Review The Fall of Baghdad

Review Anderson, Jon Lee, The Fall of Baghdad, New York: Penguin Press, 2004

The Fall of Baghdad was written by Jon Lee Anderson who worked for the New Yorker. It was about his time he spent in Baghdad from 2002 before the U.S. invasion of Iraq until right afterward. The story reads like a journal of Anderson’s day to day activities waiting for the war to start, the Iraqis he met, and then the chaos that came afterward. Anderson was one of the few to report on what Iraqis were experiencing during this period and realized early on that they would not stand for a U.S. occupation.

This Day In Iraqi History - Mar 31

1934 Iraqi Communist Party founded

(Musings On Iraq book review Red Star Over Iraq, Iraqi Communism Before Saddam)

(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

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

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

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

(Musings On Iraq book review Blood, Oil and the Axis: The Allied Resistance Against A Fascist State In Iraq and the Levant, 1941)

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

1985 Since Jan 1 in Tanker War Iraq hit 30 ships and Iran 7 in Persian Gulf

1985 UN Sec Gen arrived in Iran Told Iraqi air raids killed 1450 civilians and wounded 4000

1988 Iran claimed 44,000 of its troops suffered from Iraqi chemical attacks

(Musings On Iraq article on the origins of Iraq’s WMD programs)

(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)

(Musings On Iraq book review The Longest War, The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict)

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

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

(Musings On Iraq interview with National Univ of Singapore’s Fanar Haddad on the Impact of the 1991 Uprising)

(Musings On Iraq article on 1^st hand accounts of 1991 Uprising)

(Musings On Iraq article on Saddam’s view of 1991 Uprising)

(Ahulbayt Video on 1991 Uprising)

(Musings On Iraq article on how US encouraged 1991 uprising)

2000 UN Res 1293 doubled amount of spare parts Iraq could import to maintain its oil industry under Oil

for Food program

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

(Musings On Iraq Book Review The Report of the Iraq Inquiry, Executive Summary)

2003 Saddam didn’t give televised speech as expected Instead Information Minister Sahaf did Called 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 Chemical Ali Hassan al-

Majid 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

(Musings On Iraq Book Review Iraq and the Politics of Oil, An Insider’s Perspective)

2003 Def Sec Rumsfeld memo said important to create Iraqi interim authority as quickly as possible so

Iraqis were in power Had to pick pro-US Iraqis Said exiles could be core for new authority because they supported US goals in Iraq

(Musings On Iraq book review Leap of Faith, Hubris Negligence, and America’s Greatest Foreign Policy

Tragedy)

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

(Musings On Iraq book review The Battle for Fallujah, Occupation, Resistance and Stalemate in the War in Iraq)

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 intel failures in US

history US data on Iraq was worthless and analysis wrong US lacked significant new intel on Iraq WMD so relied on Gulf War and 90s UN inspections and extrapolated from them Relied upon Iraqi defectors that were lying and ignored problems with their stories Relied upon satellite photos that showed nothing substantive US intel claimed Iraq made WMD advances that were technically impossible US intel ignored reports that Iraq no longer had any WMD UN inspectors disproved most of US case against Iraq’s WMD but were ignored 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 Aluminum tubes Iraq tried to buy were for rockets not centrifuges Example of misinterpretation by US Said aluminum tubes was a technical assessment which CIA failed at Went with assumptions rather than facts CIA never looked at Iraqi rockets to see whether they fit aluminum tubes CIA and DIA created theory on tubes that rejected all criticism Report found British and Australian intelligence didn’t believe aluminum tubes were for centrifuges

(Musings On Iraq article on the aluminum tubes story)

(Musings On Iraq article Iraq, One Of The Worst Intelligence Failures In US History)

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 Killed 19 police and freed 33 prisoners

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

about Baghdad’s neglect

2007 PM Maliki endorsed plan to relocate 1000s of Arabs settled in Kirkuk province during Arabization

program Said would get money and land for leaving Iraqiya opposed plan Never implemented

2007 1920 Revolution Brigades commander said ISI killed one of its leaders leaving it to either fight ISI

or work with US

(Musings On Iraq article on splits within insurgency)

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

(Musings On Iraq book review The Caliphate At War, Operational Realities and Innovations of the Islamic State)

2008 Report 103 bodies killed by ISI found around Zahamm in Diyala River Valley When ISI first

entered village said they were opposing occupation Set up training camp and weapons caches Then began kidnapping and executing people who worked with ISF or didn’t follow rules like banning music smoking wearing the veil breaking curfew Extorted money from residents

(Musings On Iraq book review The Caliphate At War, Operational Realities and Innovations of the Islamic State)

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

            cease-fire

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

Baghdad and cities in the south 2 army regiments refused to fight Mahdi Army in Baghdad

2008 Report US special forces in Basra to help with air strikes vs Mahdi Army

2009 British ended military mission in Iraq

(Musings On Iraq Book Review The Report of the Iraq Inquiry, Executive Summary)

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

(Musings On Iraq Kirkuk Remains In Political Limbo)

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

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

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

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

2014 ISIS 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 Sadr called off his protests after Abadi

announced cabinet

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

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Musings On Iraq In The News

Musings On Iraq was cited in The ISIS Reader, Milestone Texts of the Islamic State by Haroro Ingram, Craig Whiteside and Charlie Winter. I was also quoted by Paul Iddon in "Saudi Arabi's flooding of the oil market could spell disaster for Iraq" in the New Arab and "Coronavirus outbreak compounds Iraq's perfect storm of crises" in the Arab News.

Here is a link to all of Musings On Iraq's citations.

Iraq Faces The Abyss With Coronavirus And Oil Collapse

(Reuters)

Iraq is facing two crises at the same time that threatens its future. First, Russia and Saudi Arabia got into an oil war that devastated prices. Iraqi crude sold for $51 a barrel in February. By March Brent prices were in the twenty dollar range. Second the coronavirus hit the country. As a result, a curfew was imposed which has closed down most businesses and put non-government employees out of work. Internationally that has also greatly reduced the demand for oil. Together that means Iraq is heading towards an economic blackhole.

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 Conference decided to keep UK High Commissioner for Iraq British advisers in govt naval

presence in Basra and RAF squadrons in rest of country

(Musings On Iraq article on the Cairo conference and the selection of Faisal to be first king of Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq book review Inventing Iraq: The Failure of Nation Building and a History Denied)

(Musings On Iraq book review Supremacy And Oil, Iraq, Turkey, and the Anglo-American World Order, 1918-1930)

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

Kuwait

(Musings On Iraq book review Imagining The Nation, Nationalism, Sectarianism and Socio-Political Conflict in Iraq)

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

Minister Had backing of British

1941 Regent had PM Hashemi send one of the Golden Square officers to Diwaniya He refused order Was

pushed by UK to try to break up pan-Arab officers in army

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

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

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

1980 Baath made membership in Dawa punishable by death

(Musings On Iraq A History of Iraq’s Islamic Dawa Party, Interview With Lowy Inst. for Intl. Policy’s Dr. Rodger Shanahan)

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

due to US and Soviet objections

(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)

(Musings On Iraq book review The Longest War, The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict)

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

(Musings On Iraq article on the origins of Iraq’s WMD programs)

1990 Report Iraq trying to challenge Israeli military superiority in Middle East by developing nuclear bomb

Dec 89 Iraq launched new long range missile Mar 90 3 people arrested in England trying to smuggle equipment for program to Iraq Intl Institute for Strategic Studies said program only in theoretical stage Was actually far more advanced than anyone knew

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

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

(Musings On Iraq interview with National Univ of Singapore’s Fanar Haddad on the Impact of the 1991 Uprising)

(Musings On Iraq article on 1^st hand accounts of 1991 Uprising)

(Musings On Iraq article on Saddam’s view of 1991 Uprising)

(Ahulbayt Video on 1991 Uprising)

1991 Majid al-Khoei son of Grand Ayatollah al-Khoei met with Saudi intelligence and was turned down

for aid because US objected

(Musings On Iraq article on how US encouraged 1991 uprising)

1995 INC and PUK attacked Iraqi forces in Kirkuk district destroying 2 brigades hoping to create a revolt

against Saddam

(Musings On Iraq book review of Iraq In The Eye of the Storm)

2002 Gen Franks presented new revised Iraq war plan to Bush

(Musings On Iraq book review of Shaping the Plan for Operation Iraqi Freedom, The Role of Military Intelligence Assessment)

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

(Musings On Iraq book review Target Basra, The High Octane Story of the Royal Marine Commandos In Iraq)

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

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

south oil fields and 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 Foreign 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 Sec Def Rumsfeld told ABC that US knew exactly where Iraq’s WMD were Claimed they were

around Tikrit and Baghdad

(Musings On Iraq How The Administration Reversed Itself On Finding Iraq’s WMD)

2003 Sec Def Rumsfeld accused Syria of giving military aid to Iraq Syria claimed US committed crimes

vs Iraqi civilians

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

(Musings On Iraq article Iraq, One Of The Worst Intelligence Failures In US History)

2003 PM Blair foreign policy adv Sir Manning worried that Baghdad when attacked could turn into drawn

out urban battle

2003 Pentagon memo on creating an Iraqi authority after war Said had to be friendly to the US Had to

end Sunni rule Wanted rule of law individual liberty representative govt private enterprise Didn’t say how that was to be achieved

(Musings On Iraq book review Leap of Faith, Hubris Negligence, and America’s Greatest Foreign Policy

Tragedy)

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

law being imposed Tribe entered into months of fighting with Salmani and Karabila tribes allied with Al Qaeda in Iraq in WAnbar Qaim dist Was expelled Albu Mahal went to US formed Desert Protectors Got help to have tribesmen join Iraqi army

(Musings On Iraq article on Albu Mahal tribe)

(Musings On Iraq article on Anbar tribes turning on Al Qaeda in Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq article on change in perceptions that led to Awakening)

(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)

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

(Musings On Iraq book review The Caliphate At War, Operational Realities and Innovations of the Islamic State)

2007 Op Call to Freedom ended effectively clearing Ramadi of insurgents

2007 Report Ali Salah WBaghdad only had 3 Sunni families left after militias forced out rest in March

despite US and Iraqi units in area during Surge

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

(Musings On Iraq Columbia University Charts Sectarian Cleansing Of Baghdad)

2008 Sadr announced ceasefire in fight vs ISF Mahdi Army handed over weapons to ISF in 2 Baghdad

            neighborhoods

2008 Fighting continued in Babil and Karbala between ISF and Mahdi Army Green Zone hit by

rockets

2008 UK report situation in Basra unchanged during Charge of Knights Said ISF had no coherent

            plan and morale low

2008 Report PM Maliki was shocked that his offensive in Basra caused fighting throughout south and

Baghdad Was actually warned by ISF that would happen beforehand but he ignored it

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

(Musings On Iraq article on PM Maliki’s patronage system including Tribal Support Councils)

(Musings On Iraq article Disputes over PM Maliki’s Tribal Support Councils)

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 PM

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 PM Maliki becoming authoritarian

(Musings On Iraq book review Iraq From War To A New Authoritarianism)

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

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

View the Iraq History Timelines 

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 Iraq set up new defensive line 6 miles from Maysan border Iran attacked towards Fakkeh breaking

through Iraqi lines Broken up by air strikes Lost 100 tanks and forced to retreat Ended Iranian Op Fath Iraq lost 8000 dead 12000 wounded 13000-20000 captured 400 tanks 3 divisions destroyed Iran lost 4,000 dead, 12,000 wounded, 200 tanks and APCs

(Musings On Iraq book review Iran-Iraq War Volume 4: The Forgotten Fronts)

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

(Musings On Iraq article on the origins of Iraq’s WMD programs)

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

(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)

(Musings On Iraq book review The Longest War, The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict)

1987 Ali Hassan al-Majid given special powers over all govt agencies in northern Iraq to deal with Kurds

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

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

1991 Iraqi troops recaptured Kirkuk from Kurdish rebels

1991 Iraqi troops captured Tanuma, Basra from rebels

(Musings On Iraq interview with National Univ of Singapore’s Fanar Haddad on the Impact of the 1991 Uprising)

(Musings On Iraq article on 1^st hand accounts of 1991 Uprising)

(Musings On Iraq article on Saddam’s view of 1991 Uprising)

(Ahulbayt Video on 1991 Uprising)

(Musings On Iraq article on how US encouraged 1991 uprising)

1994 Saddam became prime minister of Iraq

2002 Gen Franks briefed military service chiefs on Iraq war planning

(Musings On Iraq book review Leap of Faith, Hubris Negligence, and America’s Greatest Foreign Policy

Tragedy)

(Musings On Iraq book review of Shaping the Plan for Operation Iraqi Freedom, The Role of Military Intelligence Assessment)

2003 UK Embassy in Washington repored 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 Samarra bombing Mahdi

Army kidnapping and executing people

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

(Musings On Iraq Columbia University Charts Sectarian Cleansing Of Baghdad)

2007 ISI began withdrawing from Ramadi leading to large drop in attacks

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 killed 82

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

2008 PM Maliki’s deadline for militias to turn over weapons ended with few complying Was extended

            until Apr 8

2008 Defense Min Obeidi said Charge of Knights had not gone as planned Was shocked by resistance

by Mahdi Army

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

Qais Khazali and Asaib Ahl Al-Haq to rejoin his organization

(Musings On Iraq article on history of Asaib Ahl Al-Haq)

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

2008 At meeting Gen Petraeus said that Maliki govt had set goals in Basra it couldn’t achieve National

Security Adv Rubaie told UK official PM Maliki had been led by his advisers into starting Charge of Knights by telling him Basra in more desperate situation than it was in

2008 More police in Basra switched sides to Mahdi Army Reports more than 100 police fired in Basra

due to losing weapons and fleeing

2008 Nasiriya retaken from Mahdi Army Fighting between ISF and Mahdi Army in Karbala Babil

Baghdad

2008 UK started air strikes on Mahdi Army in Barsa US carried out air strikes in Basra and Sadr City

2008 Rockets fired at Green Zone by Mahdi Army

2008 Report Iraqi army had no artillery planning communications system logistics transportation

service hospitals

2009 Provincial election results announced State of Law won 126 of 440 seats 28% ISCI went from 200

to 50 seats

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s New Provincial Councils – Update)

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

UK US Iran Hezbollah worked out deal to release Brits in return for AAH leaders Qais and Laith Khazali 300 AHH members and Iranian operatives held by US

(Musings On Iraq article on kidnapping of Brits, Iranian role and their release)

(Musings On Iraq article on history of Asaib Ahl Al-Haq)

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

(Musings On Iraq Sons of Iraq Integration Update)

2010 Peshmerga withdrew from Jalawla Diyala after argument over control of disputed areas with

Baghdad

2011 PM Maliki presented nominees for security ministries never filled after 2010 elections

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

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

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

2015 Most Hashd pulled out of Tikrit op to protest US airstrikes PM Abadi met with Hashd leaders to

discuss their opposition

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

(Musings On Iraq article on history of Asaib Ahl Al-Haq)

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

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

2016 State of Law said PM Abadi ready to present candidates for cabinet but ruling parties were not

cooperating

View the Iraq History Timelines

This Day in Iraqi History - Mar 28

1940 Nuri al-Said convinced Golden Square officers to get Gaylani to form new govt Said would

become Foreign Minister

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

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

1987 Saddam was told 24,952 soldiers had deserted from 12/1/86-3/20/87 in Basra

(Musings On Iraq book review Iraq in Wartime, Soldiering, Martyrdom, and Remembrance)

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

(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)

(Musings On Iraq book review The Longest War, The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict)

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

1991 SCIRI head Hakim said Shiite rebels in south only fighting in rural areas after lost cities to Iraqi

army

(Musings On Iraq interview with National Univ of Singapore’s Fanar Haddad on the Impact of the 1991 Uprising)

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

(Musings On Iraq book review The United States And Iraq Since 1990: A Brief History with Documents)

(Musings On Iraq book review Out Of The Ashes, The Resurrection of Saddam Hussein)

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

palaces and other sites

(Musings On Iraq article UN Inspectors Were Right Iraq Was Not A Threat)

(Musings On Iraq article Iraq’s Rejection of UN Inspectors Led To Mistrust Over WMD and 2003 Invasion)

(Musings On Iraq article Charles Duelfer’s Account Of The End Of The 1990s U.N. Inspections)

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

(Musings On Iraq book review of Shaping the Plan for Operation Iraqi Freedom, The Role of Military Intelligence Assessment)

(Musings On Iraq book review Leap of Faith, Hubris Negligence, and America’s Greatest Foreign Policy

Tragedy)

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

2003 Royal Marines attacked Abu al-Khasib Basra city suburb

(Musings On Iraq book review Target Basra, The High Octane Story of the Royal Marine Commandos In Iraq)

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

2003 US 173^rd Airborne Brigade and Peshmerga took Irbil

(Musings On Iraq interview with Kevin Petit of 173^rd Airborne Brigade)

2003 PUK and 10^th Special Forces Group began main attack upon Ansar al-Islam camp in Halabja

(Musings On Iraq book review Special Operations Forces in Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq Why Didn’t Bush Strike Zarqawi And Ansar al-Islam In 2002?)

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 Sec Def Rumsfeld accused Syria of sending military aid to Iraq 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

(Musings On Iraq article UN Inspectors Were Right Iraq Was Not A Threat)

(Musings On Iraq article Iraq’s Rejection of UN Inspectors Led To Mistrust Over WMD and 2003 Invasion)

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 Helped lead to Sadrist uprising

(Musings On Iraq A Divided Sadr Trend)

2006 Anbar Revenge Brigade claimed it killed 4 Al Qaeda in Iraq leaders and a member of Ansar al-Sunna

(Musings On Iraq article on tribes turning on Al Qaeda in Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq article on change in perceptions that led to Awakening)

(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)

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

2007 ISI set off chlorine bomb at Fallujah government center

2007 2 truck bombs hit market targeting Shiite Turkmen in Tal Afar leaving 152 dead 347 wounded

Militias and police went through Sunni district of town dragging people out of homes and executed up to 70 in the streets wounded 30 and kidnapped 40 Iraqi army arrived and got into shootout with police until revenge killings ended

(Musings On Iraq book review The ISIS Reader, Milestone Texts of the Islamic State Movement)

2007 Report Iraqi observatory group said one prison in Mahmudiya held 705 Built to hold 75 Another

prison at Muthanna Air Base held 272 built for 50 Said ISF making mass arrests under Baghdad security plan but few released leading to overcrowding

2008 Report Govt invoking Sec 136B to avoid corruption cases Interior Min Bolani used it to stop case

against Gen Gharwari who ran secret prison in Baghdad Also used to stop 11 cases against ministers and Central Bank of Iraq

(Musings On Iraq interview with Special Inspector Gen for Iraq Reconstruction Bowen on corruption in Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq interview with fmr anti-graft official Vincent Foulk on corruption in Iraq)

2008 Report ISF made little progress in Basra 100s of police in city switched sides and joined Mahdi

Army

2008 UK report Charge of Knights op in Basra stalemated and likely protracted fight

2008 PM Maliki extended deadline for militias to turn over weapons in Basra until Apr 8

2008 US carried out air strikes in support of Charge of Knights campaign in Basra for 1^st time

2008 Presidential Council KDP and PUK said they supported Charge of Knights campaign vs Sadr

2008 1000s marched in Sadr City calling for removal of PM Maliki

2008 Badr offices in Amarah Maysan attacked Sadrists arrested in Babil and Qadisiyah Mahdi Army

seized control of Nasiriya and Shatra in Dhi Qar Fighting in 13 parts of Baghdad

2008 Rockets fired at Green Zone by Mahdi Army

2008 Pres Talabani met with Iranian Rev Guards Quds Force Cmdr Gen Suleimani about stopping fighting

between govt and Mahdi Army

(Musings On Iraq Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ Commander General Suleimani And His Role In Iraq, An Interview With The New Yorker’s Dexter Filkins)

2009 Counterterrorism Unit arrested Fadhil Sahwa leader in Baghdad on terrorism charges leading to

firefight

(Musings On Iraq Sons of Iraq Integration Update)

2010 Supreme Court ruled that any coalition that gained a majority after elections could get 1^st

opportunity to form a new govt Changed meaning of constitution and made election victory meaningless Ruling undermined Allawi’s Iraqiya right to form a new govt and gave it to Maliki’s State of Law

(Musings On Iraq book review Iraq From War To A New Authoritarianism)

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 PM 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

Review The ISIS Reader, Milestone Texts of the Islamic State Movement

Ingram, Haroro, Whiteside, Craig & Winter, Charlie, The ISIS Reader, Milestone Texts of the Islamic State Movement, Oxford, New York, Auckland, Cape Town, Dar es Salaam, Hong Kong, Karachi, Kuala Lumpuer, Madrid, Melbourne, Mexico City, Nairobi, New Dehli, Shanghai, Taipei, Toronto: Oxford University Press, 2020

The ISIS Reader, Milestone Texts of the Islamic State Movement attempts to use primary sources from the Islamic State to document the group’s main features. According to authors Haroro Ingram, Craig Whiteside and Charlie Winter those are a strategic vision of what it wants and how to achieve it, the ability to reflect and learn from its experiences, pragmatism rather than being dogmatic, and emphasizing propaganda as being as important as armed struggle. The book uses a mix of speeches, statements, video recordings, etc. starting from Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi in 1994 all the way to the last speech by Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi in 2019 to present IS’s ideas in its own words followed by analysis. In doing so, The ISIS Reader argues that the Islamic State both maintained its major ideas and goals while being able to adapt to both its successes and failures.

This Day In Iraqi History - Mar 27

1918 British defeated Ottomans in Battle of Khan al-Baghdadi

1922 General Haldane commander of UK forces compared Iraqis to children

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

1982 3^rd phase of Iranian Op Fath began to take Fakkeh strategic crossroads to Maysan Saddam ordered

4^th Corps to retreat from Shush in face of Iranian attack

(Musings On Iraq book review Iran-Iraq War Volume 4: The Forgotten Fronts)

1984 Iraq used French Super Etendard jets for 1^st time to attack Iranian shipping Hit a Greek ship in

Persian Gulf carrying Kuwaiti oil that was helping Iraq pay for the war

(Musings On Iraq book review Iraqi Mirages, The Dassault Mirage Family In Service With The Iraqi Air Force, 1981-1988)

1988 Iran Op Bait al-Moqaddas 4 in Kurdistan started

(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 Volume 4: The Forgotten Fronts)

(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)

(Musings On Iraq book review The Longest War, The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict)

1988 Iraq dropped chemical bombs for 2^nd day on Karadagh Kurdistan 64 killed 210 wounded total

during Anfal Campaign

(Musings On Iraq article on Anfal campaign)

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

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

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

(Musings On Iraq book review Out Of The Ashes, The Resurrection of Saddam Hussein)

(Musings On Iraq article on how US encouraged 1991 uprising)

(Musings On Iraq interview with National Univ of Singapore’s Fanar Haddad on the Impact of the 1991 Uprising)

(Musings On Iraq article on 1^st hand accounts of 1991 Uprising)

(Musings On Iraq article on Saddam’s view of 1991 Uprising)

(Ahulbayt Video on 1991 Uprising)

1995 Fighting between KDP and PUK killed 100 in Irbil

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

1996 UN Resolution 1051 set up monitoring system for Iraqi imports-exports under Oil for Food program

2003 Coalition ground forces commander Gen McKiernan ordered halt to operations to regroup forces

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

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

2003 Iraqi forces began withdrawing in Kirkuk Looting started

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

(Musings On Iraq How Did Kirkuk Become Such A Divisive Issue? A Portrait of The City In

2003)

2003 Iraq Def Min 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 planning groups to come up with unified plan for Iraq Didn’t

happen Groups had all been created separately within Bush admin with no coordination between them

(Musings On Iraq article on Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Hard Lessons Chapter 3 The Department of Defense Takes Charge)

(Musings On Iraq article Special Inspector General For Iraq Reconstruction Hard Lessons Chapter 4 Staging in Kuwait)

(Musings On Iraq book review Leap of Faith, Hubris Negligence, and America’s Greatest Foreign Policy

Tragedy)

(Musings On Iraq review Losing Iraq, Inside The Post War Reconstruction Fiasco)

(Musings On Iraq book review Iraq’s Dysfunctional Democracy)

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

(Musings On Iraq Irqi Oil Would Pay For Reconstruction)

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

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 Report sent to Washington that after examination 2 trailers found during invasion were not mobile

WMD labs as originally thought

(Musings On Iraq article on mobile labs story)

2004 Marine patrol hit by IED leading to 36 hr gunfight in Fallujah Prelude to 1^st Battle of Fallujah

(Musings On Iraq book review The Battle for Fallujah, Occupation, Resistance and Stalemate in the War in Iraq)

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

(Musings On Iraq interview with Special Inspector Gen for Iraq Reconstruction Bowen on corruption in Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq interview with fmr anti-graft official Vincent Foulk on corruption in Iraq)

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

2007 ISI tried to assassinate nephew of Harith al-Dari head of Association of Muslim Scholars

2007 Report fighting between Islamic Army and 1920 Revolution Brigades vs ISI in Anbar and Abu

Ghraib and Taji areas of Baghdad over tactics and ISI trying to dominate insurgency Also splits in Diyala

(Musings On Iraq article on splits within insurgency)

(Musings On Iraq book review The Caliphate At War, Operational Realities and Innovations of the Islamic State)

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

Industry Ministry officials

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

2007 Report 1^st EFP attack Aug 2003 Aug 05 Natl Sec Adv Hadley said Iran probably behind EFP attacks

Oct 05 UK Amb to Iraq said Iran giving aid to militias to attack UK forces Apr 06 EFP attacks began increasing then dropped start of 07 Bush admin struggled over what to do about attacks Decided upon raids and media briefings EFPs supplied by Iran and Hezbollah

(Musings On Iraq interview with Galen Wright of Arkenstone blog on Iranian arms shipments to Iraqi militias) 

(Musings On Iraq article on Iran training Iraqi militias)

2008 UK reported ISF suffered bad intelligence and bad planning and had to change Charge of Knights

op Also reported Iraqi Special Forces had failed to take any of their targets and had to withdraw Mahdi Army controlled most of Basra

2008 Fighting between ISF and Mahdi Army continued in Basra Kut Diwaniya Amara Spread to Dhi

Qar Mahdi Army fired mortars at 2 neighborhoods in Baghdad and Green Zone Fighting in 2 of Baghdad’s neighborhoods Basra police chief escaped suicide car bomb Mahdi Army kidnapped spokesman for Baghdad Ops Command

2008 Electricity Min said most power plants in south stopped working after attacked by mortars and

gunfire

2008 Report Basra Ops Commander Gen Mohan wanted to wait 3 months to build up forces and strategy

to take on Mahdi Army but PM Maliki started early Warnings about fighting spreading throughout south Iraq were ignored by Maliki

2008 Sadr called for talks to end Charge of Knights PM Maliki said no publicly but talks were going on in

Najaf Iran mediating

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

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

2008 Presidential Council approved General Amnesty Law as part of reconciliation Allowed release of

thousands of prisoners

(Musings On Iraq article on Amnesty Law)

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

(Musings On Iraq article on history of Asaib Ahl Al-Haq)

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

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

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

View the Iraq History Timelines 

How Saddam’s View Of the US As A Threat Led To Kuwait Invasion

Many took US Amb to Iraq Glaspie's meeting with Saddam as the Bush Admin okaying his invasion of Kuwait but that proved wrong (The Diplomat)

When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990 many initially believed this was okayed by the Bush administration. That mainly arose from U.S. Ambassador to Iraq April Glaspie’s meeting with the Iraqi leader just before the conflict started. She told Saddam that the U.S. had no position on the Iraq-Kuwait border issue. That made headlines even though she also told him that the White House opposed the use of force to resolve the matter. Captured Iraqi documents found after 2003 revealed that not only did Saddam not take the conversation with Ambassador Glaspie as a kind of approval, but that he believed invading Kuwait was a way to stand up to what he saw as America’s plots against him.

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

1982 2 Iraqi divisions ordered to retreat to escape encirclement during Iranian Op Fath push on Maysan

Large tank battle in Chananeh End of day Iraqi 1^st Mech Div destroyed

(Musings On Iraq book review Iran-Iraq War Volume 4: The Forgotten Fronts)

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

Israeli aid against Iran Iraq rejected offer Also offered $2 bil in loan guarantees Agreed to restore diplomatic relations

(Musings On Iraq book review The Saddam Tapes)

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

(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)

(Musings On Iraq book review The Longest War, The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict)

1988 Iraq dropped chemical bombs on Karadagh Kurdistan

(Musings On Iraq article on Anfal campaign)

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

(Musings On Iraq interview with National Univ of Singapore’s Fanar Haddad on the Impact of the 1991 Uprising)

(Musings On Iraq article on 1^st hand accounts of 1991 Uprising)

(Musings On Iraq article on Saddam’s view of 1991 Uprising)

(Ahulbayt Video on 1991 Uprising)

1991 Talabani returned to Iraq after 3 years Gave speech talking about freeing all of Iraq working with

Iraqi opposition to create a provisional govt 

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

1991 White House meeting on Iraq uprising Decided not to get involved

(Musings On Iraq book review Out Of The Ashes, The Resurrection of Saddam Hussein)

1991 Bush told press Iraqi rebels had not asked U.S. for help during uprising

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

(Musings On Iraq article on how US encouraged 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

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

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

(Musings On Iraq article UN Inspectors Were Right Iraq Was Not A Threat)

(Musings On Iraq article Iraq’s Rejection of UN Inspectors Led To Mistrust Over WMD and 2003 Invasion)

(Musings On Iraq Review The United States And Iraq Since 1990, A Brief History With Documents)

2003 US forces began move on Kut, Wasit Surrounded Najaf

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

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

(Musings On Iraq interview with Petit of 173^rd Airborne Bgd on operations in 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 Sec Def Rumsfeld told Garner he had some replacements for Americans going to run Iraq ministries

Wanted them all from Pentagon

(Musings On Iraq article on Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Hard Lessons Chapter 3 The Department of Defense Takes Charge)

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

2007 PM Maliki and Pres Talabani announced Accountability and Justice bill would change

deBaathification process Wouldn’t pass until 2008 due to opposition

2007 Report Amb Khalilzad held talks with 1920 Revolution Brigades and Islamic Army in 2006 No

breakthroughs Insurgents made unreasonable demands like dismissing govt and suspending constitution US also had talks with insurgents in 2005 Maliki govt upset with talks claiming Khalilzad sectarian and trying to undermine Shiite majority rule

2008 ISF got into shootout with Mahdi Army in Diwaniya

2008 Fighting between ISF and Mahdi Army in Basra 5 neighborhoods in Baghdad plus Kut Diwaniya

Hilla Karbala Mortars fired on Green Zone Mahdi Army attacked US checkpoints in east Baghdad Clashes between Mahdi Army and Badr and Dawa office burned in Sadr City

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

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

            moved from Basra to Baghdad

2008 Sadrists walked out of parliament over govt crackdown on movement Called for no confidence vote

against PM Maliki

2008 Mass grave with 52 bodies of people executed by ISI found in Diyala River Valley

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

43

(Musings On Iraq book review The Unraveling, High Hopes And Missed Opportunity In Iraq)

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 PM 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

(Musings On Iraq book review Iraq From War To A New Authoritarianism)

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 Diyala and destroyed houses and mosques

View the Iraq History Timelines