1847 Treaty of Arzurum tried to set border between Ottoman Empire and Persia Gave
Sulaymaniya to Ottomans Shatt al-Arab to Persia Set up commission to demarcate border between Ottomans and Persia but never finished
(Musings On Iraq review An Analysis of Hanna Batatu’s The Old Social Classes and the Revolutionary Movements of Iraq)
New Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has promised to bring all weapons under state control but the pro-Iran Resistance is not only being defiant but threatening Iraq’s relations with its neighbors.
1917 Sharif Hussein of Nijaz agreed to UK control of Baghdad vilayet after WWI
A combination of foreign events is undermining Iraq’s fragile economy. On the one hand the Strait of Hormuz Iraq’s main oil export route remains closed cutting off the country’s main source of revenue. On the other hand, the money Baghdad is making from petroleum is being held hostage by the Trump administration that wants the new Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi to crackdown upon the pro-Iran Resistance. Together this is driving the government towards insolvency.
869 Adv to Abbasid Caliph Mutazz confronted ministers accusing them of hoarding money Were
tortured and imprisoned but had no money
On May 14 parliament voted on some of Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s cabinet. This has led to deep divisions between the ruling parties over who got what.
1941 British bombed Fallujah while troops began surrounding town
(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s First Battle Of Fallujah 1941)
(Musings On Iraq interview World War II In Iraq and Syria Interview With Case Western’s Prof Broich)
1920 Huge joint Sunni-Shiite demonstration in Baghdad during Ramadan against British rule
(Musings On Iraq review A Short History of Iraq)
1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement broke up Ottoman Empire Basra and Baghdad to UK Mosul to France
Would be independent Arab state under UK and French influence
(Musings On Iraq interview with Princeton’s Sara Pursley on Sykes-Picot and creation of Iraq)
(Musings On Iraq review The Creation of Iraq 1914-1921)
(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)
(Musings On Iraq review U.S. Policy In Post-Saddam Iraq)
In The Bomb In My Garden Dr Mahdi Obeidi tells the story of how Iraq tried to produce a nuclear bomb in the early 1990s. He was in charge of building centrifuges to enrich uranium. He goes through Iraq’s nuclear ambitions, how they covertly worked to gain the know-how and technology, how United Nations inspectors dismantled the program and then how the U.S. bungled its search for WMD after the 2003 invasion.
1919 Governor of Sulaymaniya Barzinji seized control of district in revolt vs UK
(Musings On Iraq review The Kurds, A Modern History)
(Musings On Iraq review The Kurdish Revolt 1961-1970)
(Musings On Iraq Explaining Kurdish Nationalism Interview With Teen Tech Univ Prof Michael Gunter)
1920 Gertrude Bell wrote family it was hard for UK to reach out to Shiites Said their clerics held
useless knowledge were anachronisms and refused to meet British Said extremists were anti-British Said Sadr family of clerics were anti-British Then met with member of Sadr family Had good conversation
(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 The Letters of Gertrude Bell Volumes I and II)
(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 Empires of the Sand, The Struggle For Mastery In The Middle East 1789-1923)
(Musings On Iraq review Britain In Iraq, Contriving King and Country)
(Musings On Iraq review A Quest in the Middle East, Gertrude Bell and the Making of Modern Iraq)
Prime Minister designate Ali al-Zaidi is coming under increasing pressure from both the United States and Iran over the direction of his cabinet. The two powers are diametrically opposed to each other leading to a deadlock in talks over forming the next government.
1915 British forces moved north to try to encircle Ottoman forces in Qurna
(Musings On Iraq review When God Made Hell, The British Invasion of Mesopotamia and the Creation of Iraq, 1914-1921)
1920 US got copy of San Remo agreement that divided Iraqi oil between UK and France US Amb
to UK Davis sent message to UK Foreign Sec Lord Curzon Said end of WWI countries agreed there would be equal treatment in development ex-Turkish territories Complained UK controlled Iraqi oil
(Musings On Iraq review Supremacy And Oil, Iraq, Turkey, and the Anglo-American World Order, 1918-1930)
The Trump administration is keeping up the pressure upon the Iraqi elite to disband the Resistance and curtail Iranian influence. That’s been seen in new statements and sanctions.
1925 UK Colonial Secretary wrote Arab elites knew Iraq was being held together by British
1920 Nationalist Haras al-Istiqlal decided to increase campaign for independence in
Baghdad Agreed on joint Sunni-Shiite events during annual religious ceremonies
1919 UK approved Iraq political officer Wilson’s plan for mandate in Iraq run by a high
commissioner Foreign Office told Wilson to treat Mosul as an Arab province of Iraq Meant Mosul would be included in Iraq
(Musings On Iraq review Britain In Iraq, Contriving King and Country)
(Musings On Iraq review U.S. Policy In Post-Saddam Iraq)
The Iran-Iraq War, The Politics of Aggression was the result of a conference held in Tehran in the summer of 1988. It’s a collection of papers that were presented. Reading an anthology is always risky because the quality of writing and topics will often shift from chapter to chapter. That’s especially true for this one. The main benefit of the book is that most but not all of the writers are Iranian giving their perspective of the war.
1927 Iraqi cabinet resolution said Assyrians would be settled in the country
(Musings On Iraq review Assyrians in Modern Iraq)
(Musings On Iraq review State and Society in Iraq)
(Musings On Iraq review The Tragedy of the Assyrian Minority in Iraq)
1918 British took Kirkuk based on false idea that it would stop Germans from organizing Persians
to attack India British would later leave Kirkuk Abandoned Kurds that flocked to British to oppose Turks
(Musings On Iraq review When God Made Hell, The British Invasion of Mesopotamia and the Creation of Iraq, 1914-1921)
Iraq’s main oil export route through the Strait of Hormuz remains closed due to the U.S.-Iran conflict. This is having a deleterious effect upon Iraq’s petroleum industry and economy.
1920 UK High Commissioner Wilson statement Said was aware of Kurdish anxiety about joining
Iraq Said Kurdistan connected to Iraq Would be Kurdish districts in Mosul province Would have representatives in assembly Sulaymaniya would be a subprovince
Pro-Iran Resistance attacks upon the Gulf States and Jordan during and after the Iran War have strained relations between Iraq and its neighbors. Before Baghdad was courting them for investment, but now that’s in jeopardy.
1920 British mandate announced in Baghdad
(Musings On Iraq interview with Princeton’s Sara Pursley on Sykes-Picot and creation of Iraq)
(Musings On Iraq review Britain In Iraq, Contriving King and Country)
(Musings On Iraq review The Creation of Iraq 1914-1921)
(Musings On Iraq review Dictatorship, Imperialism & Chaos, Iraq since 1989)
(Musings On Iraq review An Analysis of Hanna Batatu’s The Old Social Classes and the Revolutionary Movements of 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)
(Musings On Iraq review The Chatham House Version and other Middle-Eastern Studies)
(Musings On Iraq review A Short History of Iraq)
(Musings On Iraq review When God Made Hell, The British Invasion of Mesopotamia and the Creation of Iraq, 1914-1921)
(Musings On Iraq review Iraq Since 1958, From Revolution To Dictatorship)
(Musings On Iraq review Iraq’s Democratic Moment)
The Iran War is having far reaching affects upon Iraq. The latest is a looming electricity crisis. This is caused by a cut in Iranian natural gas exports to Baghdad as well as a decline in its own gas production.
1918 Najaf revolt ended after rebels gave up to UK after 2 month blockade Ended Zuqurt
and Shumurt control of city
1913 US consulate in Baghdad reported Ottomans ordered documents to be published in
Arabic and Turkish in Baghdad vilayet as concession to Arab demands
1854 Riot in Mosul versus Ottoman reforms Attacked Christians and Jews for businesses they ran
and control of taxes that caused resentment
(Musings On Iraq review Christianity in Iraq)
I was quoted in this article by Paul Iddon “Iraq’s western pipeline gambit faces a wall of risk amid export crisis” in Amwaj Media.
For a full list of Musings On #Iraq’s citations look here.
Tim Trevan was a British expert in weapons of mass destruction (WMD). In 1992 he joined the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) weapons inspectors in Iraq. His Saddam’s Secrets is one of the better books on the subject. He goes into great detail about all of the jobs the inspectors carried out but focuses upon the biological weapons program which Iraq tried to hide. It’s the coverage of each inspection team that went to Iraq that reveals how Baghdad lied about its program until UNSCOM ended in 1998.
1847 Treaty of Arzurum tried to set border between Ottoman Empire and Persia Gave Sulaymaniya to Ottomans Shatt al-Ara...
