Security In Iraq, Jan 8-14, 2021

There was more activity by pro-Iran groups during the second week of January than by the Islamic State. The latter is in its annual winter break while the former has started a new campaign against U.S. targets in Iraq.

This Day In Iraqi History - Jan 17

 

1913 US consul in Baghdad wrote if British took Mesopotamia there would be little resistance because

public so apathetic

1948 Student walkout to protest new Anglo-Iraq Treaty

1953 Elections held Some opposition parties boycotted Afterward People’s Socialist Party claimed Regent

rigged vote

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq’s Democratic Moment)

1974 Bakr govt held talks with Mustafa Barzani and KDP

(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 Iraq Since 1958, From Revolution To Dictatorship)

1987 Iraq conducted missile and air strikes on Tehran and other major cities 3^rd War of the Cities

Iran-Iraq War

1987 Iran attacked Diyala but repulsed Lost 2 brigades

(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 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)

1988 Mahdi Hakim killed in Sudan by Iraqi intelligence

1989 US report said Iraq was working on typhoid cholera anthrax for its chemical weapons program

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

1990 Iraq ended foreign travel ban for citizens

1990 Bush admin signed directive for normalized relations with Iraq

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

1991 Saddam told advisers time to fire missiles at Israel to see whether it would fight Iraq would

then alternate between hitting Israel and Saudis Iraq fired missiles at Haifa and Tel Aviv

1991 US hit command bunkers in Baghdad hoping to kill Saddam

1991 Iraq sabotaged 2 Kuwait oil fields Released oil into Gulf

1991 Bush said US would destroy Iraq’s nuclear capabilities

1993 US fired 45 Tomahawk missiles at Baghdad for not allowing UN inspectors into country

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

1998 Anniversary of Gulf War Saddam said Iraq met all obligations of UN Res 687 Threatened to raise 1

mil for jihad against UN if sanctions not lifted in 6 months

2002 Gen Franks briefed his commanders at CENTCOM on initial Iraq war plans for 1^st time

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

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

Tragedy)

2003 Pentagon memo said no decision on postwar govt in Iraq Said would be a military administration

transitional authority elections leading to an Iraqi govt Didn’t match Pentagon plans to quickly withdraw US troops

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

Tragedy)

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

2003 CIA report said Iraq had rebuilt its nuclear program Said were reports Iraq tried to buy

uranium from Africa

(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 CIA told Joint Chiefs of Staff that it had some reports that Iraq tried to buy uranium from

Africa Didn’t happen

(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 PM Blair agreed to 1 UK division and 3 combat brigades for Iraq War to be deployed in south

2003 UN inspectors after 4 inspections said Fallujah II chlorine plant inoperative US claimed it

was producing WMD

(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)

2007 PM Maliki claimed if ISF were better armed US forces could start withdrawing in 3-6 months

Claimed he launched operation to clear Karbala of militiamen and arrested 400 Mahdi Army members Was not true

2007 Mayor of Sadr City had 1^st of 2 meetings with UK Gen Lamb on working out understanding

with militias to prevent confrontations in district Militias were afraid of major US operation in Sadr City as part of Surge Sadrists backed mayor’s effort

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

(Musings On Iraq interview with Prof Mansoor on the Surge)

(Musings On Iraq interview with New America Foundation’s Ollivant On Reassessing the Surge)

2007 UK Intel report Sectarian violence increased in last 6 months Attacks on Coalition reaching new

high PM Maliki govt had no security strategy Was uncoordinated Problem with rivalries endemic corruption lacked capable bureaucracy

2008 UN envoy to Iraq said country only had 6 months to turn security improvement into reconciliation

Said too much distrust within govt

2008 US military reported 75% of Baghdad secured up from 8% in Feb 07

2009 Report Not enough votes to carry out referendum on Basra federalism

2010 Chemical Ali sentenced to death for Halabja attack

2010 Chilcot Inquiry Foreign Sec Straw wrote letter to PM Blair April 02 Said parliament not for war Said

Iraqi threat hadn’t changed No evidence Iraq linked to Al Qaeda Asked what were goals of war No postwar plans Said regime change wasn’t legal justification for war and new UN resolution required

2011 Protesters cut Kirkuk-Baghdad highway Set tires on fire Blocked all traffic over lack of electricity

in Kirkuk Kirkuk governor was diverting power from a local power plant from Baghdad to Kirkuk

(Musings On Iraq Electricity Protests Spread To Northern Iraq)

View the Iraq History Timelines 

This Day In Iraqi History - Jan 16

 

1943 Iraq declared war on Axis

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

1948 New Anglo-Iraq Treaty announced Opposition parties National Democratic Party Liberal

Party Independence Party Communists called on public to reject treaty

(Musings On Iraq review The Modern History of Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review Red Star Over Iraq, Iraqi Communism Before Saddam)

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq’s Democratic Moment)

(Musings On Iraq Interview with Prof Johan Franzen on the history of the Iraqi Communist Party)

1981 UN Envoy Palme visited Iran and Iraq to try to negotiate ceasefire in war

1987 Iran seized Bovarian Island Basra and caused 3000 Iraqi casualties

(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 3: Iraq’s Triumph)

(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 Operation Desert Storm-Gulf War started to expel Iraq from Kuwait Coalition began air

campaign against Iraq

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

(Musings On Iraq review Desert Storm, Volume 2: Operation Desert Storm and the Coalition Liberation of Kuwait 1991)

1992 Report Iraq using front companies in Jordan and Switzerland to get around sanctions Saddam also

had fund that sustained him and family

(Musings On Iraq review Invisible War, The United States And The Iraq Sanctions)

1992 During election Campaign Bush said Gulf War a success Predicted downfall of Saddam White

House spokesman called for Iraqis to overthrow govt

1995 UN asked Iran to relocate 4,000 Shiite refugees away from border which Iraq had claimed was

being used for base for attacks

1997 During peace talks PUK and KDP agreed to stop displacing rivals from towns and allow

displaced to return home

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

2003 UN inspectors found 12 missile warheads that could carry WMD not included in Iraq’s 2002

weapons declaration

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

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

2003 PM Blair told cabinet 2^nd UN resolution was not necessary for military action against Iraq even

though he was told it was

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

(Musings On Iraq Chilcot Inquiry Section 3.6 Development of UK Strategy and Options, November 2002 to January 2003)

2003 Future Office for Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA) head Garner

met with Def Sec Rumsfeld and Under Sec Def for Policy Feith Rumsfeld said no coordination of postwar planning Told Garner he needed to consult with different agencies and coordinate postwar plans Garner said in WWII US spent years planning for postwar situation and he was only given a few weeks for Iraq

(Musings On Iraq on Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Hard Lessons Chapter 3 The Department of Defense Takes Charge)

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

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

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

Policy Tragedy)

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

(Musings On Iraq Only 3 of 13 Reconstruction Contracts Were Signed Before War)

2003 CIA received docs claiming Iraq-Niger uranium deal Sent to State Dept to be translated

Turned out to be fakes

(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)

2003 UnderSecDef Feith memo to Sec Def Rumsfeld said Iraq-Syria pipeline should be kept open after

invasion to see whether Syria would cooperate with US

2004 US military spokesman Gen Kimmit talked about allegations and investigations into Abu

Ghraib prison abuse

2004 30,000 Protested in Basra against U.S. installing an unelected provincial govt

2004 Report Shiite religious leaders on Iraqi Governing Council wanted to end Saddam family laws

that protected women’s rights and replace them with Sharia based ones Women protested move

(Musings On Iraq Iraqi Women Before And After The 2003 Invasion Interview With Prof Nadje Al-Ali Univ of London)

2006 Sheikh Fahadawi of Albu Fahd in Ramadi assassinated by Al Qaeda in Iraq for talking with US

(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)

2007 Bush said that his Iraq policy was heading for slow failure and that’s why he chose new

policy with Surge

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

2007 Govt’s Article 140 comm said that any govt official unjustly fired in Kirkuk as part of Arabization

program of Baath would be reinstated PM Maliki didn’t sign order

2010 PM Maliki said he favored banning candidates in 2010 election for Baathist ties Part of push

by Shiite parties to make Baathists main issue of vote

(Musings On Iraq Timeline of Iraq’s De-Baathification Campaign)

2010 Protest in Qadisiya calling for expelling Baathists from govt Governor and council members

said they would work against Baathists

(Musings On Iraq Timeline of Iraq’s De-Baathification Campaign)

2012 Baghdad complained to Turkey’s ambassador about Ankara accusing PM Maliki of spreading

sectarianism Turkey did same to Iraq’s ambassador to Ankara

View the Iraq History Timelines 

This Day In Iraqi History - Jan 15

1915 Sir Percy Cox reported some Arab sheikhs had given up ties with UK and joined Turks

following calls for jihad

1923 UK Treasury wrote Iraq commission that Iraq too costly to administer

1929 Sir Henry Dobbs said King Faisal was like a chameleon and drove those around him mad

1935 Persia presented border dispute to League of Nations Challenged Iraq’s control of Shatt al-

Arab

1948 New Anglo-Iraqi Treaty signed British troops withdrew but Iraq tied to England until 1973

1948 Anglo-Iraq Treaty originally included Iraq supplying weapons to Palestinians and Iraqi forces

taking over Palestine to prevent Jewish state

1981 Iraqi division in Halabja crossed into Iran and took Nosud Valley Meant to protect Kurdistan

from any Iranian attack

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

1983 Saddam went to Riyadh and got approval for oil pipeline through Saudi Arabia to diversify

            export routes during war

1987 Iraq launched 5 counterattacks at Sumar Heights Basra but failed Suffered 1500 casualties

(Musings On Iraq review Iran-Iraq War Volume 3: Iraq’s Triumph)

1987 Saddam held meeting on Iran Op Karbala 5 Replaced commanders due to Iranian advances

1988 Iran Op Bait al-Moqaddas 2 attacked Chwarta Kurdistan

(Musings On Iraq interview with author Anthony Tucker-Jones on Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq interview with author Tom Cooper on Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq review The 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 Jordanian audit of Ahmed Chalabi’s Petra Bank found its loans were not being paid back Its books

were faked Found series of insider deals Was paying for Chalabi apartment and ranch in US 

(Musings On Iraq review The Man Who Pushed America To War, The Extraordinary Life, Adventures, and Obsessions of Ahmad Chalabi)

(Musings On Iraq review Arrows of the Night: Ahmad Chalabi and the Selling of the Iraq War)

1991 Bush issued NSD 54 saying US wanted immediate withdrawal of Iraq from Kuwait restore

Kuwait govt protect Americans security in Persian Gulf

1991 NSD 54 Included defending Saudi Arabia Stop Iraq from firing missiles destroy Iraq’s WMD

and command and control Destroy Republican Guard Drive Iraq from Kuwait Break will of Iraqi forces Encourage defection of Iraqi forces Weaken Iraqi public support for Saddam NSD 54 said that if Iraq used WMD, supported terrorism against U.S. or destroyed Kuwait’s oil fields Saddam should be removed

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

1991 Saddam added Allah Akbar to Iraqi flag

1991 UK PM Major said Saddam might become a target of his own people

1991 Gen Schwarzkopf briefed on latest air campaign against Iraq Was still focused upon

destroying Iraq’s infrastructure Schwarzkopf wanted it focused upon destroying Iraq’s ground forces

(Musings On Iraq review Desert Storm, Volume 2: Operation Desert Storm and the Coalition Liberation of Kuwait 1991)

1991 Saddam met Palestinians Told them he would lose upcoming war

1994 Iraq upset with inspectors and sanctions tried to limit UN flights within the country

1998 After Iraq refused to cooperate again UN inspection team left Iraq

(Musings On Iraq review The Saddam Tapes)

(Musings On Iraq review Out Of The Ashes, The Resurrection of Saddam Hussein)

(Musings On Iraq review The Greatest Threat, Iraq, Weapons of Mass Destruction, And The Growing Crisis Of Global Security)

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

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

2003 CIA told White House that paper on Iraq should say Iraq tried to buy uranium from Africa Didn’t

happen

(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)

2003 PM Blair said 2^nd UN resolution not necessary for use of force against Iraq

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

(Musings On Iraq Section 3.7 Development of UK Strategy and Options, 1 February to 7 March 2003)

2003 Report Sec Def Rumsfeld okayed more aggressive patrols over Iraq no fly zones and attacks on Iraq

air defense in prep for invasion

2003 Bush received 1^st brief on postwar Iraq plans from NSC’s Abrams Went over humanitarian

aid Emphasized feeding public Abrams said money had to secretly be sent to aid groups that would work in Iraq because they didn’t want to be seen supporting war Said Oil for Food program would be maintained after invasion to feed public Said that 2 mil Iraqis might be displaced during invasion Plans made irrelevant when Pentagon given control of postwar Iraq

(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 on Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Hard Lessons Chapter 2 The Agencies Engage)

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

Tragedy)

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

2003 NSC officials went to military to make sure things like health centers weren’t bombed during

invasion

2003 Bush thought humanitarian aid after war very important Thought could change image of US

in Middle East

2003 Aid groups that met with USAID about postwar Iraq plans asked to meet with Pentagon

leadership Nothing happened

2004 Shiites demonstrated calling for direct elections for new Iraqi govt

2004 Report up to 100 Hezbollah fighters in Iraq helping Iranian intelligence

(Musings On Iraq Hezbollah’s Role In Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq Iran’s Policy Towards Iraq)

2004 Gen Craddock Def Sec Rumsfeld’s military aide and dir Joint Chiefs Adm Keating emailed

summary of CD with photos of abuse at Abu Ghraib prison

2006 UK Gen Houghton said US Iraq Cmdr Gen Casey returned from US and got backing for his plan to

transition to Iraqi control and withdraw US troops Houghton said transition to Iraqi control highlighted all the problems in the country

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

(Musings On Iraq US Army History of Iraq War Vol 1- Chapter 18 – Defeated By Democracy, Winter 2005-2006)

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

2006 Al Qaeda in Iraq created Mujahedeen Shura Council to try to cooperate with other insurgent

groups Shura Council was in part created due to Al Qaeda’s suggestion Zarqawi include more Iraqis in his jihad

(Musings On Iraq US Army History of Iraq War Vol 1 – Chapter 19 The Iraqi Civil War Comes Into The Open, January-June 2006)

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

2006 Army of the Victorious joined Mujahedeen Shura Council

2006 Sheikh Fahadawi of Albu Fahd in Ramadi met with PM Jaafari Amb Khalilzad Gen Casey

Anbar Gov Alwani Convinced PM to allow Iraqi police to recruit local tribesmen

(Musings On Iraq Anbar Before And After the Awakening Pt X, 2005-09 Governor Mamoun Alwani)

(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)

2006 US announced more than 2000 military police would work with Iraqi police in the field as

advisers during Year of the Police

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

2006 Report $18.6 bil US approved for reconstruction in 2003 would be spent by end of 2006

Foreign govts provided only fraction of what they promised Japan pledged $5 bil in reconstruction funds in 2003 Delivered less than 50% of that Saudi Arabia and Kuwait pledged $1 bil and gave less than 10% Spain England S Korea UAE Italy Canada owed more than $100 mil each for their 2003 promises for reconstruction funds

2007 Report US military worried PM Maliki named Gen Qanbar to head new Baghdad Ops

Command Was from southern Iraq and hardly known by US

2008 SecState Rice told Talabani Barzani Hashemi Mahdi that PM Maliki not problem they were

because they controlled more votes  

2009 Report Iran wanted to increase economic ties with Iraq after it signed Status of Forces

Agreement with US Offered $1 bil loan Wanted to boost trade

(Musings On Iraq Iran’s Policy Towards Iraq)

2010 Secretary Gen of Arab League arrived in Baghdad and lobbied for overturning banning of

candidates in 2010 election for Baathist ties

(Musings On Iraq Timeline of Iraq’s De-Baathification Campaign)

2010 Report Conclusions of Chilcot Inquiry so far PM Blair determined to go to war with Iraq to support

Bush with or without UN approval Legality of war was major issue within govt Military couldn’t properly prepare for invasion because Blair wanted plans kept secret from public Didn’t plan for postwar situation

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

2013 Sheikh al-Issawi of Albu Issa tribe and Awakening assassinated by ISI suicide bomber

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

2014 Bodies of 14 Sunni men found in Tarmiya day after they were kidnapped by men in ISF

uniforms and vehicles

2018 2 suicide bombers central Baghdad left 143 casualties Last major mass casualty bombing in

Baghdad was Feb 2017 car bomb that left 125 casualties

(Musings On Iraq Security In Iraq, Jan 15-21, 2018)

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

2021 Dual suicide bombing in central Baghdad left 32 dead 110 wounded Last such deadly

incident occurred in same neighborhood in Jan 2018

(Musings On Iraq Security In Iraq Jan 15-21, 2021)

View the Iraq History Timelines 

This Day In Iraqi History - Jan 14

 

1951 Grenade thrown at Baghdad synagogue 4 killed 10 wounded 4^th of 7 such attacks on

Jews 1950-51

1959 Govt suspended Popular Resistance Force in Kurdistan Was controlled by Barzanis who used

it against local sheikhs

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

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

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

1968 After Barzani sent letter to Paris protesting against proposed French-Iraq arms deal

French parliament said it wouldn’t sell weapons to Iraq out of fear they would be used against Kurds

1991 Saddam called on Iraqis to fight to the death to hold Kuwait

1991 Intel chief Gen Samarrie told Saddam Iraq would be hard pressed in war Had bad defensive

positions and forces exposed

1991 Saddam said Iraq could take casualties and U.S. could not

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

1991 Report Iraq got uranium from France Russia Portugal Nigeria Argentina Brazil Italy for its bomb

program Needed enrichment plant for weapon Germany UK US sold it equipment for program Set up front companies and invested in others to get equipment Didn’t have enough centrifuges Didn’t have workable plan to build bomb light enough for missile

1992 Iraq admitted to UN inspectors that it was trying to enrich uranium to build a nuclear bomb

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

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

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

(Musings On Iraq review The Saddam Tapes)

1992 Kurds attacked Baath offices in Baghdad killing 36

1999 Tariq Aziz questioned legitimacy of Iraq-Kuwait border Was condemned by UN

1999 ABC reported on Dec 98 meeting with Iraqi intelligence officer and bin Laden False story

2002 UK Def Min analysis said weaknesses of INC outweighed its strengths

2003 Bush told press time running out for Saddam

(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)

2003 Bush met Polish Pres Kwasniewski Said he would support US in war but asked about consequences

2003 UK Attn Gen Goldsmith told PM Blair that 2^nd UN resolution was needed to have legal

justification for war with Iraq

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

(Musings On Iraq Section 3.7 Development of UK Strategy and Options, 1 February to 7 March 2003)

2004 US Iraq cmdr Gen Sanchez told about abuses at Abu Ghraib prison and that there were pictures

2004 US troops killed 2 civilians at anti-American protest in Fallujah

(Musings On Iraq review The Battle for Fallujah, Occupation, Resistance and Stalemate in the War in Iraq)

2004 US military report claimed US turning tide against insurgency Iraqis would soon blame insurgency

for their problems Militants would lose support and wither away

2007 Dep PM Salah said that insurgents were stealing around $1 bil a year from the Baiji refinery

2007 UK Gen Lamb said PM Maliki picked Gen Qanbar to head Baghdad Ops Command That he was a

professional respected and non-sectarian US questioned Aboud as being an unknown

2008 PM Maliki met with Presidency Council They told him he needed to reform govt consult with

them more get rid of some ministers and replace them with technocrats Warned there would be no confidence vote to remove him if didn’t act

2008 Defense Minister Qadir said that Iraq couldn’t take responsibility for internal security until 2012

and wouldn’t be able to defend its borders until at least 2018

2008 KDP said it opposed forming Sahwa units in disputed territories Said Peshmerga and Asayesh were

enough

2008 Report US began vocational training for Sahwa because so few of them would be hired by govt

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

2009 Report New Iranian Ambassador to Iraq Danafar was a member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards

            Quds Force

(Musings On Iraq New Iranian Ambassador To Iraq Confirmed As Revolutionary Guards Member)

2010 Election Comm approved Accountability and Justice Comm banning of 511 candidates

before March parliamentary vote

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s Election Commission Okays Ban On Mutlaq And Others From 2010 Vote)

(Musings On Iraq The Continuing Saga Of The Candidate Banning In Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq Timeline of Iraq’s De-Baathification Campaign)

2010 Head of Accountability and Justice Comm told parliament he supported banning candidates

before 2010 election and more parties and politicians should be barred from running

2010 VP Biden met with VP Abdul Mahdi Said banned candidates should be allowed to run

2010 Members of Qadisiya council said they were working to stop Baathists from returning to

power Part of campaign by Shiite parties to make Baathists main issue of 2010 election

2010 Demonstration in Mosul against banning candidates in 2010 election for Baathist ties

2010 Joint U.S.-Iraqi-Peshmerga patrols announced for Mosul to increase cooperation between

Baghdad and Irbil on security

(Musings On Iraq Joint Iraq-Peshmerga-U.S. Patrols Begin In Disputed Territories)

2010 Report new Iranian ambassador member of Iranian Revolutionary Guards Quds Force like

previous ones

2011 12 ISI members escaped from prison in Basra Prisoners had help from prison and intelligence

officials

(Musings On Iraq Iraqi Forces Suspected In Escape Of Al Qaeda Officials Form Basra Prison)

2012 Bombings of Shiite pilgrims during Arbayeen left 190 casualties

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

2012 Turkey’s Foreign Min Sinirlioglu visited Pres Barzani in Irbil without going to Baghdad

2013 PM Maliki released 300 prisoners in concession to Sunni protests

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Review Iraq, Eastern Flank of the Arab World

Helms, Christine Moss, Iraq, Eastern Flank of the Arab World, Washington D.C.: Brookings Institution, 1984

 

Iraq, Eastern Flank of the Arab World was published by the Brookings Institution in 1984 to educate American think tankers, politicians and policy makers about Iraq when it was becoming more important during the Iran-Iraq War. The author Christine Moss Helms went on two government sponsored tours of the country in the 1980s. She took many of its claims at face value leading to some laughable sections of the book. Most important of which was that Saddam Hussein was not the sole leader of the country. This made the book useless.

This Day In Iraqi History - Jan 13

 

1916 British attacked Ottomans at Wadi River but stopped 1,613 British casualties 2,000

Turkish ones Ottomans retreated next day

1968 6 ministers from Pres Arif’s govt resigned after anti-govt protests demanded return to democracy

1972 Bakr govt said it would take power away from Iraq Petroleum Company

1983 Report China was supplying both Iraq and Iran with weapons during Iran-Iraq War

1987 Iran Op Karbala 5 Used night attack to advance 2 miles towards Basra city Caused 1000 Iraqi

casualties Iran accused Iraq of using poison gas to repulse attack Iranian casualties so high called for volunteers

(Musings On Iraq review Iran-Iraq War Volume 3: Iraq’s Triumph)

1987 Iran started Op Karbala 6 in Qasr-e-Shirin central Iran to divert Iraqi forces from Basra Goal

was to seize Mandali Diyala Freed 100 sq mi of Iranian land

(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 UN Sec Gen deCuellar went to Baghdad to try to avert Gulf War

1993 US UK and France carried out air and missile strikes on Iraq for not cooperating with 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 review Out Of The Ashes, The Resurrection of Saddam Hussein)

1994 US UK French planes bombed Amara Basra Najaf Samawa Talil to knock out air defense

systems and telecommunications Missed ½ the targets 19 killed

1998 Iraqis objected to UN inspectors having too many Americans and British and refused cooperation until

team changed

(Musings On Iraq review The Saddam Tapes)

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq In The Eye of the Storm)

(Musings On Iraq review Out Of The Ashes, The Resurrection of Saddam Hussein)

(Musings On Iraq review Neighbors, Not Friends, Iraq And Iran After The Gulf Wars)

(Musings On Iraq review The Greatest Threat, Iraq, Weapons of Mass Destruction, And The Growing Crisis Of Global Security)

2003 Bush met Saudi Amb Bandar Gave assurance that US would remove Saddam

2003 Bush told Sec State Powell he’d decided on war and needed his support Powell said he would back

president Powell reminded Bush that if US invaded Iraq it would have to run the country

(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)

2003 Sec State Powell decided he had to play out diplomacy with Iraq at UN despite Bush’s decision to

go to war

2003 NSA Dir Adm Hayden ordered decentralization of intel so that it could be distributed to

combat units during Iraq invasion

2003 PM Blair TV speech said Iraq could give WMD to terrorists and US and UK could act against Iraq

without 2^nd UN resolution

2003 Lord Goldsmith told PM Blair and Foreign Sec Straw that there needed to be a 2^nd UN resolution

against Iraq to go to war

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

(Musings On Iraq Section 3.7 Development of UK Strategy and Options, 1 February to 7 March 2003)

2003 State Dept intel analyst told other analysts Iraq-Niger uranium docs were probably fake 2

CIA analysts said they saw problems with docs but didn’t think they were fakes They were fake

(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)

2003 UnderSecDef Feith called ex-Gen Jay Garner to run postwar Iraq and he accepted 2 months

before invasion

(Musings On Iraq on Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Hard Lessons Chapter 3 The Department of Defense Takes Charge)

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

2003 IAEA head El Baradei said inspectors needed a few months to finish work in Iraq

(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)

2004 US soldier in 800^th Military Police reported abuse by his unit at Abu Ghraib prison and

handed over photos

2004 CPA meeting decided it had to push forward with its sovereignty transition plan despite

Ayatollah Sistani’s objections Bremer sent note to Sistani that early elections not possible

(Musings On Iraq US Army History Of Iraq War Vol 1- Chapter 11 The Gathering Storm)

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

(Musings On Iraq review Patriotic Ayatollahs, Nationalism In Post-Saddam Iraq)

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

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq’s Dysfunctional Democracy)

2005 Fmr Sec State Baker said US occupation of Iraq undermined US support for war and made

US look imperialist in Middle East

2005 Ayatollah Sistani representative assassinated in Baghdad

2005 US National Intelligence Council Iraq became new terrorist training ground in world

replacing Afghanistan

2006 Report after US forces handed over Saddam palace in Tikrit in Nov 2005 Iraqi forces and

Salahaddin officials looted facilities

2008 Sadrists Iraqiya, National Dialogue List signed agreement to maintain national control of Iraq’s oil

and oppose independent Kurdish oil contracts Nothing came of agreement

2009 Spec Insp Gen Iraq Recon report Found projects over budget little oversight potential of

projects unfulfilled Warned Iraqis not willing or capable of maintaining many US funded projects KBR worked on $146 mil project to improve gas plants in south Brought rotors for gas compressors but didn’t install them Iraqis had no plans to install rotors Plant working at under capacity as a result Jan 05 Iraq ordered KBR to stop project to improve loading arms at Basra Oil Terminal Didn't want project and didn’t maintain improvements KBR made at facility US built power plant in Baghdad that Iraqis abandoned because turbines broke because Iraqis couldn’t operate them

(Musings On Iraq Iraqis Unwilling Or Incapable Of Maintaining U.S. Reconstruction Projects)

2010 Joint Iraq-Peshmerga-US checkpoints opened in Diyala’s disputed territories to increase

cooperation amongst parties

(Musings On Iraq Joint Iraq-Peshmerga-U.S. Patrols Begin In Disputed Territories)

2010 Dep head of Karbala council claimed Baathists were destabilizing Iraq Part of push by Shiite

parties to make Baathists main issue of 2010 election

(Musings On Iraq Timeline of Iraq’s De-Baathification Campaign)

2010 Oil Min inspector general accused ISF of oil smuggling Found army units involved Pipelines

in Salahaddin and Ninewa being tapped into

2014 Tribal Military Council tried to unite all the insurgent groups in Fallujah

2018 Dawa announced members could run separate in elections PM Abadi formed Nasr VP Maliki

would run with State of Law

(Musings On Iraq It’s Official PM Abadi and VP Maliki Will Run Separately In 2018 Elections)

(Musings On Iraq interview with IRIS-Chatham House’s Mansour on 2018 elections)

2021 US sanctioned Hashd Commission chief of staff Abu Fadak

(Musings On Iraq Pro-Iran Groups Name New Acting Head Of Hashd)

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