This Day In Iraqi History - May 31 Kurdish revolt led by Barzinji put down by UK’s RAF

 

1915 British began breakout from Qurna, Basra and took Turkish occupied islands

(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 - May 30 UK-Turkey deal Turkey got 10% of Mosul oil in return for giving up claim to province

 

1920 Head political officer in Iraq Wilson got report that revolt in Mosul being planned

Review Saleem Al-Khalil, The Race Toward Najaf, Abdul Majid Al-Khoie Amidst Americans, Sistani, and Khamenei, Saleem Al-Khalil, 2024

  

Saleem Al-Khalil’s The Race Toward Najaf is about Sayid Abdul Majid al-Khoie’s murder in Najaf in 2003 shortly after the U.S. invasion by Muqtada al-Sadr. It then goes over what might’ve happened if Khoei had lived. The coverage of his death is quite good. The second part however which attempts to blame Iran for everything has huge holes in it.

This Day In Iraqi History - May 29 1920 Ayatollah Shirazi issued statement supporting Iraqi independence from UK

 

1920 UK judicial secretary Carter wrote Sir Wilson head political officer warning Sunni-Shiite

unity would threaten British rule in Iraq

This Day In Iraqi History - May 28 Govt had Assyrian leader Mar Shimun come to Baghdad to discuss Assyrian issue

 

1933 Interior Min had Assyrian leader Mar Shimun come to Baghdad to discuss differences with

govt over settling community in north Interior said it was willing to acknowledge Mar Shimun as spiritual leader but would not give him any political power Said UK officer arriving to help settle community Mar Shimun said he would help with settlement Pledged loyalty to King Faisal

(Musings On Iraq review The Tragedy of the Assyrian Minority in Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review State and Society in Iraq)

This Day In Iraqi History - May 27 Barzani decided to leave Iraq for USSR after his followers arrested and his brother surrendered to govt

 

1917 UK Col Clayton in Egypt worried Sykes-Picot would create opposition by Sharif of

Mecca against UK taking Baghdad Deal included independent Arab state for Sharif

(Musings On Iraq review The Creation of Iraq 1914-1921)

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

(Musings On Iraq interview with Princeton’s Sara Pursley on Sykes-Picot and creation of Iraq)

Iraq’s Power Gride Faces More Setbacks As Summer Looms

  

Summer and its scorching heat is just around the corner for Iraq but its electrical grid is facing major difficulties.

This Day In Iraqi History - May 26 Future PM Jamil Midfai led Al-Ahd forces to attack Tal Afar in attempt to start revolt vs UK Mandate in Iraq

 

1915 US consulate report Discontent in Baghdad against draft for war growing UK tried

to bribe tribes south of Baghdad to turn on Ottomans

Most Of Iraq’s Oil Fields Are Closed Due To US-Iran Conflict

  

Iraq’s oil production has continued to decline because of the U.S.-Iran conflict.

This Day In Iraqi History - May 25 Turkey launched 1st raid into Iraq to fight PKK under Iraq-Turkey security agreement

 

1918 11 leaders of Najaf revolt executed in Kufa by British

This Day In Iraqi History - May 24 Iran’s Op Beit al-Moqaddas pushed Iraqis back to border in Basra Iran-Iraq War

1922 Cleric Khalisi informed southern tribes British were trying to get their way in new Anglo-

Iraq Treaty

This Day In Iraqi History - May 23 CPA disbanded Iraq’s military

 

1919 Persian Kurds under orders of Barzinji took Sulaymaniya town Barzinji then declared himself

ruler of all Kurdistan

Review Anthony Cordesman, and Ahmed Hashim, Iraq Sanctions and Beyond, Westview Press, 1997

  

Anthony Cordesman has been one of the longest tenured Iraq analysts in the United Sates. His Iraq Sanctions and Beyond with Ahmed Hashim is a perfect example of his thorough and detailed work. Written at the end of the 1990s it attempted to break down the major political, economic and military aspects of Iraq as a backgrounder to American policy makers. The two authors represented the conventional wisdom during this period that Saddam Hussein remained a threat to the Middle East but that the policy of containment and especially sanctions was faltering requiring adjustments.

This Day In Iraqi History - May 22 Patriotic Union of Kurdistan formed

 

1941 Iraq attempt to recapture Fallujah failed

(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)

This Day In Iraqi History - May 21 Treaty of Arzurum set line between Ottoman and Persian empires with Iraq as border area

 

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)

Iraq’s Pro-Iran Resistance Continue Attacks Upon Neighbors

  

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.

This Day In Iraqi History - May 20 Bush said he opposed lifting sanctions on Iraq as long as Saddam in power

 

1917 Sharif Hussein of Nijaz agreed to UK control of Baghdad vilayet after WWI

Iraq’s Financial Woes Continue Due To Iran War And Trump Administration

  

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.

This Day In Iraqi History - May 19 Gen Maude said UK came to Iraq during WWI as liberators not conquerors

 

869 Adv to Abbasid Caliph Mutazz confronted ministers accusing them of hoarding money Were

tortured and imprisoned but had no money

Vote On PM Zaidi’s Cabinet Divides Ruling Parties

  

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.

This Day In Iraqi History - May 18 German planes attacked UK Transjordan force in Anbar Anglo-Iraq War

 

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)

This Day In Iraqi History - May 17 British planes bombed Mosul and Baghdad in Anglo-Iraq War

 

1920 Huge joint Sunni-Shiite demonstration in Baghdad during Ramadan against British rule

(Musings On Iraq review A Short History of Iraq)

This Day In Iraqi History - May 16 Sykes-Picot agreement made between French and UK officials to divide up Ottoman Empire in Mideast

 

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)

Review Mahdi Obeidi and Kurt Pitzer, The Bomb In My Garden, The Secrets Of Saddam’s Nuclear Mastermind, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2004

  

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.

This Day In Iraqi History - May 15 Iraqi army attacked Israel in 1948 Arab-Israeli War

 

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)

This Day In Iraqi History - May 14 Pres Bakr brought Communists into National Front govt to co-opt Baath’s largest opponent

 

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)

Iraq Finds Itself Caught Between The US and Iran Over Forming The Next Government

  

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.

This Day In Iraqi History - May 13 German planes attacked UK forces at Habaniya air base Anglo-Iraq War

 

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)

This Day In Iraqi History - May 12 Sec State Albright said if 500,000 Iraqi children died under sanctions would be worth it to contain Saddam

 

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)

US Expects Action From Iraq Against Pro-Iran Resistance Not Words

  

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.

This Day In Iraqi History - May 11 2nd time Sec Def Rumsfeld claimed roughly 10,000 troops could invade Iraq and overthrow Saddam

 

1925 UK Colonial Secretary wrote Arab elites knew Iraq was being held together by British

This Day In Iraqi History - May 10 Army forced PM Talib to resign Pres Arif became PM

 

1920 Nationalist Haras al-Istiqlal decided to increase campaign for independence in

Baghdad Agreed on joint Sunni-Shiite events during annual religious ceremonies

This Day In Iraqi History - May 9 German and Italian planes started landing in Iraq for Anglo-Iraq War

 

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)

Review Edited by Farhang Rajaee, The Iran-Iraq War, The Politics of Aggression, University Press of Florida, 1993

  

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.