Review Dahr Jamail, Beyond The Green Zone, Dispatches From An Unembedded Journalist In Occupied Iraq, Haymarket Books, 2007

 

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.

This Day In Iraqi History - Dec 12 Dawa members including Abu Muhandis bombed US & French embassies in Kuwait killing 8 Retaliation for air strikes in Lebanon

1916 Gen Maude began new campaign to defeat Ottomans in Mesopotamia British now had numerical

advantage in troops and new supplies

This Day In Iraqi History - Dec 11 Gen Qasim nationalized 99% of Iraq Petroleum’s concessions and created Iraq National Oil Company Was only unused land though

 

1922 UK Colonial Office wrote only reason King Faisal accepted in Iraq was because he was

backed by British

This Day In Iraqi History - Dec 10 PUK made deal with Saddam not to fight for Iran in Iran-Iraq War 3000 peshmerga quit in protest

 

1915 Turkish infantry assault on British in Kut began

Iraq Govt Doesn’t Name Names For Khor Mor Gas Facility Attack

 

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.

This Day In Iraqi History - Dec 9 UN said Abdul Mahdi govt used excessive force and abused protesters While groups were abducting and killing activists

 

1914 Ottoman forces surrendered in Qurna, Basra 1,034 Ottomans taken prisoner End of 1^st

            phase of Mesopotamian campaign

Trump Said He Would Help End Gaza War If Iraq Nominated Him For Nobel Peace Prize

 

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.

This Day In Iraqi History - Dec 8 After US soldiers complained about not having adequate equipment Def Sec Rumsfeld said you go to war with the army you have

 

1925 Turkey told League of Nations it refused to accept League as arbiter of Mosul’s future

This Day In Iraqi History - Dec 7 Saddam said Iraq going on defensive in Iran-Iraq War 3 months into war

 

1914 UK made 2^nd 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)

This Day In Iraqi History - Dec 6 Kataib Hezbollah fired into Baghdad protesters Killed 85 Wounded 130

 

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

Review Jackie Spinner, Tell Them I Didn’t Cry, A Young Journalists Story Of Joy, Loss, And Survival In Iraq, Scribner, 2006

 

 

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.

This Day In Iraqi History - Dec 5 PM Maliki and his State of Law tried to stop case against Trade Min Sudani who stole $400 mil which helped fund party

 

1927 Draft of Anglo-Iraq Treaty written by UK Colonial Office Said Iraq independent state to

appease Iraqis when under British control

This Day In Iraqi History Dec 4 Siege of Kut began Would become UK’s 2nd largest defeat in WWI

 

1534 Ottoman Sultan Suleiman entered Baghdad and visited Sunni and Shiite shrines trying to

win over city

Iraq Heading Towards Financial Ruin

 

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.

This Day In Iraqi History - Dec 3 Arif govt shut down all media to try to control opposition

 

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

Pro-Iran Rocket Strike On Khor Mor Gas Field Leads to Widespread Blackouts In Iraq’s Kurdistan

 

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.

This Day In Iraqi History - Dec 2 PM Pachachi govt told oil companies not to employ Jews after creation of Israel

 

1920 US Consul in Baghdad said England hadn’t taken any serious steps to create an independent

Iraqi govt

US Led Coalition Withdraws To Iraq’s Kurdistan

 

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.

This Day In Iraqi History - Dec 1 UK got France to give up Mosul vilayet after WWI for stake in Iraqi oil

1915 Retreating British force attacked by pursuing Ottomans at Um at Tubul after loss at Battle of

Ctesiphon/Salman Pak