This Day In Iraqi History - Apr 6 Fatwa said Wahabi Ikhwan were brigands Rallied Shiite tribes to fight the invaders

 

1916 British attacked Sannaiyat by Kut British suffered 1,168 casualties

1919 Iraq political officer Wilson sent Eastern Affairs Comm outline of constitution for Iraq

Included rule by UK high commissioner and 4 provinces Basra Baghdad Euphrates and Mosul

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

1922 Fatwa said Saudi Wahabi Ikhwan were brigands and people could fight them published in Iraqi

paper

1922 Shiite tribes mostly responded to fatwa against Wahabi Ikhwan Sunni ones thought Baghdad

should deal with Ikhwan

(Musings On Iraq review The Shi’is Of Iraq)

1939 Nuri al-Said became PM 3^rd of 9 times 

1941 British commander in Iraq asked for military reinforcements from Egypt but turned down

1941 Iraq banned British military from moving from Habaniya base Confiscated radios from British

Military Mission

(Musings On Iraq review 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)

1948 Port of Basra protest against Anglo-Iraq Treaty

1963 Iraq Syria Egypt started talks about uniting three countries Nasser didn’t want to share power

with Baath so talks stalled

1968 Arif govt set up military mission in France Signed deal to buy 54 Mirage jets 46 Alouette

helicopters Was in response to defeat in 1967 Arab-Israeli War and inability to put down Kurdish revolt Iraqi Air Force cancelled deal complaining jets were too expensive and training would take too long

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

1972 Soviet PM Kosygin visited Baghdad to sign strategic agreement with Bakr govt

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq Since 1958, From Revolution To Dictatorship)

1973 Iraqi Hawker Hunter jets flown to Egypt Would be used in 1973 Arab-Israeli War

(Musings On Iraq Review Hawker Hunters At War, Iraq and Jordan , 1958-1967)

1974 Govt mobilized army reserves in preparation for new campaign against Barzani

1979 Israeli agents sabotaged Osirak nuclear reactor while it was in France waiting to be shipped to

Iraq

1980 Iraqi commandos fired rockets at Iranian oil field prelude to Iran-Iraq War

1984 Iran and Iraq announced end of 4^th round of war of cities Iran-Iraq War

1984 Report UK firms sold agents to Iraq to make mustard gas and sarin

(Musings On Iraq Origins Of Iraq’s WMD Programs)

1985 UN Sec Gen deCuellar announced he would go to Baghdad and Tehran to try to negotiate end

to Iran-Iraq War

1987 Iran Op Karbala 8 started in Fish Lake Iraqi defensive line in front of Basra city Only gained 1

mile caused 2600 Iraqi casualties

(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)

(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)

1991 UNHCR est 750,000 Kurds fled to Iran and 280,000 to Turkey and 300,000 on Iraq-Turkey

border Aftermath of 1991 uprising

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

1991 Baghdad accepted UN resolution 687 that said Iraq had to recognize Kuwait sovereignty and

destroy WMD and missiles

1996 At conference in New York UN inspectors deducted that Iraq had biological weapons facility

at Hakam, Baghdad

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

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s Rejection Of UN Inspectors Led To Mistrust Over WMD And 2003 Invasion)

2003 Iraq Info Min Sahaf took journalists to see US tank destroyed in Baghdad Claimed US Thunder Run defeated

2003 US 3^rd Inf Div attacked west Baghdad and seized bridges Iraqis counterattacked for

next 60 hrs 82^nd Airborne cleared Samawa of Fedayeen Marines crossed Tigris moved on Kut and east Baghdad

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

2003 Saddam ordered Republican Guard to retreat inside Baghdad and join defenders Guard

was destroyed

2003 British raid into Basra City led to overall attack to take city Looting began

(Musings On Iraq Chilcot Inquiry Section 8: The Invasion)

2003 US raided Salman Pak Claimed found foreign fighters there proving Iraq was connected to

terrorism Thousands of foreign fighters had come to Iraq to defend against a western invasion Weren’t terrorists

2003 Saddam met with aides in Baghdad Had Tariq Aziz read a letter Aziz thought it was a goodbye Said Saddam finally realized war was near end

2003 Pentagon told ORHA about replacements for its staff Asked when they would arrive Said

hadn’t informed some of them yet

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

2003 Pentagon flew Chalabi and his Free Iraqi Forces into Nasiriya Sec Def Rumsfeld wanted him

flown to Baghdad but Gen Franks said no

2004 CPA Order 71 was to decentralize power to local councils

2004 1/3 of Civil Defense Forces in Baghdad Iraqi police Civil Defense Forces in Fallujah and

police across south all AWOL Cmdr 2^nd Iraqi National Guard Battalion fired along with all company commanders for mass desertion and dismissals day before

2004 Marine reinforcements arrived for Op Vigilant Resolve in Fallujah US forces attacked center of

city

(Musings On Iraq US Army History Of Iraq War Vol 1 – Chapter 12 Things Fall Apart Apr 2004)

2004 Marines on way to Fallujah ambushed in Ramadi 12 killed and 25 wounded Start of insurgent

attack upon city

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

2004 Qusaiba Anbar entire police force defected to insurgency Began attacking US forces

2004 Mahdi Army attacked Coalition forces in Amara Nasiriya Kut Karbala Najaf Baghdad

(Musings On Iraq review Revolt On The Tigris, The Al-Sadr Uprising And The Governing Of Iraq)

2004 500 Japanese soldiers in Samawa Muthanna told to halt work and retreat to camp out of fear of

attacks by Mahdi Army

2004 Based upon Gen Taguba’s report US army handed down 6 reprimands and 2 relief of duties over

Abu Ghraib prison scandal

2004 Deputy to Bremer told White House Coalition was winning against Mahdi Army and its defeat

would lead other militias in Iraq to disarm and join the ISF

2004 Joint Sunni-Shiite march in Baghdad’s Adhamiya in support of Sadr and insurgents in Fallujah

2005 Talabani named president of Iraq, Mahdi and Yawar vice presidents in 1^st post-03 Iraqi govt

2006 Court documents showed that VP Cheney told aide to leak intelligence on Iraq trying to buy

uranium from Niger to press to discredit Fmr Amb Wilson

(Musings On Iraq How US Intelligence Failed The Iraq-Niger Uranium Story)

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

2007 Op Black Eagle US and Polish forces fought Mahdi Army in Diwaniya

2007 Report ISF claimed control of Ghaziliya and Amiriya in Baghdad but not true Ghaziliya

surrounded by ISF for a week Split between Sunni area run by insurgents that imposed Islamic law and Shiite area run by Mahdi Army Khadra Baghdad surrounded by ISF Split between Sunni-Shiite areas ISF didn’t allow young men into district during day At night insurgents had free reign Amiriya under ISI control ISF raided area and claimed it was cleared because arrested few Clashes along border of Amiriya and Abu Saifan run by militias

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

2008 PM Maliki said Mahdi Army needed to be disbanded if Sadrists wanted to run in 2009

provincial elections

2008 PM Maliki deployed militias to checkpoints in Baghdad

2008 Green Zone and US base in south Baghdad hit by rockets by Mahdi Army Fighting continued in

Sadr City between Mahdi Army and US forces

(Musings On Iraq review Death of the Mehdi Army, The Rise, Fall, and Revival of Iraq’s Most Powerful Militia)

2008 Report US military believed that Iran had advisers in Basra helping Mahdi Army during Charge

of Knights

(Musings On Iraq Iran’s Policy Towards Iraq)

2008 69 sheikhs signed pact to support govt, rejected violence in effort by PM Maliki to

            build up patronage amongst tribes

(Musings On Iraq Argument For Maliki Being Iraq’s Next Strongman)

(Musings On Iraq Disputes Over Tribal Support Councils)

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq After America, Strongmen, Sectarians, Resistance)

2008 Fmr UnderSecDef Feith interviewed on 60 Minutes Said US invaded Iraq to prevent next

terrorist attack after 9/11 Claimed Saddam’s record showed he was going to attack the US in the future Denied US invaded because Iraq imminent threat with its WMD Said didn’t think US should have based war on WMD Claimed Def Sec Rumsfeld predicted some of the major problems that would happen in Iraq Admitted US didn’t have enough forces to secure Iraq after invasion Denied he wrote deBaathification plan Claimed Iraq would have been better off if US had given power to INC’s Chalabi after invasion Blamed State CIA and Gen Franks for problems in Iraq

(Musings On Iraq review War and Decision, Inside The Pentagon At The Dawn Of The War On Terrorism)

2009 PM Maliki had police raid 1^st meeting of new Diyala council Had warrants for 6 members

accused of supporting insurgency US stopped arrests Came after Maliki’s State of Law not included in new provincial govt

(Musings On Iraq New And Old Provincial Councils in Diyala Embroiled In Controversy)

(Musings On Iraq Old And New Alliances Argue Over Control of Diyala Provincial Council)

(Musings On Iraq New Political Crackdown In Diyala)

2009 Report Gangs running child trafficking rings Police said 15 kids sold a day Said increased since

2005 Corrupt officials filled out paperwork for kids to leave country Many went to Europe and Mideast

2010 7 bombs in Baghdad destroyed 7 buildings and killed 35 over 100 wounded

2010 Dir of Central Organization for Statistics said 25% of Iraqis lived below poverty level

2011 Iraqi Assoc of Defending Journalists accused govt of cracking down on reporters trying to cover

protests

(Musings On Iraq Iraq Is The Most Dangerous Place In The World For Journalists)

2011 Gorran Islamic Union and Islamic Group said they wanted a transitional govt in Kurdistan

2011 Report Insurgents in Mosul ran legitimate business Extorted money from govt and businesses

Kidnapped for ransom Contractor said paid 10% of each contract to ISI Govt offices paid money to insurgents IS charged money on trucking from Syria and Turkey

(Musings On Iraq Analyzing The Finances Of Al Qaeda In Iraq Interview With RAND’s Patrick Johnson)

2011 Report Integrity Comm still looking into purchase of fake bomb detectors Cost $25/ea Iraq paid

$40,000/ea Investigating $200 mil development plan in Sadr City Baghdad mayor said project would provide up to 100,000 jobs and another 50,000 afterward 1^st phase was to build 82,000 housing units Commission said money couldn’t be accounted for

(Musings On Iraq Fake Bomb Detectors At Center Of Corruption Case At Iraq’s Interior Ministry)

(Musings On Iraq Possible Corruption In Iraq’s Sadr City Development Project)

(Musings On Iraq Conviction Of Fake Bomb Detector Maker In England Changes Nothing On The Ground in Iraq)

(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)

2011 Labor Min said it would make 50% of foreign companies’ workforce Iraqis 25% unemployment

Unofficially 40%

2012 Proposed national conference to deal with protests and problems with PM Maliki didn’t happen

2012 ISF closed off Tahrir Sq to try to stop protests

2013 Suicide bomber attacked political rally for provincial vote in Baquba killed 22 wounded more

than 50

(Musings On Iraq review Suicide Bombers In Iraq, The Strategy and Ideology of Martyrdom)

2013 Court issued arrest warrant for Finance Min Rafi Issawi on corruption

2014 ISIS governor of Kirkuk and another leader killed fighting Ansar al-Sunna in Kirkuk

(Musings On Iraq More Reports Of Insurgent In-Fighting In Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s Resurgent Insurgency Interview With Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi)

(Musings On Iraq Infighting Between Iraq Insurgent Groups)

2014 ISIS closed Fallujah Dam causing flooding

2015 MP said Hashd were looting Tikrit after its liberation

(Musings On Iraq Divisions Over Iraq War Exposed In Victory In Tikrit)

(Musings On Iraq Human Rights Watch Finds Iraq Government Forces Destroyed Tikrit Area After Its Recapture)

2015 PM Abadi said 152 houses and shops burned in Tikrit but didn’t say by who

2015 3 Yazidi activists fled Kurdistan due to death threats from Kurdish officials Accused KDP

2016 Abadi’s nominee for Finance and Planning Minister Ali Allawi withdrew his name Said no

political consensus over changing cabinet

(Musings On Iraq A Review Of Iraq Premier Abadi’s Reform Program Interview With Reidar Visser)

2016 Ruling parties said they would submit 3 candidates for new ministers to undermine PM Abadi’s

candidates

2016 Supreme Council criticized PM Abadi for trying to determine new cabinet by himself

(Musings On Iraq Complaints About Iraq PM Abadi Undermine His Cabinet Reshuffle)

2016 Hashd spokesman said Fallujah could be freed in 1 week Blamed foreign countries meaning

US and certain politicians of blocking op

2016 Report Sadrists joined protests in Baghdad and took them over Used them to pressure PM

Abadi Communists who were leaders in protests made alliance with Sadr Hoped to use Sadr’s numbers and power to push reforms

(Musings On Iraq Complaints About Iraq PM Abadi Undermine His Cabinet Reshuffle)

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

(Musings On Iraq Candidates For Iraq Cabinet Reshuffle Withdrawing)

(Musings On Iraq Interview Sadr-Communist Alliance And Iraq’s 2018 Elections Interview With Benedict Robin)

2017 Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights obtained army paper Hit Haditha Baghdadi Barwana

in Anbar told not to accept any new displaced from IS areas and told them to return to their homes Was partly due to lack of money and personnel for displaced

2018 Head of Azm district NE Diyala said IS rebuilding along Diyala-Salahadin border

(Musings On Iraq June 2018 Islamic State Rebuilding In Rural Areas Of Central Iraq)

2018 Human Rights Comm said candidates were paying displaced for their votes

2020 Pro-Iran groups fired rockets at oil camp in Basra

2020 Report Saudi-Russian price war led oil prices to drop to $20/barl Iraq could only pay

half its govt workers as a result Employees went from 1.2 mil in 2003 to 4 mil in 2020

2020 Report New Quds Force Cmdr Gen Qani came to Iraq to push Shiite parties to reject

PM candidate Adnan al-Zurfi and pick another Failed Ayatollah Sistani and Sadr refused to meet him 8 pro-Iran Hashd including Asaib Ahl Al-Haq and Al-Haq Hezbollah al-Nujaba issued statement rejecting Zurfi as a CIA candidate 

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

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s Sheikh Akram Al-Kaabi and Hezbollah al-Nujaba)

2021 PM Kazemi said he wouldn’t run in 2021 vote Still wanted to be PM

2022 Report Virginia lawyer worked for Nechirvan Barzani Found 300 properties from Virginia to

Dubai owned by Barzani and associates 4 properties bought in Virginia worth $20 mil from trust associated with Barzani’s wife 2 more properties bought for $3 mil from trust for man that worked for Barzani Husband of Barzani’s aunt owned 288 apartments in building in Dubai worth over $100 mil Records show husband didn’t have enough money in accounts to buy that many properties

View the Iraq History Timelines