MUSINGS ON IRAQ: March 2018

Saturday, March 31, 2018

Review Wanting War: Why the Bush Administration Invaded Iraq

Review Record, Jeffrey, Wanting War: Why the Bush Administration Invaded Iraq, Dulles: Potomac Books, 2010

It’s odd that 15 years after the Iraq war there is still discussion about what caused it. Was it the weapons of mass destruction, the oil, neoconservatives, or other factors? Much of that is due to the Bush administration whose stated goals WMD and Iraq’s connection to Al Qaeda both proved to be based upon a house of cards. Jeffrey Record’s Wanting War: Why the Bush Administration Invaded Iraq is one of the best attempts to answer the question of why the U.S. invaded Iraq. Rather than having a grand strategy, Record found that there was a confluence of different personalities and ideas within the White House that all converged on Iraq. These were roughly divided into two main camps, neoconservatives that wanted to spread democracy via overthrowing Saddam Hussein and others that wanted to maintain the supremacy of the United States in the world after 9/11.

This Day In Iraqi History - Mar 31

1934 Iraqi Communist Party founded

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

1941 Pan-Arab Golden Square officers decided to remove PM Hashemi in coup

1981 Egypt began selling military equipment to Iraq in Iran-Iraq War

1985 UN Sec Gen arrived in Iran Told Iraqi air raids killed 1450 civilians and wounded

4000

1989 Iraq exported oil for 1^st time from Basra after Iran-Iraq War closed down ports

1989 Israel said Iraq embarked on crash course to build a nuclear bomb and a missile

to deliver it

1991 Govt op to retake Sulaymaniya from Peshemerga began

2000 UN Res 1293 doubled amount of spare parts Iraq could import to maintain its

oil industry under Oil for Food program

2002 Blair offered a division and UK bases to US for invasion

2003 Saddam didn’t give televised speech as expected Instead Information Minister Sahaf

did calling on Iraqis to carry out suicide missions against the invaders

2003 1^st car bomb in Iraq hit US checkpoint north of Najaf

2003 US forces engaged Fedayeen and Republican Guard south of Baghdad

2003 US forces launched raid on Shatra Dhi Qar after receiving information Ali Hassan

al-Majid Chemical Ali was there

2003 British military believed it could start popular uprising in Basra to take city

rather than having to attack it

2003 Sir David Manning told British would have huge shortage of troops for postwar

operations in Iraq

2003 UK Foreign Office official wrote For Sec Straw saying Iraqis mistrusted US and

US occupation would be humiliation and untenable

2003 Israeli Infrastructure Min Paritzky said he wanted to reopen Kirkuk-Haifa pipeline

by end of 03 Based upon promises made by Chalabi before war he would get Iraq to export oil to Israel

2004 US Committee on US pre-war intel on WMD said that US intel was “dead wrong”

on almost all its judgments about Iraq

2004 Insurgents ambushed Blackwater convoy and killed 4 contractors in Fallujah 2

were strung up on bridge

2004 Bush gave CPA 48 hours to resolve Blackwater attack in Fallujah

2004 Bush gave speech US would not give into violence in Iraq and fighting terrorism

2004 Sadrists marched to Green Zone in Baghdad to protest US occupation

2005 Silbermann-Robb report called US pre-war intel on Iraq one of largest intelligence

failures in US history

2005 Silbermann-Robb report US intel data on Iraq was worthless and analysis wrong

2005 Silbermann-Robb report US lacked significant new intel on Iraq WMD so relied

on Gulf War and 90s UN inspections and extrapolated from them

2005 Silbermann-Robb report US relied upon Iraqi defectors that were lying and

ignored problems with their stories

2005 Silbermann-Robb report US relied upon satellite photos that showed nothing

substantive

2005 Silbermann-Robb report US intel claimed Iraq made WMD advances that were

technically impossible

2005 Silbermann-Robb report US intel ignored reports that Iraq no longer had any

WMD

2005 Silbermann-Robb report UN inspectors disproved most of US case against Iraq’s

WMD but were ignored

2005 Robb-Silberman report found CIA had little on Iraq’s nuke program outside of

aluminum tubes but became basis for Oct 02 National Intel Est on Iraq’s WMD

2005 Silbermann-Robb report said that aluminum tubes Iraq tried to buy were for

rockets not centrifuges Example of misinterpretation by US intel

2005 Robb-Silberman report said aluminum tubes was a technical assessment which

CIA failed at Went with assumptions rather than facts

2005 Robb-Silberman report CIA never looked at Iraqi rockets to see whether they

fit aluminum tubes CIA and DIA created theory on tubes that rejected all criticism

2005 Robb-Silberman report found British and Australian intelligence didn’t

believe aluminum tubes were for centrifuges

2005 RAND study showed post-war planning for Iraq was inadequate and never

considered security of Iraqi public

2006 100 insurgents attacked Muqtadiya police headquarters killing 19 police and

freed 33 prisoners

2007 Maliki made 1^st trip to Anbar and met with tribal leaders and provincial council

who complained about Baghdad’s neglect

2008 IRGC-QF Gen Suleimani met with Pres Talabani and VP Mahdi to try to

negotiate ceasefire between Maliki and Sadr

2008 Maliki said would continue to go after Mahdi Army in Basra that didn’t follow

cease-fire

2008 Maliki aide said plan was to divide Mahdi Army between those that followed

Sadr’s ceasefire and those that continued fighting

2008 Mahdi Army fired rockets at Green Zone for another day

2008 Interior Min announced 1000s of police would be fired for refusing to fight Mahdi

Army

2008 Report 2 army regiments refused to fight Mahdi Army in Baghdad

2008 Mass grave with 52 bodies of ISI victims found in Zahmann Diyala River

Valley

2009 British ended military mission in Iraq

2009 Deadline for power sharing and provincial elections in Kirkuk passed with no

progress

2010 VP Hashemi said an Arab should be president no longer a Kurd

2010 Iraqiya said it would implement Art 140 on disputed areas to try to get Kurdish

backing for Allawi as premier

2010 Sadr said there would be a referendum on who his followers wanted as premier

2011 Pres Barzani said he would prosecute security members who fired on

demonstrators in Sulaymaniya

2011 Protests in Kalar, Sulaymaniya become violent with rocks thrown at security

forces

2012 Oil Ministry paid oil companies in Kurdistan $650 mil for exports

2014 IS released 2^nd annual al-Naba report on its operations

2014 IS held parade in Abu Ghraib

2014 Fmr Communications Min Allawi Fmr Fin Min Issawi and 8 general mangers

charged with corruption

2014 Mutahidun claimed 44 civilians killed by Hashd in Buhriz, Diyala with

complicity of ISF

2015 Tikrit freed from IS 1^st stories emerged of Hashd looting afterward

2015 Diyala council voted to remove confidence from Gov Yacoub for stealing

aid for displaced

2016 PM Abadi presented his list of technocratic ministers

2016 Sadr called off his protests after Abadi announced cabinet

View the Iraq History Timelines

Friday, March 30, 2018

Security In Iraq, Mar 22-28, 2018

The number of incidents reported in Iraq during the fourth week of March surpassed the yearly mean due to an increase in Islamic State attacks as well as an ongoing operation by Turkey against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Those two factors also resulted in a very high death count for the week. March is shaping up to be the month that IS switched from scattered hit and run attacks after railing from its territorial defeat to when it regrouped and converted back to openly confronting the Iraqi government. It has access to rural areas from Anbar and Ninewa straight across to Diyala, and has targeted local officials and security forces. These are the same tactics it used in its comeback after the Surge.

This Day In Iraqi History - Mar 30

1921 Cairo Conference decided on indirect rule in Iraq Would make Faisal King

of a pro-British Iraqi govt allowing withdrawal of British forces

1921 Cairo Confernce decided to keep UK High Commissioner for Iraq British advisers

in govt naval presence in Basra and RAF squadrons in rest of country

1939 King Ghazi gave pan-Arab speech saying he was interested in Arab brothers in

Syria Palestine Kuwait

1940 Fmr PM Said put together new govt with Rashid Gaylani becoming PM Said

became Foreign Minister Had backing of British

1980 Baath made membership in Dawa punishable by death

1982 Saddam admitted that Iraqi forces retreated from southern Iran

1984 UN condemned use of chemical weapons in Iran-Iraq War but didn’t mention

Iraq as perpetrator

1984 US banned export of 5 chemicals to Iraq that could be used to make chemical

weapons

1991 Saddam’s troops re-entered Dohuk and Irbil to put down Kurdish rebellion

1991 Majid al-Khoei met with Saudi intelligence and was turned down for aid because

US objections

1995 INC and PUK attacked Iraqi forces in Kirkuk district destroying 2 brigades hoping

to create a revolt against Saddam

2002 Gen Franks presented new revised Iraq war plan to Bush

2003 British began 2^nd attack to take Basra city with 600 commandos

2003 UK Defense Minister Hoon told US didn't think taking Basra City important US

wanted UK to hold south oil fields & Um Qasr port

2003 US intensified air strikes on Republican Guard units with 800 sorties

2003 Saddam believed U.S. invasion was stalemated

2003 Saddam’s secretary told Iraqi For Ministry to tell France and Russia they would

only accept an unconditional withdrawal by U.S.

2003 Iraqi TV aired footage of Saddam Qusay and Uday handing out medals and money

to soldiers

2003 Rumsfeld told ABC that US knew exactly where Iraq’s WMD were Claimed they

were around Tikrit and Baghdad

2003 Rumsfeld accused Syria of giving military aid to Iraq Syria claimed US

committing crimes vs Iraqi civilians

2003 Dep Sec of Def Wolfowtiz said Iraq war about WMD and that they would

eventually be found

2003 Blair foreign policy adv Sir Manning worried that Baghdad when attacked could

turn into drawn out urban battle

2003 Iraqis shot down US Apache helicopter during invasion

2006 Report Albu Mahal went from insurgency to fighting Al Qaeda in Iraq after

objected to Islamic law being imposed

2006 Report Albu Mahal entered into months of fighting with Salmani and Karabila

tribes allied with Al Qaeda in Iraq in WAnbar Qaim dist Was expelled

2006 Report Albu Mahal went to US formed Desert Protectors Got help to have

tribesmen join Iraqi army

2008 Sadr announced ceasefire in Basra but said Mahdi Army would not give up their

weapons

2008 Iranian Revolutionary Guard Gen Suleimani helped negotiate Sadr ceasefire

2008 Mahdi Army fired rockets at Green Zone again

2008 Tribes in Dhi Qar and Dulaim in Wasit joined govt in crackdown against Mahdi

Army

2008 Nasiriya said to be cleared of Mahdi Army

2008 SIIC held pro-govt demonstration in Karbala against Sadr

2010 Allawi complained about Iran’s interference in forming new Iraqi government

2010 VP Hashemi said Iran trying to unite Shiite parties behind 2^nd Maliki term

2011 Accountability and Justice Comm ruled 2 nominees for Interior and Defense

Ministers made by Maliki were disqualified for Baathist past

2011 Turkey’s Erdogan went on tour of Iraq to Baghdad 1^st Sunni leader to go to Najaf

shrine 1^st Turkish leader to go to Irbil

2012 Pres Barzani said Maliki becoming authoritarian

2016 Kurdish Alliance said they would not give up any of their ministers

2016 Supreme Council MP complained that Abadi didn’t consult with others about

his reforms

View of the Iraq History Timelines

Thursday, March 29, 2018

Political Posturing By Iraq And Turkey

Iraq and Turkey have been trying to avoid a confrontation over the latter’s threat of a military operation into Ninewa’s Sinjar. As part of that process Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi and Turkey’s Premier Binali Yildrim had a conversation where they each promised to respect each other’s sovereignty, while in practice neither was doing so.

This Day In Iraqi History – Mar 29

1946 Iraq-Turkey Friendship Treaty Would cooperate over Tigris and Euphrates

Security education communication economies

1947 Sayid Salih Jabr became premier 1^st Shiite PM of Iraq

1982 Saddam offered to withdraw to international border between Iran-Iraq Rejected by

Iran

1984 US intel found Iraq buying equipment from West German company to make

chemical weapons W. Germany denied story

1984 US intel reported Iraq had 5 sites producing chemical weapons for Iran-Iraq War

1987 Ali Hassan al-Majid given special powers over all govt agencies in northern

Iraq to deal with Kurds

1991 Iraqi troops recaptured Kirkuk from Kurdish rebels

1991 Iraqi troops captured Tanuma, Basra from rebels

1994 Saddam became prime minister of Iraq

2002 Gen Franks briefed military service chiefs on Iraq war planning

2003 UK Embassy in Washington Bush mad at press reports invasion not going

according to plan

2003 1^st Suicide bomber in Iraq war hits US checkpoint in Najaf killing 4 soldiers

2003 Iraq VP Ramadan said suicide bombers would become routine in Iraq and

threatened England and US with them

2003 VP Ramadan said that foreign fighters had arrived in Iraq to help defend it against

Americans

2003 Iraqi govt removed commander of Iraqi air defense in Baghdad after

missiles misfired and hit the capital

2003 Iraq fired 2 SCUDS at Kuwait but shot down by US Patriot missiles

2006 US intel report said 1707 Sunni and Shiite families moved in Baghdad after

Askari bombing Mahdi Army kidnapping and executing people

2007 National Police kidnapped 5 British security guards from Eastern Baghdad

2007 New US Amb Ryan Crocker arrived in Iraq

2007 Suicide bombings in Baghdad kill 82

2008 Fighting between ISF and Mahdi Army continued in Karbala, Hillah, Baghdad,

Basra

2008 Mahdi Army fired rockets at Green Zone again in retaliation for Charge of Knights

2008 Maliki delegation met with Sadr in Iran to work out ceasefire in Basra

2008 Sadr said he was talking with Ayatollah Sistani to negotiate ceasefire with Maliki

2008 Sadr also called for Qais Khazali and Asaib Ahl Al-Haq to rejoin his organization

2009 Provincial election results announced State of Law won 126 of 440 seats 28%

ISCI went from 200 to 50 seats

2009 Maliki govt said in talks with Asaib Ahl Al-Haq to get 5 British hostages it

kidnapped released

2009 PKK rejected call by Pres Talabani and Pres Barzani to disarm

2009 Sahwa in Dora, Baghdad protested over not getting paid by govt

2009 US and ISF disarmed Sahwa in Fadhil, Baghdad after fighting broke out day before

when its commander arrested

2010 Peshmerga withdrew from Jalawla, Diyala after argument over control of

disputed areas with Baghdad

2011 Maliki presented nominees for security ministries never filled after 2010

elections

2011 Najmuddin Karim elected governor of Kirkuk

2011 ISI attacked Tikrit provincial council building leaving 150 casualties

2011 Parliament human rights committee found chronic abuses in Diyala prisons

including torture

2011 Opposition parties boycotted KRG parliament because govt hadn’t responded

to protest demands

2011 Turkish Premier Erdogan went to Kurdistan first Turkish leader to visit region

2015 Most Hashd had pulled out of Tikrit op to protest US airstrikes

2015 Abadi met with Hashd leaders to talk about Tikrit offensive and their

protests over US airstrikes

2015 Asaib Ahl Al-Haq said it would not join future ops in Anbar and Ninewa

if US involved

2016 Deadline set by Sadr for Abadi to announce new technocratic cabinet

2016 State of Law said Abadi ready to present candidates for cabinet but

ruling parties were not cooperating

View the Iraq History Timelines

Wednesday, March 28, 2018

This Day In Iraqi History - Mar 28

1982 Saddam ordered Iraqi forces to withdraw from Shush Lost 3 divisions

25,000 casualties 15-20,000 captured

1982 Iran suffered 30,000 casualties due to human wave attacks during Op Fath

ol-Mobin to retake Shush

1990 US-UK officials seized equipment at Heathrow Airport meant for nuclear triggers

1991 SCIRI head Hakim said Shiite rebels in south only fighting in rural areas after

lost cities to Iraqi army

1991 Iraqi intelligence memo said it had contacts with bin Laden

1997 Sec of State Albright said Iraq had lied and blocked UN inspections Said inspections

and sanctions had contained Iraq

1998 UN Res 1154 okayed agreement between UN Sec Gen and Iraq to allow inspectors

into presidential palaces and other sites

2002 Arab League called on Iraq to comply with all UN resolutions and end

sanctions Rejected military action

2002 Gen Franks briefed Joint Chiefs on Iraq war plans Said he would be ready by

10/1/02

2003 Gen Wallace Cmdr US V Corps told press war not going as planned due to

resistance of Fedayeen

2003 US 173^rd Airborne Brigade and Peshmerga took Irbil

2003 US and UK military meeting Surprised Iraqis weren’t rising up against Saddam

2003 UN Res 1472 extended Oil for Food program for 45 days after US

invasion

2003 US forces received warning of imminent WMD attack

2003 Rumsfeld accused Syria of sending military aid to Iraq

2003 British accused Syria of allowing foreign fighters to use its territory to enter Iraq

2003 Chief weapons inspector Blix said US gave up on inspections in early 2003

2003 Aid ship arrived in Um Qasr Basra with 200 tons of food medicine and

blankets for Iraqis

2003 Bush told group of veterans important to win the peace after the war

2004 CPA shut down Sadr’s al-Hawza paper for inciting violence

2006 Anbar Revenge Brigade claimed it killed 4 Al Qaeda in Iraq leaders and a member

of Ansar al-Sunna

2007 ISI set off chlorine bomb in Anbar

2007 Police and militias carried out retaliatory attacks on Sunnis in Tal Afar after truck

bombing day before

2008 Maliki offered money to militiamen that turned in their weapons during Charge

of Knights op against Mahdi Army

2008 Government spokesman said talks going on with Sadrists

2008 Maliki met with tribes in Basra that supported government

2008 U.S. and British planes bombed Mahdi Army in Basra

2008 Mahdi Army fired rockets at Badr offices in Amarah, Maysan

2008 Fighting in 13 neighborhoods in Baghdad between Mahdi Army and ISF

2008 Pres Talabani met with Gen Suleimani about stopping fighting between govt

and Mahdi Army

2009 Counterterrorism Unit arrested Fadhil Sahwa leader in Baghdad on terrorism

charges leading to firefight

2010 Supreme Court ruled that any coalition that gained a majority after elections could

get 1^st opportunity to form a new govt

2010 Supreme Court ruling undermined Allawi’s Iraqiya right to form a new govt and

gave it to Maliki’s State of Law

2012 Baghdad said it would pay KRG $558 mil for Kurdish oil exports from budget

2013 Iran delivered bodies of Iraqi militiamen killed fighting for it in Syria

2014 Families from Qara Tapa, Diyala started fleeing militias

2016 Abadi said wanted 9 member cabinet with Electricity and Defense ministers

staying

2017 Kirkuk council voted to fly the Kurdish flag over government buildings in

province

View the Iraq History Timelines

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Turkey Bluffs Its Way Into Getting PKK To Withdraw From Iraq’s Sinjar

After threats of a false military operation, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was able to force the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to withdraw its fighters from Sinjar in western Ninewa along the Syrian border. On March 19, President Erdogan said that Turkey would launch a military operation in Sinjar any time to fight the PKK. He made the same threat two days later. That led the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to demand the PKK to pull out of the district to protect civilians from an impending Turkish threat. Then on March 25, Turkey announced that it was intervening in Sinjar. Back in February, Turkey’s Foreign Minister said that it was planning a military operation in Kurdistan to force the PKK out of both the Qandil Mountains and Sinjar. On March 16, Turkish forces moved 15 kilometers into Irbil in the latest attempt to wipe out the Workers’ Party bases in northern Kurdistan.

This Day In Iraqi History – Mar 27

1918 British defeated Ottomans in Battle of Khan al-Baghdadi

1979 Saddam told Baath meeting that Iraq was going to get a nuclear weapon

with help of Soviets so he could go to war with Israel

1979 Saddam believed having a nuclear bomb would allow a conventional war of

attrition with Israel that could cost 50,000 Iraqi casualties

1979 Saddam discussed with advisers how to punish countries that backed Sadat’s

peace treaty with Israel

1981 Start of second attempt by Islamic Conference to negotiate ceasefire in Iran-Iraq

War

1984 Iraq began tanker war in Iran-Iraq War

1991 2^nd day fighting between Iraqi forces and peshmerga on Khanaqin-Jalawla road,

Diyala

1991 White House spokesman said that US had made no promises to Shiites or Kurds

and US public not interested in getting involved in an Iraqi civil war

1995 Fighting between KDP and PUK killed 100 in Irbil

1996 UN Resolution 1051 set up monitoring system for Iraqi imports-exports

under Oil for Food program

2003 U.S. forces entered Samawa, Muthanna and encountered fierce fighting by Fedayeen

Saddam

2003 Iraqi forces began withdrawing in Kirkuk Looting started

2003 Iraq DefMin reviewed war Told US capturing transportation hubs attacking

multiple targets at same time Report ignored by Saddam

2003 ORHA had meeting of all 4 postwar groups to come up with unified plan for Iraq

Didn’t happen

2003 4 postwar Iraq groups had all been created separately within Bush admin

with no coordination between them

2003 Dep Sec Def Wolfowitz told House of Reps committee Iraq oil would pay for

reconstruction

2003 USAID disaster response team entered Um Qasr, Basra to assess humanitarian

situation in city

2003 Report sent to Washington that after examination 2 trailers found during invasion

were not mobile WMD labs as originally thought

2003 Pres Assad called on Arab countries to stand up against US invasion

2003 Iraqi govt claimed 350 civilians killed in Coalition air strikes during invasion

2004 Marine patrol got into 36 hr gunfight in Fallujah

2007 Anbar council said no oversight of border crossings and 40% of tariffs stolen

due to corruption

2007 2 truck bombs hit market targeting Shiite Turkmen in Tal Afar leaving

152 dead 347wounded

2007 Shiite Turkmen launch retaliatory attacks in Tal Afar killing 70 after truck bombs

2007 1920 Revolution Brigade leader killed by ISI for refusing to join it and talking

with govt

2007 US Mil intel report that Iranian intelligence working with Badr and Mahdi Army

to assassinate Industry Ministry officials

2008 Presidential Council approved General Amnesty Law

2008 Sadrists kidnapped Baghdad Operations Command spokesman

2008 Mahdi Army attacked Iraqi army units moving from Nasiriya to Basra

2008 Basra police chief escaped assassination attempt

2008 Mahdi Army fired rockets at Green Zone for 2^nd day

2008 Police in New Baghdad abandoned checkpoints 400 of 550 in 4^th National Police

Brigade deserted rather than fight Mahdi Army

2008 US told that Maliki did not want US advisers in Charge of Knights just US

firepower

2008 Fighting started between ISF and Special Groups in northern and southern Dhi

Qar

2008 Pipeline in Basra blown up cutting exports in 1/3

2010 Kurdish Alliance said wanted assurances on Kirkuk and Article 140 before it joined

any new govt

2011 Iraq parliament cancelled deal with Chinese National Petroleum Corp for Ahdab

field in Wasit

2012 Baghdad hosted Arab Summit marking major move back into Arab politics

2014 Islamic Party accused ISF of being involved in killing civilians in Buhriz, Diyala

2015 Tikrit operation re-started after US airstrikes requested by PM Abadi

2015 Asaib Ahl Al-Haq accused US of trying to save IS in Tikrit

2016 Supreme Council complained that Abadi not consulted with them over his

reforms

2016 Sadr went into Green Zone to start his own sit in protests

View the Iraq History Timelines

Monday, March 26, 2018

This Day In Iraqi History - Mar 26

1918 Battle of Khan Baghdadi between Ottomans and British started

1975 Iranian premier visited Baghdad and laid out steps to implement Algiers

Agreement

1979 Iraq hosted anti-Sadat meeting to oppose new Egypt-Israel peace treaty

1984 US Special Envoy Rumsfeld arrived in Iraq for 2^nd time Rumsfeld presented

secret proposal for Israeli aid against Iran Iraq rejected offer

1985 Iraq threatened to spread war to all sections of Iran if it didn’t agree to a peace

settlement

1991 Fierce fighting between Iraqi forces and Peshmerga on Khanaqin-Jalawla road,

Diyala

1991 Talabani returned to Iraq after 3 years during Kurdish revolt against Saddam

1991 White House meeting on Iraq revolts Was split over whether to help Iraqis or not

1991 Bush administration said they would not stop Iraq from using helicopters to

put down uprisings

1991 Bush Natl Sec Adv Scowcorft secretly met Saudi King Fahd who told US to stay

out of 1991 uprising

1996 Jordanian govt held party celebrating opening of Iraqi National Accord

new HQ in Amman

1996 PUK backed peace deal with KDP although talks had not worked out

1997 SecState Albright said Iraq not cooperating with inspections and US would not

remove sanctions

2003 US forces began move on Kut, Wasit Surrounded Najaf

2003 US 173^rd Airborne Brigade landed in northern Iraq to cooperate with Peshmerga

move into Kirkuk

2003 Iraq claimed US missile hit market in Baghdad US Air strikes failed to take Iraq

state TV off the air

2003 Bush and Blair met at Camp David to discuss Iraq invasion

2003 ORHA sent list of 16 sites that needed to be protected in Baghdad to US military HQ

in Kuwait but was ignored

2003 Rumsfeld told Garner he had some replacements for Americans going to run Iraq

ministries Wanted them all from Pentagon

2003 British intel report Hope that Iraqi govt would quickly fall within days of

invasion fading

2008 Badr Brigade got into shootout in Diwaniya likely with Mahdi Army elements

2008 Curfews in Kut Hillah Nasiriya Samawa Diwaniya to stop Sadrist protests

2008 Fighting between ISFand Sadrists continued for 2^nd day in Kut Mahdi Army seized

7 neighborhoods

2008 Fighting between ISF and Mahdi Army in Hillah where Sadrists took 3 districts

2008 Fighting between ISF and Mahdi Army in Karbala

2008 Sadrists walked out of parliament over govt crackdown on movement

2008 US and Iraqi forces began moving into Sadr City as fight against Mahdi Army

moved from Basra to Baghdad

2008 Fighting between Mahdi Army and ISF in north and east Baghdad

2008 Sadrists said they would call for a no confidence vote against Maliki

2008 Maliki gave gunmen 72 hours to turn in weapons in Basra

2008 Fighting resumed in 5 districts of Basra after short ceasefire

2008 Sadr said he would talk with Maliki if ISF left Basra

2010 Election results announced Iraqiya 91 seats State of Law 89 National Alliance 70

Kurdish Alliance 43

2010 Pres Talabani and VP Mahdi went to Tehran to talk about national elections

2010 State of Law met with Sadr in Qom to try to win his support for 2^nd Maliki

administration

2010 State of Law protest in Amara called for recount in national elections

2010 Human Rights Min said it found 84 mass graves in Baghdad and Diyala all from

post-03 violence

2011 Maliki warned of sectarian conflict in Gulf after Saudi Arabia and UAE sent

troops to Bahrain

2011 Peshmerga announced withdrawal from parts of Kirkuk after political protests

2012 KRG said it would stop oil exports if it didn’t get paid for what it had already

shipped Claimed owed $1.5 bil by Baghdad

2012 Pres Talabani announced national conference to solve political differences over

Maliki govt on Apr 5 Barzani and Allawi said they wouldn’t attend

2013 Cabinet said that it agreed to meet major demands of protesters dealing with

arrests, amnesty, etc Never did

2014 Sadr condemned militias in Diyala after several reports of them killing civilians

and destroying property

2014 Mutahidun said militias had killed civilians in Buhriz and destroyed houses

and mosques

View the Iraq History Timelines

Sunday, March 25, 2018

Musings On Iraq In The News

I was interviewed in Iraq In Context on the 15 year anniversary of the Iraq invasion. I was quoted by Paul Iddon for "Can majoritarian governance work in Iraq?" for Rudaw. I was cited in How Mass Atrocities End: Studies from Guatemala, Burundi, Indonesia, the Sudans, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Iraq by Bridget Conley-Zilkic and Limited Achievements: Obama's Foreign Policy by Z. Laidi.

Baghdad Paid Half Of KRG’s Salaries, Kurdistan Didn’t Contribute Leading To Protests

Protest in Sulaymaniya over salaries (Rudaw)

On March 18, Baghdad announced it would pay the salaries of the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) public workers. It sent 317 billion dinars, $267 million to the KRG’s Finance Ministry. The Kurds responded that they needed 900 billion dinars to pay all their obligations, but 590 billion if it was to cover their employees with their pay cuts that were instituted in 2014 due to the region’s financial crisis. The central government covered 53% of that latter amount, and 35% of the full salaries. According to Iraqi officials this was by design with the Kurds responsible for the other half. Irbil has complained that Baghdad did not provide enough funds, and KRG civil servants have said they only got half their wages.

This Day In Iraqi History – Mar 25

1917 British forces defeated by Ottomans at Battle of Mount Hamrin, Diyala

1982 Iraq asked US to stop Israel from sending weapons to Iran US Said it had no

say in matter

1982 Reagan admin officials warned that if Iran beat Iraq in Iran-Iraq War would

endanger western interests

1985 US intel reports Iraq used chemical weapons in fighting in southern Iraq

1998 UN Res 1158 extended Oil For Food Program for another 90 days

2002 UK Foreign Sec Jack Straw told Blair no Iraq-Al Qaeda link and Iraq

not more of a threat now than before 9/11

2002 Straw argued for following legal path against Iraq via U.N. resolutions

2002 CIA report said foreign govt told it Iraq tried to buy uranium from Niger

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

2002 New Yorker article said Iraq supporting Al Qaeda via Kurdish Ansar al-Islam

2002 Kurds told New Yorker Al Qaeda’s Zawahiri met Saddam in 1992 Also that Iraq

was sending WMD to Al Qaeda

2003 Information Minister Sahaf began giving press conferences claiming that U.S. was

losing war

2003 Russian Amb to Iraq provided U.S. invasion plans to Baghdad including

invasion routes

2003 UK and ISCI reported locals in Basra rose up against Saddam Fedayeen

2003 UK forces reported Iraqi army was firing mortars on civilians in Basra to put

down anti-govt revolt

2003 British bombed Basra city

2003 British forces secured Um Qasr town in Basra

2003 British government confirmed its first two combat deaths in Iraq invasion

killed in Basra province

2003 Heavy fighting between US forces and Fedayeen in Najaf during invasion

2003 US paratroops landed in Kurdistan and began working with Peshmerga

2003 US bombed Republican Guard positions south of Baghdad

2003 Retired generals in TV interviews began saying invasion wasn’t going well because

didn’t have enough troops

2003 Report that Saddam was thinking of using chemical weapons when US forces

attacked Baghdad

2003 NY Times facility found outside Najaf was not a chemical weapons site

2003 U.S. forces found chemical weapons gear in Nasiriya

2003 UK General recommended govt plan for its forces to stay in Iraq until March 2004

for postwar operations

2004 UN proposed investigation into abuses of Oil for Food program

2005 State Dept told Congress wanted to reorganize rebuilding funds with more money

for services and maintenance Didn’t think Iraq could sustain projects

2006 US Amb Khalizad told ISCI’s Hakim US opposed to Jaafari remaining as premier

Kurdish and Sunni parties were threatening boycott of govt if Jaafari remained in office

2006 Report on captured Iraqi docs said Iraq kept the image it had WMD because helped

Iraq’s image in Arab world and deterred Israel

2006 Report on captured Iraqi docs Saddam told his top advisers there were no more

WMD

2006 Report on captured Iraqi docs Saddam thought France and Russia would stop war

in UN If US did attack Iraq’s “warrior spirit” would be victorious

2006 Report on captured Iraqi docs Saddam thought internal revolt main threat to his

regime not US invasion

2006 Report on captured Iraq docs Russian Amb gave Iraq detailed intel on US

troops movements and invasion plans

2006 Report on captured Iraq docs Saddam thought Iraq winning when war almost over

and wanted unconditional surrender by US led Coalition

2006 Report on captured Iraq docs Tape Powell played during Feb 03 UN speech

was Republican Guard making sure area met UN inspections not hiding WMD

2007 4,500 tribesmen asked to join Ramadi police

2008 U.S. Seal team arrived in Basra to liaison with Iraqi forces during Charge of

Knights op against Mahdi Army

2008 Curfew and vehicle ban imposed on Basra as part of Charge of Knights

2008 Mahdi Army seized 5 of 18 districts in Kut in fight against govt forces

2008 Fighting between ISF and Mahdi Army in Nasiriyah

2008 Mahdi Army kidnapped policemen belonging to Badr in Baghdad

2008 Sadrists protested in Samawa, Muthanna against Charge of Knights

2008 Sadr offices in Baghdad called for civil disobedience to protest Charge of Knights

shut down 6 districts in capital

2008 Mahdi Army fired rockets at Green Zone

2008 Clashes between Mahdi Army and ISF in east Baghdad and between Mahdi

Army and SIIC

2008 Fighting between Mahdi Army and police in Hillah

2008 Mahdi Army attacked Sistani and 2 Dawa office in Sadr City

2009 Iraqi embassy in Jordan announced program to register former soldiers who wanted

to return to Iraq

2010 Asaib Ahl Al-Haq released US contractor it kidnapped Issa Salomi

2010 State of Law threatened lawsuit unless Election Commission made a recount

of national vote

2010 State of Law members protested in Basra, Najaf, Karbala, Kut calling for recount

2011 ISF blocked all entrances to Tahrir Sq to try to block protests but happened

anyway

2011 Were protests in Baghdad, Najaf, Diwaniya, Kut and Hillah against corruption

and lack of services

2011 Was 2^nd protest in Tahrir Sq against reconciliation with former Baathists

2011 Prisoners in Rusafa Prison set up protest camp against poor conditions and

sectarian warden

2012 VP Hashemi claimed ISF tortured one of his bodyguards to death during

questioning

2012 Pres Barzani said that Maliki was abusing his powers and not following Irbil

agreement made after 2010 elections

2012 Pres Talabani called for reconciliation between Kurdish Alliance and Maliki

2012 Displacement Ministry said Europe was deporting Iraqi refugees and wanted that

to stop

2012 Electricity Ministry said it would stop importing power in summer 2013 as

domestic production increased Didn’t happen

2013 Committee created to come up with laws to meet demands of protesters Never

happened

2013 Turkey signed trade deal with KRG

2014 Militias held parade in Balad, Salahaddin which local officials tried to deny

2014 IS took over Nibai for one day and then left

2014 IS made call for declaring the caliphate as a trial balloon

2014 Transportation Ministry set up special flights to take ISF members from Mosul

to homes in Baghdad to avoid attacks along highway

2014 Dozens of Sunni families fled Buhriz, Diyala after being attacked by militias

2015 Officials accused Diyala governor of stealing millions in aid meant for displaced

2015 Gorran presented 3 plans for renewing Pres Barzani’s term

2015 Fight in KRG parliament when KDP members attacked Gorran MPs over Pres

Barzani

2015 Member of Salahaddin council accused Hashd of kidnapping 125 civilians

from Dour

2015 US began air strikes on Tikrit Pro-Iran Hashd said they would not take part in op

to re-take city because of US involvement

2015 Hashd accused of blowing up houses and executing 4 civilians in Diyala

2015 2^nd Diyala governor adviser killed blamed on Hashd

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Saturday, March 24, 2018

PUK Maintains Status Quo Rather Than Deal With Divisions

On March 17, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan met to decide on its new leadership, something that had been put off for five months. Rather than resolve the deep internal divisions within the party it chose to maintain the status quo.

This Day in Iraqi History - Mar 24

1959 Gen Qasim withdrew Iraq from anti-Communist Baghdad Pact

1973 Saddam visited Moscow to push for stronger Iraq-Soviet cooperation

1986 UN condemned Iraq’s use of chemical weapons in Iran-Iraq War

1988 KDP base hit with poison gas in 2^nd Anfal campaign Civilians rounded up and

men executed by govt forces

(Musings On Iraq article on Anfal campaign)

1991 Turkish Pres Ozal met Bush in US and told him an independent Kurdistan in Iraq

would lead to greater Kurdistan affecting Turkey Syrian Iran

1992 Iraqi army began shelling Kifri as sporadic fighting with Peshmerga continued

1998 French Pres Chirac told PM Blair that sanctions were killing kids in Iraq

2002 Cheney on CNN’s Late Edition called Saddam an evil man that U.S. would deal

with

2003 US forces reached outside Karbala

2003 US B-52 bombers began attacks on Republican Guard positions south of

Baghdad

2003 British forces took Basra airport Heavy fighting with Fedayeen led British forces

to withdraw from Basra City

2003 British military told govt local Iraqi militias putting up tough fight in Basra

2003 Red Cross warned of humanitarian emergency in Basra city as water running out

2003 Dow Jones reported no WMD found at suspected facility in Najaf

2003 Iran decided to send in operatives and Badr Brigade to carry out ops against US

in Iraq

2003 Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei and Pres Khatami recorded talking about sending

forces to 5 Iraq cities to incite anti-US violence

2003 Arab League voted 21-1 demanding U.S. and UK forces withdraw from Iraq

2003 Putin called Bush and said there would be great suffering during war Bush said

everything would be under control

2003 Tariq Aziz gave presser saying US was after Iraq’s oil

2004 Ex-White House counterterrorism chief Clarke told 9/11 Commission Iraq not

behind 1993 World Trade Center bombing

2008 PM Maliki launched Charge of Knights against Mahdi Army in Basra He arrived in

Basra to oversee operation

2009 Sahwa commander in Salahaddin said that Ansar al-Sunna and ISI had

created new alliance

2010 Maliki announced new anti-corruption campaign

2011 Riot at Rusafa prison over overcrowding

2012 Baghdad and Irbil agreed to increased joint patrols in Diyala

2013 Naqshibandi sent group to Ramadi protest site to try to push it towards

violence against govt

2014 After Burhiz, Kirkuk retaken from IS Hashd killed at least 2 civilians and

burned homes

2016 Most ruling parties refused to send candidates for technocratic cabinet to Abadi

2016 Supreme Council suspended its ministers in govt

2016 Head of IS Military Council Anbari killed

View the Iraq History Timelines

Friday, March 23, 2018

Security In Iraq, Mar 15-21, 2018

During the third week of March attacks remained within the yearly mean, but casualties were up due to a series of bold attacks by the Islamic State plus a Turkish incursion into northern Irbil against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). There are growing signs that the militants are rebuilding five months after they made the transition from a conventional armed force to a terrorist/insurgent group.

This Day In Iraqi History – Mar 23

1923 UK Iraq commission final report said British would not withdraw from Iraq

Would lead to collapse of King Faisal and humiliation for British

1930 Nuri al-Said became PM, would hold office 8 times Went after opposition

silenced press controlled parliament became favorite of British

(Musings On Iraq interview with Historian Phebe Marr comparing PM Said with PM Maliki)

1970 Communist leader in Baghdad Khadri found shot in street Baathists suspected

1974 Soviet Defense Minister Grechko arrived in Iraq to try to find compromise with

Kurds Iran and US told Barzani not to make any deals

1975 Mustafa Barzani and around 100,000 KDP members left Iraq for Iran ending

Kurdish revolt

1981 Iran said it would not accept ceasefire with Iraq as long as Saddam was in power

1985 Iran ended Op Badr failed attempt to attack Basra city Iraq 10-12,000 casualties

Iran 15,000

1988 PUK base in Sulaymaniya attacked in 2^nd Anfal Campaign

(Musings On Iraq article on Anfal campaign)

1991 Sadoun Hammadi, a Shiite became premier as Saddam tried to appease Shiites

while putting down uprising after Gulf War

1997 Memo told Iraqi officials to hide material, documents, equipment from U.N.

weapons inspectors

2002 Joint Chiefs did paper drill running through Iraq invasion plan

2003 British commandos took control of Um Qasr port while heaving fighting

continues in the town in Basra

2003 US attacked Nasiriya Heavy fighting led 29 marines killed

2003 US B-52 bombers carried out raids on Baghdad Iraqi govt claimed 106 civilians

killed

2003 British Tornado jet is accidently shot down by US patriot missile killing 2 crewmen

2003 US soldier Jessica Lynch taken prisoner by Iraqi forces during invasion when her

supply convoy attacked

2003 32 Apache helicopters sent on raid to destroy Reb Guard units in Karbala Turned

back by Iraqi fire

2003 US forces reached outside Najaf Claimed they found WMD facility Story proved

false

2003 CENTCOM commander Gen Franks said no doubt Iraq had WMD

2003 White House said no question Iraq had WMD and that they would be found

2003 Intel agents leaked to press they felt pressured by White House to come up with

intel to justify Iraq war

2004 Fmr Def Sec Cohen said head of Al Qaeda Sudan chemical plant met with

Iraq chemical weapons scientist in 90s

2006 Report on captured Iraq docs Russian amb gave detailed info to Iraq on US

invasion force and plans

2006 Report on captured Iraq docs Confirmed Iraq and bin Laden met in Feb 1995

to talk about cooperation Iraq agreed to air bin Laden’s anti-Saudi tapes

2007 US House of Reps voted to set deadline for US withdrawal by 8/31/08

2007 Iran captured 15 UK Marines in Basra and offered to trade them for release of

Asaib Ahl Al-Haq leader Qais Khazali

2007 IS attempted assassination of Dep PM Zubaie

2008 Mahdi Army in Sadr City started firing rockets into Green Zone

2011 National Reconciliation Commission claimed 5 insurgent groups agreed to

put down arms and join political process

2012 ISI broke 19 of its men out of Kirkuk prison

2015 Hashd looted and destroyed 8 houses in Sadiya, Diyala Adviser to Diyala

governor killed blamed on Hashd

View the Iraqi History Timelines