Review Fawaz Gerges, ISIS, A History, Princeton University Press, 2016

Gerges, Fawaz, ISIS, A History, Princeton University Press, 2016

 

The fall of Mosul to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in 2014 led to a wave of books attempting to explain the rise of the extremist group. ISIS, A History by London School of Economics International Relatives Professor Fawas Gerges is one of the better ones. He looks at four main factors to explain the emergence of ISIS: The fragmentation of the Iraqi state after the 2003 U.S. invasion, how ISIS grew out of Al Qaeda in Iraq, the Syrian Civil War and the 2011 Arab Spring. His thesis is that the organization created a revolutionary Salafi-Jihadist movement that played upon themes of Sunni victimization and which was opposed to the Shiite and Alawite dominated governments in Iraq and Syria.

This Day In Iraqi History - Feb 28 Pres Bush announced Kuwait liberated Iraq defeated Saddam claimed he beat the United States in Gulf War

 

1915 Gen Hardinge telegraph said taking Nasiriya and Amara were necessary to secure

Basra vilayet

(Musings On Iraq review When God Made Hell, The British Invasion of Mesopotamia and the Creation of Iraq, 1914-1921)

Iraq Reverses 3 Month Decline In Oil Exports

Starting in October Iraq’s oil exports began declining as the country attempted to meet OPEC+ production quotas. That trend ended in January as foreign sales crept up slightly.

This Day In Iraqi History - Feb 27 Gulf War ended with Iraq expelled from Kuwait

1923 UK High Comm Cox wrote London that Faisal complained Anglo-Iraq treaty was only

new phase of mandate instead of ending it

This Day In Iraqi History - Feb 26 Saddam announced Iraq’s withdrawal from Kuwait Said it was a victory because Iraq stood up to the multi-national Coalition

 

1917 3 British gunboats fired upon by 4 Ottoman ships at Nahr-al-Kalek, Wasit 3 Turkish

ships sunk and 4^th captured Turned Ottoman retreat from Kut into a route Losses convinced Turks couldn’t hold Baghdad

This Day In Iraqi History - Feb 25 1000s protested in Day of Rage against political system across Iraq 23 killed by police

 

1917 British attacked retreating Ottoman forces from Kut at Husaini bend British suffered

556 casualties

Security In Iraq Feb 15-21, 2025

The Islamic State was dormant in Iraq for three months. Then in February there has been two weeks of activity by the insurgents.

This Day In Iraqi History - Feb 24 US led Coalition began expelling Iraq from Kuwait

 

865 Samarra organized army under Abu Ahmad son of assassinated Caliph Mutawwakil and brother of

Abbasid Caliph Mutasim to seize power and put Mutazz upon throne

This Day In Iraqi History - Feb 23 1st Anfal Campaign began against PUK in Sulaymaniya

 

1917 British seized Sannaiyat outside Kut after 6 days of fighting British had 1,996

casualties

This Day In Iraqi History - Feb 22 Zarqawi bombed Askari shrine in Samarra Militias carried out retaliatory attacks against Sunnis across Iraq

 

1915 UK Surgeon General MacNece wrote Sir Percy Lake Chief of Staff that there were

troubling stories about treatment of wounded in Mesopotamia Caused a scandal and official inquiry that found negligence in providing medical services to troops

Review Sam Faddis, The CIA War In Kurdistan, The Untold Story Of The Northern Front In The Iraq War, Casemate, 2020

Faddis, Sam, The CIA War In Kurdistan, The Untold Story Of The Northern Front In The Iraq War, Casemate, 2020

 

Sam Faddis was the head of a CIA team sent into Iraqi Kurdistan to help prepare for the 2003 invasion. His experience was a microcosm of how dysfunctional the entire U.S. effort was to depose Saddam Hussein. Both the White House and CIA headquarters had their set ideas about how the war was going to go and ignored what Faddis and his team were reporting. He believed this set the stage for the failed U.S. occupation of Iraq.

This Day In Iraqi History - Feb 21 Govt killed 20 protesting assassination of Ayatollah Sadiq al-Sadr 3000 followers would be arrested and 450 executed

 

1258 Mongol leader Hulagu had Abbasid Caliph Mutasim and some family members executed

outside Baghdad

Turkey Still Unwilling To Open Its Oil Pipeline To Iraq’s Kurdistan

On February 17 the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Natural Resource Minister Kamal Mohammed announced that Kurdish oil exports would resume in March 2025. He said there were no more technical obstacles to stop a resumption.

This Day In Iraqi History - Feb 20 Saddam convinced his sons in law Hussein and Saddam Kamil who were in Jordan after they defected to return to Iraq where they were later killed

 

1923 British called Sheikh Barzinji to Baghdad for revolt He refused Justified UK military

expedition against him

 

Iraq May Sanction More Banks For Smuggling Dollars

The new Trump administration is renewing its anti-Iran policy and focusing upon Iraq’s ties to Tehran. There are reports that several Iraqi banks may be sanctioned for smuggling dollars to Iran.

This Day In Iraqi History - Feb 19 King Ghazi ordered invasion of Kuwait PM Said stopped it

 

1934 King Ghazi accepted PM Midfai’s resignation after disagreements within cabinet made continuation

of govt impossible

This Day In Iraqi History - Feb 18 Ayatollah Sadiq al-Sadr assassinated by Saddam

1921 Colonial Sec Churchill drafted outline of agenda for Cairo Conference Included Faisal being

made king of Iraq

(Musings On Iraq review Cairo 1921, Ten Days That Made the Middle East)

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

Security In Iraq Feb 8-14, 2025

The Islamic State returned to Iraq during the second week of February. This was the first time the group had been active in the country for three months.

This Day In Iraqi History - Feb 17 PM Maliki claimed most of the 511 candidates banned from 2010 election were fmr Saddam era intel officers who were trying to infiltrate the govt

 

1915 UK forced to retreat from Muzaira, Basra due to bad weather and flooding

This Day In Iraqi History - Feb 16 Report 1972 Nixon and Shah agreed to arm and fund Barzani’s revolt vs Bakr govt but didn’t want him to win just drain Iraq

 

1916 Imperial General Staff in London took over Mesopotamian campaign from India Office

This Day In Iraqi History - Feb 15 US led Coalition began ground operations to expel Iraq from Kuwait

 

1917 British launched 3^rd attack and captured Ottoman positions in Dahra bend outside Kut

Review Shmuel Moreh and Zvi Yehuda, Edited by, Al-Farhud, The 1941 Pogrom in Iraq, The Hebrew University Magnes Press, 2010

Moreh, Shmuel and Yehuda, Zvi, Edited by, Al-Farhud, The 1941 Pogrom in Iraq, The Hebrew University Magnes Press, 2010

 

Al-Farhud, The 1941 Pogrom in Iraq is one of the few books about the attack upon Baghdad’s Jews after the conclusion of the Anglo-Iraq War. It has many first-hand accounts of the violence which is the highlight of the collection. Like any anthology there are other chapters that are flawed. The major contribution of the collection is that it gives the background causes to the attacks and then the impact it had upon the community.

This Day In Iraqi History - Feb 14 PM Said hanged chairman of Communist Party Fahd to put down protests

 

1949 Communist Chairman Fahd hanged by PM Said in public square in Baghdad to try to squash

opposition protests

(Musings On Iraq review A History of Iraq)

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

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq’s Democratic Moment)

(Musings On Iraq review The Modern History of Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review The Other Iraq, Pluralism and Culture in Hashemite Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review A People’s History Of Iraq, The Iraqi Communist Party, Workers’ Movements, and the Left 1924-2004)

(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)

(Musings On Iraq Is Iraq’s Prime Minister Maliki More Like Premier Nuri al-Sa’id Than Saddam? An Interview With Historian Phebe Marr)

(Musings On Iraq Revolutionary Times, Gen. Qasim And Iraq’s 1958 Coup, Interview With Western Kentucky’s Prof. Juan Romero)

Iraq Improves On 2024 Corruption Survey

For a decade after the 2003 invasion Iraq ranked at the very bottom of Transparency International’s Corruption Index. In recent years the country has been getting better scores. This appears to be mostly because other countries are doing worse than any real improvement by Iraq.

This Day In Iraqi History - Feb 13 Iran scored 2nd major victory on Iraqi territory during Iran-Iraq War seizing Faw peninsula in Basra

 

1940 PM Said proposed to High Defense Council declaring war on Germany Send 2 Iraqi divisions to

Libya or Balkans Was rejected

U.S. Army in The Iraq War Volume 2 Chapter 14 From New Dawn To Zero August 2010-December 2011

The 14^th chapter in the U.S. Army’s second volume on the Iraq war covers the American withdrawal from the country in 2011. Iraq was still facing major problems with its security forces, militias, the insurgency and the struggle for political power. The Obama administration thought it could keep a stay behind force in the nation to help with stability but failed to do so.

This Day In Iraqi History - Feb 12 Cleric Hakim issued fatwa against joining Communists Clergy afraid youth becoming secular and joining Communists

 

1915 Lord Hardinge wrote India Office Said taking Baghdad was likely ultimate objective of

British occupation of Mesopotamia

(Musings On Iraq review When God Made Hell, The British Invasion of Mesopotamia and the Creation of Iraq, 1914-1921)

Iraq’s President Sues PM Sudani Over Budget

On February 9 Iraq’s President Abdul Latif Rashid announced that he filed a lawsuit against Prime Minister Mohammed Sudani and Finance Minister Taif Sami over Baghdad not sending salary payments to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). This is the latest tit for tat between the central and regional governments.

This Day In Iraqi History - Feb 11 Executive Comm of Shias manifesto said monarchy discriminated against Shiites Called on UK to remove King Faisal and empower Shiites

 

1917 British renewed attack upon Dahra bend outside Kut

This Day In Iraqi History - Feb 10 Abbasids surrendered Baghdad to Mongols who then massacred population

 

1258 Abbasid Caliph Mustasim surrendered Baghdad to Mongols Residents taken to camps where they were

executed Christians and Jews spared Mongol leader Hulagu said he killed 200,000 City eventually burned

This Day In Iraqi History - Feb 9 General Qasim executed in 1963 coup

 

1915 UK fought skirmishes with Sehikh Ajaimi’s men from Montafiq Confederation in

Basra

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

Review Adeed Dawisha, Iraq, A Political History from Independence to Occupation, Princeton University Press, 2009

Dawisha, Adeed, Iraq, A Political History from Independence to Occupation, Princeton University Press, 2009

 

Adeed Dawisha’s Iraq, A Political History from Independence to Occupation attempts to trace the history of the formation of the Iraqi state and its political system. He begins with the British Mandate when Iraq was created up until the middle of the U.S. occupation. His main theme is that Iraqi democracy has always been flawed.

This Day In Iraqi History - Feb 7 Report Trump said PM Abadi and Iraqis he met at White House were greatest group of thieves he’d ever met

 

1916 British withdrew from Butaniya and attacked by tribesmen British suffered 373 casualties Arabs

            1,000

Trump Ends Iraq’s Exemption To Buy Energy From Iran

Iraq has been worried about what the new Trump administration might do to it for its ties to Iran and got its first news in February.

This Day In Iraqi History - Feb 6 Bakr govt put down protests led by Dawa killing 16 Arrested 2000 including Ayatollah al-Hakim

 

1919 Gertrude Bell met with Naqib of Baghdad who said he wanted British rule in Iraq under Sir Percy Cox

Warned that Shiites should not be trusted Said didn’t want any of the Sharifan family to rule because were not from Iraq

(Musings On Iraq review Gertrude Bell And Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review Gertrude Bell, Explorer of the Middle East)

(Musings On Iraq movie review Letters from Baghdad)

(Musings On Iraq review Desert Queen, The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell: Adventurer, Adviser to Kings, Ally of Lawrence of Arabia)

(Musings On Iraq review A Quest in the Middle East, Gertrude Bell and the Making of Modern Iraq)

This Day In Iraqi History - Feb 5 Sec State Powell gave UN speech claiming Iraq had WMD and ties to Al Qaeda

 

1914 Lord Hardinge visited Basra Assured locals that British would protect their interests

Met by anti-UK protests in Qurna and Shaiba

Restless Pro-Iran Groups Likely Behind Drone Strike On Khor Mor Gas Field

On February 2 the Khor Mor gas field in Sulaymaniya was hit with a drone. No damage was reported. The Kurdistan Regional Government’s Counter Terrorism Directorate said that the attack came from the Bashir area which is just below the city of Kirkuk. The Kurds blamed militias for the attack referring to the pro-Iran Hashd factions known as the Islamic Resistance.

This Day In Iraqi History - Feb 4 Sykes-Picot Agreement approved Baghdad and Basra would’ve gone to UK Mosul to France Sharif Hussein would’ve gotten his own state

 

1916 Sykes-Picot agreement approved by UK Foreign Office Gave Baghdad and Basra

vilayets to UK Mosul to France Included independent Arab state for Sharif Hussein

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

(Musings On Iraq review U.S. Policy In Post-Saddam Iraq)

No Islamic State Attacks In Iraq In Jan 2025

 

The Insurgency for all intense and purposes has died in Iraq. At the start of the year there were no attacks by the Islamic State in the country.

This Day In Iraqi History - Feb 3 Blair govt issued report on Iraq’s deception campaign to hide its WMD Turned out it was plagiarized from a college student’s paper

 

1915 India Viceroy Lord Hardinge said UK should take Basra to control Persian Gulf and

make it second Egypt

This Day In Iraqi History - Feb 2 PM Sadr said new Anglo-Iraq Treaty would not be ratified due to opposition Came after 1000s protested against it

 

1920 General Haldane made commander in Iraq Told to draw down troops to save money for

London

(Musings On Iraq review U.S. Policy In Post-Saddam Iraq)

This Day In Iraqi History - Feb 1 Reagan envoy Rumsfeld met Saddam 2nd time to improve US-Iraq relations during Iran-Iraq War

 

1917 British attacked Hai River salient 2^nd time outside Kut Failed again