This Day In Iraqi History - Dec 28 Def Sec Rumsfeld told Bush Iraq war would be short and US would withdraw quickly

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1929 Fmr Iraq High Comm Dobbs said if Iraq moved forward in its own dysfunctional way

and was better off than it was under Ottomans UK would have succeeded

1947 Regent called meeting of leading politicians to discuss negotiations over new Anglo-Iraq

Treaty Political parties not invited Politicians backed deal with UK to allow their continued presence in Iraq which was opposed by most Iraqis

1990 Yugoslav Foreign Min Loncar went to Iraq Met with Foreign Min Aziz Put forward European

Union idea for Iraq to negotiate with Europe instead of US Iraq rejected idea Said Europe just repeated US position

1998 US began attacks upon Iraqi air defense system in north as part of no fly zones

1998 Italian paper claimed Saddam and bin Laden made pact to act against US and Iraq offered

Saddam safe haven False story

2001 CENTCOM commander Gen Franks presented latest version of Iraq war plan to

Bush in Crawford, Texas Franks had 7 lines of operation that could be used independently or in conjunction Were bombings and missile attacks Special Forces penetrating into Iraq Ground operations by army and marines Information deception and psychological operations CIA support for Iraqi opposition diplomacy and humanitarian aid to Iraqi population Included 9 “slices” of Iraq that could be targeted Were Leadership internal security and intelligence agencies WMD missiles Republican Guard territory of Iraq Iraqi army infrastructure and civilian population Plan would need support of Kuwait Saudi Arabia Jordan Turkey Bahrain Qatar UAE Oman and England Could start with just 105,000 troops and then 230,000 more coming in next 60-90 days Franks wanted to start building up forces and supplies in region immediately get CIA to start building up support within Iraq and diplomacy to build up support amongst Gulf States Franks said US would be ready for Iraq invasion by April to June 2002 Bush said he wanted Saddam gone sooner rather than later Def Sec Rumsfeld said that number of troops was still under discussion Sec State Powell said might need more troops

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

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

Tragedy)

(Musings On Iraq US Army History Of Iraq Vol 1 – Chapter 2 Regime Change)

2001 After Gen Franks briefing Bush asked CIA Dir Tenet about intel on Iraq Said was very thin

CIA only had 2 sources inside Iraq and contact with them erratic

2001 CIA Dir Tenet said Iraqi opposition wouldn't work with US without seeing strong commitment

from Washington

2001 Bush ordered State and Defense Depts to start building up support amongst regional countries

for Iraq invasion

2001 Bush asked Gen Franks if war plan good enough to win Franks said yes with some work Bush

told Gen Franks he wanted Saddam removed as soon as possible and suggested 2002 for war

(Musings On Iraq Review Hubris, The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, And The Selling Of The Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq review The Bush Administrations and Saddam Hussein, Deciding on Conflict)

2001 Def Sec Rumsfeld told Bush Iraq war would be over fast and quick US would quickly turn

over power to Iraqis and withdraw

(Musings On Iraq Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction’s “Hard Lessons” – Part I: Planning for Postwar Iraq September 2001 to May 2003)

(Musings On Iraq review Liberate And Leave, Fatal Flaws In The Early Strategy For Postwar Iraq)

2001 Pentagon’s Def Policy Board’s Richard Perle OpEd in NY Times said US had to attack Iraq Said

Muslims were opposed to Saddam and would welcome his overthrow

(Musings On Iraq review Wanting War: Why the Bush Administration Invaded Iraq)

2002 Report NSC Sr Dir Near East Abrams drafted plan for US to seize control of Iraq’s

            southern oil fields

2003 Iraqi Governing Council wrote letter to UN about CPA’s plans to hold caucuses instead of

elections for new Iraq parliament

2004 Bin Laden online statement praised Zarqawi giving him allegiance

(Musings On Iraq Tracking Al Qaeda in Iraq’s Zarqawi Interview With Ex-CIA Analyst Nada Bakos)

(Musings On Iraq The Rise And Rebirth Of The Islamic State Interview With Author Michael Weiss)

2004 Report Islamic Party said it was withdrawing from Jan 05 election over lack of security Called for 6

month postponement Would take part in election as only major Sunni party

2005 UN endorsed December elections for a permanent Iraqi parliament

2006 Report Mahdi Army moving block by block across Ghaziliya Baghdad forcing out Sunnis

Many displaced Sunnis moved to center of district where sheikh set up militia to protect them from Mahdi Army

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

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

2006 New Def Sec Gates met with Bush Proposed 2 brigade troop surge Bush rejected idea Wanted

more troops

2006 NSC agreed that Gen Petraeus would be new Iraq commander for Surge

(Musings On Iraq Inside The Surge An Interview With Prof Peter Mansoor Former Executive Officer To Gen Petraeus)

(Musings On Iraq Reassessing The US Surge, And Recognizing Iraqi Agency In Ending The 2005-2008 Civil War In Iraq An Interview With New America Foundation’s Douglas Ollivant)

2008 Iraq Body Count Avg daily deaths went from 76/day in 2006 to 67/day in 2007 to 25/day in 2008

25-27,000 deaths in 2006 22-24,000 deaths in 2007 8-9,000 deaths in 2008 Baghdad saw biggest drop in violence

2010 Report 1000s fled Iraq during war Hard to calculate exact number of refugees At peak MidEast

countries claimed 2.5 mil Iraqi refugees Some thought too high UN only registered 400,000 since 03 More still registering Member of UN said many Iraqis didn’t register Arab govts said 1.5 mil refugees Refugees Intl said only 500,000 Iraqis living in cities made it hard to count

2010 PM Maliki said no changes would be made to the SOFA agreement with the US and all its

troops would leave Iraq

2010 Sadrist became governor of Maysan in return for Sadr’s support for Maliki’s 2^nd term

(Musings On Iraq Sadrists Gain Control Of Maysan Governorship)

2011 Report PM Maliki said every Iraq would have a home in 5 yrs Said homeless could buy a home at

cost Wanted to build 12 large building complexes for $2 bil Not enough to make enough houses to meet demand

2012 Protests spread from Fallujah and Ramadi to Diyala Ninewa and Salahaddin in response to PM

Maliki issuing warrant for Finance Min Issawi

(Musings On Iraq Prime Minister Maliki Targets Another Member Of The Iraqi National Movement In An Act Of Political Intimidation)

(Musings On Iraq Understanding Iraq’s Protest Movements, An Interview With Kirk Sowell, Editor of Inside Iraqi Politics)

2013 Maliki ordered arrest of MP Alwani for taking part in protests Gun battle ensued

killing Alwani’s brother and some of his bodyguards Led to protests in Fallujah and Ramadi and Ninewa Salahaddin Diyala

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s PM Maliki Goes From Offensive Against Al Qaeda To Crackdown On Anbar Protestors)

(Musings On Iraq How Iraq’s Fallujah Fell To The Islamic State)

2013 Speaker Nujafi said arrest of MP Alwani illegal due to parliamentary immunity Called for

investigation

2013 Speaker Nujafi’s parliamentary investigative group into arrest of MP Alwani blocked from

entering Anbar by ISF

2013 PM Maliki ordered arrest of Sheikh Sulaiman for his role in Anbar protests Sulaiman fled to

Irbil

(Musings On Iraq With Fighting Still Going On In Anbar Province Iraq’s Premier Maliki Continues To Issue Arrest Warrants From Protest Leaders)

2013 Court in Najaf said dozens of govt workers involved in real estate scam Made more than 700,000

false contracts Was part of gang in three govt offices that operated from 2004-09

(Musings On Iraq Corruption In Iraq An Interview With Stuart Bowen Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction)

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s Trouble Fighting Corruption Interview With Vincent Foulk Former US Anti-Graft Official)

2015 Report US air strikes largely shut down IS oil industry in Iraq Had up to 2000 oil workers

2014-15 IS was making as much as $40 mil/mo from oil sales Taxed transportation of oil products Oct Op Tidal wave II started targeting industry Still held Qayara field and refinery in Ninewa

2015 Iraqi forces freed Ramadi from IS

2016 Last bridge crossing Tigris in Mosul destroyed by Coalition airstrike to prevent IS retreating

from eastern to western section of city

2016 Asaib Ahl Al-Haq’s Khazali said that his forces would fight IS in Syria Said Iraq and Syria would

cooperate PM Abadi said any Iraqi forces in Syria didn’t represent Iraq Asaib Ahl Al-Haq had been fighting in Syria for years

(Musings On Iraq Asaib Ahl Al-Haq From A Breakaway Sadr Militia To Defenders Of Iraq)

2017 Reporters Without Borders KRG went after NRT and KNN reporters and offices for covering protests in Dec NRT closed Reporters beat and employees arrested

2017 KRG PM Barzani said that PM Abadi was punishing the Kurds and unwilling to compromise

while Maliki was offering reconciliation Came after Maliki gave interview to Rudaw saying that Baghdad-Irbil relations needed to be improved

(Musings On Iraq Maliki-KDP Reconciliation In Iraq)

2019 Report Human Rights Comm said 490 protesters killed Included 33 that were assassinated

22,000 wounded 56 missing after being kidnapped 12 released after being abducted

(Musings On Iraq UN Report On Violence Against Iraqi Protesters)

(Musings On Iraq United Nations Faults Iraq For Failing To Protect Protesters)

2019 Nasiriya oil field shut down due to protests

2020 Report Iran said it cut natural gas exports to Iraq because it was owed more than $6 bil $3 bil

was blocked due to sanctions $2 bil was overdue $1 bil was for breaking contract

2020 Report 10 power stations closed due to cut in natural gas imports from Iraq and lack of spare

parts

2020 Report KRG Dep PM Q Talabani said KRG would export 250,000 bar/day in oil for Baghdad in

return for monthly budget payments KRG made same deal multiple times and never fulfilled promise

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