1905 British Amb to Turkey
O’Conor sent memo written by Sir Sykes to Foreign Office detailing oil
deposits in
Mosul vilayet
1906 Protests in Mosul ended
against Ottoman census that included counting women
1927 1st successful
oil well started at Baba Gargur field in Kirkuk
(Musings
On Iraq review Imagining The Nation, Nationalism, Sectarianism and
Socio-Political Conflict in Iraq)
(Musings
On Iraq review The Modern History of Iraq)
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 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
against Israel failed to achieve results Yom-Kippur
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 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)
1984 Iraq and Turkey made deal to fight PKK Allowed each
country to enter 3 miles into others
territory to combat group
(Musings
On Iraq review Turkey, the US and Iraq)
1991 Report UN inspectors said Iraq worked on hydrogen bomb
before Gulf War Found program more
advanced than previously thought
Iraq could’ve had bomb in a year
(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)
1993 Chief UN inspector Ekeus told Security Council progress
had been made on missile
chemical and nuclear programs Iraq
was hoping its recent concessions would end sanctions
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
1996 UAE head Nahyan called on Arab countries to reconcile
with Iraq and called for lifting of sanctions
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)
(Musings
On Iraq review Death of the Mehdi Army, The Rise, Fall, and Revival of
Iraq’s Most Powerful Militia)
(Musings
On Iraq review Muqtada, Muqtada Al-Sadr, The Shia Revival, And The
Struggle For Iraq)
1997 Turkey’s Op Dawn ended against PKK in Kurdistan
(Musings
On Iraq review 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
(Musings
On Iraq review The WMD Mirage, Iraq’s Decade of Deception and America’s
False Premise for War)
2001 CIA DIA Energy Dept thought Iraq-Niger uranium deal was
possible State Dept thought
story suspect
(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)
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 Included 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 Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction’s “Hard Lessons”
– Part I: Planning for Postwar Iraq September 2001 to May 2003)
(Musings
On Iraq 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 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)
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
(Musings
On Iraq review State of Denial, Bush At War, Part III)
(Musings
On Iraq review Hard Lessons, The Iraq Reconstruction Experience)
2003 Sec of State Powell said that his claims about Iraq’s
WMD program had been proven
(Musings
On Iraq Iraq One Of The Worst Intelligence Failures In US History)
(Musings
On Iraq How The Administration Reversed Itself On Finding Iraq’s WMD)
(Musings
On Iraq review Hoodwinked, The Documents That Reveal How Bush Sold Us a
War)
(Musings
On Iraq review What Happened, Inside the Bush White House and
Washington’s Culture of Deception)
2003 Natl Sec Adv Rice said CPA’s schedule for Iraq wouldn’t
work and new one had to be created
(Musings
On Iraq review Squandered Victory, The American Occupation And the
Bungled Effort to Bring Democracy to Iraq)
(Musings
On Iraq review State of Denial, Bush At War, Part III)
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 review Iraq’s Sunni
Insurgency)
(Musings
On Iraq Review The Report of the Iraq
Inquiry, Executive Summary)
2003 CPA began distributing new Iraqi dinars
2004 US put Zarqawi on its terrorist list
2004 VP Cheney said Iraq could have given WMD to terrorists
(Musings
On Iraq Iraq One Of The Worst Intelligence Failures In US History)
2005 Constitution approved in Referendum 66% voter turnout
70% of Sunnis voted against it
(Musings
On Iraq US Army History of Iraq War Vol 1- Chapter 18 – Defeated By
Democracy, Winter 2005-2006)
(Musings
On Iraq interview with constitutional scholar Zaid al-Ali on Iraq’s
constitution)
(Musings
On Iraq review Iraq From War To A New
Authoritarianism)
(Musings
On Iraq review The Struggle For Iraq’s Future, How Corruption,
Incompetence and Sectarianism Have Undermined Democracy)
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
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 ISCI objected to breaking
up Iraq
(Musings On Iraq 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)
2008 Moldova announced withdrawing its 20 soldiers Dec 08 Were
supposed to stay until March 09 Said
improved security meant not needed
anymore
2008 US and ISF started new campaign to secure Mosul Started
in western half Was ISI’s new base
Campaign failed
2009 Sadrists held primary election meant to rally support
for 09 provincial elections
(Musings
On Iraq The Sadrist Primaries)
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 review The Great Betrayal,
How America Abandoned The Kurds And Lost The Middle East)
2019 Sadr called for new protests during Arbaeen pilgrimage
in Karbala
(Musings
On Iraq Sadr Joins Protests While Govt Continues With Promises And
Crackdown)
View the Iraq History Timelines
