Thursday, February 8, 2024

This Day In Iraqi History - Feb 8 Baathist-military coup overthrew Gen Qasim


 

1922 UK Sec of War Evans wrote cabinet Iraqi army weak British military presence small

Iraq vulnerable to Turkey tribal unrest so UK should withdraw from Mosul

 

1924 UK Adv to Interior Min Cornwallis sent British provincial advisors and governors list of

candidates for Iraq’s first parliament Was meant to ensure they would be pro-British and vote for Anglo-Iraq Treaty

1928 Protest by law students in Baghdad against British Zionist Mond’s planned visit to study

fertilizer Broken up by police Al-Ahali leaders arrested

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq’s Democratic Moment)

1962 Ibrahim Ahmed of KDP met with Kurdish Major Karani Passed message from General

Yahyia asking KDP to join with army to overthrow Gen Qasim

1963 Col Bakr changed coup date from Feb 25 to Feb 8 to avoid detection by Qasim

1963 Baath-military coup against Gen Qasim Started with assassination of Air Force chief

Radio station at Abu Ghraib seized

(Musings On Iraq review Socialist Iraq, A Study in Iraqi Politics Since 1968)

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

(Musings On Iraq review Republican ‘Iraq, A Study in ‘Iraqi Politics since the Revolution of 1958)

1963 Defense Ministry where Qasim was bombed along with Rasheed Camp in Baghdad

during coup Plotters attacked Defense Min Military and Baath National Guard began fighting Communists in streets of Baghdad Communists issued call for public to fight the coup Baghdad Communists asked Qasim to arm the public but he refused

(Musings On Iraq review Red Star Over Iraq, Iraqi Communism Before Saddam)

(Musings On Iraq A History Of The Iraqi Communist Party Interview With Univ of East Anglia’s Johan Franzen)

1963 National Council of the Revolutionary Command created to run new govt Appointed

Col Arif temporary president

1963 Radio Baghdad called for people to kill Communists who were trying to protect God’s

enemy Gen Qasim Over next 2 days estimated 5,000 Communists were executed by Baathist militia

1963 New Baath-military govt asked Barzani to end his revolt Named 2 Kurdish ministers

Kurds said they would back new govt if given democracy and autonomy Barzani announced ceasefire

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

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

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

(Musings On Iraq review Journey Among Brave Men, Travels in Kurdistan)

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq & the Kurdish Question, 1958-70)

(Musings On Iraq review People Without A Country, The Kurds and Kurdistan)

1963 Kurdish delegation went to Baghdad to congratulate coup plotters KDP declared its

support for overthrow of Qasim

1974 15 Kurdish villages in Kirkuk were emptied of people by Bakr govt

1976 Govt decree reduced Kirkuk province from 6 to 2 districts Renamed it Tamim Gave Tuz

Kharmato dist to new province of Salahaddin

(Musings On Iraq A Look Into Iraq’s Creation, Governance, And Disputed Territories: An Interview With State Dept’s Stephen Donnelly)

1980 Saddam proposed pan-Arab charter of non-aligned Arab states to oppose superpowers in

region and to unite against Iran Was response to Carter Doctrine that said US would use military force to stop any foreign countries trying to gain influence in Persian Gulf

Musings On Iraq review Saddam’s War, An Iraqi Military Perspective of the Iran-Iraq War

1991 1 Al-Hussein missile fired at Saudi Arabia

1992 Report Bush authorized $30 mil CIA program to overthrow Saddam

(Musings On Iraq 92 When The CIA Tried To Undermine Iraq’s Economy In Failed Plot Against Saddam)

2003 Bush said Iraq tried to buy equipment for WMD and Saddam authorized his

commanders to use chemical weapons

(Musings On Iraq Iraq One Of The Worst Intelligence Failures In US History)

(Musings On Iraq review What Happened, Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception)

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

2003 Iraq turned over new documents about its WMD programs to UN inspectors that was

called substantial Iraq said it unilaterally destroyed its VX after Gulf War

2003 UN inspectors went to site CURVEBALL defector claimed was secret mobile WMD

facility and found nothing Didn’t match description CURVEBALL gave Samples found no WMD

(Musings On Iraq review Curveball, Spies, Lies, And The Con Man Who Caused A War)

(Musings On Iraq How Iraqi Defector CURVEBALL Became Basis For US Claim That Iraq Had WMD)

(Musings On Iraq Look Who The LA Times Dug Up – CURVEBALL)

(Musings On Iraq Story of CURVEBALL And Iraq’s Mobile Biological Weapons Labs)

(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)

2004 After Iraq Survey Group said it found no stockpiles of WMD Bush said they could still

be found and Saddam was still dangerous

(Musings On Iraq Iraq One Of The Worst Intelligence Failures In US History)

2004 Report British intel spied on UN Security Council in 2003 during deliberations on 2nd

resolution to authorize force vs Iraq

2004 Japanese troops arrived in Iraq for first overseas deployment since WWII

2006 Senate Foreign Relations Comm told oil electricity water sewage all below pre-war

levels in Iraq

2006 Assoc of Muslim Scholars said organized campaign by govt to follow Persian strategy to

have militias occupy Baghdad and force out Sunnis 

(Musings On Iraq Spiritual Leader To Iraq’s Insurgency Harith Dhari Dies In Exile)

2007 ISI told new Baiji refinery director general that only Sunnis were to be hired at the

facility

2007 US-Iraqi raid arrested Dep Health Min Zamili Accused of hiring Mahdi Army members

into Health Min Embezzled money from ministry Used ministry for kidnappings and murders Used ambulances to ferry weapons and militiamen across Baghdad

2007 Report US soldiers unsure of ISF units they worked with in Baghdad during Surge Iraqi

officers sold their soldiers uniforms ISF beat suspects at checkpoints Took bribes from suspects to be released Executed suspects

2007 Report CPA financial adv Adm Oliver said he didn’t know if the $8.8 bil given to Iraqi

ministries in 03-04 was spent or not Said he didn’t care Said it was Iraqi money

2008 Sahwa in Diyala went on strike demanding provincial police chief be replaced accused

of running death squads and torturing prisoners arresting Sahwa

(Musings On Iraq Diyala Province Backgrounder)

2008 US military said number of attacks on Sahwa doubled since Oct 07

2008 Report ISI trying to win back popular support by changing tactics Being more selective

in targeting and not trying to kill civilians

2008 Constitutional Committee asked for another extension to amend the constitution Never

finished

(Musings On Iraq How Faults With Iraq’s Constitution Undermines The Country, Interview with Constitutional Scholar Zaid Al-Ali)

2008 State Dept official in charge of Iraq said pro-Iran groups increasing attacks in 2008

2008 Oil Min Shahristani asked international oil companies to invest in Iraq for first time

(Musings On Iraq Oil Minister Under Attack On Eve Of Awarding New Contracts)

2009 Sheikh Abu Risha said he formed ruling coalition in Anbar to keep Islamic Party out of

power Had talk with Mutlaq of Iraqi National Project who was also against Islamic Party

2009 Report KRG PM Barzani accused PM Maliki of trying to move troops into Kirkuk to

take it over Complained about deployment of army’s 12th Div Asked U.S. to intervene

2010 Judicial Council ruled that Cassation Panel only had jurisdiction over individual appeals

of banned candidates and couldn’t unban 511 candidates en masse 

(Musings On Iraq Timeline of Iraq’s De-Baathification Campaign)

2010 Speaker Samarrai said parliament endorsed Cassation Panel so couldn’t have confidence

withdrawn as some threatened Said Panel was going through appeals of banned candidates

2010 Cassation Panel went back to reviewing banned candidates Found half of 511 banned

candidates had been replaced by their parties and cases could no longer be dealt with Only had 177 cases that could be appealed Only 37 of those had filed right papers rest were disqualified for technical reasons

(Musings On Iraq Only 37 Banned Candidates Can Appeal Their Cases)

2010 Protest in Dhi Qar against Cassation Panel for unbanning candidates for Baathist ties

(Musings On Iraq Campaigning Officially Begins IN Iraq As Hunt For Baathists Spreads To The Local Level)

2010 PM Maliki called for parliament to meet over Cassation Panel going back to reviewing

banned candidates

2011 Parliament human rights comm opened investigation of Camp Honor secret prison in

Baghdad run by PM Maliki Nothing came of it

(Musings On Iraq New Complaints About Iraqi Prison Abuse)

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

2011 Parliament passed bill to create 171,000 new govt jobs 100,000 were in ISF 71,000 in ministries Dep

Planning Min said 30% of govt workers were working reduced hrs Was for political patronage

2011 Report Torture and abuse still going on in Iraqi prisons Supreme Judiciary Council got more than 400

complaints of abuse in 2010 Only 90 went to court Human Rights Min claimed abuse was declining Said was due to individuals Human rights group said it was systemic

2011 Report US military said violence had fallen to lowest level since 2003 invasion Were still mass casualty

bombings and assassinations but overall violence was down 90% in 2010 vs 2006-07

2012 Report 1970s Iraq was developing country Increased electricity schools health care 1952 economy

based upon agriculture Was 23% of GDP Taxes/customs main govt revenue 1950s oil profits began increasing Became 93% of Iraq’s exports 1972 oil industry nationalized 1973 oil prices jumped after Arab-Israeli War and oil embargo Baath tried to improve services to gain support of public Also increased corruption within Baath 1979 Iraq exported avg 3.7 mil/bar/day of oil Saddam ran Oil Comm Wanted to expand infrastructure and exports Built new pipelines to Syria and Turkey Increased oil dependency Increased value of dinar Made other sectors of economy less competitive because more expensive Agriculture dropped to 8% of GPD 1970s construction transportation increased because relied upon govt contracts Govt workers went from 20,000 in 1958 to 821,000 in 1993 Didn’t include military Drop in agriculture increased rural to urban migration 1947 66% of population rural 1977 64% urban Most private businesses became dependent on govt spending Baath rewarded supporters with contracts increasing corruption Social indicators grew in 70s but then started to drop Iraq used up its foreign reserves in Iran-Iraq War Saddam thought he could fund war and social programs initially but couldn’t Iran struck Iraq’s oil terminals dropping revenues 1983 Syria stopped Iraq’s oil exports through pipeline 1979 per capita GDP $4200 By 1988 was $1765 Began importing Egyptians for farming and constructions because men drawn into military for war Put another drain on foreign reserves as foreign workers sent money back to their home countries End of Iran-Iraq War dinar lost 65% of its value Poor economy helped lead to Kuwait invasion

2014 ISIS joined Fallujah Military Council and agreed to cooperate with other militant

factions while trying to dominate city

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

(Musings On Iraq Update On Iraq’s Insurgency Interview With Aymenn Jawad al-Tamimi)

2015 Peshmerga destroyed villages in 5 districts in southern Kirkuk

2017 Report Head of Christian Hashd told Arabs they had to leave Tal Keif in Ninewa because town

belonged to Christians

2018 Report VP Maliki blocked PM Abadi using Dawa funds during 2018 elections Maliki wanted to

block Abadi getting 2nd term Abadi put together Nasr list quickly with many divisions Abadi made alliance with Fatah list but fell apart Hakim withdrew from Nasr afterward because Abadi refused to guarantee him positions in new govt

2018 Human Rights Watch Aug-Sep 2017 Asayesh carried out mass executions of IS prisoners in

Ninewa 30 bodies found in one mass grave KRG denied any crimes

2019 UK investigation found Petrofac paid $730 mil in bribes to win contracts in Iraq Head of

sales pleaded guilty to 11 counts of bribery

2020 Sadr reversed course again Said he would withdraw his people from protests Announced

18 point charter for demonstrations Included ending school boycotts not blocking roads Not getting involved in politics

2020 Report Sadr joined protests to try to use them in talks to form new govt Feb 2020

abandoned protests Followers killed 11 and wounded 122 in Najaf Wounded another 11 in Karbala Sadrists claimed no one died Said video of attack in Najaf was made by US

2021 Babil activist wounded in assassination attempt Sadrists blamed Protest square in Najaf

attacked 3 activists assassinated in Dhi Qar

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