Friday, April 17, 2020

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 Faisal for position
1941 PM Gaylani asked Germany for military aid in case of war with British
(Musings On Iraq interview with Prof Boich World War II In Iraq and Syria)
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 review of Rashid Ali al-Gailani, The National Movement in Iraq 1939-1941)
(Musings On Iraq review of Persian Gulf Command, A History of the Second World War In Iran and Iraq)
(Musings On Iraq review Iraq 1941, The Battles for Basra, Habbaniya, Fallujah and Baghdad)
(Musings On Iraq 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
(Musings On Iraq review Iran-Iraq War Volume 4: The Forgotten Fronts)
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 review The Iran-Iraq War 1980-1988)
(Musings On Iraq review Iran-Iraq War, The Lion of Babylon, 1980-1988)
(Musings On Iraq review The Iran-Iraq War)
(Musings On Iraq review The Longest War, The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict)
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 review Kurds of Iraq, Tragedy and Hope)
(Musings On Iraq Review The United States And Iraq Since 1990, A Brief History With Documents)
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
(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 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
(Musings On Iraq article Special Inspector General For Iraq Reconstruction Hard Lessons Chapter 4 Staging in Kuwait)
(Musings On Iraq Only 3 of 13 Reconstruction Contracts Were Signed Before War)
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 review Iraq and Back, Inside The War To Win The Peace)
(Musings On Iraq Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Hard Lessons Ch 5 ORHA In Baghdad)
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 173rd 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 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 review Iraq’s Sunni Insurgency)
(Musings On Iraq review The Caliphate At War, Operational Realities and Innovations of the Islamic State)
2007 3rd 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 died in hospitals due to lack of staff equipment drugs Violence driving away nurses and doctors
2007 Saudis agreed to forgive 80% of Iraq’s $15 bil debt Most came from Iran-Iraq War
2007 Interview ISCI head Hakim said Badr turned into a civil organization in 2003 and no longer a militia
Said Iran gave ISCI political support but no money Said fmr Interior Min Jabr had nothing to do with police abuses and Badr didn't run secret Jadriya prison discovered by US forces in Baghdad Said Baathists not Badr controlled police Denied that Badr head Amiri said militias would exist until ISF could protect public All these claims were false
(Musings On Iraq interview with Jerry Burke police and Interior Min adviser on how Badr took over Interior Ministry)
(Musings On Iraq history of Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq)
2008 Report Army officer said Mahdi Army constantly called him and threatened him during Charge of
Knights Said senior officers were pro-Sadr and gave intel to Mahdi Army Complained Mahdi Army often outgunned army units in Basra
2008 Badr’s Hadi Amiri 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
2008 Report by US House Comm said US had no reconstruction strategy in Iraq Many projects ad hoc
uncoordinated with others and result of individuals rather than overall plan Also meant couldn’t measure whether rebuilding working or not
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 PM Maliki’s adviser on Kurdish Affairs Adel Barwari removed from post
2012 PM 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
(Musings On Iraq review The Caliphate At War, Operational Realities and Innovations of the Islamic State)
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)

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