This Day In Iraqi History - Aug 8

 

1933 Iraqi army began executing Assyrian males captured in Bekher Mountains and looting their

villages Mayor of Zakho began disarming Assyrians in town Kurds joined in looting in Zakho Head of Zakho went to Sumail and told Assyrians to disarm even though not in his district

(Musings On Iraq review The Tragedy of the Assyrian Minority in Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review State and Society in Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review Imagining The Nation, Nationalism, Sectarianism and Socio-Political Conflict in Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review The Chatham House Version and other Middle-Eastern Studies)

1969 Iraqi army destroyed Kurdish village of Dakan near Mosul

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

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

1979 5 members of Rev Command Council expelled coup plotters executed by Baath party leaders

Saddam led session

1979 Saddam appeared on TV to explain coup plot

1979 Assad protested and demanded to see evidence Syria behind coup plot Sent Foreign Minister and

chief of staff to Baghdad Rebuffed by Saddam Ended unity talks Saddam had opposed unity fearing that it would sideline him and give more power to Bakr

1984 Germany announced restrictions on sale of chemical manufacturing equipment to Iraq after reports

used to make WMD

(Musings On Iraq Origins Of Iraq’s WMD Programs)

1988 UN said ceasefire in Iran-Iraq War would start Aug 20 effectively ending 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)

1988 Govt began military campaign in southern marshes to wipe out insurgents and anti-govt tribes in area

1990 Iraq announced merger of Kuwait and Iraq 

1990 Pres Bush said a line had been drawn in the sand at the Saudi-Kuwait border to stop anymore Iraqi

advances

(Musings On Iraq review from storm to Freedom, America’s Long War with Iraq)

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

(Musings On Iraq review Desert Storm, Volume 1)

1995 Govt cut phone lines to other countries Put Republican and Special Republican Guard on alert Put

units on Baghdad streets Saddam Fedayeen put on Jordan-Iraq highway after found out Hussein Kamal defected to Jordan

1995 Iraq claimed Hussein Kamal responsible for hiding weapons programs from UN inspectors after he

defected to Jordan Iraq admitted that it weaponized biological weapons to UN inspectors Hussein Kamal’s defection undermined Iraq’s program to hide its WMD and nuclear programs from UN inspectors

(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 Out Of The Ashes, The Resurrection of Saddam Hussein)

1996 UN agreed to plan for Oil For Food Program

2002 House Majority Leader Armey said that if US didn’t have provocation it would not have international

support for action vs Iraq

2002 PUK KDP INC SCIRI met with Def Sec Rumsfeld and advocated for regime change and

talked about postwar governance INC wanted exiles to endorse Chalabi as leader

2003 IAEA Found no Iraqi nuclear weapons program after 1991

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

2004 Arrest warrant for murder issued for one of Saddam’s lawyers

2004 Arrest warrant for Ahmed Chalabi for counterfeiting dinars and nephew Salim Chalabi for murder of

Fin Min official

2005 Saddam fired his entire legal team at his trial

2005 Constitutional committee ended its work Negotiations over final draft began within leadership council

of committee Shiite and Kurdish members of constitution committee made more changes to constitution with Sunnis often excluded

(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 Occupation of Iraq, Winning The War, Losing The Peace)

2006 Meeting Marine Expeditionary Force I Cmdr Gen Zilmer Ramadi Cmdr Col MacFarland and others

Said Battle for Ramadi in trouble Outposts surrounded and forces largely consigned to protecting them rather than counterinsurgency operations

(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)

2007 2 studies found Saudis accounted for largest percentage of suicide bombers in Iraq

(Musings On Iraq The Saudi Role In The Iraqi Insurgency)

2007 US said that militias becoming larger threat to US forces in Iraq 99 EFP attacks upon US forces

            in July 07 73% of US casualties in Baghdad in July due to militias Militias received EFPs from Iran

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

(Musings On Iraq Iran’s Policy Towards Iraq)

2008 Report UN survey found only 4% of Iraqi refugees wanted to return to Iraq Was down from 14% in

Nov 2007 Were concerned with security

(Musings On Iraq Few Iraqi Refugees Want To Return)

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

2008 Over 100 Iraqi and international NGOs signed petition saying PM Maliki should stop his

            policy to get refugees to return to Iraq Said could destabilize country still violence lack of services

2008 Sadr statement said that Mahdi Army were going to join new social group Mumahidoon and focus

            on education aid education

2008 Report Thar Allah formed in Basra Oct 03 Connected to Basra police intel Started by killing

Baathists Thar Allah head ran in Jan 05 Basra elections with SIIC Thar Allah head became commander in police UK Created Special Ops Dept in Basra Police Run by Badr that also killed and imprisoned Baathists 05 Thar Allah Badr Mahdi Army went after professionals unionists secularists in Basra Oct 05 UK raided Thar Allah HQ Found 50 prisoners in secret prison Thar Allah members confessed to rapes robberies assassinations extortion Was backed by Iran Feb 07 Thar Allah head named Basra dep governor Apr 08 made head of security comm Basra council Thar Allah head arrested during Charge of Knights

2014 US began air strikes against IS in Iraq

(Musings On Iraq Review Shatter the Nations, ISIS and the War for the Caliphate)

2018 Sit in continued in Muthanna Sit-in outside West Qurna 1 ended after meeting with local officials

who promised demands would be met March in north Muthanna

2019 Human Rights Commission said 7,663 people disappeared by political parties and

Hashd during war vs IS

 View the Iraq History Timelines 

Review In The Red Zone, A Journey Into the Soul of Iraq

 

Vincent, Steven, In The Red Zone, A Journey Into the Soul of Iraq, Dallas: Spencer Publishing Company, 2004

 

In The Red Zone, A Journey Into The Soul of Iraq was written by freelance journalist Steven Vincent. The author travelled to Iraq twice from 2003-04 and talked almost exclusively to Iraqis about how they were feeling. That was how the book was sold, but that was misleading. What he actually wrote was a diatribe to justify his support of the invasion of Iraq. Vincent lived in New York City on 9/11 and saw the attack as an act of evil that the U.S. needed to avenge. He argued that Arabs were backwards and their world needed to be shaken up by invading Iraq and bringing them democracy. Rather than explaining what Iraqis told him he used them as foils to argue his views that Iraqis welcomed the invasion, that people that were against the invasion were anti-American, and those that were fighting the U.S. in Iraq were Islamofascists.

This Day In Iraqi History - Aug 7

 

1933 Kurds began attacking and killing Assyrians in Dohuk and Zakho

(Musings On Iraq review The Tragedy of the Assyrian Minority in Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review State and Society in Iraq)

1958 Gen Qasim supported march by Communists against federation of United Arab Republic of Syria and

Egypt Qasim opposed United Arab Republic because rival of Egypt’s Nasser

(Musings On Iraq interview with Prof Juan Romero on the Qasim govt)

(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)

1988 Iran accepted ceasefire and direct talks with Iraq after implemented in 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)

1988 Iraq Interior Minister Wahab visited Kuwait to talk about resolving border between two countries

1990 Iraq declared Kuwait a republic

1990 Saddam victory speech Said Kuwait’s al-Sabahs didn't stand with masses but foreigners and got what

they deserved Said new day for Arabs had arisen from Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait

(Musings On Iraq review the Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait)

1990 Saddam told aides that he didn’t fear war with US because all they would do is bomb and rally Arab

world behind Iraq

1990 Bush announced Operation Desert Shield US troops deployed to Saudi Arabia

(Musings On Iraq review from storm to Freedom, America’s Long War with Iraq)

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

1994 PUK fought with Kurdistan Islamic League along Iranian border

1995 Hussein and Saddam Kamal Saddam’s cousins and sons in law defected to Jordan along with wives

who were Saddam’s daughters Hussein ran Iraq’s WMD programs

(Musings On Iraq Chilcot Report Sec 1.1 UK Iraq Strategy 1990 To 2000)

2001 US Energy Dept said aluminum tubes Iraq tried to buy could be for centrifuges but probably for

rockets

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

2002 VP Cheney said he was skeptical UN inspectors would find anything in Iraq Said Iraq could get a nuke

bomb soon

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

2003 Natl Sec Adv Rice said Saddam was a threat to the US and world

2003 White House said because Bush used Iraq-Africa uranium deal in State of Union rest of govt started

repeating it

(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 Zarqawi bombed Jordanian embassy in Baghdad killing 17 wounding 40

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

2004 PM Allawi issued amnesty for insurgents with no blood on their hands

2005 Protest in Samawa over lack of jobs, water and electricity turned into a riot outside governor’s office

Broken up by police

2006 US-Iraqi Op Together Forward II started to secure Sunni areas of Baghdad threatened by militias Only

2 of 6 Iraqi army battalions deployed Op failed

2006 Bush said US had strategy for Iraq Privately Bush thought wasn’t working and wanted new one

(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)

2006 Iraq-US raid into Sadr City looking for Mahdi Army commander led to major gun battle Maliki

condemned raid Said wouldn’t happen again

2007 Report Basra split between political parties and their militias Fadhila controlled governorship

provincial council Oil Police oil infrastructure and export terminals Sadrists controlled local police Facilities Protection Services Basra Port Authority Sadrists and Iraqi Hezbollah split customs police ISCI controlled intelligence service and police commandos Police said 3-10 political killings and kidnappings a day

2008 Defense Min set up committee to recruit former Saddam soldiers into army Only had one month

            to sign up

2009 ISI document said that it negotiated contract with Communications Ministry to give deal to local

leader in Mosul In return ISI got % of the contract

2009 ISI bombed Turkmen Shiite mosque in Mosul Killed 38 wounded 140

(Musings On Iraq Political Parties Playing Into Hands Of Insurgent Attacks)

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

2012 KRG re-started oil exports for Baghdad to try to get a new revenue sharing deal with central govt

2012 Turkey’s Foreign Min Davutoglu visited Irbil and then Kirkuk 1^st Turkish visit to that city since 1976

2014 Pres Obama announced beginning of bombing campaign against IS in Iraq

2017 Parliament delayed Sep 2017 provincial elections until 2018 Voted to use 1.7% divisor to decide seat

allocations

2018 Sit ins continued at West Qurna 1 and 2 oil fields Basra and Dhi Qar and Muthanna Also marches

in Qadisiya Shatt al-Arab and Zubayr in Basra 

 View the Iraq History Timelines 

Iraq’s PM Kazemi Announces Parliamentary Vote June 2021

(Hawar News Agency)

The main reason Mustafa al-Kazemi’s government was formed was to conduct elections. The prime minister just announced that would happen June 6, 2021. There are several actions parliament must now take to make that a reality.

This Day In Iraqi History - Aug 6

1920 UK Cabinet decided to send Sir Percy Cox to Baghdad to help deal with 1920 Revolt

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

1921 Gertrude Bell wrote that Iraq might be the best chance England had to straighten out

            the Mideast and if it worked it would change relations between Europe and Asia

(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)

1933 Assyrians captured by Kurds trying to return from Syria turned over to army and executed Gen

Sidqi said retaliation for Assyrian attack on army camp Rumors spread that Assyrians had blown up bridges and poisoned water

(Musings On Iraq review The Tragedy of the Assyrian Minority in Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review State and Society in Iraq)

1981 Cuba China India Zambia PLO sent delegation to Tehran to try to end Iran-Iraq War

1983 Iranian forces attacked hills around Mehran Iran central front during Op Wa al-Fajr 3

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

1986 Iraq air strike hit 5 of Iran’s 11 tankers at Kharg Island Iran’s main oil terminal

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

1988 Saddam said he would accept ceasefire to end Iran-Iraq if Iran would hold direct

talks Iran said no Saddam was trying to add his own demands to UN proposal

(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 U.N. Resolution 661 placed economic sanctions on Iraq for its invasion of Kuwait

1990 Iraq issued statement saying reports about its forces heading towards Saudi border were false

1990 Saddam met with US Charge De’Affaires Wilson Said he respected US interests

            and was not going to attack Saudi Arabia

1990 US delegation convinced King Fahd to invite US troops to Saudi Arabia after

            Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait

1990 Bush authorized Def Sec Cheney to start deploying troops to Saudi Arabia

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

1990 Bush met Thatcher Both agreed to confront Iraq

(Musings On Iraq review from storm to Freedom, America’s Long War with Iraq)

1991 Iraq told UN weapons inspectors that it worked on anthrax and botulin toxin as

            part of its biological weapons program

(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)

1999 Jim Hoagland in WashPost reported Clinton Natl Sec Adv Berger told Iraqi

            opposition president wanted Saddam removed by end of his term

2002 Nat Sec Adv Rice called Sec State Powell and told him he did a great job with Bush Said there should

be more discussions on what Iraq policy should be

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

2002 White House Chief of Staff Card called Sec State Powell asking for same briefing on Iraq he’d given

Bush day before

2002 Natl Sec Adv Rice paper Liberation Strategy for Iraq Said goal was to transform Iraq into a

democracy Had no strategy on how to achieve that Said when US overthrew Saddam can’t act like an invader Had to pose war as a liberation of the Iraqi people Same time US would have to stay in Iraq for many years

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

(Musings On Iraq review Fiasco: The American Military Adventure In Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review Plan of Attack: The Definitive Account Of The Decision To Invade Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review The Assassins’ Gate, America In Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review State of Denial, Bush At War, Part III)

(Musings On Iraq review Hard Lessons, The Iraq Reconstruction Experience)

2002 Gen Franks told his commanders to switch to Hybrid War plan which could start immediately

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

2003 US Iraq Cmdr Gen Sanchez said limiting arrests and raids looking for Baathists Said few returns and

angering Iraqis

2004 After 2 days of fighting in Najaf US claimed killed 300 Mahdi Army fighters

(Musings On Iraq A Divided Sadr Trend)

(Musings On Iraq review Battle For The City Of The Dead)

(Musings On Iraq review US Marines in Battle An-Najaf August 20014)

2004 Report US intel officers were involved in Abu Ghraib prison abuse

2006 Report ISF not able to secure Baghdad and US doubling troops in city from 7200 to 14200 to help

Iraqis

2007 KRG passed its own oil law Condemned by Baghdad

2007 Iraqiya’s 4 ministers started boycott of cabinet Were now 17 ministers total not going to Maliki

cabinet

2007 US audit found couldn’t account for 190,000 rifles and pistols it gave to the ISF

2008 KRG moved 2 Peshmerga brigades outside Kirkuk city Baghdad sent Defense Minister to check on

situation Was protest over provincial election law that called for power sharing in Kirkuk

(Musings On Iraq Kurds Come Out Swinging)

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

2008 US Govt report Iraq revenues up and could take more responsibility for reconstruction but most of

budget going to salaries and benefits and barely spending investment money Only 23% in 2005 19% in 2006 28% in 2007 Iraq was now outspending US however on reconstruction

(Musings On Iraq Iraq Outspends US on Reconstruction)

2008 Iran and Iraq signed trade agreement to create free trade zone Tehran one of Iraq’s top 2 trade partners

(Musings On Iraq Iraq-Iran Trade Agreement)

(Musings On Iraq Iran’s Policy Towards Iraq)

2008 Govt gave squatters 1 month to leave or be sued or arrested Would be given limited compensation Part

of PM Maliki’s displaced program to force people to return home Complaints that govt had no real plan or funding for program

(Musings On Iraq Baghdad Issues Ultimatum To Squatters)

(Musings On Iraq January 2009 U.N. Report On Iraq Refugee Returns)

2015 Protests in Karbala, Najaf, Baghdad, Basra, Hillah, Nasiriya and Rumaitha, Muthanna demanding

reform

2018 9^th day of sit in protest in Muthanna also demos at Safwan border crossing and West Qurna 1 oil field

in Basra Baghdad

2019 PM Abdul Mahdi gave into protests by 30^th Brigade of Hashd who refused order to leave

Ninewa Plains and Mosul

(Musings On Iraq PM Abdul Mahdi Fails 1^st Test Of New Hashd Order In Iraq)

View the Iraq History Timelines

Review The Price of Loyalty

Suskind, Ron, The Price of Loyalty, London: Simon & Schuster, 2004

Paul O’Neill was George Bush’s first Treasury Secretary from 2001-02. After he was fired he turned over his notes and thousands of government documents to writer Ron Suskind which led to The Price of Loyalty. It gave the first insider’s account of the Bush administration. It had two main themes. First, was O’Neill’s disagreement with the president over tax cuts. The second, was the secretary’s belief that the White House wanted to take on Saddam Hussein from the start of the new presidency. It also gave some personal insights into the president that has since been corroborated by other people that help explained his decision making.

This Day In Iraqi History - Aug 5

1933 Iraqi army swept through Jebel Behkair executed any Assyrians found

(Musings On Iraq review The Tragedy of the Assyrian Minority in Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review State and Society in Iraq)

1958 Communists organized huge protest in Baghdad for federal union with United Arab Republic

and Yemen and against immediate union which was pushed by pan-Arab officers, Nasserists and 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)

1968 Pres Bakr govt announced amnesty for KDP rebels Reconciliation attempt by new Bakr govt

with Kurds

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

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

1980 Saddam went to Riyad to tell King Khalid Iraq was going to invade Iran and asked for financial

backing King questioned war and was afraid of repercussions Said Saudi military was weak and was afraid of Soviet intervention Couldn’t change Saddam’s mind and gave him tacit support

1983 Iraq counterattack in Mehran central front aimed at recapturing lost territory in Iranian Op

Wa al-Fajar 3

(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)

1990 Pres Bush said Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait would not stand

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

1990 Saudi King asked for briefing on US military plans to respond to Kuwait invasion Sec Def

Cheney went to get basing rights

1990 NSC meeting Bush said that Kuwait problem wouldn’t be solved until Saddam removed and

defending Saudis and invading Kuwait two different things

(Musings On Iraq review from storm to Freedom, America’s Long War with Iraq)

1991 Bush ordered CIA to come up with covert plan to overthrow Saddam

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

1991 2,000 Turkish troops invaded 3 districts of Kurdistan in retaliation for PKK attack in Turkey

KDP and PUK supported Turkey PKK criticized them for doing so

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

2002 CENTCOM cmdr Gen Franks briefed Bush on latest version of Iraq war plan Had

original Generated Start plan Running Start which would have quicker build up and new Hybrid Plan which would be immediate start to war Franks said there was no postwar plan and he wanted to withdraw US forces as quickly as possible

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

2002 Sec State Powell told Bush that Iraq invasion would dominate 1^st term and US would be responsible

for Iraq afterward Powell said US had to go through UN to disarm Iraq and build international coalition Bush said wanted coalition

(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)

(Musings On Iraq review Bush At War)

(Musings On Iraq review Plan of Attack: The Definitive Account Of The Decision To Invade Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review Losing Iraq, Inside The Post War Reconstruction Fiasco)

2002 Report Bush official said 9/11 hijacker Atta met with Iraqi intel in Prague in 2001

2003 Def Sec Rumsfeld announced US forces had been finding buried Iraqi fighter jets in desert

Explained why Iraqi air force didn't fight during invasion

(Musings On Iraq Why Didn’t The Iraqi Air Force Fight During The 2003 Invasion?)

2003 Def Sec Rumsfeld said “Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence” about Iraq’s WMD not

found yet

(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 Def Sec Rumsfeld said death of Uday and Qusay Hussein showed Iraq that Baathists not returning to

power

2004 US Cmdr in Iraq Gen Casey issued first military campaign plan for Iraq since 2003 invasion

Said US had to confront insurgency Build Iraqi forces Persuade Sunnis to give up insurgency Rebuild country

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

(Musings On Iraq review Nights in the Pink Motel, An American Strategist’s Pursuit of Peace in Iraq on writing campaign plan for Gen Casey)

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

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

George W. Bush to Barack Obama)

2004 Sadr called for his followers to rise up against the US occupation

(Musings On Iraq A Divided Sadr Trend)

(Musings On Iraq review Battle For The City Of The Dead)

2004 Mahdi Army attacked main police station in Najaf city and US forces in Baghdad starting 2^nd

Battle of Najaf

(Musings On Iraq review US Marines in Battle An-Najaf August 20014)

2004 Anbar governor resigned after his son was kidnapped by insurgents

2005 US said that EFPs were being shipped from Iran into Iraq to attack American forces

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

(Musings On Iraq Iran’s Policy Towards Iraq)

2006 Sec of State Rice told Bush Iraqis pulling their country apart

2015 Protests in Sulaymaniya over lack of services broken up by police

2015 Asaib Ahl Al-Haq said it would participate in next protest in Baghdad attempting to co-opt demos

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

2018 Report parliamentarian said Iraqi National Intel Service proved voting machines were not secure

2018 Continued sit ins by West Qurna 1 oil field in Basra and Muthanna Protests in Basra City West

Qurna 2 and Barjisiya fields Safwan border crossing South Gas Company all in Basra, 2 in Qadisya, Babil

View the Iraq History Timelines