This Day In Iraqi History - Jan 17 Saddam ordered missile strikes on Israel during Gulf War

 

1913 US consul in Baghdad wrote if British took Mesopotamia there would be little resistance because

public so apathetic

 

1948 Student walkout to protest new Anglo-Iraq Treaty Part of Wathba/Great Leap

1953 1^st direct elections held 77 of 135 seats in parliament set aside for political parties Only 58

elected Fmr PM Jabr boycotted vote and some opposition parties boycotted Afterward Jabr’s People’s Socialist Party claimed Regent rigged vote Nuri al-Said followers won majority

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq’s Democratic Moment)

(Musings On Iraq review Independent Iraq 1932-1958, A Study in Iraqi Politics)

1974 Bakr govt held talks with Mustafa Barzani and KDP

(Musings On Iraq review The Kurds, A Modern History)

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

(Musings On Iraq review The Kurdish Revolt 1961-1970)

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

1987 Iraq conducted missile and air strikes on Tehran and other major cities 3^rd War of the Cities

Iran-Iraq War

1987 Iran attacked Diyala but repulsed Lost 2 brigades

(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)

1988 Mahdi Hakim killed in Sudan by Iraqi intelligence

1989 US report said Iraq was working on typhoid cholera anthrax for its chemical weapons program

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

1990 Iraq ended foreign travel ban for citizens

1990 Bush admin signed directive for normalized relations with Iraq Included waiver to

allow US to give loan guarantees to Iraq

(Musings On Iraq review The United States And Iraq Since 1990: A Brief History with Documents)

1991 Saddam told advisers time to fire missiles at Israel to see whether it would fight

Iraq would then alternate between hitting Israel and Saudis 31 SCUDs and shorter range missiles fired at Saudi Arabia

1991 US hit command bunkers in Baghdad hoping to kill Saddam

1991 Iraq sabotaged 2 Kuwait oil fields Released oil into Gulf

1991 Bush said US would destroy Iraq’s nuclear capabilities

1993 Iraq said it couldn’t guarantee UN planes flying into Iraq US fired 45 Tomahawk missiles at

Baghdad for not allowing U.N. inspectors into country

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

(Musings On Iraq review Out Of The Ashes, The Resurrection of Saddam Hussein)

1998 Anniversary of Gulf War Saddam said Iraq met all obligations of UN Res 687 Threatened to raise 1

mil for jihad against UN if sanctions not lifted in 6 months

2002 Gen Franks briefed his commanders at CENTCOM on initial Iraq war plans for 1^st time

(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)

2003 Pentagon memo said no decision on postwar govt in Iraq Said would be a military administration

transitional authority elections leading to an Iraqi govt Didn’t match Pentagon plans to quickly withdraw US troops

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

Tragedy)

(Musings On Iraq review State of Denial, Bush At War, Part III)

2003 CIA report said Iraq had rebuilt its nuclear program Said were reports Iraq tried to buy

uranium from Africa

(Musings On Iraq How US Intelligence Created An Iraqi Nuclear Threat In 2002)

(Musings On Iraq review The WMD Mirage, Iraq’s Decade of Deception and America’s False Premise for War)

2003 CIA told Joint Chiefs of Staff that it had some reports that Iraq tried to buy uranium from

Africa Didn’t happen

(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)

2003 PM Blair agreed to 1 UK division and 3 combat brigades for Iraq War to be deployed in south

2003 UN inspectors after 4 inspections said Fallujah II chlorine plant inoperative US claimed it

was producing WMD

(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)

2007 PM Maliki claimed if ISF were better armed US forces could start withdrawing in 3-6 months

Claimed he launched operation to clear Karbala of militiamen and arrested 400 Mahdi Army members Was not true

2007 Mayor of Sadr City had 1^st of 2 meetings with UK Gen Lamb on working out understanding

with militias to prevent confrontations in district Militias were afraid of major US operation in Sadr City as part of Surge Sadrists backed mayor’s effort

(Musings On Iraq review Surge, My Journey with General David Petraeus and the Remaking of the Iraq War)

(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)

2007 UK Intel report Sectarian violence increased in last 6 months Attacks on Coalition reaching new

high PM Maliki govt had no security strategy Was uncoordinated Problem with rivalries endemic corruption lacked capable bureaucracy

2008 UN envoy to Iraq said country only had 6 months to turn security improvement into reconciliation

Said too much distrust within govt

2008 US military reported 75% of Baghdad secured up from 8% in Feb 07

2009 Report Not enough votes to carry out referendum on Basra federalism

(Musings On Iraq Basra Wants Another Shot At Becoming An Autonomous Region)

2010 Chemical Ali sentenced to death for Halabja attack

2010 Chilcot Inquiry Foreign Sec Straw wrote letter to PM Blair April 02 Said parliament not for war

Iraqi threat hadn’t changed No evidence Iraq linked to Al Qaeda Asked what were goals of war No postwar plans Said regime change wasn’t legal justification for war and new UN resolution required

2011 Protesters cut Kirkuk-Baghdad highway Set tires on fire Blocked all traffic over lack of electricity

in Kirkuk Kirkuk governor was diverting power from a local power plant from Baghdad to Kirkuk

(Musings On Iraq Electricity Protests Spread To Northern Iraq)

2018 Report IS defeated on battlefield but still had large finance network Exploited corruption in

Iraq and Syria Iraqi politician said IS had around $400 mil in cash Controlled smuggling routes Sold antiquities and gold Put $250 mil into legitimate businesses Exploited Central Bank of Iraq dollar auctions Weak Iraqi govt couldn’t stop IS’s work

2018 Report Displacement Min denied that displaced were being forced home ISF in Baghdad told displaced to go home because freed from IS Baghdad Ops Command said it wanted to close all displaced camps Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights said political parties forced displaced home esp in Anbar to make sure elections could happen

2018 Anbar councilman said IS infiltrating men from Syria into province

(Musings On Iraq The Islamic State’s Failed Comeback In Iraq)

2022 2 Kurdish banks bombed in Baghdad Part of Coordination Framework threatening Kurds to

abandon Sadr in govt formation talks

2023 Metro Center for Journalists Rights reported 431 violations against journalists in KRG

24 physical attacks upon journalists 64 arrests, 1 media outlet shut down 6 cyber attacks 2 rocket attacks

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