This Day In Iraqi History – May 8

1941 British Arab Legion left Palestine to take back Fort Rutba, Anbar

from Iraqi police

1941 Arab Legion attacked by German aircraft and one regiment refused to cross

            Transjordan border into Iraq

1941 British air strikes destroyed most of Iraqi air force

1941 6 more British planes landed at Habaniya air base from Egypt

1941 Vichy France agreed to transfer weapons from Syria to Iraq to use its air fields and     okayed landing of German planes

1941 Iraq Def Min Shawkat went to Turkey for talks Ankara offered end of fighting

permission for UK to use bases in Iraq In return UK would recognize Gayalani’s govt

1941 Iraq Fin Min Suwaidi went to Saudi Arabia to explain conflict with England and

            ask for mediation Ibn Saud said Iraq should end war

1982 Iran announced it had reached pre-war border with Iraq Iran-Iraq War

1990 Saddam claimed Iraq could build high tech capacitors for use in nuclear triggers

2002 UK For Sec Straw told Sec of State Powell if Bush decided on military

            action against Iraq Blair would back him

2003 Sec State Powell said US and UK would go to UN to authorize occupation of

            Iraq

2003 Sec Def Rumsfeld told staff rebuilding Iraq would not be fast or easy and

            needed time

2003 UK parliament announced review of pre-war intelligence on Iraq

2003 ORHA met with ex-Iraqi army officers 2^nd time Said they could bring back 137,000

            soldiers

2003 Def Min memo called for Iraqi soldiers to return to duty and cooperate with

            ORHA

2004 Bush said US goal was to build a free and peaceful Iraq that was not a threat to

            its neighbors

2004 Sec Def Rumsfeld told Congress that Iraqi victims of Abu Ghraib prison abuse

            should be compensated

2004 Pentagon est by end of 2005 Iraq war would cost US $150 bil 3 times higher than

            White House prediction before war

2004 Mahdi Army fought with British troops in downtown Basra

2004 US forces moved into Karbala and Amarah setting off clashes with Mahdi Army

            US forces seized a govt complex in Najaf fighting Mahdi Army

2005 Battle of Qaim

2009 Gov Nujafi stopped by Peshmerga from going to hot air balloon festival in Bashiqa

2009 KRG said they would start exporting oil from Taq Taq and Tawke fields after

            Oil Min okayed connecting them to Turkish pipeline

2010 Pres Barzani set up investigation into murder of journalist Zardasht Osman

            KDP was accused of involvement

2011 Anbar councilman complained that ISF continued arrest of former ISF members

            after Maliki promised to end them

2011 ISI members staged a prison revolt in Baghdad killing 6 police and 11 prisoners

2012 Maliki held cabinet meeting in Kirkuk to highlight problems between Arabs and

            Kurds

2012 Allawi said Maliki was becoming an autocrat

2013 Iraqiya said Maliki was allowing militias to operate in country

2014 US restarted training for Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service in Jordan

2014 Anbar council again denied stories that ISF launched operation to free

            Fallujah

2015 IS broke out 30 prisoners from facility in Diyala posing as inspectors

View the Iraq History Timelines