MUSINGS ON IRAQ: January 2018

Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Baby Steps Towards Reconciliation Between Iraq’s Central And Regional Govts

Reconciliation between Baghdad and Irbil in the aftermath of the September independence referendum has been going at a snail’s pace. Prime Minister Haidar Abadi still claims the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has not cancelled the results of the vote, while making various demands about its oil industry, air ports, border crossings, budget, etc. Recently, the central government made some small concessions.

This Day In Iraqi History – Jan 31

1941 PM Gaylani stepped down fearing civil war due to his reaching out to Axis that had split govt

and angered British

1941 UK Foreign Office decided to give money to Regent to help him return to power

1991 US and Saudis pushed Iraqi forces out of Saudi city of Khafji after 2 days of fighting

1999 Soviet paper claimed hundreds of Afghan Arabs were being trained in terrorism in south Iraq

to fight US

2003 Blair’s advisers told him had to prioritize pushing Bush on postwar planning for Iraq but

Blair failed to do so

2003 Bush and Blair said that invasion would start Mar 10 2003

2003 Blair told Bush he needed a 2^nd UN resolution for use of force against Iraq for domestic

politics Bush agreed

2003 Bush and Blair said a 2^nd U.N. resolution would be good against Iraq but not necessary to go

to war

2003 Bush said fighting between Iraqi factions would be unlikely after invasion

2003 Bush and Blair talked about provoking Iraq to help justify war including getting US spy

plane fired upon

2004 Gen Taguba started investigation of abuses at Abu Ghraib prison

2004 Car Bomb at Mosul police station killed 9 wounded 45

2005 Assyrians in Ninewa’s Bashiqa and Bartella told couldn’t vote after promised they could

when ballots ran out on Jan 30

2005 Assyrians demonstrated in Ninewa Plains over not being allowed to vote Broken up by

Kurdish security forces

2006 US Emb-military report situation in 6 of Iraq’s 18 provinces serious 1 critical

2006 US Emb-military report said militias infiltrating security forces in Basra Lots of

gangs smuggling assassinations

2009 Provincial elections held

View the Iraq History Timelines

Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Security In Iraq, Jan 22-28, 2018

The number of incidents reported in Iraq has stayed steady for the start of 2018. During the third week, there was a large number of fatalities because of two mass graves.

This Day In Iraqi History – Jan 30

1927 1^st student protest in Iraq held over firing of teachers Organized by Communists

1940 Regent of Iraq fled Baghdad for Diwaniya fearing retaliation by PM Gaylani

1940 British were hoping to use Regent fleeing to spread unrest in Iraq to remove PM

Gaylani from power

1984 State Dept memo said that US considered discouraging military exports to Iraq

1985 Iraq attacked Said Saad

1991 Saddam ordered Op Samarra hit and run air attacks on Coalition air force

2001 1^st NSC meeting of Bush admin talked about how Iraq destabilizing Middle East

CIA Dir Tenet provided intel Iraq working on WMD at factory

2001 Treasury Sec O’Neil asked about WMD intel Tenet admitted no confirmation that

Iraq producing WMD

2001 Sec of State Powell argued for smart sanctions

2001 Sec of Def Rumsfeld wrote memo noting Iraq and others trying to buy advanced

military technology

2002 Rice said Axis of Evil countries had to be dealt with diplomatically but at same

time said they couldn’t be negotiated with

2002 CIA unclassified report to Congress Iraq trying to rebuild its nuclear program

2003 Bush told Italian Premier Berlusconi that Iraq would be disarmed and Saddam

removed

2003 UN Amb Negroponte told Senate aluminum tubes Iraq bought were not right

for rockets in response to IAEA findings

2003 Same hearing Dep Sec of State Armitage said there were differences in US about

the tubes

2003 White House spokesman said Bush stood by claim that aluminum tubes Iraq tried

to buy were for nuke program

2003 UK Att Gen Goldsmith wrote Blair telling him UN Res 1441 didn’t authorize

use of force against Iraq

2003 Aid group warned that breakdown of law and order likely right after Iraq invasion

unless US immediately established control

2003 Powell’s chief of staff Wilkerson began going through intel on Iraq with CIA

for Powell’s Feb 03 UN speech

2004 CIA and Congressional inquiries no evidence White House pressured US intel on

Iraq’s WMD and ties with Al Qaeda

2004 Congressional committee found CIA relied too much on circumstantial outdated and

satellite and intercept intel on Iraq WMD

2005 Elections held for parliament to draft new Iraqi constitution Sunnis boycotted vote

Also voted for provincial councils

2012 Maliki warned Salahaddin governor that he would be removed if he pushed

provincial autonomy

2014 8 gunmen stormed Human Rights Min office in Baghdad and took hostages

Were killed

View the Iraq History Timelines

Monday, January 29, 2018

This Day In Iraqi History - Jan 29

1917 British captured Ottoman fort at Khadairi Bend in campaign to recapture

Kut

1948 PM Jabr forced to resign over protests over Anglo-Iraq treaty organized by

Communists Regent also against Jabr

1948 Sayid Mohammed al-Sadr replaced Jabr as PM

1953 Jamil al-Midfai became PM for 5^th time

1982 King Hussein said Jordanian troops would be sent to Iraq to help in Iran-Iraq

War

1991 Iraq launched probing attack upon Saudi city of Khafji occupying it

1998 Last part of final report of UN inspectors in Iraq issued

2002 Bush State of Union called Iraq part of Axis of Evil Said it still had WMD

programs

2002 Iran and North Korea added to Axis of Evil speech because Bush admin didn’t

want to be seen as focusing upon Iraq

2003 UN Amb Negroponte said Iraq bought aluminum tubes for nuke program

2003 Rumsfeld said Iraq had a nuke weapons program and tried to buy uranium from

Africa

(Musings On Iraq article on Iraq-Niger uranium story)
2003 Powell Chief of Staff Wilkerson went over info to be used in Powell speech to UN

at CIA HQ

2003 State’s Wilkerson rejected using Cheney Chief of Staff’s briefing as basis for

Powell’s UN speech CIA Dir Tenet said NIE on Iraq should be used instead

2003 Aid groups warned that if Pentagon ran postwar Iraq many international donors

would be reluctant to give relief

2004 NatlSecAdv Rice said what US predicted about Iraq WMD before war not what

found afterward

2004 NatlSecAdv Rice said Saddam deceived US and world about its WMD

2004 State Dept said failure to find out about Iraq’s WMD was not US failure but

international one

2004 Ex-Iraq Survey Group head Kay told Bush Saddam wanted Iraqis to believe

country had WMD when it didn't

2004 Fmr Iraq Survey Group head Kay said he thought Saddam destroyed his WMD

stocks because too easy to find

2004 Bush asked Ex-Iraq Survey Group head Kay why Saddam didn’t admit he had

no WMD Kay said Saddam wanted fear to stop revolts by Shiites and Kurds

2005 RAND Corp Iraq became center for jihadist cause and cause of terrorism in rest of

world

2005 Human Rights Watch US Abu Ghraib prison scandal became recruitment tool for

terrorists

2006 Al Qaeda sent 2^nd letter to Ansar al-Sunnah saying it sent representative to

Iraq to work out issues with Al Qaeda in Iraq

2006 Sharia Committee for the Army of the Followers of the Sunnah and the Collective

joined Mujahedeen Shura Council

2006 Sharia Committee for the Army of the Followers of the Sunnah and the

Collective’s emir was Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's group

2006 Report after US made deal with sheikhs in Ramadi against Al Qaeda in Iraq in

mid-Jan 3 sheikhs assassinated leading tribes to retaliate against AQI

2006 Report 3 Islamist insurgent groups once aligned with Al Qaeda in Iraq in Ramadi

broke with it

2006 National Security Adviser Rubaie said Al Qaeda in Iraq feuding with Islamic Army

and Mujahedeen Army

View the Iraq History Timelines

Sunday, January 28, 2018

Still Pulling Bodies From Wreckage Of Mosul

On January 12, 2018, the Civil Defense Department announced that it had finished recovering bodies from the rubble of Mosul. It said that roughly 2,500 people had been found, and any other remains were Islamic State members. Voice of America reported on January 26 however, that municipal workers were still pulling people out of the Old City in west Mosul. The day the VOA journalist was in the city for example, a 10-year-old girl was discovered. Much of the Old City remains a disaster area, so Civil Defense was probably premature to say that its work was done.

This Day In Iraqi History – Jan 28

1920 Turkish National Pact said Turkey gave up rights to all Ottoman provinces

with Arab majorities including Basra and Baghdad

1920 Turkish National Pact did not include Mosul province which Turkey claimed had

Turkish majority Kurds called Turks

1920 British also claimed Mosul province which it occupied after armistice with

Ottomans in 1918

1941 Regent appointed 2 new ministers to try to unseat PM Gaylani leading Gaylani to plot against

Regent

1985 Iraq launched first offensive since 1981 attacking Qasr e Shirin central Iran

1985 Iraq tried to re-take Majnoon Islands from Iran but failed

1998 UK discussed using force against Iraq to ensure continued UN weapons

inspections

2003 Bush’s State of Union said Iraq wasn’t disarming and hiding its programs from

weapons inspections

2003 Said Iraq had 25,000 liters of anthrax enough to make 38,000 liters of botulinum

toxin Making sarin and VX gas Had mobile WMD labs

2003 Bush speech asked what 9/11 hijackers could’ve done if given WMD by Iraq

2003 Bush said British learned Iraq tried to buy uranium from Africa

(Musings On Iraq article on Iraq-Niger uranium story)

2003 Bush’s State of Union said Saddam was harboring Al Qaeda members

2003 UK Foreign Sec Straw told For Office legal adv Wood that he didn’t think 2^nd UN

resolution was necessary for action vs Iraq

2003 ORHA head Garner met with NSC’s Zalimay who said goal of postwar Iraq

should be getting Iraqis to govern as soon as possible

2003 Cheney chief of staff Libby gave copy of his briefing on Iraq WMD and ties to

Al Qaeda to Powell to be used as basis for his UN speech

2004 Ex-IraqSurveyGroup’s Kay told Congress everyone wrong about Iraq having

stocks of WMD but did have programs

2004 Ex-IraqSurveyGroup head Kay told Congress an investigation was needed on intel

failure over Iraq’s WMD

2004 White House said that Iraq Survey Group needed more time to make conclusions

about whether Iraq had WMD or not

2004 Hutton Inquiry said Sep 02 dossier on Iraq’s WMD had not been influenced by

political pressure from Blair govt

2004 UN Sec Gen Annan said UN delegation would go to Iraq to look into elections
2004 CPA Order 55 created Integrity Commission to investigate corruption

2006 Aglus Sunnah wal Jammah joined Mujahadeen Shura Council

2007 Soldiers of Heaven started revolt in Najaf leaving almost 300 dead

2011 Protest in Mosul demanded govt release of prisoners

2016 Abadi met with Pres Masum Speaker Jabouri to talk about technocratic govt and reforms

View the Iraq History Timelines

Musings On Iraq In The News

I was cited in "Irak: Kiruk by og provins - kontroll, sikkerhet og internt fordrevne ved arsskiftel 2017/18" by Landinfo.

Saturday, January 27, 2018

Iraq’s Former Trade Minister To Finally Face Prison Time For Corruption

Former Trade Minister Abdul Falah al-Sudani will finally go to prison three years after he was sentenced for corruption. The Lebanese government cooperated with Baghdad to extradited Sudani back to Iraq. He was arrested there in September 2017, after fleeing Iraq a few years beforehand.

This Day In Iraqi History - Jan 27

1925 League of Nations Commission on Mosul arrived in province to protests Was to determine who

would get Mosul Iraq or Turkey

1925 Commission interviewed hundreds of locals and mapped economy, land, trade

routes, ethnicities

1948 Communists called for more protests against Anglo-Iraq Treaty to topple govt

1948 Mass demonstration against Anglo-Iraq treaty led to clashes with police in

Baghdad 77 killed Hundreds wounded

2002 Gen Franks briefed Rumsfeld on latest war plan Said Iraqi military degraded by

sanctions Wanted info campaign vs Iraq to start

2002 Gran Franks claimed the more the U.S. got involved against Saddam the less

Iraqi people would support regime

2002 Gen Franks had cut war plan to 150 days down from 7 months and 245,000 troops

2002 Gen Franks wanted to cut timeline for war down to even less time

2003 Head UN inspector Blix told Security Council that Iraq cooperating with

inspections but had not accepted disarmament

2003 Head UN inspector Blix asked what undeclared WMD items did Iraq have Asked

did it illegally produce anything after 98

2003 UN head inspector Blix said Iraq’s Dec WMD declaration had provided no new

info and not answered questions

2003 Head UN inspector Blix said were questions about Iraq’s production of anthrax

VX gas and WMD bombs from Iran-Iraq War

2003 El Baradei told Security Council IAEA had found no evidence of an active

nuclear program in Iraq

2003 El Baradei said aluminum tubes Iraq tried to buy were probably for rockets

not nuclear program

2003 Powell said Iraq was hiding its WMD

2003 US intelligence said Blix would back off next declaration to UN on inspections

because didn't want to start war

2003 Some in White House believed Blix lying about inspections and could not be

trusted

2003 Bush believed US stuck in inspection process and pushed him towards war

2003 CIA report said Iraq tried to buy uranium from Niger in 1999 Said was uranium

in warehouse in Benin but was going to France not Iraq

2003 CIA Dir Tenet given copy of Bush’s State of the Union address that included

claim that Iraq tried to buy uranium from Niger Tenet didn’t read speech

2003 CIA Berlin chief said that Iraqi defector CURVEBALL was considered a problem by Germans

and they hadn’t confirmed any of his stories of mobile WMD labs

2003 ORHA began contracting for supplies and personnel for post-war Iraq 2 months

before invasion

2003 William Safire NYTimes piece said Zarqawi went to Baghdad Then to Kurdistan

to Ansar al-Islam proving Iraq-Al Qaeda link

2004 Ex-IraqSurveyGroup head Kay Iraq told UN in 1995 it had destroyed WMD

and nuke program but no one believed them

2006 Report shifting US reconstruction money to security meant 60% of water and 125

electricity projects would not be finished

2012 bombing of Shiite funeral left over 90 casualties

View the Iraq History Timelines

Friday, January 26, 2018

This Day In Iraqi History - Jan 26

1948 PM Said said that Anglo-Iraq Treaty was still on the table after Regent

cancelled it Led to new protests

1948 PM Said ordered suppression of protests against Anglo-Iraq Treaty

1982 Iran and Iraq agreed to family visits for prisoners of war

1987 Islamic Conference Organization invited Iran and Iraq to summit in Kuwait Iran

said no

1987 UN Sec Gen de Cuella addressed Islamic Conf Org saying aggressor in Iran-Iraq

War needed to be determined

1997 Iraqi National Accord operative gave interview saying CIA behind bombing campaign
in Iraq form 1994-95
1998 Project for New American Century sent letter to Clinton demanding US

overthrow Saddam

1998 11 of 18 that signed letter from Project for New American Century would join

Bush administration in 2001

2003 Powell speech asked why Iraq tried to buy uranium Reference to Iraq-Niger uranium deal

2003 Blair said Iraq non-cooperation with UN inspectors was material breach of

UN Resolution

2004 Japanese troops deployed to Iraq as part of Coalition of Willing

2005 Insurgent umbrella group announced campaign to disrupt that year’s elections

2005 US Cmdr in Iraq Gen Casey said US and Iraqi forces killing more insurgents and

taking fight to Sunni areas

2005 US Cmdr in Iraq Gen Casey said Iraqi forces could secure country but could

secure voting stations during elections

2006 Al Qaeda sent letter to Ansar al-Sunnah suggested it merge with Al Qaeda in Iraq

2011 insurgents caught crossing from Syria to Anbar Said they got aid from

Syrian govt

2015 after battle with IS in Barwanah, Diyala Hashd kill 70 civilians

2017 All of east Mosul freed by Iraqi forces after Abadi declared it cleared

View the Iraq History Timelines

Thursday, January 25, 2018

This Day In Iraqi History - Jan 25

1917 British attack Ottoman positions along Hai River

1959 Gen Qasim legalized trade unions

1967 Pres Johnson met 5 Iraqi generals and Iraqi Amb Hani at White House and

said that they would build closer ties

1981 Islamic Conference Organization created group to try to mediate end to Iran-Iraq

War

1987 3^rd War of the Cities ended

1990 OPEC said Kuwait and UAE agreed to limit exports to try to settle dispute with

Iraq

1998 1^st part of final report of UN inspections in Iraq

2003 Military Industrialization Commission officials had Republican Guard

commanders sign docs that they had no WMD in units

2003 Cheney chief of staff Libby briefed White House on case vs Iraq’s WMD and ties

to Al Qaeda

2003 Libby said Iraq hiding its WMD and cleaning sites before UN inspections

2003 Libby said Iraq-Al Qaeda ties strong

2003 Libby played recording of 2 Al Qaeda operatives talking about poisons that Libby

said they got from Iraq

2003 Libby claimed 9/11 hijacker Atta met with Iraq intelligence in Prague up to 4 times

2004 Ex-Iraq Survey Group Head Kay US intel was wrong about state of Iraq’s WMD

programs

2004 Ex-Iraq Survey Group head Kay US intel agencies had to explain why they failed

on Iraq intel on WMD

2004 Ex-Iraq Survey Group head Kay said Iraq tried to restart nuke program in 2000-01

but didn’t get far

2004 Ex-Iraq Survey Group head Kay said Iraq had active biological weapons program

2004 Ex-Iraq Survey Group head Kay 1998 US bombing had stopped Iraq’s chemical

weapons program

2005 Bush admin said it would ask Congress for another $80 bil for Iraq and

Afghanistan wars

2005 Human Rights Watch reported arbitrary arrests torture abuse threats corruption in

Iraqi justice system

2006 Report US wanted to make Iraqi army light infantry force to fight insurgency and not

threaten neighbors Meant given no artillery or heavy weapons besides 77 T-72 tanks

2010 3 international hotels bombed

2013 ISF killed 9 protesters at Fallujah protest camp for throwing stones

2015 Yazidi militias and YPG forced Arabs out of Om Danabuk, Sinjar Killed 10 and

looted village

2015 Badr’s Amiri claimed all of Diyala cleared of IS

View the Iraq History Timelines

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Iraq’s Parliamentary Elections Set For May 12, 2018

There was some debate about whether Iraq would hold its next national elections on time. Some Sunni parties wanted a delay. A Federal Court decision sealed the deal and voting will happen as planned on May 12, 2018. The alliances were set beforehand, although there were several attempts at moves after the fact. Prime Minister Haidar Abadi heads into the vote with the upper hand, but there are always twists and turns in Iraqi politics.

The Day In Iraqi History – Jan 24

1969 Former MP Bajari during spy trial claimed opposition leaders were trying

to overthrow Pres Bakr’s govt

1970 42 more sentenced to death for coup plot against Pres Bakr

2003 Gen Franks presented final war plan to Rumsfeld and Joint Chiefs head Gen

Myers

2003 Blair sent note to Bush suggesting delaying Iraq invasion for a month to allow

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Security In Iraq, Jan 15-21, 2018

There was a large jump in casualties in Iraq during the third week of January 2018. Part of that was due to two mass graves being discovered in Ninewa. The main reason however was a suicide bombing in Baghdad that left 143 casualties. This was the second week the Islamic State launched such attacks.

This Day In Iraqi History – Jan 23

1920 British cabinet decided Iraqi oil would be developed by a public company

Foreign Secretary Curzon overturned decision

1920 UK Foreign Secretary Lord Curzon decided Turkish Petroleum Company would

keep its oil rights signed with Ottomans

1948 More protests against Anglo-Iraq Treaty leading to fights between Communist and

Independence party

1970 33 conspirators in coup against Pres Bakr executed

1991 Iraq dumped 400 mil gallons of oil into Persian Gulf to try to prevent

US retaking Kuwait

1999 NSC counterterrorism dir Clarke said US was right to bomb factory in Sudan

because connected to Al Qaeda and Iraq WMD experts

2003 Defense Ministry ordered that if Baghdad were to fall all govt buildings were to

be looted and burned

2003 Mukhabarat document called for looting and destruction of property if Saddam

were overthrown

2003 Rice wrote NY Times OpEd Iraq hiding its WMD programs from UN inspectors

and tried to buy uranium for its nuke program Reference to Iraq-Niger deal

2003 Rumsfeld said that Iraq had WMD and ties to terrorism were one threat

2003 Under Sec of Def Wolfowitz said Iraq had tons of WMD and time running out for

2003 DepDefSec Wolfowitz speech Said Iraq didn’t make truthful weapons

declaration to UN

2003 DepDefSec Wolfowitz said Iraqi defectors told about Iraq having mobile

WMD labs

2003 DepDefSec Woflowitz said Iraqi govt threatening scientists not to talk to

UN inspectors

2003 White House released document saying Iraq hiding its WMD and tried to buy

uranium for its nuke program Reference to Iraq-Niger deal

2004 Iraq Survey Group head Kay resigned saying didn’t think Iraq had any WMD

stocks or large programs since 1980s

2004 Iraq Survey Group head Kay said Iraq destroyed its WMD after Gulf War due to

inspections and unilateral actions

2004 Iraq Survey Group head Kay resigned because group was going to be diverted

from finding WMD to fighting insurgency

2004 White House said it believed Iraq had WMD and it would be found

2006 Report Iraqis going to Jordan jumped from 200-250/day from 2004-05 to 1,100/day

in Jan 06 as people were fleeing violence

2007 Bush State of Union outlined the Surge

2008 Iraqi Ninewa campaign began to secure Mosul

2008 20,000 pound bomb went off in Mosul leaving 300 casualties

2010 Asaib Ahl Al-Haq kidnapped US contractor Issa Salomi which it swapped for 4 of

its members held in prison

2015 Hashd destroyed four mosques in Muqtadiya, Diyala after operation there

View the Iraq History Timelines

Monday, January 22, 2018

This Day In Iraqi History - Jan 22

1970 3 coup plotters executed by Pres Bakr govt

1970 Iraq expelled Iranian ambassador accusing Tehran of backing 1970 failed coup

1991 Iraqi SCUD missile and 2 U.S. Patriot missiles landed on Israeli city of

Ramat Gan

1991 Iraqi forces set fire to 700 Kuwaiti oil wells

2003 2^nd meeting of US UK Australia on postwar Iraq Little came of meeting

2003 CIA sent its report on Iraq WMD to White House to help make case for war

2003 CIA analyst told IAEA aluminum tubes Iraq tried to buy were for centrifuges

IAEA said they were for rockets IAEA proved right

2004 Cheney Iraq had mobile labs and WMD programs Inspections found no mobile

labs

2004 Cheney said overwhelming evidence Saddam linked to Al Qaeda

2004 Cheney said Iraq behind 1993 World Trade Center bombing

2005 Report $300 mil for arms deal for Iraqi army went missing after put on plane for

Lebanon

2005 INC’s Chalabi accused Defense Min Shaalan of stealing the $300 mil Shaalan

threatened to arrest Chalabi for the charge

2006 Report 34,131 attacks in 2005 up from 26,496 in 2004 Car bombs went from 420

in 2004 to 873 in 2005 IEDs went from 5,607 in 2004 to 10,953 in 2005

2007 Maliki announced he would no longer protect the Mahdi Army from U.S.

raids

2008 Mahdi Army tried to kidnap PM Maliki’s national security adviser Mowafaq

Rubaie in Baghdad

2012 Iraq voted in Arab League for a transition of power in Syria away from Assad

View the Iraq History Timelines

Sunday, January 21, 2018

This Day In Iraqi History - Jan 21

1916 Ottomans retreated up Tigris after defeat at Battle of Wadi only to lose

again to British at Battle of Hanna

1948 Demonstrators against Anglo-Iraq Treaty fired upon again Led Regent to

repudiate treaty

1970 Pres Bakr announced failed coup by ex-army officers and special tribunal to try

plotters Accused Iran of backing coup

1970 Imam Khomeini started lectures in Najaf outlining his concept of vilayat al-faqih

1987 Saddam sent letter to Iranians asking them to challenge Khomeini’s right to

rule and conduct of Iran-Iraq War

1999 SCIRI rejected any U.S. aid

2002 Weekly Standard OpEd by Robert Kagan and William Kristol called for Iraq to be

attacked as next step in war on terror

2003 Bush said that Saddam was not interested in disarming and that time was

running out on Iraq

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

2003 DeptSecState Armitage spoke at US Inst of Peace saying US trying to avoid war

but Iraq not accounted for its WMD

2004 VP Cheney said there was overwhelming evidence Iraq and Al Qaeda connected

2005 Knight Ridder analysis Violence in Iraq increased after every US benchmark such

as capture of Saddam handing over sovereignty etc

2009 1^st NSC meeting in Obama admin president said he wanted to withdraw from

Iraq but preserve successes Wanted 3 options for Iraq policy

2011 3 bombs hit Shiite pilgrims during Arbayeen

View the Iraq History Timelines

Saturday, January 20, 2018

How US Intelligence Failed, The Iraq-Niger Uranium Story

Within the U.S. intelligence community that story that Iraq tried to buy yellowcake uranium from Niger was never very important. It was a considered a secondary claim to other reports that Iraq had restarted its nuclear program. It would later become a huge controversy when it was included in the president’s 2003 State of the Union address, and then Vice President Dick Cheney tried to discredit former Ambassador Joseph Wilson who disputed the story. That embarrassing episode was only the public face of a larger example of the intelligence failure America suffered from in the lead up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

This Day In Iraqi History – Jan 20

1948 March by railway workers and students against Anglo-Iraq treaty fired

upon by police killing some

1970 failed military coup against Pres Bakr led by ex-Gen Rawi and Col Samarraie

backed by Iran

1970 Iran expelled Iraq’s ambassador military attache and four embassy staff over

failed coup

1970 Shah of Iran opposed to Baathism’s Pan-Arabism and socialism Moved troops

to border after coup leading to war scare

2003 Military Industrialization Commission ordered its director generals to come

forward with any info on WMD

2003 White House gave report to Congress on Iraq’s noncompliance with UN inspectors

included Iraq not mentioning trying to buy uranium

2003 National Sec Presidential Dir 24 gave Pentagon control of postwar Iraq

2003 Pentagon would dismiss previous NSC planning for postwar Iraq and kick out

State Dept officials

2003 Office for Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA) created to

run post-war Iraq 2 months before invasion

2003 UK announced it deployed ground forces for Iraq War

2003 France’s For Min deVillepin said there was no justification for war against Iraq

2003 Powell furious at French statement because took threat of war off table at UN

and strengthened Saddam

2004 Bush’s State of the Union said US was committed to spreading democracy to

Iraq

2004 Bush’s State of the Union said Iraq Survey Group found Iraq’s WMD programs and

if US hadn’t invaded Iraq would still have them

2006 Dec 05 election results announced United Iraqi Alliance 128 seats Kurds 53

Accordance Front 44 Iraqiya 25 National Dialogue Front 11

2006 Al Qaeda in Iraq said Abdullah Rashid al-Baghdadi had become emir of new

Mujahedeen Shura Council

2006 Amb Khalizad met with Iyad Allawi and Fadhila head Jabiri Jabiri promised PM

spot if he broke with United Iraqi Alliance and backed Allawi Sunnis and Kurds

2006 Iyad Allawi told his followers he would get Fadhila head Jabiri to back him as PM

after he broke with United Iraqi Alliance

2007 Asaib Ahl Al-Haq in an Iranian Revolutionary Guard planned op attacked

Karbala Center and kidnap and kill 5 US soldiers

View the Iraq History Timelines

Friday, January 19, 2018

This Day In Iraqi History - Jan 19

1948 Kurds from Iraq and Iran met in Baku, Soviet Union Mustafa Barzani

led plans for Kurdish movement

1987 Iranian attack on Basra city caused population to start fleeing

1991 Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim said that Supreme Council was against U.S.

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

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

2003 Pentagon officials leaked info on US invasion plans of Iraq to Time to push back

against Rumsfeld’s small invasion force

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

find any hard evidence against Iraq

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 calling for early elections

2004 US Cmdr in Iraq Gen Sanchez ordered secret investigation into Abu Ghraib

prison abuse

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

Sadr

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

View the Iraq History Timelines

Thursday, January 18, 2018

Churchill In His Own Words On Mesopotamia/Iraq

A recent article outlined how England’s War and later Colonial Secretary Winston Churchill’s main focus after World War I was to save money. England had expended a huge amount to fight the war, and then faced continued obligations and conflicts in Ireland, Palestine, Russia, Turkey, and Mesopotamia/Iraq. In the latter, the British had seized the Ottoman provinces of Basra and Baghdad as part of a strategy to attack the Turks from the east. After the war, it took Mosul as well. The question was then what to do with them.

This Day In Iraqi History - Jan 18

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

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

1987 Iran ended Op Karbla 6 seized western bank of Shatt al-Arab Iran-Iraq War

1991 Iraq launched missiles at Israel and Saudi Arabia at start of Gulf War

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

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 Truck bomb hit US headquarters at Republican Palace Baghdad Killed 20

wounded more than 100

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

View the Iraq History Timelines

Wednesday, January 17, 2018

Security In Iraq, Jan 8-14, 2018

The number of security incidents remained low for the second week of January 2018. There were very few attacks and casualties. The week did see the return of mass casualty bombings by the Islamic State.

This Day In Iraqi History – Jan 17

1974 Bakr govt held talks with Mustafa Barzani and KDP

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

the Cities Iran-Iraq War

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

1990 Iraq ended foreign travel ban for citizens

1990 Bush admin signed directive for normalized relations with Iraq

1991 Operation Desert Storm-Gulf War started to expel Iraq from Kuwait Coalition

began air campaign against Iraq

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

with UN inspectors

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

time

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

buy uranium from Africa

2003 CIA told Joint Chiefs of Staff that it had some reports that Iraq tried to buy

uranium from Africa

2003 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

2008 Hawija Dist Head said Sahwa would be formed there Didn’t need Peshmerga

2010 Chemical Ali sentenced to death for Halabja attack

2011 Parliament passed VP law taking away their power

View the Iraq History Timelines