Review The Gamble, General David Petraeus And The American Military Adventure In Iraq, 2006-2008

Ricks, Thomas, The Gamble, General David Petraeus And The American Military Adventure In Iraq, 2006-2008, New York: Penguin Press, 2009

 

The Gamble, General David Petraeus And The American Military Adventure In Iraq, 2006-2008 was journalist Tom Ricks second book about Iraq. His first, Fiasco was one of the best discussing how the U.S. military went wrong in Iraq after the 2003 invasion. The Gamble focused on how it tried to fix things with the 2007 Surge. Ricks looked at several individuals responsible for the new strategy namely Generals Jack Keane, David Petraeus and Raymond Odierno. It’s an interesting read because it argues that the U.S. succeeded tactically in bringing down the horrific violence in Iraq but did not provide the political change it hoped for that would ensure long term stability.

This Day In Iraqi History - Jan 19

 

1915 Ottoman governor of Baghdad wrote US consulate that British were distributing

money to clerics in Najaf and Karbala

1916 UK Mesopotamia cmdr Gen Nixon sick and replaced by General Sir Percy Lake

1917 Ottomans abandoned positions at Khadairi Bend outside Kut

1948 Kurds from Iraq and Iran met in Baku Soviet Union Mustafa Barzani led plans for Kurdish movement

(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)

1948 Govt issued warning to students to end strike over new Anglo-Iraq Treaty or face harsh

            punishments

1987 Iran started phase II of Op Karbala 5 Reached Jasim River 6 miles from Basra City Caused

2000 Iraqi casualties Population of Basra started leaving

(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 Iraq fired missiles at Riyad, Saudi Arabia

1991 Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim said that Supreme Council was against US aggression vs Iraq

over its Kuwait invasion

1991 US 5^th Special Forces Group entered Iraq to carry out covert ops behind Iraqi lines during

Gulf War

1991 Iraqi terrorist tried to bomb US Information Service HQ in Philippines in retaliation for Gulf

War

1992 Report Saudis pushed US to help foment military coup in Iraq to topple Saddam

1998 Head UN inspector Butler met with Iraq Foreign Min Aziz who said Iraq wouldn’t cooperate with

inspections anymore if sanctions weren’t lifted Said Iraq willing to suffer consequences including war

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

1999 US designated Iraqi opposition groups eligible for money under Iraq Liberation Act

Iraqi National Congress Iraqi National Accord KDP UK ISCI Movement for Constitutional Monarchy KDP ISCI and Constitutional Monarchy condemned act and refused to accept US money

2002 Def Sec Rumsfeld sent Col Mcgregor to brief Gen Franks on his plan to invade Iraq with just

35,000 troops by striking directly at Baghdad Briefing greatly angered members of CENTCOM staff who thought it unrealistic

(Musings On Iraq US Army History Of Iraq Vol 1 – Chapter 2 Regime Change)

2003 US offered Saddam immunity if he departed Iraq to avert war

2003 Pentagon officials opposed to Sec Def Rumsfeld’s invasion plan complained to Time that Rumsfeld

was taking over deployment orders for invasion

(Musings On Iraq How Arguments Over Iraq Invasion Plan Were Fought Through Press Leaks)

(Musings On Iraq US Army History of Iraq War Vol 1 – Chapter 3 Maneuvering Into Position)

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

2003 Fmr UN inspector David Kay OpEd in Wash Post said UN weapons inspectors would never

find any hard evidence against 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 Iraqi Governing Council went to UN to ask it for help with transition to sovereignty against

wishes of CPA

2004 100,000 marched in Baghdad supporting Ayatollah Sistani’s call for early elections

(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)

2004 US Iraq cmdr Gen Sanchez ordered secret investigation into Abu Ghraib prison abuse

2007 Iraqi cabinet committee finished draft of Hydrocarbon Law Was never passed

2007 US arrested Abdul al-Daraji and Ali Smaisin for running death squads for Sadr

2007 Sadr ordered his MPs and ministers back to work Started boycott after PM Maliki met with

Bush and refused to demand US forces leave

2007 Report Gen Abadi Deputy Chief of Staff of ISF said corruption was eating away at the armed

forces US got rid of Iraqi army commander in Fallujah who was connected to militias who was stealing fuel and weapons and selling them on black market in Baghdad and taking pay from soldiers Iraqi govt report said that police were kidnapping people for money forging documents and gave info to insurgents

(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 National Security Adviser Rubaie was trapped inside mosque by angry Sadrists crowd ISF had to

            rescue him

2010 Report Maliki govt claimed 15,000 Sahwa gotten jobs in ISF 33,000 positions in govt Said by

middle of 2010 all Sahwa would be integrated Never happened

(Musings On Iraq More Sons of Iraq Integrated While Others Walk Off The Job In Diyala)

2010 Presidential Council had emergency meeting over banning candidates Pres Talabani said

commission created to look into matter Talabani asked Supreme Court to rule on matter

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

2010 Def Sec Hoon told Chilcot Inquiry UK military officers in Wash DC repeatedly warned US

planning for Iraq war chaotic Hoon never felt adequate plans made UK didn’t allow adequate equipping of its army because govt afraid would undermine push for war Postwar planning started too late Complained to PM Blair about it

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

2014 Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi told his fighters to march towards Baghdad

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Coordination Framework Turns To Courts And Violence To Form New Govt

The Coordination Framework made up of the major Shiite parties outside of the Sadrists is increasingly worried that it might be shut out of government. Moqtada al-Sadr wants a majority regime so he can exclude his longtime rivals within the Framework former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Qais Khazali the head of Asaib Ahl Al-Haq. As a result, the Framework is taking two approaches to negotiations. One is to challenge every step in forming the government in court. The second is using violence against its foes.

This Day In Iraqi History - Jan 18

 

1914 US consulate report UK forces in Basra under constant harassment by tribes

1928 Parliament dissolved PM Sadoun called for new elections hoping for new one to back his govt so he

could renegotiate conscription law, fix finances and pass new Anglo-Iraq Treaty

1947 Police arrested Jusuf head of the Communist Party along with other leaders

(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)

1948 New Anglo-Iraq Treaty published Led to 3 day strike and major protest in Baghdad led by

opposition parties

(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)

1966 Iraqi army withdrew after heavy casualties from campaign against Kurds

(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)

1981 Saddam accused Iran of getting US spare parts despite US embargo

1981 UN Envoy Palme warned that superpowers might get involved in Iran-Iraq War

1987 Iran ended 1^st phase Op Karbla 5 seized western bank of Shatt al-Arab Iraq suffered 17,500

casualties Iran 20-30,000

(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 Iraq fired missiles at Tel Aviv and Haifa, Israel

1991 Iraqi terrorist tried to blow up US ambassador’s house in Indonesia in retaliation for Gulf

War

1993 US UK and France carried out air and missile strikes on Iraq for not cooperating with UN

inspectors 21 killed

(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)

1996 Iraq agreed to talk about UN Resolution 986 that would create Oil For Food program

2003 UN inspectors said sites named by US as WMD facilities had been looked at and nothing

found

2003 Report Saudis attempted to get Saddam to go into exile to avert war

2004 Bremer memo to Def Sec Rumsfeld Argued US should take action against Sadr

2004 Truck bomb hit US headquarters at Republican Palace Baghdad Killed 20 wounded more

than 100

2005 Bishop of Syrian Catholic Church in Mosul kidnapped

2006 Al Qaeda in Iraq killed Sheikh Mohammed Sadiq al-Battah in Baghdad Head of Albu Chlaib

tribe in Anbar

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

2007 Baathist leader Izzat al-Douri offered to reduce insurgent attacks upon US forces if US went

after militias

2008 Fighting broke out between Soldiers of Heaven and Iraqi forces in Nasiriya and Basra Over 300

killed and wounded Group claimed persecution by PM Maliki Govt claimed they were Baathists in attempt to cover up fighting

2008 Gen Dubik in charge of training said ISF lacking in personnel equipment weapons logistics and

would need U.S. help for up to a decade

2008 Iraqi Accordance Front said that Accountability and Justice law met their demands and willing to

            end boycott of cabinet Wouldn’t happen until July

2009 Report PM Maliki removed Wasit police chief after Dawa member accused police of tearing

down Dawa election posters and putting up Iraqiya ones Warrants also issued for officers but not followed through with ISCI that ran Wasit council rejected new Maliki appointed chief

2010 KRG said it was willing to talk with Baghdad about oil Said it would publish deals it

signed with foreign companies in 2009 something Baghdad had demanded KRG wanted to restart its independent oil exports Kurds demanded that Baghdad pay the oil companies in KRG In return KRG would share profits from exports Maliki was trying to win over Kurds to get 2^nd term

(Musings On Iraq Talk Of Renewed Kurdish Oil Exports)

(Musings On Iraq Maliki Reaches Out To Kurds Before March 2010 Vote)

2010 Najaf council demanded that all Baathists leave province and fmr regime members would be

purged from council govt Part of push by Shiite parties to make Baathists main issue of 2010 vote

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

2010 UN asked Accountability and Justice Comm to reverse its banning of 511 candidates for

Baathist ties Commission told UN to stop interfering in Iraqi affairs

2010 Fmr UK Defense Intel analyst said that his unit always argued against certainty that Iraq had

WMD stockpiles but their opinion overturned by senior officials

2010 PM Blair’s chief of staff Powell testified to Chilcot Inquiry Said motivation for Iraq war

assumption Iraq had WMD Was not based upon intel but history with Saddam Were shocked when no WMD found after war

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

2011 Suicide bomber hit a police recruitment center in Tikrit killing 54 wounded 137

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

2011 Iraq Supreme Court ruled that all independent commissions and Central Bank of Iraq were under

PM Maliki instead of parliament Directly contradicted constitution that said all commissions were under the parliament

(Musings On Iraq Premier Maliki Wins Control Of Iraq’s Election Commission)

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq From War To A New Authoritarianism)

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

2011 PM Maliki and KRG PM Salah said they reached agreements on renewed Kurdish oil exports

and 2011 budget Oil Min would pay oil companies in KRG for their costs Issue of oil profits not resolved

(Musings On Iraq Has Baghdad And Kurdistan Finally Come To An Agreement Over Oil Exports And The 2011 Budget?)

View the Iraq History Timelines 

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