Wednesday, January 4, 2023

This Day In Iraqi History - Jan 4 Gen Qasim gave up claims to Kuwait

(Wikipedia)

 

1916 British attacked Shaikh Saad in campaign to relieve troops trapped at Kut Turned back

by Ottomans 600 British casualties

1920 Cpt Mann UK political officer in Shamiya said that Iraqis were angry that British had

not kept WWI promises of independence

1921 Foreign Min Lord Curzon told UK cabinet that French PM told him Faisal should not

be made king of Iraq

(Musings On Iraq review Empires of the Sand, The Struggle For Mastery In The Middle East 1789-1923)

1939 PM Said turned to pan-Arab Muthanna Club to push his govt program Said said he

would promote democracy freedom of press electoral reform allow opposition He did none of that

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq’s Democratic Moment)

1948 Students in Baghdad protested against 1930 Anglo-Iraq Treaty Broken up by police

Start of Wathba/Great Leap

1963 Qasim govt announced it recognized the independence of Kuwait

(Musings On Iraq review Unholy Babylon, The Secret History of Saddam’s War)

1969 Bakr govt tried 17 Jews arrested on spy charges Were arrested in 1968

1981 Iran claimed it destroyed Iraq’s oil industry in Iran-Iraq War Was just damaged

1981 Iran launched diversionary attack in Mehran Iran central front before main operation

in south

(Musings On Iraq Remembering The Iran-Iraq War Interview With Author Anthony Tucker-Jones)

(Musings On Iraq The Iran-Iraq War Interview with Author Tom Cooper)

(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)

(Musings On Iraq review The Iran-Iraq War Volume 1: The Battle for Khuzestan, September 1980-May 1982)

(Musings On Iraq review The Iran-Iraq War Volume 2: Iran Strikes back, June 1982-December 1986)

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

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

1983 Tariq Aziz went to Paris to renegotiate $5 bil debt Said wanted to buy 20 Super

Etendard jets and Exocet missiles Dassault pressured Pres Mitterand to rent the Etendards to Iraq Iraq also made deal to buy 24 Mirage fighters to be built in 2 years

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

1993 Iraq deployed 20 anti-aircraft missiles batteries within the No Fly Zone to challenge

the West

1999 Iraqi opposition claimed Baghdad executed 100 dissidents in Nov 1998 who were

arrested during 91 uprising

2003 UK Foreign Pol Adv Manning told PM Blair US almost given up on inspections

because wanted immediate action against Iraq Manning warned that US was pushing for war as soon as possible

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

(Musings On Iraq Chilcot Inquiry Section 3.6 Development of UK Strategy and Options, November 2002 to January 2003)

2003 US Natl Intel Council report said building democracy in Iraq would be long and

difficult

(Musings On Iraq review Overreach, Delusions of Regime Change In Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq’s Future The aftermath of regime change)

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

Policy Tragedy)

(Musings On Iraq Overview of America’s Policy Towards Iraq: From The Clinton Years To

The Sectarian War of 2006)

2004 Bin Laden said US war in Iraq attempt to control region’s oil and start of holy war in

Middle East

2004 Report Kirkuk councilman and member of Turkmen Front said Turkmen wanted to

work out differences with Kurds politically but if that didn’t work would use violence

2004 Report Gen Sanchez’s Iraq command working on plan to hand over security to ISF allowing

US withdrawal

(Musings On Iraq Special Inspector General For Iraq Reconstruction’s Hard Lessons Chapter 12 Reconstructing Iraqi Security Forces)

(Musings On Iraq Did the US Ever Have A Strategy To Win In Iraq Before the Surge?)

(Musings On Iraq review The U.S. Army In The Iraq War: Volume 1, Invasion, Insurgency,

Civil War, 2003-2006)

2005 Report US considered embedding US advisors within Iraqi units to speed their

development

2005 Insurgents assassinated Baghdad Governor Haidari

2007 Natl Sec Adv Hadley told Bush PM Maliki opposed to troop surge before video

conference between the two

2007 Bush told PM Maliki Surge happening and he had to publicly back it and could not

stop US ops PM Maliki wanted US to only go after insurgents while he continued to protect Sadr and Mahdi Army

(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)

(Musings On Iraq review The War Within, A Secret White House History 2006-2008)

2007 Baathist leader Izzat al-Duri declared war on Sadr and Hakim

2007 Report New Pentagon program opened one closed state owned enterprise factory in

Dec Had plans to reopen 9 more by end of Jan Hoping they would create 11,000 jobs

2007 Report Intl Org for Migration recorded 40,000 Sunnis fled Baghdad to Anbar in 2006 to

escape civil war

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

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

2008 Iraqi Red Crescent reported 45,913 refugees returned from Syria from Sep-Dec 07

Govt claimed 60,000 had returned because inflating numbers 38,736 went to Baghdad Around 10,000 displaced returned home from Nov-Dec 07 Returnees found it hard to find housing school health care

(Musings On Iraq review Children of War, Voices Of Iraqi Refugees)

2008 Report bin Laden said those that joined the sahwa sold out their religion for money

(Musings On Iraq What’s In The Future For The Sons of Iraq?)

2008 Report Lancet II report est 654,965 Iraqi deaths from 03-06 10 times higher than other ests Health Min

est 50,000 died 03-Jun 06 Iraq Body Count est 45,000 dead 1st Lancet est 100,000 excess deaths during 1st 19 months of war In Fallujah survey recorded 52 deaths in 29 households 71% of total deaths in report Extrapolated would mean 50-70,000 deaths in Fallujah by Sep 04 Was so high Fallujah was dropped from final results Lancet II recorded 302 deaths in 1849 households up to Jun 06 Customary for surveys to release work to show that it could be repeated and verified Lancet II didn’t VP of Natl Opinion Research Center said Lancet II didn’t use routine methods to prevent fraud Sample size might’ve been too small Lancet II visited 47 clusters each with 40 households UN did survey of 2200 clusters of 10 houses each Est 24,000 deaths Lancet II sample size small so each death accounted for 2000 deaths overall Might suffer from main street bias Go to main streets to do survey which have highest violence Lancet II said only 1.7% of households less than 50 total were unoccupied or didn’t want to participate Asked how 98% of households cooperated if only surveyed in 1 day and most men would be at work and women less likely to answer questions alone Lancet II claimed most deaths confirmed with death certificates Didn’t show any proof of certificates Didn’t record any info from certificates Under pressure Lancet II authors released some data Raised more questions 22 death certificates for violent deaths missing and all were in Ninewa Meant there were no other missing certificates for 180 deaths in 15 provinces 70 violent deaths didn’t mention certificates 1 author later said surveyors forgot to ask for certificates when claimed all deaths verified by them 1 Baghdad survey cluster reported 24 car bombs deaths in early July Iraq Body Count only recorded 1 car bomb during period that killed 60 Survey was supposed to end in Jun so shouldn’t have included any bombs in Jul Because small survey size those 24 deaths counted for 48,000 deaths in total 1 incident tripled total car bomb deaths to 76,000 Iraq Body Count only recorded 5,046 car bomb deaths from 03-Aug 06 Didn’t ask for certificates for 24 car bomb deaths Authors released Lancet I and II right before US elections to affect politics Iraq Body Count study of Lancet II est that if correct only 1/10 of deaths were being reported

(Musings On Iraq Major Flaws With The Lancet Reports On Iraqi Deaths Part I)

(Musings On Iraq Major Flaws With The Lancet Reports On Iraqi Deaths Part II)

(Musings On Iraq New Survey On Estimated Deaths In Iraq Refutes Lancet Reports)

(Musings On Iraq interview with Prof Mark Van Der Laan on Lancet Reports)

(Musings On Iraq interview with Prof Michael Spagat on Lancet reports)

2009 Maliki govt took control of Diyala Sahwa Promised 33% jobs in ISF Higher than 20% promised to

Sahwa in Baghdad 2 Sahwa leaders had warrants out for them Maliki used carrot and stick approach to break them up and then co-opt them before 09 election

(Musings On Iraq Here Comes The Carrot For Diyala’s Sons Of Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq Sons of Iraq Integration Update)

(Musings On Iraq Budget Problems Affecting Integration of Sons of Iraq)

2010 Chilcot Comm Gen Cross senior UK official at ORHA Said he was told not to commit

any money to postwar Iraq Claimed that was because PM Blair didn’t think London had any postwar policy 

2011 Report Head of Integrity Comm said Iraq lost $1 bil in 2010 due to corruption

(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)

2012 3000 protested in Mosul Called for removal of PM Maliki 1000 protested in Kirkuk demanded release

of prisoners Demonstration in Tikrit Baquba Baghdad Maliki claimed protesters wanted to bring back Baathist rule and wanted to release terrorists Started after PM Maliki issued warrant for VP Hashemi

2012 MP from Kurdish Coalition said Kurds didn’t support PM Maliki calling for no confidence vote vs Dep

PM Mutlaq

2014 Report indiscriminate govt shelling of Fallujah caused hundreds to be displaced

(Musings On Iraq Counterproductive Tactics Of The Iraqi Security Forces)

(Musings On Iraq Human Cost Of Government Shelling And Air Strikes On Iraq’s Fallujah)

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

(Musings On Iraq Government Shelling Of Civilian Areas In Iraq Continues Despite Premier Abadi’s Pledge Not To)

2016 Hashd spokesman said it was not sending fighters to Syria Hezbollah al-Nujaba was recruiting

fighters for Syria Talked about its victories in Syria on its website

2016 Asaib Ahl Al-Haq said PM Abadi worked with US to weaken the Hashd Said govt wasn’t paying

Hashd salaries due to US Abadi tried to keep Hashd out of Ramadi battle due to US

2017 Amnesty Intl Hashd not paid by govt July 2015 Asaib Ahl Al-Haq’s Khazlai claimed no media able

to accuse Hashd of killing innocent civilians Jan 2015 and Jul 2016 Ayatollah Sistani warned against attacks on civilians Sep PM Abadi said Iraqi forces that committed crimes would face justice Hashd had history of systemic abuses Hashd stopped displaced from returning Jan Diyala café bombed Hashd rampaged through town kidnapping and killing Sunnis Burned and destroyed mosques shops Drove police cars through town Told Sunnis to leave ISF did nothing Jan Hashd accused of killing 56 Sunnis in Baghdad Abadi ordered investigation Nothing happened May 12 displaced men from Sjar Anbar executed 73 other displaced disappeared Kataib Hezbollah blamed Jun large group of displaced in Anbar stopped by Hashd 1300 taken away 605 later released Were tortured and beaten Anbar investigations into two cases found 49 killed 643 disappeared Blamed Kataib Hezbollah Oct Ninewa Hashd detained and tortured men southeast of Mosul Villages south of Mosul said Hashd looted and destroyed homes Hashd arrested and tortured displaced Kataib Heabollah accused of abducting 2200 people at Anbar-Karbala checkpoint

2017 Report UN said 1959 ISF died in Nov 2016 Joint Ops Command criticized figure UN said couldn’t

verify all its casualties Led to criticism by govt UN asked ministries for numbers None responded Abadi govt claimed inaccurate casualty figures helped IS Govt was trying to keep down casualty figures during war

2017 Report US advisers working with ISF inside Mosul

2017 Salahaddin govt said Hashd were stopping displaced from returning to Baiji Yathrib Suleiman Beq

Criticized PM Abadi and ISF for not doing anything

2020 Report Iran’s Quds Force cmdr Gen Suleimani met with Iraqi allies in Baghdad Oct 2019

Told Abu Muhandis to increase Hashd attacks on US Wanted to divert attention away from protests that were attacking Iranian influence Wanted to provoke US retaliation that could be used for propaganda

2020 US led Coalition said that it would limit operations in Iraq and suspend training to

protect its forces from threats after the deaths of Gen Suleimani and Abu Muhandis

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

2020 Report Asaib Ahl Al-Haq’s Al-Ahd TV called resistance media Promoted Shiite

supremacy and sectarianism Blamed Sunnis for death of Ali Claimed world supported Shiites Said Iraqi state was illegitimate for being corrupt and incompetent Said Iran had better model for govt Rejected West Threatened people who criticized Asaib Ahl Al-Haq

2020 Najaf activist wounded in assassination attempt Man killed after leaving protest site in Baghdad

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

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

2020 Baghdad’s Green Zone and 1 other neighborhood and Balad air base in Salahaddin hit by

rockets fired by pro-Iran groups

2021 Report Parliamentary comm said $239 bil sent out of Iraq illegally since 2003

2021 Report Half the ISF in Diyala ghost employees Officers got half the salaries in return for

letting them stay on leave Defense Min replaced 2 high ranking commanders in NEDiyala

2021 Report Pro-Iran Hashd changed tactics in 2020 Asaib Ahl Al-Haq Kataib Hezbollah Harakt al-

Nujaba stopped taking public credit for attacks on US in Iraq 9 new groups announced who said carried out attacks

2021 Report Kazemi govt couldn’t pay govt salaries for months in 2020 Govt salaries and pensions were

around $5 bil/mo Govt workers tripled since 2004 Around 40% of workforce employed by govt Used for political patronage Couldn’t provide jobs for 700,000 people who entered workforce each year Dec devalued diner which increased prices because Iraq relied upon imports Dec Iran cut electricity and natural gas supplies to Iraq that led to power shortages Couldn’t pay bills because of US sanctions on Iran Iraq going through foreign reserves to pay bills IMF predicted that Iraqi economy would shrink -11% in 2020

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