Tuesday, March 24, 2020

This Day In Iraqi History - Mar 24


1959 Gen Qasim withdrew Iraq from anti-Communist Baghdad Pact
(Musings On Iraq interview with Western Kentucky’s Prof Romero on the Qasim govt)
1967 Pres Arif ordered some units of the Iraqi military to be put on alert as tensions grew between Israel
            and Egypt
1973 Saddam visited Moscow to push for stronger Iraq-Soviet cooperation
1982 Saddam took control of central front to try to stop Iranian Op Fath attack upon Maysan
1984 Iraq deployed French Super Entendard jets first time on raid on Iran’s Bushehr nuclear
power plant US provided satellite intelligence on facility before and after to assess raid Didn’t hit main target Was 1st of 6 attacks on facility lasting until 1988 Plant was unfinished and Iran was not working on it so wasted attack
1986 UN condemned Iraq’s use of chemical weapons in 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)
1988 KDP base hit with poison gas in 2nd Anfal campaign Civilians rounded up and men executed by
govt forces
(Musings On Iraq article on Anfal campaign)
1991 Turkish Pres Ozal met Bush in US and told him an independent Kurdistan in Iraq would lead to
greater Kurdistan affecting Turkey Syrian Iran
1992 Iraqi army began shelling Kifri as sporadic fighting with Peshmerga continued
1998 French Pres Chirac told PM Blair that sanctions were killing kids in Iraq
2002 VP Cheney on CNN’s Late Edition called Saddam an evil man that U.S. would deal with
(Musings On Iraq book review Wanting War: Why the Bush Administration Invaded Iraq)
(Musings On Iraq book review Leap of Faith, Hubris Negligence, and America’s Greatest Foreign Policy
Tragedy)
2003 US forces reached outside Karbala
(Musings On Iraq book review Voices From Iraq, A People’s History, 2003-2009)
2003 Expected sandstorm hit leading to pause in invasion Gen Franks didn’t want pause and pushed for his forces to continue attack
2003 US B-52 bombers began attacks on Republican Guard positions south of Baghdad
2003 British forces took Basra airport Heavy fighting with Fedayeen led British forces to withdraw from
Basra City
(Musings On Iraq book review Target Basra, The High Octane Story of the Royal Marine Commandos In Iraq)
2003 British military told govt local Iraqi militias putting up tough fight in Basra
2003 British received reports of uprising within Basra city put down by Fedayeen and Baath militia
2003 Red Cross warned of humanitarian emergency in Basra city as water running out
2003 Dow Jones reported no WMD found at suspected facility in Najaf
2003 Iran decided to send in operatives and Badr Brigade to carry out ops against US in Iraq
(Musings On Iraq article on Iran using Badr in post-Saddam Iraq)
(Musings On Iraq article on the history of Badr Organization)
2003 Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei and Pres Khatami recorded talking about sending forces to 5 Iraq cities
to incite anti-US violence
2003 Arab League voted 21-1 demanding U.S. and UK forces withdraw from Iraq
2003 Putin called Bush and said there would be great suffering during war Bush said everything would
be under control
2003 Tariq Aziz gave presser saying US was after Iraq’s oil
2004 Ex-White House counterterrorism chief Clarke told 9/11 Commission Iraq not behind 1993 World
Trade Center bombing
(Musings On Iraq article on Mylroie’s Iraq conspiracy theories)
(Musings On Iraq Laurie Mylroie’s Iraq Conspiracy Theory Was Debunked By Captured Baath Documents)
2006 Review of captured Iraqi documents and interviews with Baathist leadership showed reason
Saddam wanted WMD and was unwilling to admit that he’d destroyed them after Gulf War Was because he thought they deterred Iran which he saw as existential threat
(Musings On Iraq Was Iraq An Imminent Threat To The West?)
2007 Report DynCorp contracted by US govt to provide sandbags police and training camps Regularly
overpriced work Iraqi contractors repeatedly failed to do job DynCorp contracted to fill sandbags at Najaf police dept Paid $67k then contracted Iraqi company for $23k to do job Sandbags were useless and job had to be redone Built police camps in Baquba Basra Ramadi Fallujah Najaf all considered bad mostly due to subcontractors Built camp in Mosul for $2.1 bil that should have cost $600k Camp got bad review Air conditioners didn't work Used cheap furniture Foam instead of real mattresses Another police camp cancelled after spent $43.8 mil on it
2008 PM Maliki launched Charge of Knights against Mahdi Army in Basra He arrived in
Basra to oversee operation Claimed op was against militias and criminals Didn’t go after Badr or Fadhila only Sadrists who were biggest rival to Maliki’s plans for provincial and national elections
(Musings On Iraq A Divided Sadr Trend)
2008 Oil Min asked foreign companies to submit plans to develop Iraq’s oil and natural gas fields for
first time since 03
2008 Gen Petraeus blamed Iran for recent spate of rocket attacks upon Green Zone
2008 Report Bush was never a fan of INC’s Chalabi before 03 invasion
2008 Report Neither Sec State Powell nor Natl Sec Adv Rice objected to Pentagon taking control of
postwar Iraq Powell thought State would eventually take charge Rice thought US would only be in Iraq for a few months
2008 Report From 03-08 demand for electricity increased 125% Supply increased during that period
but couldn’t keep up with demand
2008 Report Sadrists complained about ceasefire Said they came under attack from PM Maliki and US
Claimed 2,000-2,500 of their followers arrested since start of ceasefire Blamed ISCI for attacks upon them in south Said they received new weapons and cash from Iran
2009 Sahwa commander in Salahaddin said that Ansar al-Sunna and ISI had created new alliance
2010 PM Maliki announced new anti-corruption campaign
(Musings On Iraq interview with Vincent Foulk former US anti-graf official)
(Musings On Iraq interview with Stuart Bowen Special Inspetor General for Iraq Reconstruction)
2011 Riot at Rusafa prison over overcrowding
2012 Baghdad and Irbil agreed to increased joint patrols in Diyala
2013 Naqshibandi sent group to Ramadi protest site to try to push it towards violence against govt
2014 After Burhiz, Kirkuk retaken from IS Hashd killed at least 2 civilians and burned homes
2016 Most ruling parties refused to send candidates for technocratic cabinet to Abadi
2016 Supreme Council suspended its ministers in govt
2016 Head of IS Military Council Anbari killed

View the Iraq History Timelines 

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