1921 Faisal arrived in Basra and then went to Najaf and Karbala as gesture towards Shiite
clergy as preparation to be crowned king Clerics opposed him
(Musings On Iraq review Empires of the Sand, The Struggle For Mastery In The Middle East 1789-1923)
1915 British troops began attack upon Nasiriya
(Musings On Iraq review When God Made Hell, The British Invasion of Mesopotamia and the Creation of Iraq, 1914-1921)
1920 Foreign Min Lord Curzon wrote that head political officer in Iraq Wilson’s ideas were
backwards and him leading Mandate was a problem Wilson rejected self-rule
(Musings On Iraq review Britain In Iraq, Contriving King and Country)
(Musings On Iraq review Enemy On The Euphrates, The Battle For Iraq 1914-1921)
(Musings On Iraq review U.S. Policy In Post-Saddam Iraq)
(Musings On Iraq review When God Made Hell, The British Invasion of Mesopotamia and the Creation of Iraq, 1914-1921)
Bardenwerper, Will, The Prisoner in His Palace, Saddam Hussein, His American Guards and What History Leaves Unsaid, Scribner, 2017
When you first open The Prisoner in His Palace, Saddam Hussein, His American Guards and What History Leaves Unsaid by Will Bardenwerper it appears that it is just about the 12 American Military Police (MPs) that guarded Saddam Hussein. That did not seem like it would be that interesting. It turns out the book covers Saddam’s trial and execution and the people around him like a U.S. medic, the FBI agents that interrogated him, the former Qatari Justice Minister that represented him and others.
870 Abbasid Caliph Muhtadi killed in capital Samarra in revolt by Turkish soldiers over not being
paid
(Musings On Iraq review when baghdad ruled the muslim world, the rise and fall of islam’s greatest dynasty)
1914 Germany and Britain asked Ottomans for oil concessions in Mosul and Baghdad provinces
1932 Assyrian religious leader Mar Shimun presented petition to League of Nations Mandate
Commission demanding autonomy for his people
(Musings On Iraq review The Tragedy of the Assyrian Minority in Iraq)
(Musings On Iraq review State and Society in Iraq)
In 2008 I started Musings On Iraq. I was inspired to start researching Iraq after I heard former CIA Director James Woolsey on 9/11 saying that the U.S. needed to attack Saddam even if he had nothing to do with the terrorist attacks. That caught my attention and the next year when the Bush administration began its media campaign to drum up support for the invasion I decided I needed to find out why. That led me to start writing on message boards and then finally establishing this blog.
Thank you to all the readers. Unfortunately my work can no longer be read in Iraq because the government blocked my blog!
1919 British force defeated Sheikh Barzinji near Chamchamal
(Musings On Iraq Explaining Kurdish Nationalism Interview With Teen Tech Univ Prof Michael Gunter)
1920 UK govt decided to cancel proposed UK run provisional govt in Iraq for an Arab govt under
British influence
1920 War Min Churchill wrote UK Cabinet that he was ready to give up Mosul province to save
costs
(Musings On Iraq How The Ottoman Province Of Mosul Became Part Of Iraq)
(Musings On Iraq Churchill In His Own Words On Mesopotamia/Iraq)
(Musings On Iraq review Churchill’s Folly, How Winston Churchill Created Modern Iraq)
(Musings On Iraq review Inventing Iraq: The Failure of Nation Building and a History Denied)
(Musings On Iraq review Supremacy And Oil, Iraq, Turkey, and the Anglo-American World Order, 1918-1930)
1920 UK military governor in Basra reported political agitation from Baghdad trying to raise
support for Iraqi independence in Basra
Balian, Basil, Once Upon A Time In Iraq, Basil Balian, 2008
Basil Balian is an Iraqi-Armenian who grew up in Diyala and Baghdad under the monarchy. His autobiographical Once Upon A Time In Iraq is about his memories of his home in Iraq and then a short section on how he came to the U.S. and started a family there. It’s a quick and enjoyable read and provides another Iraqi voice too few of which are heard in the West.
1920 War Min Churchill wrote PM George that British army overextended in Mesopotamia
and asked whether UK should give up Mosul province because of costs
(Musings On Iraq How The Ottoman Province Of Mosul Became Part Of Iraq)
(Musings On Iraq Churchill In His Own Words On Mesopotamia/Iraq)
(Musings On Iraq review Churchill’s Folly, How Winston Churchill Created Modern Iraq)
(Musings On Iraq review Inventing Iraq: The Failure of Nation Building and a History Denied)
(Musings On Iraq review Supremacy And Oil, Iraq, Turkey, and the Anglo-American World Order, 1918-1930)
In May Iraq suffered a drop in international oil prices. Its exports dipped as well.
1920 Protest in Karbala mosque calling for revolt vs British
(Musings On Iraq review Reclaiming Iraq, The 1920 Revolution and the Founding of the Modern State)
(Musings On Iraq review Enemy On The Euphrates, The Battle For Iraq 1914-1921)
I was quoted by Robert Tollast in this article "The rise and fall of ISIS, 10 years on" in The National.
1925 Head of League of Nations Mosul Commission called King Faisal a “poor creature”
1915 US consulate report Ottomans might have lost control of Najaf and Karbala and UK
money behind it
1920 British forces retook Tal Afar after bombing broke Iraqi rebels British carried out collective
punishment destroying and looting homes Large number of people forced out into desert
1920 Ex-Ottoman officer and nationalist al-Ahd member Jamil al-Midfai’s forces attacked Mosul
but turned back Tried to start revolt vs UK Mandate in Iraq
1920 Ex-Ottoman officer and nationalist al-Ahd member Jamil al-Midfai’s forces reached Mosul
hoping to start revolt against British
Faught, C. Brad, Cairo 1921, Ten Days That Made the Middle East, Yale University Press, 2022
The 1921 Cairo conference held by British Colonial Secretary Winston Churchill helped create the modern Middle East. Borders were drawn, kings were installed, and a new policy of neo-colonialism was created. That’s what C. Brad Faught’s Cairo 1921, Ten Days That Made the Middle East focuses upon.
1919 Iraq High Commissioner Wilson told to take over Kurdish affairs Meant Kurds in Mosul to be
included in Iraq
1916 Ali and Faisal sons of Sharif Hussein announced Arab Revolt against Ottomans Many
Iraqi Ottoman officers would join revolt UK promised Sharif empire after war
(Musings On Iraq review Enemy On The Euphrates, The Battle For Iraq 1914-1921)
(Musings On Iraq review Empires of the Sand, The Struggle For Mastery In The Middle East 1789-1923)
1915 Ottomans counterattacked trying to retake Amara Failed
1915 British took Amara after Ottomans withdrew
(Musings On Iraq review When God Made Hell, The British Invasion of Mesopotamia and the Creation of Iraq, 1914-1921)
1915 British troops from Persia crossed Tigris and attacked Amara after convincing Ottoman
garrison commander to surrender
1932 Most Assyrian Levies resigned over treatment of their community Worried about what new
Iraqi govt would do with them
(Musings On Iraq review The Tragedy of the Assyrian Minority in Iraq)
(Musings On Iraq review State and Society in Iraq)
1921 Faisal arrived in Basra and then went to Najaf and Karbala as gesture towards Shiite clergy as preparation to be ...
