This Day In Iraqi History - Feb 20

1940 Gen Umari Mosul garrison commander attempted coup rather than be forced to resign

by Regent Put down by Golden Square officers

(Musings On Iraq book review The Role of the Military In Politics, A case study of Iraq to 1941)

1969 Bakr govt executed opponents in central Baghdad

1985 US and Soviet officials met to discuss ways to end Iran-Iraq War Nothing came of it

(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 book review The Iran-Iraq War 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq book review Iran-Iraq War, The Lion of Babylon, 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq book review The Iran-Iraq War)

1991 US 1^st Cav Div launched large attack into Iraq Engaged 7 Iraqi divisions to deceive Iraqis on where

invasion would come from

1995 KDP and PUK resumed fighting in Rawandaz ending ceasefire

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

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

1996 Hussein Kamal and brother Saddam Kamal accepted pardon from Saddam and returned to Iraq Were

later killed

1998 UN Sec Gen Annan met with Saddam to try to restart UN weapons inspections

(Musings On Iraq article on UN weapons inspections)

1998 UN report said Iraq’s electricity situation was in dire straights

1998 UN Res 1153 increased Iraq’s exports from $2 bil in oil each 6 months to $5.2 bil and expanded

imports from food and medicine to infrastructure needs

1999 Supreme Council accused govt of killing Ayatollah Mohammed Sadiq al-Sadr

(Musings On Iraq interview with Univ of Haifa’s Prof Baram on legacy of Ayatollah Sadiq al-Sadr)

2002 Secret CIA team entered Kurdistan to prepare for ops inside Iraq called Northern Iraq Liaison

Elements

2002 CIA gave fmr Amb Johseph Wilson talking points for his trip to Niger to investigate Iraq-Niger

uranium deal

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

2002 UK Joint Intel Comm chief Scarlett briefed For Sec Cook on Iraq’s WMD Cook thought Iraq didn’t

have capability for large scale WMD attack

2003 Chief UN Inspector Blix told Blair intelligence he’d gotten wasn’t great and maybe Iraq didn’t have

much WMD

2003 UN sources told press US intel on Iraq WMD was not turning up anything

(Musings On Iraq article on UN weapons inspections)

2003 Report interviews with Iraqi scientists by inspectors had not turned up any evidence of a nuclear

program

(Musings On Iraq article on how poor US intel work led to claim Iraq rebuilt its nuclear weapons program)

2004 Report CPA dropping caucus plan to elect Iraqi provisional govt and working with UN for alternative

Iraqi Governing Council wanted to expand membership from 25 to 125 and become new govt

2007 British turned over army base in Basra to Iraqi 10^th Division as part of withdrawal from province

2007 Report Officials claimed 80% drop in violence in Baghdad at start of Surge US focusing upon Dora

South Baghdad Sadr told Mahdi Army to stand down

2007 Report Sadrist mosques posted lists of Mahdi Army fighters expelled Sadr was trying to purge and

            control militia

2012 Saudi Arabia named its Jordan Ambassador as non-resident ambassador to Iraq as relations were

slowly improving

2013 Iraq signed deal to build natural gas pipeline from Iran across Iraq to Syria

2016 PM Abadi said financial crisis meant reforms needed Called for end of quota system in govt

(Musings On Iraq interview with Reidar Visser on PM Abadi’s reform program)

2016 Sadr created committee to nominate technocrats for Abadi’s new cabinet

(Musings On Iraq interview with Cambridge’s Michael Clark on Sadr, protests and PM Abadi’s reforms)

2018 Report some of the 9 Abrams tanks pro-Iran Hashd units got came from the Iraqi army rest were

captured from IS

(Musings On Iraq article on how Hashd got Abrams tanks)

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