview with anti-graft US official Vincent Foulk)

2008 Refugees International said Maliki govt ignoring refugees Said not committing any money for aid and

only cared about pressuring them to come home Many refugees still afraid to come back to Iraq

2009 PM Maliki released 23 Asaib Ahl Al-Haq members in deal where group said it would

renounce violence and wound run in 2020 election Didn’t do either

(Musings On Iraq League Of Righteous Breaks Off talks With Baghdad)

(Musings On Iraq Asaib Ahl Al-Haq From A Breakaway Sadr Militia To Defenders Of Iraq)

2017 PM Abadi said if KRG released info on oil revenue placed oil under Baghdad control KRG could get

share of budget grants loans

(Musings On Iraq What’s Next For Kurdistan After The Referendum?)

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

(Musings On Iraq review Quicksilver War, Syria, Iraq and the Spiral of Conflict)

2017 Turkey’s For Min said KDP’s representative to Ankara could not return to country after KRG

referendum

View the Iraq History Timelines 

This Day In Iraqi History - Sep 25

1913 US consul in Baghdad reported Basra Reform Society issued constitution Sep 2013

Demanded autonomy no foreign concessions recognition of Arabic language

1919 Churchill wrote Gen MacMunn commander in Mesopotamia that his plan to reduce troop by 120,000

by spring of 1920 needed to be vastly sped up and keeping that many troops would crush the finances of Mesopotamia

(Musings On Iraq Churchill In His Own Words On Mesopotamia/Iraq)

1921 Gertrude Bell wrote King Faisal was unpopular and resented for being installed by the British

(Musings On Iraq review Gertrude Bell And Iraq)

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

(Musings On Iraq movie review Letters from Baghdad)

(Musings On Iraq review Desert Queen, The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell: Adventurer, Adviser to Kings, Ally of Lawrence of Arabia)

1931 Iraqi newspaper called for one party rule under an autocrat King Faisal

1944 PM Said told Egyptian PM Nahas two countries should organize an Arab summit Led to Arab League

1945 Mulla Mustafa Barzani fled into Iran to escape govt offensive

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

(Musings On Iraq review The Kurdish Revolt 1961-1970)

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq & the Kurdish Question, 1958-70)

1961 KDP came out for Barzani revolt against Qasim govt

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

1967 Arif govt sent delegation to France to buy weapons after defeat in 1967 Arab-Israeli War and

            inability to bring Kurdish revolt under control

1973 Baathist Naim Haddad named head of Progressive National Patriotic Front with Communists

KDP and Baath

(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)

1980 Iraq began attacking Dezful Ahvaz Khorramshahr in Khuzistan province

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

1980 Iraq shelled Abadan refinery largest in world Iran retaliated with air raids on Iraqi oil facilities in    Basra Zubayr Mosul Kirkuk

1980 Iranian airstrike on Um Qasr driven off Iraq attacked Bushehr sinking 4 Iranian navy ships Also

bombed some tankers trapped in Shatt al-Arab

(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)

1991 Barzani and Talabani went to Baghdad to negotiate with Saddam over governance in Kurdistan

after uprising

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

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

1997 Op Dawn Turkey invaded Kurdistan to attack PKK

1997 UN inspectors found Iraqi Food and Drug Examination Lab in Baghdad worked on gangrene since

1980s

1997 UN inspectors attempted to inspect Special Security Office but denied

(Musings On Iraq review The Saddam Tapes)

(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)

2002 Bush said couldn't distinguish between Al Qaeda and Saddam in war on terror because they were

equally evil

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

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

2002 Natl Sec Adv Rice told PBS NewsHour Iraq provided chemical weapons training to Al Qaeda Came

from Al Qaeda cmdr Libi who made up story under torture in Egypt

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

2002 DefSec Rumsfeld and CIA DepDir McLaughlin briefed NATO defense ministers on Iraq-Al Qaeda

ties

2002 US and UK worked on draft UN resolution demanding inspectors return to Iraq

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

(Musings On Iraq Chilcot Report Section 3.5 Development of UK Strategy and Options September to November 2002 – Negotiation of Resolution 1441)

2002 National Intelligence Office for Strategic and Nuclear Programs had analyst meeting to draft Natl

Intel Estimate on Iraq CIA and DIA analysts said aluminum tubes Iraq tried to buy were for centrifuges and that Iraq reconstitution nuclear program Energy and State Dept analysts at Natl Intel Estimate meeting said tubes were for rockets

(Musings On Iraq How A Contested Aluminum Tubes Story Became The Basis For War With Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq How US Intelligence Created An Iraqi Nuclear Threat In 2002)

(Musings On Iraq review The WMD Mirage, Iraq’s Decade of Deception and America’s False Premise for War)

2003 Bush said 9/11 changed how he viewed Iraq as a threat to US

2003 Sec State Powell announced 6 month deadline for Iraqis to draft new constitution

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq’s Dysfunctional Democracy)

(Musings On Iraq review The Struggle For Iraq’s Future, How Corruption, Incompetence and Sectarianism Have Undermined Democracy)

2003 House Intel Comm wrote letter to CIA Dir Tenet criticizing pre-war intel on Iraq’s WMD and Iraq-

Al Qaeda ties after review

2003 Baghdad hotel used as base for NBC News bombed 1 guard killed

2003 UK intel report Said attacks increasing against Coalition mostly aimed at US Attacks evolving

Getting more sophisticated Iraqis working for Coalition being targeted Militias carrying out illegal arrests and murders Al Qaeda in Iraq forming long term strategy to go after infrastructure

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

2005 Ayatollah Sistani condemned violence in Iraq

2006 U.S. Joint Chiefs started review of Iraq strategy

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

2006 Report Iraq had replaced Afghanistan as main training ground for terrorists Insurgents

from Iraq had gone to Afghanistan and Pakistan and imported tactics such as car bombs

2006 Report ruling parties agreed to deal to delay autonomous southern region plan for 18 months

2006 Report DIA found 2005 elections increased sectarian tensions in Iraq Assessment by 50

counterinsurgency experts in August found US forces relied too much on force alienating Iraqis

2006 Mujahadeen Shura Council issued statement saying it could fight the Hamza battalions organized

by Albu Mahal tribe in Qaim because they were enemies of Islam

(Musings On Iraq Anbar Before And After The Awakening Pt IX: Sheikh Sabah Aziz Of The Albu Mahal)

2007 ISI bombed meeting of police sheikhs and leaders of Hamas of Iraq and 1920 Revolution Brigades

in Baquba

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq’s Sunni Insurgency)

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

2007 PM Maliki told Council on Foreign Relations he had stopped sectarian war in Iraq Said

reconciliation needed time Wanted long term US military presence Said Iraq and Syria no longer interfering in Iraq and all Iranian support for militias had ended Said Anbar Awakening were sons of Iraq

2007 2^nd class of Sahwa in Abu Ghraib graduated from police training Now 1,550 new police 1 policeman

complained Shiite Muthanna Brigade in district were blocking sahwa from operating there

(Musings On Iraq review Surge, My Journey with General David Petraeus and the Remaking of the Iraq War)

2007 US and ISF arrested 59 soldiers at Defense Ministry’s military academy in Baghdad for carrying out

bombings kidnappings murders Dean led gang at academy Killed academy’s director in 2005 New director was kidnapped by group Received EFPs from Iran

2008 South Korea’s National Oil Corp signed deal to work on 8 sites in KRG

2009 Report Sadr was attempting to reconcile with Asaib Ahl Al-Haq before 2010 elections AAH was to

send delegation to Iran to meet with Sadr

(Musings On Iraq Sadr Tries To Reconcile With Breakaway League Of The Righteous)

(Musings On Iraq Asaib Ahl Al-Haq From A Breakaway Sadr Militia To Defenders Of Iraq)

2010 Report US donated 8,080 computers worth $1.8 mil to schools in Babil Customs in Basra refused to

release them Investigation found 4,200 computers sold in Aug 2010 for $45,700 Rest of computers disappeared

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

(Musings On Iraq interview with anti-graft US official Vincent Foulk)

2017 Kurds held independence referendum in three Kurdish provinces and disputed areas they occupied

in 2014

(Musings On Iraq What’s Next For Kurdistan After The Referendum?)

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

(Musings On Iraq review Quicksilver War, Syria, Iraq and the Spiral of Conflict)

View the Iraq History Timelines 

This Day In Iraqi History - Sep 24

1920 British took Fallujah during 1920 Revolt

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

(Musings On Iraq review Enemy On The Euphrates, The Battle For Iraq 1914-1921)

1961 Gen Qasim publicly admitted there was a Kurdish revolt but claimed it was put down Banned KDP

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

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

(Musings On Iraq review The Kurdish Revolt 1961-1970)

(Musings On Iraq review Journey Among Brave Men, Travels in Kurdistan)

1968 Govt declared Nawruz a national holiday as concession with Kurds

1969 Barzani claimed beat back attack by Talabani forces in Panjwin area

1978 In Iran-Iraq deal Iraqi troops surrounded Imam Khomeini’s house in Najaf Told he could only stay

in Iraq if abandoned politics

1979 Iraq warned Iran to not to interfere in Bahrain after Ayatollah Rohani called on Shiites to rise up

against their Sunni rulers

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

1980 Iraq headed towards Zagros Mountains in slow advance destroying timeline for invasion which was

supposed to be a blitzkrieg Took Mehran in central front

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

1980 Iranian planes attacked 6 Iraqi bases to try to destroy Iraqi air force in the air Iraq didn’t respond

relying upon air defenses 4 Iranian planes shot down 2 others lost Destroyed 3 Iraqi planes on the ground Also bombed 2 refineries in Baghdad and Basra Damaged Iraq-Turkey pipeline

1980 Iraq bombed Iran’s Bandar Khomeini petrochemical complex and Ahwaz fuel depot

1980 Iranian Navy attacked Basra and Faw Peninsula Basra Destroyed 2 oil terminals limited Iraq’s exports

1980 Iran started naval blockade of Shatt al-Arab, Basra

(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 1: The Battle for Khuzestan, September 1980-May 1982)

(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)

1990 Kurd Shiite and Communist opposition parties claimed united front against Saddam

(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)

1990 Joint Chiefs head Gen Powell briefed Bush arguing for sanctions over war with Iraq Bush said he had

to take action

(Musings On Iraq review The Bush Administrations and Saddam Hussein, Deciding on Conflict)

1991 UN Inspectors found over 53,000 documents on Iraq’s nuclear program at Atheer facility but were

held for 4 days by Iraqis until they could leave During standoff US IAEA member Galluci sent important info about seized documents to State Dept

(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 review The Saddam Tapes)

1991 Talabani accused Iraqi army of stopping 300,000 displaced Kurds from returning to their homes

1992 Report Sec State Baker told before Gulf War Iraq importing tech for its arms programs Officials were

trying to get Baker to put export restrictions on Iraq 1985-90 Reagan and Bush admins okayed $1.5 bil in dual use equipment to Iraq Baker did nothing and didn’t change policy of improving relations with Saddam

2001 William Safire OpEd said clear link between Iraq-Al Qaeda via Ansar al-Islam

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

2002 UK dossier on Iraq WMD released PM Blair told parliament that Iraq had WMD and it was producing

them Dossier said that Iraq could use WMD in 45 minutes That Iraq could build a nuclear bomb in 2 years Iraq tried to buy uranium from Africa Said no definitive intelligence that aluminum tubes Iraq tried to buy were for nuke program

(Musings On Iraq How A Contested Aluminum Tubes Story Became The Basis For War With Iraq)

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

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

2002 UK ForSec Cook was surprised dossier on Iraq was mostly old WMD material

2002 CIA Dir Tenet briefed Senate Foreign Relations Committee on intel on Iraq’s WMD Told comm Iraq

rebuilding its nuclear program Proof bought aluminum tubes Were for rockets Mentioned Niger uranium deal Never happened Sen Biden asked Tenet what technical evidence did CIA have of Iraqi WMD Tenet said none but had good human source

(Musings On Iraq How US Intelligence Created An Iraqi Nuclear Threat In 2002)

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

(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)

(Musings On Iraq review The WMD Mirage, Iraq’s Decade of Deception and America’s False Premise for War)

2002 State and Energy Dept intel analysts testified to Senate Foreign Relations Comm that they did not

believe aluminum tubes Iraq tried to buy were for centrifuges Were for rockets

2003 Bremer met Bush said he was optimistic about Iraq but concerned about growing attacks Bremer

complained about Congress number of US troops quality of intel training new Iraqi forces Bush told Bremer he was too controlling and doing too much Bremer said he would work on it

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

(Musings On Iraq review The U.S. Army In The Iraq War: Volume 1, Invasion, Insurgency, Civil

War, 2003-2006)

2003 CPA Governor of Anbar Mines warned that attacks and public anger at US growing

2004 Bush and PM Blair talked about staying course in Iraq and PM Allawi needing a professional staff

2004 Report Defense Science Board review found US didn’t have enough troops to stabilize Iraq

2004 US forces claimed Tal Afar cleared of insurgents

2006 Report National Intel Estimate said that Iraq war led to new generation of Islamic radicalism Said

Iraq war made terrorism worse

2008 Provincial Election Law passed allowing vote on Jan 31, 2009 by not including

            Kirkuk and KRG

(Musings On Iraq Election Law Passed, Now To Get People To Vote)

2008 Natl Command Center said 2000 Diyala Sahwa had been hired into police since July

and looking to recruit 4000 more Def Min said 3000 Diyala Sahwa joined army Came after arrest of Sahwa leaders in May who wanted to run in elections and raids upon Islamic Party aligned with Sahwa Part of Maliki’s attempt to divide and conquer Sahwa in Diyala

(Musings On Iraq Carrot and the Stick With Diyala’s Sons of Iraq, Or Just The Sticks?)

(Musings On Iraq review Surge, My Journey with General David Petraeus and the Remaking of the Iraq War)

2008 Report more than half of Sahwa in Smarra unpaid by govt Out of 3000 only 730 had gotten jobs in

ISF

2008 Wasit council refused to allow PM Maliki to create Tribal Support Councils there which were part of

his patronage network

(Musings On Iraq Argument For Maliki Being Iraq’s Next Strongman)

(Musings On Iraq Disputes Over Tribal Support Councils)

2009 US Amb Hill cable PM Maliki complained that Iran trying to control parliament Said if he

didn’t back Iran it would support militias against him

2011 Parliament passed new Integrity Comm law that head could only be appointed by parliament

2019 Iraq Human Rights Comm reported 3 mil Iraqis living in slums Baghdad had most slum areas of

any province with 3,000 followed by 700 slum areas in Basra

2020 Report US warned Iraqi govt if attacks continued on western targets US would retaliate

against all Hashd factions

(Musings On Iraq Pro-Iran Factions Warned If Keep Up Attacks On Western Targets In Iraq Will Face US Retaliation)

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Review Weapons of Mass Persuasion, Marketing the War Against Iraq

Rutherford, Paul, Weapons of Mass Persuasion, Marketing the War Against Iraq, Toronto, Buffalo, London: University of Toronto Press, 2004

 

Weapons of Mass Persuasion, Marketing the War Against Iraq by Professor Paul Rutherford of the University of Toronto is a very uneven and unsatisfactory read. The author attempts to explain how the 2003 invasion of Iraq was sold by the Bush administration. He argues that the state has been able to adopt modern methods of marketing to sell its policies and shape public opinion which is a threat to democracy but then says the government can only promote things that the public already believes in.

This Day In Iraqi History - Sep 23

 

1955 Iran joined Iraq, England Turkey security agreement Would become anti-Communist Baghdad

Pact

1961 KDP banned by Gen Qasim and several leaders arrested due to Mustafa Barzani’s Kurdish revolt

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

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

(Musings On Iraq review The Kurdish Revolt 1961-1970)

(Musings On Iraq review Journey Among Brave Men, Travels in Kurdistan)

1965 PM Bazzaz announced 16 officers arrested 29 fled country 29 civilians arrested for

Razzaq coup plot

1980 All Iranian air bases bombed Sep 22 were repaired and launched attacks on 8 Iraqi airfields and the

Dora refinery in Baghdad Lost 7 planes Destroyed 3 Iraqi ones

(Musings On Iraq Inauspicious Start To Iran-Iraq War)

1980 Iraq retaliated with airstrikes on 2 airbases with no real results Lost 4 planes 3 by friendly fire

1980 Iran came up with Operation Kama to attack Iraqi planes in flight because couldn’t destroy them on

the ground

1980 Iraq took Qasr e-Shirin across from Diyala to protect road to Baghdad

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

1980 Iran bombed Faw port Basra sinking 6 Iraqi navy ships

1980 King Hussein of Jordan said he backed Iraq in war Didn’t want to lose an ally and face Israel Syria

Saudis and Iran alone Became major route for trade and weapons to Iraq

1986 Iran ended Op Karbala 3 in Faw Peninsula and Majnoon Island Basra

1986 Soviet For Min Shevardnadze told UN that USSR was attempting to negotiate end to 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 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)

1989 Kuwait Emir given medal by Saddam in Baghdad for help during Iran-Iraq War

2001 Nat Sec Adv Rice told CNN Iraq would be stage two of war on terror

(Musings On Iraq Iraq, 9/11 And The Bush Administration)

(Musings On Iraq From 9/11 To The Invasion of Iraq: Analysis of Bush Administration Decision Making)

(Musings On Iraq Was Iraq An Imminent Threat To The West?)

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

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

Tragedy)

(Musings On Iraq review The Next Attack, The Failure of the War on Terror and a Strategy for Getting it Right)

2001 Guardian article claimed Iraq knew about 9/11 attacks beforehand Said Iraq gave money and support

to Al Qaeda Claimed Iraqi intel met with Al Qaeda in Pakistan 4 months before 9/11 Sent money to Al Qaeda Quoted Israeli intel officer who said 9/11 probably funded by Iraqi intelligence Quoted INC defector ex-nuke scientist Hamza who said Iraq probably behind 9/11 False story

2001 Telegraph quoted INC defector ex-nuke scientist Hamza that Iraq probably behind 9/11 Claimed

trained pilots for suicide attacks False story

2002 PM Blair told cabinet Iraq dossier would show Iraq expanding WMD capabilities and erosion of

sanctions one cause Educ Sec Morris asked Blair what had changed about Iraq to go to war other than Bush being elected

2002 Former UN inspector Albright for Inst for Science and Intl Security issued report aluminum tubes Iraq

tried to buy were not for centrifuges Probably rockets They were

(Musings On Iraq How A Contested Aluminum Tubes Story Became The Basis For War With Iraq)

2003 Bush speech at UN said Iraq was frontline in war on terror

2003 Fr Pres Chirac and UN Sec Gen Annan speeches at UN criticized Iraq war saying US undermined

international system 

2003 Gallup pol majority of Iraqis thought life would be better in 5 years 2/3 of Baghdadis said removing

Saddam was worth hardships

2003 Iraqi Governing Council member Aqila Hashemi died after being shot 3 days before outside her home

2004 PM Allawi visited White House asking for more reconstruction money and bringing back old army

units

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

2006 Army chief of staff called Gen Petraeus to review Iraq policy

2006 DefPolicyBoard member Adelman told Rumsfeld he was a failure as SecDef and never took

responsibility for Iraq

2006 Report only 1000 of promised 4000 Iraqi soldiers deployed to Baghdad for Op Together Forward II

Iraqi troops refused to leave their home provinces

2007 ISI accused Hamas of Iraq and 1920 Revolution Brigades of killing its members

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq’s Sunni Insurgency)

2008 Transparency International ranked Iraq 2^nd most corrupt country in world tied with Myanmar

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

(Musings On Iraq interview with anti-graft US official Vincent Foulk)

2016 Sunni tribal Hashd began destroying 220 homes in Aithah Salahaddin belonging to IS sympathizers

View the Iraq History Timelines 

U.S. Army History of Iraq War Vol 1- Chapter 19 The Iraqi Civil War Comes Into The Open, January-June 2006

The winter of 2005-06 saw Iraq’s civil war come out into the open. That was after the February 2006 bombing of the Samarra shrine. Unsurprisingly the U.S. commander General George Casey still thought his plans were working and pushed for a timely withdrawal. He failed to realize that Sunnis were disenfranchised or that the government was actively taking part in the fighting. That also meant that the Americans continued to miss the splits within the insurgency. This period was a testament to how disconnected the U.S. was from what was going on in the country. Thousands of people were ending up dead and General Casey still claimed everything was going alright.

This Day In Iraqi History - Sep 22

 

1961 After Barzanis forces overran army and police outposts and pushed back pro-govt Kurdish

tribes Qasim ordered counterattack Iraqi air force bombed 500 villages destroying 270 of them

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

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

(Musings On Iraq review The Kurdish Revolt 1961-1970)

(Musings On Iraq review Journey Among Brave Men, Travels in Kurdistan)

1980 Iraq attacked Iran’s air force starting Iran-Iraq War Attacked 10 air bases but did little

damage and only destroyed 4 planes and lost 5 of its own Were not trained for low level bombings Didn’t have munitions to penetrated bunkers and missed most runways

(Musings On Iraq Inauspicious Start To Iran-Iraq War)

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

1980 Invasion plan was to seize Kermansha Dezful Ahwaz Abadan along border in less than 10 days

Deployed 2^nd Corps in Diyala to protect route to Baghdad 3^rd Corps would invade Khuzistan province to take Dezful Ahwaz Khorramshahr

1980 Iraqi invasion of Iran began with divisions leaving Diyala towards Qasr e-Shirin in center to protect

route to Baghdad Also attacked Panjwin to protect Sulaymaniya and Kirkuk in north

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

1980 Iraq Attacked Iranian naval base at Khosrowabad at mouth of Shatt al-Arab

1980 Iraq declared Khuzistan a new Iraqi province

1980 UK Defense Committee discussed how to start selling weapons to Iraq during war

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

1981 Iran began Operation Samen ol Aemeh to break siege of Abadan Iran’s 2^nd largest city

1987 Iranian speech at UN rejected UN ceasefire talks

1987 From Nebuchadnezzar to Saddam Hussein music festival Linked ancient Iraqi and Arab history along

with Saddam cult of personality Govt argued Iran-Iraq War culture war between Arabs and Persians

1988 Pres Khomeini addressed UN condemning it for not doing anything about Iraq’s aggression during

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)

1990 Iraq said if sanctions started to hurt it would attack Saudi Arabia and Israel

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq in Wartime, Soldiering, Martyrdom, and Remembrance)

1991 UN inspectors went to Nuclear Design Center in Baghdad Found docs that detailed secret

nuclear weapons program and secret facility in Baghdad

1992 Report In 1989 Bush admin told Iraq harboring Palestinian terrorist Abu Abbas and Abu Nidal

Didn’t change policy to improve relations with Saddam

2001 Telegraph story claiming Iraq was funding Al Qaeda Quoted CIA and Israeli sources

2001 Columnist Charles Krauthammer told Fox attacking Iraq would cost US lots of allies but he

didn’t care

2002 Natl SecAdv Rice said UN sanctions were failing and Iraq using illegal revenues to develop WMD

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

2003 Zarqawi bombed Canal Hotel Baghdad 2 dead 19 wounded

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

2003 Bombing of UN compound led to unanimous decision to evacuate UN staff from Iraq

(Musings On Iraq review The Terrorists of Iraq, Inside the Strategy and Tactics of the Iraqi Insurgency 2003-2014)

2003 Bremer testified to Congress asked for approval of $87 bil in aid for Iraq

2003 Bremer met with Dep Def Sec Wolfowitz Bremer said Iraqi Governing Council couldn’t organize a

parade let alone run a country Wolfowitz suggested council be expanded to 100-200 members Bremer thought waste of time because Council had already been asked to do that and failed

(Musings On Iraq review My Year in Iraq, The Struggle to Build a Future of Hope)

2003 Dep Sec Def Wolfowitz pushed for faster training of ISF and turning over security to them as

quickly as possible so US could withdraw from Iraq

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

(Musings On Iraq review The U.S. Army In The Iraq War: Volume 1, Invasion, Insurgency, Civil

War, 2003-2006)

2003 Report Iraqi Governing Council members were going to tell Congress US reconstruction money

being wasted

2004 US civilian Jack Hensley beheaded by Zarqawi Body dumped in Baghdad 

2004 2 suicide car bombs in Baghdad killed 21 wounded 150

(Musings On Iraq review Suicide Bombers In Iraq, The Strategy and Ideology of Martyrdom)

2004 Gun battle in Samarra led US forces to seal off city

2005 Bush said with upcoming elections for parliament and constitution Iraq would face more violence

Said if US withdrew from Iraq it could become a terrorist safe haven

(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)

2005 Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said Iraq could be breaking up

2005 Report Shiite cleansing of Baghdad by insurgents increased especially in Dora Amiriyah Ghaziliya

Sadiya

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

(Musings On Iraq review The ISIS Reader, Milestone Texts of the Islamic State Movement)

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

2005 UK official said Sadr wanted to talk about southern Iraq UK said it wouldn’t negotiate because

Mahdi Army working with Iran and Hezbollah to attack British troops in Basra Sadr said still interested London recommended talks

(Musings On Iraq Hezbollah’s Role In Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq Iran’s Policy Towards Iraq)

2006 Ret Gen Keane told Joint Chiefs head Gen Pace he was failing and his only priority should be

winning in Iraq Gen Pace agreed to set up staff to go over Iraq strategy afterward Keane suggested Gen Petraeus should be new US Iraq Cmdr to Gen Pace

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

2006 US military said militias in Baghdad earning up to $1 mil/day via kidnapping extortion black market

blackmail running Petrol stations

2006 3000 demonstrated in Tikrit calling for Saddam to return to power

2008 Wasit council headed by ISCI refused to set up Tribal Support Councils because seen as tool of PM

Maliki

(Musings On Iraq Argument For Maliki Being Iraq’s Next Strongman)

(Musings On Iraq Disputes Over Tribal Support Councils)

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

2008 Iraqi-American who was advisor to Def and State Dept testified to Senate that corruption taking

over Iraq Justice system didn’t work US didn’t really care Said ministers judges politicians got money from foreign countries Some ministers ran kidnapping rings for money Amnesty Law used to end corruption investigations and release corrupt officials Electricity Min Samarraie was convicted of taking kickbacks A private security company broke him out of prison and flew him to US

2008 Adhoob chief inspector at Integrity Comm 04-07 testified to Senate Fled Iraq to US Said $18 bil lost

via corruption and waste in Iraq $4 bil alone lost by Defense Min 31 members of Integrity Comm killed Worked with Bureau of Supreme Audit that said it couldn’t find $13 bil in US reconstruction funds Bureau found fake projects projects govt didn’t want payment for work never done $24.4 mil spent on Ninewa electricity project that didn’t exist Relatives for PM Allawi’s Def Min set up two fake companies to get contracts from ministry and steal money 04 Def Min spent $1.7 bil to create 2 special forces divisions Given to companies run by relatives $850 mil supposed to buy 64 Mi-18 helicopters Only 4 bought and were 25 yrs old Iraqi army rejected them Rest of deal for supplies most of which never delivered Brother in law of Allawi’s Def Min diverted some money from ministry to Al Qaeda in Iraq Many projects by Planning Ministry never existed Said PM Maliki not interested in corruption and stopped many investigations

2008 Prof Mehdi who worked in Iraq in 06-07 for USAID in PM’s office cabinet Ministry of Planning and

Investment Comm testified to Senate Found corruption endemic in Iraqi govt Iraqi institutions weak and couldn’t confront problem Integrity Comm didn’t have power to crackdown on corruption High officials never went on trial Amnesty Law stopped 700 corruption investigations in Baghdad alone

(Musings On Iraq interview with Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart Bowen on Iraq’s fight with corruption) 

(Musings On Iraq interview with former anti-corruption official Vincent Foulk)

2008 Report Lawyers believed about 50% of 6500 at Rusafa prison held for 3 yrs 5,000 of them applied for

amnesty 1400 released Justice Min didn’t release prisoners after cases dropped or found innocent Justice Min often looked for new charges to stop prisoner releases

2008 Human Rights Watch interviewed Iraqi refugees returning from Syria 90% said came back because

of new Syrian restrictions May 08 UN found slightly more Iraqis leaving for Syria then returning

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

2009 PM Maliki told US Amb Hill Iran giving heavy weapons to Sadr Syria still supporting

Baathists and terrorism in Iraq

2016 Parliament dismissed Finance Minister Zebari on corruption charges led by Maliki and Reform Front

View the Iraq History Timelines