This Day In Iraqi History - Feb 22

1921 War Min Churchill wrote PM George that he thought an Arab govt should be created

to run Mesopotamia for UK

(Musings On Iraq article on Churchill’s views on Mesopotamia)

(Musings On Iraq book review Churchill’s Folly, How Winston Churchill Created Modern Iraq)

1981 Iran rejected UN attempts to negotiate ceasefire as long as Iraqi troops were on Iranian territory

1984 Iranian Op Kheibar began to capture Majnoon island in Basra

(Musings On Iraq book review of Iran-Iraq War Volume 2: Iran Strikes back, June 1982-December 1986)

1984 Iraq’s attacks on Iranian cities stopped ending 1^st War of the Cities

1987 Iran Op Karbala 5 launched last attack upon Iraqi defenses in Basra but stopped Caused 4,000

Iraqi casualties

(Musings On Iraq book review Iran-Iraq War Volume 3: Iraq’s Triumph)

1988 Iraq renewed war of cities by firing missiles at Tehran Iraq wanted to provoke UN to get

involved again with peace talks

(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 Iraq set Kuwait oil fields on fire

1991 Report Saudis tried to organize Iraqi exiles for post-Saddam Iraq

1998 Newsweek poll showed US support for military action against Iraq dropped from 40 to 18%

1999 SCIRI UK Rep Bayati said overthrowing Saddam should be done by Iraqis without outside

interference

2003 Bush administration officially announced it was deploying forces for invasion Actually started

Dec 02

2003 Spanish Pres Aznar visited Bush Had group call with Blair and Italian Premier Berlusconi

Decided on 2^nd UN resolution on Iraq

2003 ORHA drill found US would not have enough troops for Iraq postwar security

2003 ORHA worried not enough funding for postwar Iraq that could leave behind unstable country

2003 ORHA found US had no plans for what kind of govt they wanted in Iraq and how to achieve it

2003 ORHA Dep Head thought US had faulty assumptions overly optimistic lacked reality on what

postwar Iraq would be like

2005 Dawa’s Jaafari became UIA candidate for premier following Jan elections

2006 Zarqawi bombed Askari shrine in Samarra 25 Sunni mosques in Samarra 27 in Baghdad attacked 3

imam killed 1 kidnapped US immediately got intel Zarqawi behind Askari shrine bombing Tunisian and 4 Saudis from Al Qaeda in Iraq did bombing Tunisian Al Qaeda in Iraq bomber was arrested in June 2006 and explained attack

2006 Al Qaeda in Iraq blamed Baghdad and Shiite militias for Samarra bombing to incite attacks on

Sunnis

2006 Other insurgent groups blamed Baghdad for Samarra bombing and claimed govt was allowing

attacks upon Sunni mosques

2006 Sadr called on his parliamentarians to meet on vote to ask U.S. forces to leave Iraq

2006 US report Sadr gave orders to kill Wahabis in east Baghdad in retaliation for Samarra bombing

Meant Sunnis

(Musings On Iraq book review Voices From Iraq, A People’s History, 2003-2009)

2006 Sadr offices spread rumor that US military vehicles were seen around Samarra shrine before

bombing to lay blame on US

2006 Iran blamed US for Samarra bombing

2006 Ayatollah Sistani called for 7 days of mourning peaceful protests and prohibited attacks upon

Sunnis in wake of Samarra bombing

2006 SCIRI head Hakim blamed US for Samarra bombing claiming it gave aid to insurgents Claimed

US criticism of Shiite death squads provoked militants

2007 Report security plan in Ramadi showed progress US and ISF setting up posts throughout city Started

working with tribes outside Ramadi to provide men to man checkpoints and join police

(Musings On Iraq interview with author Carter Malkasian on Anbar Awakening)

(Musings On Iraq book review of Confronting Al Qaeda, The Sunni Awakening and American Strategy In Al Anbar)

(Musings On Iraq book review of The Marines Take Anbar, The Four-Year Fight Against Al Qaeda)

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

2007 After England said it would withdraw some of its forces from Iraq Denmark said it would withdraw

its troops serving in Basra Lithuania that had troops serving alongside Danes was considering pulling out Romania said it would make decision about its troops that were also in Basra

2008 Sadr renewed his freeze on Mahdi Army

2011 Independent Nalya Radio and TV station was set afire in Sulaymaniya probably by KDP

supporters

2015 Sadr called for followers to protests in Baghdad next Friday calling for reforms

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

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