This Day In Iraqi History - Apr 17

1916 British took Beit Asia from Ottomans and pushed Turks out of Edheim River in Diyala

1921 UK High Comm in Iraq Sir Cox exiled Sayid Talib to Ceylon because he aspired to be king and

opposed Feisal for position

1941 PM Gaylani asked Germany for military aid in case of war with British

1941 British naval convoy moved towards Shatt al-Arab waterway in Basra

1941 British battalion from India started arriving at Shaiba air base in Basra

(Musings On Iraq book review of Rashid Ali al-Gailani, The National Movement in Iraq 1939-1941)

(Musings On Iraq book review of Persian Gulf Command, A History of the Second World War In Iran and Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq book review Iraq 1941, The Battles for Basra, Habbaniya, Fallujah and Baghdad)

(Musings On Iraq book review Iraq And Syria 1941, The Politics and Strategy of the Second World War)

1963 Iraq made initial agreement for union with Egypt

1966 Abd Rahman Arif elected president to replace his brother who died in helicopter crash

1983 Iran’s Op Wa al-Fajr 1 to cut Basra-Baghdad road in Maysan failed Iran lost 15,000 casualties

            Iraq lost 6,000-8,000

1983 Saddam invited Ayatollah Khomeini to Baghdad for Islamic conference to try to end Iran-Iraq

War

1988 Iraq launched Op Ramadan al-Mubarak to recapture Fao Peninsula Started with chemical

attack but wind blew it back towards Iraqi lines killing 200 Iraq gained 20 miles

(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 British intel report said Iraq had around 600 ballistic missiles left after Gulf War

1991 US forces began moving into Kurdistan to set up camps for displaced

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

1991 Germany agreed to $262 mil in humanitarian aid to Kurds

1993 During military operation against Kurds Iraqi army arrested 7,000 people including members of

Kurdistan parliament

2001 US Dept of Energy report said didn’t have enough info to tell whether Iraq had restarted its nuclear

program

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

2003 Chief UN inspector Blix cited Iraqi scientist who said Iraq had no WMD

2003 CENTCOM head Gen Abizaid said no organized military left in Iraq Plan was for Iraqi military to

impose order after invasion

2003 CENCTOM head Gen Abizaid suggested US create 3 divisions of interim Iraqi army from soldiers and

opposition groups

2003 US signed deal with Bechtel to repair Iraq’s electrical grid after instead of before invasion

2003 ORHA head Garner got into argument with Gen Franks who didn’t want Garner going to Baghdad

Garner said vacuum in country

(Musings On Iraq book review Iraq and Back, Inside The War To Win The Peace)

2003 US forces called for people to return to work in Kirkuk City after days of unrest after invasion

(Musings On Iraq interview with Petit of 173^rd Airborne Bgd on operations in Kirkuk)

2003 US forces captured Saddam’s half brother Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti

2004 3,000 police abandoned posts during insurgent and Sadrist uprisings

2006 Ret Gen Newbold former Director of Ops at Joint Chiefs wrote Time OpEd saying Iraq war

unnecessary

2006 Over 100 insurgents attacked 12 US and Iraqi positions from west Ramadi to Khaldiiya at 1pm Led by

Al Qaeda in Iraq cmdr Abu Khattab

2007 Report Islamic Army complained ISI was trying to take over Diyala by threats and killings

2007 ISI head Abu Omar Baghdadi issued message calling for unity amongst insurgents Said ISI

would remain despite any criticism

(Musings On Iraq article on splits within insurgency)

(Musings On Iraq interview with Naval War College’s Prof Whiteside on ISI leader Abu Omar al-Baghdadi)

(Musings On Iraq book review Iraq’s Sunni Insurgency)

2007 3^rd day of protests against Basra governor over lack of services and corruption Set up tent city outside

of governor’s office

2007 UN Report 70% of Iraqis lacked clean water 80% lacked toilets with clean water Diarrhea and

respiratory infections accounted for 2/3 of children under 5 deaths 70% of critically injured patients die in hospitals due to lack of staff equipment drugs Violence driving away nurses and doctors

2008 Govt said it would recruit local Shiites from Sadr City and Shula into security forces to try to break

hold of Mahdi Army

2008 Army officer complained many of his commanders were pro-Sadr and would give info to Mahdi Army

2008 Sadrist spokesman said Mahdi Army wouldn’t disarm unless top clerics told them to

2008 Badr’s Hadi Ameri said that only Al Qaeda and Mahdi Army were fighting govt

(Musings On Iraq article on the history of Badr Organization)

2008 Suicide bomber at funeral of 2 Sahwa members in Albu Mohammed killed 50

2011 Ninewa Gov Nujafi joined anti-govt protests in Mosul and broke curfew imposed by Ninewa Ops

Command to try to stop demonstration

2011 Around 90 injured in clashes between Kurdish security forces and protesters in Sulaymaniya 7 shot

(Musings On Iraq interview with journalist Wladimir Van Wilgenburg on 2011 KRG protests)

2011 Sadrist MP said ISF was capable of defending country without US help and blamed US for all of Iraq’s

problems

2012 Sadrists accused Sate of Law of trying to cancel elections so it could stay in power Said was why

Election Comm head was arrested

2012 Maliki’s adviser on Kurdish Affairs Adel Barwari removed from post

2012 Maliki accused Kurds of smuggling oil to Iran

2013 KRG said it was ready to export oil to Turkey directly when it finished its pipeline

2014 IS attacked Al Qaeda saying that it was no longer leader of jihad

2014 Insurgents blew up pipeline in Baiji leading to large oil spill contaminating water all the way to

Baghdad

2014 KDP and Gorran said they had agreement to form new government in KRG

2015 Police and councilman in Ramadi said IS had almost taken center of city IS began attacking

Ramadi city center Albu Alwan sheikh said city could fall any time

(Musings On Iraq interview with Ahmed Ali on fall of Ramadi)

2016 Sadrists restarted protests in Baghdad demanding new cabinet to be voted on

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

View the Iraq History Timelines