1932 League of Nations Mandate Comm rejected Assyrian petition for autonomy Said Iraqi
govt would settle Assyrians within country or outside of it
(Musings On Iraq review The Tragedy of the Assyrian Minority in Iraq)
(Musings On Iraq review State and Society in Iraq)
1927 PM Askari and Foreign Office agreed on new Anglo-Iraq Treaty Had to be passed by Iraqi
parliament
(Musings On Iraq review Supremacy And Oil, Iraq, Turkey, and the Anglo-American World Order, 1918-1930)
1916 British made diversionary attack at Sannaiyat and took Hai in offensive to retake Kut from
Ottomans
Dahr Jamail was opposed to the U.S. overthrowing Saddam Hussein. That inspired him to go to Iraq several times from 2003 to the start of 2005 as a freelance journalist to report on how bad the American occupation of the country was. He said he wanted to put Iraqis in the forefront of his stories which he did. Ironically he mostly portrayed them as victims of the U.S. with no agency unless they were in the insurgency. His position on the war also led him to take all kinds of stories he was told at face value even though many were not true. His book suffers massively as a result.
advantage in troops and new supplies
1922 UK Colonial Office wrote only reason King Faisal accepted in Iraq was because he was
backed by British
1915 Turkish infantry assault on British in Kut began
On the night of November 26 pro-Iran groups launched two drones against the Khor Mor gas facility in Sulaymaniya. One hit a storage tank setting off a fire that temporarily shut down the plant. In the aftermath the Sudani government set up an investigative committee and promised to name names of those responsible. That did not happen.
1914 Ottoman forces surrendered in Qurna, Basra 1,034 Ottomans taken prisoner End of 1st
phase of Mesopotamian campaign
Donald Trump has been called a transactional president. He expects things in return for his actions. It was recently revealed that Trump took this approach with Iraq and the Gaza War.
1925 Turkey told League of Nations it refused to accept League as arbiter of Mosul’s future
1914 UK made 2nd attack on Qurna, Basra forcing Ottomans to retreat Lost around 200 killed
130 taken prisoner UK lost 10 killed 118 wounded
(Musings On Iraq review When God Made Hell, The British Invasion of Mesopotamia and the Creation of Iraq, 1914-1921)
1915 UK cmdr Gen Townsend sent his cavalry and transport south from Kut so would have fewer mouths
to feed Believed relief coming from Basra
Jackie Spinner was a reporter for the Washington Post in Iraq from 2004-05. Her book Tell Them I Didn’t Cry, A Young Journalists Story Of Joy, Loss And Survival In Iraq gets its name from the time the author was almost kidnapped. She wanted the staff to know that she never cried when men were trying to take her. Her writing is like a journal about her time working in Iraq along with letters from her twin sister about how her trip was affecting her family.
1927 Draft of Anglo-Iraq Treaty written by UK Colonial Office Said Iraq independent state to
appease Iraqis when under British control
1534 Ottoman Sultan Suleiman entered Baghdad and visited Sunni and Shiite shrines trying to
win over city
For several years now Iraq’s finances have been on shaky ground. It continuously expands its public workforce while oil which it is completely dependent upon goes up in down in price. This is growing to a crisis point as Iraq has passed the largest budgets in history recently but hasn’t been able to cover them leading to a growing debt that the state may not be able to cover for much longer.
1915 Retreating UK forces reached Kut after loss at Battle of Ctesiphon/Salman Pak UK
suffered 5,187 casualties over last 10 days Started Turkish siege of Kut
On the night of November 26 two rockets were fired at the Khor Mor natural gas facility in Sulaymaniya. One rocket fell short but the other hit a storage facility setting off a fire and shutting down operations.
1920 US Consul in Baghdad said England hadn’t taken any serious steps to create an independent
Iraqi govt
On November 27 it was announced that the U.S. led Coalition against the Islamic State had ended its mission in federal Iraq. Only 4-5 personnel were left in Baghdad to do logistics and diplomatic tasks. The rest of the 1,500 Coalition troops were all now in Kurdistan. This is the first part of the Coalition’s withdrawal from Iraq.
Ctesiphon/Salman Pak
1914 British moved on Qurna, Basra Turkish fire stopped British and had to retreat
1914 Gen Barrett and Sir Percy Cox asked that UK occupation of Basra be announced as
permanent believing it would sway Arabs to UK side Request turned down
(Musings On Iraq review Desert Hell, The British Invasion of Mesopotamia)
(Musings On Iraq review When God Made Hell, The British Invasion of Mesopotamia and the Creation of Iraq, 1914-1921)
Mansour, Ahmed, Inside Fallujah, The Unembedded Story, Olive Branch Press, 2009
Ahmed Mansour was a talk show host turned journalist for Al-Jazeera who reported on the two battles for Fallujah in 2004. He was an opponent of the war and thought attacking a city with civilians was a war crime. That led him to blame everything upon the Americans and repeat false stories that he heard from Iraqis. While he reported on the casualties and suffering of the people of Fallujah you cannot believe anything else he wrote.
destroyed Sunni mosques and shrines
1914 London told Gen Barrett wasn’t time to seize Baghdad vilayet but that Qurna, Basra
should be taken
(Musings On Iraq review When God Made Hell, The British Invasion of Mesopotamia and the Creation of Iraq, 1914-1921)
1914 Gen Barrow in India was against further advances by British in Mesopotamia Did want to
seize Qurna, Basra
While Iraq’s ruling elite are starting discussions over who should be the next prime minister the full results of the country’s 2025 parliamentary elections have been announced.
1638 Ottomans laid siege to Baghdad for 3rd time
1915 UK decided to retreat from Ctesiphon/Salman Pak due to heavy casualties Turks withdrew as well
1914 Sir Percy Cox issued statement in Arabic that British had occupied Basra and UK was
at war with Ottomans and had no ill will towards locals
(Musings On Iraq review Desert Hell, The British Invasion of Mesopotamia)
(Musings On Iraq review When God Made Hell, The British Invasion of Mesopotamia and the Creation of Iraq, 1914-1921)
Fassihi, Farnaz, Waiting for an Ordinary Day, The Unraveling Of Life In Iraq, Public Affairs, 2008
Farnas Fassihi was a journalist for the Wall Street Journal who reported from Iraq from before the 2003 invasion to the start of 2006. In her book Waiting for an Ordinary Day, The Unraveling Of Life In Iraq she attempts to tell the stories of regular Iraqis who were swept up in the changes and violence that enveloped their country and how the growing insecurity took a toll upon her. It is one of the few Western books from this time that put Iraqis in the forefront
1914 UK troops entered Basra after Ottomans abandoned city Looting started put down by British
(Musings On Iraq review When God Made Hell, The British Invasion of Mesopotamia and the Creation of Iraq, 1914-1921)
1914 Arab tribes told British forces Ottomans had abandoned Basra British forces set out to
take city
(Musings On Iraq review When God Made Hell, The British Invasion of Mesopotamia and the Creation of Iraq, 1914-1921)
American sanctions on Russia are having a big impact upon Iraq. The Russian company Lukoil has told Baghdad it can no longer operate the West Qurna 2 oil field in Basra due to the Trump administration.
1534 Ottoman Sultan Suleiman I conquered Baghdad from Safavids
Prime Minister Mohammed Sudani came in first place in November’s parliamentary election. However he didn’t win enough seats to ensure a second term. His main opponent Nouri al-Maliki came in second but didn’t do as well as he hoped. That means the government formation process will be a free for all since the two main politicians vying for the premiership are at the mercy of the other lists to form a ruling coalition.
1914 British attacked Sahil, Basra backed by 4 gunships and won Ottomans lost 1,500-2,000
casualties British 489
(Musings On Iraq review When God Made Hell, The British Invasion of Mesopotamia and the Creation of Iraq, 1914-1921)
1914 British forces attacked Ottomans in Fort Zain, Basra
(Musings On Iraq review When God Made Hell, The British Invasion of Mesopotamia and the Creation of Iraq, 1914-1921)
1914 Ottomans attacked British at Saihan, Basra Forced to retreat British lost 62 casualties Turks
126
Katovsky, Bill and Carlson, Timothy, embedded, The Media At War In Iraq, an oral history, The Lyons Press, 2003
Embedded, The Media At War In Iraq, an oral history is an anthology of 51 journalists and others who were involved in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Some of the reporters were embedded with U.S. and British forces. Others went into Iraq on their own and were called unilaterals. Like any collection the stories vary widely from the exciting to the mundane.
1914 Sheikh of Islam called for jihad against British and French during WWI Call was repeated in
all Sunni mosques in Mosul, Baghdad and Basra vilayets
Iraq’s Election Commission released partial early results for voter turnout in the provinces. It showed a surge of voting across the country compared to the last parliamentary elections in 2021.
1929 PM Sadoun shot himself due to criticism he faced over his performance Suicide note said he
couldn’t live being seen as a puppet of the British Called Iraqis weak
November 11 Iraq held its seventh parliamentary elections. Despite widespread worries about apathy amongst the public there was an increase in voters and the highest participation rate since 2014.
1914 British forces in Faw launched reconnaissance in force near Saihan, Basra
(Musings On Iraq review When God Made Hell, The British Invasion of Mesopotamia and the Creation of Iraq, 1914-1921)
Much has been made about Baghdad suppressing protests which occurred for several years straight demanding jobs and political reforms but the...
