This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 19 Qasim started crackdown on Communists hoping to limit their power

 

1733 Safavid siege of Baghdad ended by Ottoman relief force

This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 18 Iran and Iraq agreed to ceasefire to end Iran-Iraq War

 

1921 Christian Jewish Muslim notables had meeting at Grad Rabbi’s house in Baghdad Gave

support for Faisal to be king after much lobbying by Gertrude Bell

(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)

Review Nikolas Gardner, The Siege of Kut-al-Amara, At War In Mesopotamia 1915-1916, Indiana University of Press, 2014

  

The British defeat at Kut during the Mesopotamia campaign was England’s second worse during World War I. Around 12,000 troops were taken prisoner almost half of which died in captivity. Nikolas Gardner in The Siege of Kut-al-Amara, At War In Mesopotamia 1915-1916 attempts to challenge the conventional wisdom about Kut. He makes a convincing argument that the commander General Sir Charles Townshend was responsible for the surrender.

This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 17 Gen Bakr led Baathist coup overthrowing Arif govt

 

869 Deposed Abbasid Caliph Mutazz executed by Turkish soldiers

(Musings On Iraq review when baghdad ruled the muslim world, the rise and fall of islam’s greatest dynasty)

Iraq Could Amnesty Those Arrested In New Anti-Corruption Campaign

Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council said it may give amnesty to those recently arrested for corruption

In January 2025 Iraq’s parliament passed a new amnesty law which allowed those accused of corruption to go free if they promised to return the money they stole. It was a way for the state to recover some of its missing funds while not prosecuting officials which could lead to political problems since they were often working for the elite. Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi may apply that same law to those he recently arrested in his anti-graft campaign.

This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 16 Saddam told chiefs of staff he was going to invade Iran

 

1919 UK India Office official Sir Hirtzel told chief political officer in Iraq Wilson there was

going to be an Arab state in Iraq or there would be a revolt

(Musings On Iraq review Enemy On The Euphrates, The Battle For Iraq 1914-1921)

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

New Reports On Corruption In Iraq’s Govt Contracting

  

Iraq’s government dominates the country. It gives out huge contracts every year which are manipulated by the ruling elite.

This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 15 PM Nuri al-Said killed in aftermath of 1958 coup

 

1914 US consulate in Baghdad reported Sayid Talib and Ottoman forces attacked Sheikh

Ajaimi of Montafiq Confederation in Zubayr Basra vilayet Talib won battle and took town Gave Talib de facto control of all of Basra Led to dismissal of Ottoman governor of vilayet

This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 14 Gen Qasim and Col Arif overthrew the monarchy in a coup

 

1915 US consulate report Worried that sectarian war might start with Shiites turning on

Sunni Ottomans due to troubles in Karbala and Najaf

This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 13 Iranian troops invaded Iraq 1st time in Iran-Iraq War

 

1920 Tribal forces surrounded British garrison at Abu Skhair during 1920 Revolt

This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 12 Zarqawi told fmr mentor Maqdisi important to attack Shiites more than non-Muslims Accused Shiites of starting sectarian violence

 

1923 1^st Parliamentary elections resumed after protests by Shiite clergy led to delay Assembly

wouldn’t meet until Mar 1924

This Day In Iraqi History – Jul 11 Saddam took over leadership of Iraq after Pres Bakr resigned as head of Revolutionary Command Council

 

869 Abbasid Caliph Mutazz confronted by Turkish soldiers who wanted to be paid Mutazz beaten

and forced to resign Muhtadi became new caliph

(Musings On Iraq review when baghdad ruled the muslim world, the rise and fall of islam’s greatest dynasty)

This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 10 PM Abadi declared Mosul freed from IS after 9 months Fighting continued in city

 

1920 Lead political officer in Iraq Wilson sent telegram to India Office Said threat to Iraq was

external coming from Turkey Syria Bolsheviks 1920 Revolt had just started

Iraq Wants To Become Even More Oil Dependent To Develop Economy

  

At the start of July it was reported that Iraq wants to boost its oil production to increase its revenues before the global economy begins moving away from petroleum. Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi said that he set a goal of 7 million barrels a day of output in three years. The premier also told the media that a 10 year economic plan is being created whose goal is reducing the budget’s reliance upon oil from 90% down to 45%. This isn’t much different from all the previous Iraqi PMs that have all spoken about dramatically increasing the oil industry to diversify the economy. The problem is Baghdad has never achieved any of these goals.

This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 9 Al Qaeda’s Zawahiri told Zarqawi should include more Iraqis in his group and warned against killing Iraqi civilians which could cost him support

 

1920 UK forces withdrew from Najaf turning over city to rebels who set up their own govt

(Musings On Iraq review Reclaiming Iraq, The 1920 Revolution and the Founding of the Modern State)

(Musings On Iraq review Enemy On The Euphrates, The Battle For Iraq 1914-1921)

This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 8 Saddam survived assassination attempt in Dujail Would destroy town 1500 people arrested 150 executed

 

1920 Rebels derailed 6 trains going from Diwaniya to Samawa to disrupt flow of British troops and

supplies

(Musings On Iraq review Reclaiming Iraq, The 1920 Revolution and the Founding of the Modern State)

(Musings On Iraq review Enemy On The Euphrates, The Battle For Iraq 1914-1921)

Iraq Put Back On Watch List By Intl Group For Money Laundering

  

In June 2026 the Financial Task Force put Iraq back on its grey list for countries involved in money laundering. The Task Force’s president Elisa de Anda Madrazo said that Baghdad needed to take urgent measures to cut the volume of cash based transactions, improve investigations, and more. Iraq was on the grey list before starting in 2018 but then taken off only to fall back.

This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 7 Iraq’s concealment comm decided to reveal nuke program to UN while secretly destroying its WMD Would prove long term problem because Iraq could never prove it got rid of its weapons

 

1921 American consul in Baghdad wrote that Faisal would become King of Iraq even though he

was unpopular in the country

This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 6 Saddam Hussein told Baath leadership he was going to invade Iran

 

1915 UK took Suq al-Shuyuk, Dhi Qar after defeating Turk-Arab forces outside town day

before

(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 - Jul 5 1920 Revolt leaders demanded full independence for Iraq

 

1915 British attacked Turk-Arab force outside Suq al-Shuyuk and defeated them

(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 - Jul 4 Islamic State’s Baghdadi declared caliphate from Mosul Said ISIS would now be Islamic State and he was Caliph Ibrahim

1917 Al-Arab paper established Said it was for Arabs but was actually run by British eventually

under Gertrude Bell

(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)

Review Khidhir Hamza, Saddam’s Bombmaker, The Terrifying Inside Story Of The Iraqi Nuclear And Biological Weapons Agenda, Scribner, 2000

  

Before the 2003 invasion Khidhir Hamza was one of the leading Iraqis in America warning of the threat posed by Saddam Hussein and advocating for war. He regularly appeared in the media. In 2001 he told PBS’s Frontline that Iraq only needed a nuclear core to build an atomic bomb. In 2002 he gave a presentation to the Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and testified to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about Iraq’s nuclear weapons program. He told the latter that Iraq had enough uranium to build three bombs by 2005 if it was enriched. At the end of that year his claims were used in a speech by President George Bush as part of the public relations campaign to win support for the invasion. His story was first published in 2000 in Saddam’s Bombmaker, The Terrifying Inside Story Of The Iraqi Nuclear And Biological Weapons Agenda. He turned out to be a fraud.

This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 3 IS car bomb in Baghdad set off fire in mall Killed 324 Wounded 200 One of the deadliest bombings

 

1923 35 clerics and religious students left Iraq for Persia to protest deportation of cleric Khalisi for

his opposition to parliamentary elections  

This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 2 ISIS leader Baghdadi declared caliphate established

 

1922 Law passed to establish political parties in Iraq

This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 1 IS released recording declaring a new caliphate

 

1920 British army facing revolt in Rumaitha told no reinforcements coming because railways

destroyed Railway fixed and reinforcements arrived later that day

(Musings On Iraq review Reclaiming Iraq, The 1920 Revolution and the Founding of the Modern State)

(Musings On Iraq review Enemy On The Euphrates, The Battle For Iraq 1914-1921)