Review Charles River Editors, The Mandate for Mesopotamia: The History and Legacy of British Occupation and Iraq’s Independence after World War I, Charles Rivers Editors, 2021

  

The Mandate for Mesopotamia is a short overview of British rule and influence in Iraq after World War I. It covers European imperialism in the Middle East before the Great War up to the 1941 Anglo-Iraq War. The history is generally well done but it missed the opportunity to draw parallels between the British and American occupations of Iraq at the end.

This Day In Iraqi History - Sep 11 Bush and others immediately suspected Iraq involved in 9/11 terrorist attacks

1916 Retreating British attacked and broke up tribesmen harassing them in Sahilan, Dhi Qar

This Day In Iraqi History - Sep 10 1st Iraqi cabinet formed under new King Faisal govt

 

1921 1^st Iraqi cabinet formed under newly coronated King Faisal Abd al-Rahman al-Gaylani became

Iraq’s 1^st PM

(Musings On Iraq review The Role of the Military In Politics, A case study of Iraq to 1941)

(Musings On Iraq review The Chatham House Version and other Middle-Eastern Studies)

This Day In Iraqi History - Sep 9 Sheikh Abu Risha announced the Anbar Salvation Council to fight Al Qaeda in Iraq in Ramadi

871 Zanj slave rebellion returned to Basra city Offered amnesty to residents and then

massacred them Survivors hid in city for weeks and turned to cannibalism for food

Musings On Iraq review The Revolt Of African Slaves In Iraq in the 3^rd/9^th Century

Has the US Changed Stance On Disarming Iraq’s Resistance Factions?

  

The United States is threatening a new wave of sanctions if the pro-Tehran Resistance does not disarm. At the same time Trump’s desire to get out of the Iran War may mean Washington may not push the issue much more.

This Day In Iraqi History - Sep 8 King Faisal died of a heart attack in Switzerland

1922 Gertrude Bell wrote that while King Faisal was beloved he was also weak because he was

Oriental Was in relation to Faisal’s demand for Iraqi independence which Bell believed was due to Faisal’s nationalist advisers that she saw as troublemakers

(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 Inventing Iraq: The Failure of Nation Building and a History Denied)

This Day In Iraqi History - Sep 7 New Al Qaeda in Iraq War Min Masri called on members to kill an American and a Shiite in next 15 days

871 Zanj slave rebellion seized Basra city Looted it Killed most of the population then left

fearing trap

Musings On Iraq review The Revolt Of African Slaves In Iraq in the 3^rd/9^th Century

This Day In Iraqi History - Sep 6 Ali Hassan al-Majid ordered Kurdish families be deported and all males be arrested

1930 Riots in Sulaymaniya against parliamentary elections after some had called for boycott and

Baghdad replaced some local officials

This Day In Iraqi History - Sep 5 PM Said broke relations with Nazi Germany Arrested all Germans in Iraq and deported them to India

1920 Gertrude Bell wrote that Iraq was in the middle of a jihad during 1920 revolt

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

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

(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 Tom Cooper, Sirous Ebrahimi, & E.R. Hooton, Iran-Iraq Naval War, Volume 2: Convoy Battles, 1981-1984, Helion & Company, 2024

  

Tom Cooper has collaborated on a large number of books about the militaries of the Middle East. This time he worked with Sirous Ebrahimi and E.R. Hooton to produce Iran-Iraq Naval War, Volume 2: Convoy Battles, 1981-1984. The book provides a wealth of detail for a part of the conflict which is barely covered but that might be for a good reason.

This Day In Iraqi History - Sep 4 Saddam mobilized armed forces and ordered seizure of disputed border towns to find excuse to invade Iran

1915 Gen Townshend cmdr 6^th Indian Div wrote former viceroy of Indian Lord Curzon of

dangers in Mesopotamia with the enemy having superior numbers Same time said if he could put the Ottomans on the run could take Baghdad

Musings On Iraq In The News

I was quoted in this article by Wladimir van Wilgenburg “Beyond the MoU: The Future of U.S.-Peshmerga Relations” for the Kurdish Center for Studies

Iran Reportedly Getting Its Way In Negotiations Over Disarming Iraq’s Resistance Factions

Quds Force Commander Gen Qaani and other Iranian officials have been pushing Baghdad hard to give up its plans to disarm their allies the Resistance

  

In Iraq the debate over the future of the Resistance has gone from demanding they disarm to compromising with them. This is the result of constant Iranian pressure upon Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi.

This Day In Iraqi History - Sep 3 Qasim offered amnesty to Kurdish rebels Asked Barzani to return to Iraq

1920 UK army ordered two outer camps in Samawa be abandoned during siege of town Led to

heavy losses during 1920 Revolt

This Day In Iraqi History - Sep 2 King Faisal left Iraq for his health Would die a week later

1922 Turkish troops tested border with Iraq Seized Rania in Sulaymaniya after four days of

fighting

This Day In Iraqi History - Sep 1 Colonial Sec Churchill argued for UK to withdraw from Iraq to save money

1919 Jews sent letter to two Iraqi papers declaring their support for Arabs against the Balfour

Declaration where UK said it supported creating a Jewish homeland in Palestine

This Day In Iraqi History - Aug 31 Upon invitation of Barzani Saddam invaded Irbil to attack the PUK

  

1922 Gertrude Bell wrote King Faisal telling him he was vain and weak

(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 - Aug 30 US govt report PM Maliki govt full of corruption and human rights abuses

1919 War Min Churchill wrote that half the British forces in Mesopotamia should be sent home

(Musings On Iraq Churchill In His Own Words On Mesopotamia/Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review Churchill’s Folly, How Winston Churchill Created Modern Iraq)

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

This Day In Iraqi History – Aug 29 SCIRI head Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim killed by Zarqawi in Najaf bombing 125 dead 500 wounded

1922 Turkish troops testing border with Iraq attacked Rania in Sulaymaniya

Review Arbella Bet-Shlimon, City of Black Gold, Oil, Ethnicity, and the making of Modern Kirkuk, Stanford University Press, 2019

  

Arbella Bet-Shlimon can be considered one of the new Iraq researchers who attempted to break free of the conventional wisdom that shaped much of the discourse about the country after 2003. Her City of Black Gold, Oil, Ethnicity, and the making of Modern Kirkuk takes a look at the political and economic development of the city from Ottoman times to the present. Rather than seeing the city as always being divided by competing ethnicities the book creates a history where Kirkuk was shaped by Turkey, England, Iraq, oil and where ethnicity changed over time.