This Day In Iraqi History - Feb 22

 

1917 British attacked Sannaiyat outside Kut 2^nd time Also crossed Tigris River at Shumran

1921 War Min Churchill wrote PM George that he thought an Arab govt should be created

to run Mesopotamia for UK

(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 Supremacy And Oil, Iraq, Turkey, and the Anglo-American World Order, 1918-1930)

1921 War Min Churchill met Faisal future king of Iraq for the first time

1939 PM Said dismissed parliament Wanted new one full of his supporters

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq’s Democratic Moment)

1948 Parliament rejected new Anglo-Iraq Treaty Then dissolved PM Sadr to form new govt

1963 Jalal Talabani was invited to join govt delegation to Egypt to talk with Nasser about

uniting with Iraq

1965 After lobbying by Arif govt Egypt’s Gen Nasser called on Mullah Mustafa Barzani to

end his revolt

(Musings On Iraq review of The Kurds, A Modern History)

(Musings On Iraq review The Kurdish Revolt 1961-1970)

1974 KDP sent 2^nd delegation for talks with Bakr govt but were not received

1981 Iran rejected UN attempts to negotiate ceasefire as long as Iraqi troops were on Iranian territory

1984 Iranian Op Kheibar began to capture Majnoon island in Basra

(Musings On Iraq review Iran-Iraq War Volume 2: Iran Strikes back, June 1982-December 1986)

1984 Iraq’s attacks on Iranian cities stopped ending 1^st War of the Cities

1987 Iran Op Karbala 5 launched Last attack upon Iraqi defenses in Basra but stopped Caused 4,000

Iraqi casualties

(Musings On Iraq review Iran-Iraq War Volume 3: Iraq’s Triumph)

1988 Iraq renewed war of cities by firing missiles at Tehran Iraq wanted to provoke UN to get

involved again with peace talks

1988 Iraqi air raid on Rey oil refinery led to fuel shortages in Iran Trapped majority of Iranian

            Revolutionary Guard units in north and couldn’t move for rest of war

(Musings On Iraq interview with author Anthony Tucker-Jones on Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq interview with author Tom Cooper on Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq review Iraqi Mirages, The Dassault Mirage Family In Service With The Iraqi Air Force, 1981-1988)

(Musings On Iraq review The Iran-Iraq War 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq review Iran-Iraq War, The Lion of Babylon, 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq review The Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq review The Longest War, The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict)

1991 Iraq set Kuwait oil fields on fire

1991 Report Saudis tried to organize Iraqi exiles for post-Saddam Iraq US didn’t believe it would work

1998 UN Sec Gen Annan met with Saddam to try to restart UN weapons inspections

(Musings On Iraq UN Inspectors Were Right Iraq Was Not A Threat)

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s Rejection of UN Inspectors Led To Mistrust Over WMD and 2003 Invasion)

(Musings On Iraq Charles Duelfer’s Account Of The End Of The 1990s U.N. Inspections)

1998 Newsweek poll showed US support for military action against Iraq dropped from 40% to 18%

Clinton admin was threatening attack over UN inspectors

1999 SCIRI UK Rep Bayati said overthrowing Saddam should be done by Iraqis without outside

interference

2003 Bush administration officially announced it was deploying forces for invasion Actually started

Dec 02

(Musings On Iraq review Wanting War: Why the Bush Administration Invaded Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review Leap of Faith, Hubris Negligence, and America’s Greatest Foreign Policy

Tragedy)

2003 Spanish Pres Aznar visited Bush Had group call with PM Blair and Italian PM Berlusconi Bush

said he had lost patience Wanted a 2^nd UN resolution as quickly as possible to authorize use of force vs Iraq Bush threatened retaliation against members of UN security council that might vote against resolution Bush said Iraq was a historic moment to spread freedom

(Musings On Iraq Review The Report of the Iraq Inquiry, Executive Summary)

2003 ORHA drill found US would not have enough troops for Iraq postwar security Worried not enough

funding for postwar Iraq that could leave behind unstable country Found US had no plans for what kind of govt they wanted in Iraq and how to achieve it Dep Head thought US had faulty assumptions overly optimistic lacked reality on what postwar Iraq would be like

(Musings On Iraq on Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Hard Lessons Chapter 3 The Department of Defense Takes Charge)

(Musings On Iraq review State of Denial, Bush At War, Part III)

(Musings On Iraq review The Endgame, The Inside Story of the Struggle for Iraq, from

George W. Bush to Barack Obama)

(Musings On Iraq review Hard Lessons, The Iraq Reconstruction Experience)

2005 Dawa’s Jaafari became UIA candidate for premier following Jan elections

2005 5 Zarqawi suicide bombers in Baghdad Killed 39 Wounded 150 people celebrating Ashura

2006 Zarqawi bombed Askari shrine in Samarra 25 Sunni mosques in Samarra 27 in Baghdad attacked 3

imams killed 1 kidnapped US immediately got intel Zarqawi behind Askari shrine bombing Tunisian and 4 Saudis from Al Qaeda in Iraq did bombing Tunisian Al Qaeda in Iraq bomber was arrested in June 2006 and explained attack

(Musings On Iraq US Army History of Iraq War Vol 1 – Chapter 19 The Iraqi Civil War Comes Into The Open, January-June 2006)

(Musings On Iraq review The Caliphate At War, Operational Realities and Innovations of the Islamic State)

(Musings On Iraq review Voices From Iraq, A People’s History, 2003-2009)

(Musings On Iraq review The ISIS Reader, Milestone Texts of the Islamic State Movement)

(Musings On Iraq review Insurgent Iraq, Al Zarqawi and the New Generation)

2006 Al Qaeda in Iraq blamed Baghdad and Shiite militias for Samarra bombing to incite attacks on

Sunnis

2006 Other insurgent groups blamed Baghdad for Samarra bombing and claimed govt was allowing

attacks upon Sunni mosques

2006 Sadr called on his parliamentarians to meet on vote to ask U.S. forces to leave Iraq

2006 US report Sadr gave orders to kill Sunnis in east Baghdad in retaliation for Samarra bombing

2006 Sadr offices spread rumor that US military vehicles were seen around Samarra shrine before

bombing to lay blame on US

2006 Iran blamed US for Samarra bombing

2006 Ayatollah Sistani called for 7 days of mourning peaceful protests and prohibited attacks upon

Sunnis in wake of Samarra bombing

2006 SCIRI head Hakim blamed US for Samarra bombing claiming it gave aid to insurgents Claimed

US criticism of Shiite death squads provoked militants

2007 Report security plan in Ramadi showed progress US and ISF setting up posts throughout city

Started working with tribes outside Ramadi to provide men to man checkpoints and join police

(Musings On Iraq interview with author Carter Malkasian on Anbar Awakening)

(Musings On Iraq review Confronting Al Qaeda, The Sunni Awakening and American Strategy In Al Anbar)

(Musings On Iraq review The Marines Take Anbar, The Four-Year Fight Against Al Qaeda)

(Musings On Iraq review Illusions of Victory, The Anbar Awakening And The Rise Of The Islamic State)

(Musings On Iraq review The Sheriff of Ramadi, Navy SEALS and the Winning of Anbar)

2007 After UK said it would withdraw some of its forces from Iraq Denmark said it would withdraw

its troops serving in Basra Lithuania that had troops serving alongside Danes was considering pulling out Romania said it would make decision about its troops that were also in Basra

2008 Sadr renewed his freeze on Mahdi Army

2009 Sadr renewed his freeze on Mahdi Army

2009 Report US claimed ISF taking lead in operations US didn’t trust many Iraqi units Still lacked

training Still infiltrated by insurgents

2009 Report 60 Minutes producer went over his kidnapping in Basra in Feb 08 by police who were

part of militia Said he was shown Hezbollah video Freed by Iraqi army

2009 Islamic Party accused its opponents of assassination campaign 1 member escaped car

bombing in Tikrit Two killed in Baghdad in last 3 days

2009 Intl Organization for Migration said govt had no plan to deal with displaced returning 1.6 mil

displaced after Feb 06 Samarra bombing 300,000 returned Iraqi NGO said govt done little for displaced

(Musings On Iraq Refugees International Report On Iraq’s Refugees and Displaced)

2011 Independent Nalya Radio and TV station was set afire in Sulaymaniya probably by KDP

supporters

2015 Sadr called for followers to protest in Baghdad next Friday calling for reforms

(Musings On Iraq interview with Cambridge’s Michael Clark on Sadr, protests and PM Abadi’s reforms)

2020 4 Hashd units loyal to Najaf objected to Abdul Muhammadawi from Kataib

Hezbollah being appointed new chief of staff of Hashd Comm by pro-Iran factions Threatened to withdraw from Commission if appointment confirmed

(Musings On Iraq Pro-Iran Groups Name New Acting Head of Hashd)

(Musings On Iraq Pro-Najaf Hashd Threaten To Leave Hashd Commission)

2021 Police fired into protesters in Nasiriya killing two despite PM Kazemi order that live ammo

not be used on demonstrations Were demanding governor resign

(Musings On Iraq 3 Protesters Killed By Police In Dhi Qar0

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Security In Iraq Feb 8-14, 2022

Violence remained at a very low level for another week in Iraq. Both the Islamic State and pro-Iran groups were barely active during the second week of February.

This Day In Iraqi History - Feb 21

 

1916 UK made 2^nd attack on Hanna Surprise attack worked but no reinforcements to exploit gains

1922 UK Sec of War Evans told Foreign Office it should back King Faisal because that would allow

UK to exit Iraq and escape expenses of running country

(Musings On Iraq review Supremacy And Oil, Iraq, Turkey, and the Anglo-American World Order, 1918-1930)

1934 PM Midfai announced new cabinet 1922-58 were 59 cabinets

1974 Kurdish residents of Kifri in Kirkuk forced out and houses bulldozed by army

1984 Iranian Op Al Fajr 6 began Aimed at taking Ali al-Gharbi 15 miles into Iraq

1984 Iraq warned that it could use chemical weapons against next Iranian offensive

1986 Iraq counterattack to retake Faw began on 3 fronts Iraq used poison gas but bad weather dissipated

effects

(Musings On Iraq Origins Of Iraq’s WMD Programs)

(Musings On Iraq interview with author Anthony Tucker-Jones on Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq interview with author Tom Cooper on Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq review Iran-Iraq War Volume 2: Iran Strikes back, June 1982-December 1986)

(Musings On Iraq review The Iran-Iraq War 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq review Iran-Iraq War, The Lion of Babylon, 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq review The Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq review The Longest War, The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict)

1991 Foreign Minister Aziz went to Moscow Told Gorbachev Iraq wouldn't accept UN resolution to

recognize Kuwait independence and pay reparations

1991 Russia announced proposal for Iraq withdrawal from Kuwait in return for lifting of sanctions US

rejected offer

1999 Govt killed 20 protesting assassination of Ayatollah Sadiq al-Sadr by Saddam and arrested

            250 across Iraq In total 3,000 followers would be arrested 450 executed

(Musings On Iraq interview with Univ of Haifa’s Prof Baram on legacy of Ayatollah Sadiq al-Sadr)

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq Between Occupations, Perspectives from 1920 to the Present)

(Musings On Iraq review Muqtada, Muqtada Al-Sadr, The Shia Revival, And The Struggle For Iraq)

2002 Fmr Amb Joseph Wilson left for Niger to investigate Iraq buying uranium from it Story fake

(Musings On Iraq How US Intelligence Failed The Iraq-Niger Uranium Story)

(Musings On Iraq Review Hubris, The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, And The Selling Of The Iraq War)

2003 ORHA staff met in DC to have run through their Iraq postwar plans

(Musings On Iraq on Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Hard Lessons Chapter 3 The Department of Defense Takes Charge)

(Musings On Iraq review Leap of Faith, Hubris Negligence, and America’s Greatest Foreign Policy

Tragedy)

2003 PM Blair met Bush at Camp David to reaffirm their alliance to remove Saddam

(Musings On Iraq Review The Report of the Iraq Inquiry, Executive Summary)

2004 Report US did not brief UN inspectors on 21 of 105 WMD sites in Iraq US claimed it gave info on

all sites

2004 UN Secretary General Annan said UN was ready to assist Iraq with elections but couldn’t happen

before end of June 2004

2006 PBS Frontline show “The Insurgency” said Iraqi insurgency expanded and Islamists replaced

former regime members as leaders

2007 PM Blair announced England would begin withdrawing 1,500 troops from Basra

2007 Report British lost politically and militarily in Basra by 2005 when Shiite religious parties won

provincial election and took control of security forces and economy

(Musings On Iraq Review The Report of the Iraq Inquiry, Executive Summary)

2008 Mahdi Army fought army unit controlled by Supreme Council in Baquba Diyala

2008 In Op Sun 800 Turkish troops moved 10 mil into Kurdistan to attack PKK Also moved out of base

inside KRG and stopped by Peshmerga who surrounded camp

2009 Report Gens Petraeus and Odierno thought US would be involved in Iraq for years Joint

Chiefs thought Iraq strain on troops and resources

2010 Report US military got tip $4 mil in counterfeit US dollars sent to Maysan to buy votes in

2010 election Another report interviewed man in Sadr City who organized 100 people in his neighborhood to control their votes

(Musings On Iraq Vote Buying In Iraq’s 2010 Election)

2011 Group of men attacked protesters in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square while police looked on

2015 National Alliance MPs complained that Abadi didn’t consult with them about his reforms

2015 Sadrists said Abadi missed great chance to reform country Sadrists had been PM Abadi’s main

supporters

(Musings On Iraq interview with Cambridge’s Michael Clark on Sadr, protests and PM Abadi’s reforms) 

 

View the Iraq History Timelines 

This Day In Iraqi History - Feb 20

 

1937 Elections finished for new parliament after 1936 coup

1940 Gen Umari Mosul garrison commander attempted coup rather than be forced to resign

by Regent Put down by Golden Square officers

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

(Musings On Iraq review Rashid Ali al-Gailani, The National Movement in Iraq 1939-1941)

(Musings On Iraq review Blood, Oil and the Axis: The Allied Resistance Against A Fascist State In Iraq and the Levant, 1941)

(Musings On Iraq review The Modern History of Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq Between the Two World Wars, The Militarist Origins of Tyranny)

1963 Head of Kurdish delegation Talabani met with PM Bakr and other govt officials

Promised Kurdish rights

(Musings On Iraq review The Kurdish Revolt 1961-1970)

(Musings On Iraq review Journey Among Brave Men, Travels in Kurdistan)

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq & the Kurdish Question, 1958-70)

1969 Bakr govt executed opponents in central Baghdad Meant to rally support for regime

1985 US and Soviet officials met to discuss ways to end Iran-Iraq War Nothing came of it

(Musings On Iraq interview with author Anthony Tucker-Jones on Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq interview with author Tom Cooper on Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq review The Iran-Iraq War 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq review Iran-Iraq War, The Lion of Babylon, 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq review The Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq review The Longest War, The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict)

1991 US 1^st Cav Div launched large attack into Iraq Engaged 7 Iraqi divisions to deceive Iraqis on where

invasion would come from

1995 KDP and PUK resumed fighting in Rawandaz ending ceasefire

(Musings On Iraq review The Kurds, A Modern History)

1996 Hussein Kamal and brother Saddam Kamal Saddam’s sons in laws accepted pardon and returned to

Iraq Were later killed

1998 UN report said Iraq’s electricity situation was in dire straights Grid never rebuilt due to sanctions

1998 UN Res 1153 increased Iraq’s exports from $2 bil in oil each 6 months to $5.2 bil and expanded

imports from food and medicine to infrastructure needs

1999 Supreme Council accused govt of killing Ayatollah Mohammed Sadiq al-Sadr

(Musings On Iraq interview with Univ of Haifa’s Prof Baram on legacy of Ayatollah Sadiq al-Sadr)

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq Between Occupations, Perspectives from 1920 to the Present)

(Musings On Iraq review Muqtada, Muqtada Al-Sadr, The Shia Revival, And The Struggle For Iraq)

2002 Secret CIA team entered Kurdistan to prepare for ops inside Iraq called Northern Iraq Liaison

Elements

2002 CIA gave fmr Amb Joseph Wilson talking points for his trip to Niger to investigate Iraq-Niger

uranium deal Story fake

(Musings On Iraq How US Intelligence Failed The Iraq-Niger Uranium Story)

(Musings On Iraq Review Hubris, The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, And The Selling Of The Iraq War)

2002 UK Joint Intel Comm chief Scarlett briefed Foreign Sec Cook on Iraq’s WMD Cook thought Iraq

didn’t have capability for large scale WMD attack

2003 Chief UN Inspector Blix told PM Blair intelligence he’d gotten wasn’t great and maybe Iraq didn’t

have much WMD

2003 UN sources told press US intel on Iraq WMD was not turning up anything

(Musings On Iraq UN Inspectors Were Right Iraq Was Not A Threat)

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s Rejection of UN Inspectors Led To Mistrust Over WMD and 2003 Invasion)

2003 Report interviews with Iraqi scientists by inspectors had not turned up any evidence of a nuclear

program

(Musings On Iraq How US Intelligence Created An Iraqi Nuclear Threat In 2002)

2003 Pew/Council on Foreign Relations poll found 57% of Americans believed Saddam involved in 9/11

2004 Report CPA dropping caucus plan to elect Iraqi provisional govt and working with UN for

alternative Iraqi Governing Council wanted to expand membership from 25 to 125 and become new govt

2004 Sadr responding to Bremer saying Iraqi constitution would not be based on Islam said Iraqis could

fight US like 1920 Revolt or 1991 Intifada Said Bremer was against Islam

2007 British turned over army base in Basra to Iraqi 10^th Division as part of withdrawal from province

(Musings On Iraq Review The Report of the Iraq Inquiry, Executive Summary)

2007 Report Officials claimed 80% drop in violence in Baghdad at start of Surge US focusing upon Dora

South Baghdad Sadr told Mahdi Army to stand down

(Musings On Iraq review Surge, My Journey with General David Petraeus and the Remaking of the Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq interview with Prof Mansoor on the Surge)

(Musings On Iraq interview with New America Foundation’s Ollivant On Reassessing the Surge)

2007 Report Sadrist mosques posted lists of Mahdi Army fighters expelled Sadr was trying to purge and

            control militia

2008 After Sadrist members were arrested Mahdi Army started fighting Iraqi army in Basra In Diwaniya

Sadrists accused ISCI controlled police of blowing up 4 houses

2009 Report US met with fmr Baath era army officers in Jordan to try to get them to return to Iraq

2009 ISF started Operation New Hope to secure Mosul Became main insurgent area after Surge

2009 Report Asaib Ahl Al-Haq was thinking of running in 2010 election to challenge Sadr

(Musings On Iraq Asaib Ahl Al-Haq From A Breakaway Sadr Militia To Defenders Of Iraq)

2009 Report Iran said it would stop militia attacks upon British forces in Basra if London

accepted Tehran’s nuclear program

2012 Saudi Arabia named its Jordan Ambassador as non-resident ambassador to Iraq as relations were

slowly improving

2013 Iraq signed deal to build natural gas pipeline from Iran across Iraq to Syria Never happened

2016 PM Abadi said financial crisis meant reforms needed Called for end of quota system in govt

(Musings On Iraq interview with Reidar Visser on PM Abadi’s reform program)

2016 Sadr created committee to nominate technocrats for Abadi’s new cabinet

(Musings On Iraq interview with Cambridge’s Michael Clark on Sadr, protests and PM Abadi’s reforms)

2018 Report some of the 9 Abrams tanks pro-Iran Hashd units got came from the Iraqi army rest were

captured from IS

(Musings On Iraq Iraqi Army Supplied Pro-Iran Hashd With US Abrams Tanks)

2021 Pro-Iran group fired rockets at Balad Air Base in Salahaddin wounding 2 contractors

(Musings On Iraq Security In Iraq Feb 15-21, 2021)

View the Iraq History Timelines 

This Day In Iraqi History - Feb 19

 

1934 King Ghazi accepted PM Midfai’s resignation after disagreements within cabinet made continuation

of govt impossible

1939 King Ghazi summoned army chief of staff Fawzi and ordered invasion of Kuwait PM Said reversed

order

(Musings On Iraq review Unholy Babylon, The Secret History of Saddam’s War)

1949 PM Said said Jews had been mistreated in Iraq and warned that things could get worse for them

due to Israel

1952 General strike by opposition against new oil agreement with Iraqi Petroleum Company Police shot at

crowd Mass arrests Students dismissed from colleges

1963 Kurdish delegation arrived in Baghdad Wanted autonomy Govt said it could wait and Kurds agreed

(Musings On Iraq review The Kurds, A Modern History)

(Musings On Iraq review Kurds of Iraq, Tragedy and Hope)

(Musings On Iraq review The Kurdish Revolt 1961-1970)

(Musings On Iraq review Journey Among Brave Men, Travels in Kurdistan)

(Musings On Iraq review People Without A Country, The Kurds and Kurdistan)

1986 Iraq counterattack to retake Faw Peninsula in Basra called off

1986 US condemned Iraq’s use of chemical weapons against Iran in Faw Peninsula in Basra

(Musings On Iraq Origins Of Iraq’s WMD Programs)

(Musings On Iraq review Iran-Iraq War Volume 2: Iran Strikes back, June 1982-December 1986)

1987 Iranian Rev Guard broke through Iraqi defenses Now 5 miles from Basra city

(Musings On Iraq interview with Naval Postgraduate School’s Ostovar on history of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard)

(Musings On Iraq review Vanguard of the Imam, Religion, Politics, and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard)

1987 NSC official said US attempted to assist Iraq in Iran-Iraq War without providing it with arms

(Musings On Iraq interview with author Anthony Tucker-Jones on Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq interview with author Tom Cooper on Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq review The Iran-Iraq War 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq review Iran-Iraq War, The Lion of Babylon, 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq review The Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq review The Longest War, The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict)

1990 Saddam demanded that US warships leave the Persian Gulf

1991 US 1^st Cav division launched probing attack into Kuwait to fool Iraq about where real offensive

would begin 

1995 Saddam representatives met with bin Laden in Sudan who asked for broadcast of jihadist lectured

and asked for joint ops against Saudis Meeting confirmed in Iraqi intel report Only confirmed meeting between two sides

1996 Saddam’s son-in-law Hussein Kamal sent letter to Iraq asking about returning to country after

defected to Jordan

1998 PM Blair said UN weapons inspections had to continue or action would be taken against Iraq

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s Rejection of UN Inspectors Led To Mistrust Over WMD and 2003 Invasion)

(Musings On Iraq Chilcot Report Sec 1.1 UK Iraq Strategy 1990 To 2000)

(Musings On Iraq Review The Report of the Iraq Inquiry, Executive Summary)

1998 Comm for Peace and Security in the Gulf published letter to Clinton saying US should overthrow

Saddam and support INC

1998 Richard Perle moderated meeting at American Enterprise Institute on Iraq featured Ahmed

Chalabi Wolfowitz fmr Rep Stephen Solarz

(Musings On Iraq review The Man Who Pushed America To War, The Extraordinary Life, Adventures, and Obsessions of Ahmad Chalabi)

(Musings On Iraq review Arrows of the Night: Ahmad Chalabi and the Selling of the Iraq War)

1998 Richard Perle had Ahmed Chalabi address House Republican Policy Committee Chalabi said

Saddam was coup proof and only a revolt led by INC could unseat him but was sabotaged by CIA 1 of attendees staffer Rademaker drafted Iraq Liberation Act after meeting

1998 Report Al Qaeda operative was to travel to Iraq to talk with govt False story

1999 Followers of Ayatollah Sadr met in Saddam City after his assassination by govt Fired upon by army

80 killed Led to more protests Sadrists took over Nasiriya

(Musings On Iraq interview with Univ of Haifa’s Prof Baram on legacy of Ayatollah Sadiq al-Sadr)

(Musings On Iraq review Muqtada, Muqtada Al-Sadr, The Shia Revival, And The Struggle For Iraq)

2001 Richard Perle wrote to Def Sec Rumsfeld Said he’d been friends with Ahmed Chalabi

for years Attacked CIA for incompetence dealing with Iraq and was trying to discredit Chalabi Called out CIA Dir Tenet for being opponent of Chalabi Argued for US to back Chalabi’s revolt plan

2002 CIA met with fmr Amb Joseph Wilson to ask if he would go to Niger to investigate alleged Iraq

yellowcake deal Story fake

(Musings On Iraq How US Intelligence Failed The Iraq-Niger Uranium Story)

(Musings On Iraq Review Hubris, The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, And The Selling Of The Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq review The WMD Mirage, Iraq’s Decade of Deception and America’s False Premise for War)

2002 Sen Graham visited CENTCOM Gen Franks said if war on terror was to fight Al Qaeda US

should focus on Somalia and Yemen after Afghanistan not Iraq

2003 ORHA head Garner briefed Natl Sec Adv Rice to use Iraqi army and police to help rebuilding Iraq

after war

(Musings On Iraq on Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Hard Lessons Chapter 3 The Department of Defense Takes Charge)

(Musings On Iraq review Leap of Faith, Hubris Negligence, and America’s Greatest Foreign Policy

Tragedy)

2003 Ahmed Chalabi OpEd in Wall St Journal Said Iraqis would welcome US liberation but needed

to include them in administration and decision making

(Musings On Iraq review The Man Who Pushed America To War, The Extraordinary Life, Adventures, and Obsessions of Ahmad Chalabi)

(Musings On Iraq review Arrows of the Night: Ahmad Chalabi and the Selling of the Iraq War)

2004 UN endorsed CPA’s timetable for transferring power back to Iraqis in June 2004

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq’s Dysfunctional Democracy)

(Musings On Iraq review The Endgame, The Inside Story of the Struggle for Iraq, from

George W. Bush to Barack Obama)

2004 CPA had to abandon idea of unelected caucuses choosing interim govt to write new Iraq

constitution due to objections of Ayatollah Sistani

(Musings On Iraq review The Occupation of Iraq, Winning The War, Losing The Peace)

(Musings On Iraq review Patriotic Ayatollahs, Nationalism In Post-Saddam Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review Squandered Victory, The American Occupation And the Bungled Effort to Bring Democracy to Iraq)

2007 VP Hashemi told Al Jazeera militia leaders told about Surge plan beforehand so they could avoid it

2007 2 suicide car bombs hit Awakening head Sheikh Abu Risha’s compound Ramadi district    

(Musings On Iraq The Demise But Not Death of Al Qaeda In Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq How A Change In Perceptions Led To The Anbar Awakening)

(Musings On Iraq interview with author Carter Malkasian on Anbar Awakening)

(Musings On Iraq review Confronting Al Qaeda, The Sunni Awakening and American Strategy In Al Anbar)

(Musings On Iraq review The Marines Take Anbar, The Four-Year Fight Against Al Qaeda)

(Musings On Iraq review Illusions of Victory, The Anbar Awakening And The Rise Of The Islamic State)

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq’s Sunni Insurgency)

(Musings On Iraq review The Sheriff of Ramadi, Navy SEALS and the Winning of Anbar)

(Musings On Iraq review Suicide Bombers In Iraq, The Strategy and Ideology of Martyrdom)

2008 1^st day of trial of Sadrist fmr Dep Health Min Zamili and ministry security chief Gen Shammari

accused of killing and kidnapping Sunnis in hospitals 7 of 9 witnesses threatened Judge in case accused of agreeing to acquit 2 before trial

2009 Provincial Election results announced PM Maliki’s State of Law won in 9 of 14 provinces

ISCI biggest loser as lost control of south

(Musings On Iraq Official Iraqi Election Results)

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s New Provincial Councils – Update)

(Musings On Iraq Governors, Heads of Councils, and Ruling Coalitions In Iraq’s Provinces)

2009 Electricity Min Wahid said power production passed pre-war levels Took 6 years Production

still didn’t meet demand

2009 Report PM Maliki wanted to undermine Iraqi Islamic Party Said party couldn’t have both

vice presidency and speaker of parliament Thought Islamic Party wanted no confidence vote against him along with Kurds and ISCI

2009 US found new Iranian weapons in south Iraq dated 2008

(Musings On Iraq interview with Galen Wright of Arkenstone blog on Iranian arms shipments to Iraqi militias) 

2009 2 Baath era generals in exile said they told officers not to take up PM Maliki’s offer to have

them rejoin into army unless deBaathification law nullified

2010 Salah al-Mutlaq’s Iraqi National Dialogue Front announced boycott of 2010 election because

he was banned Said Iran behind banning of candidates

(Musings On Iraq Timeline of Iraq’s De-Baathification Campaign)

2010 Iraqiya said it would end its ban of 2010 election and go back to campaigning

2010 Curfew imposed in Sulaymaniya city after violent clashes between Change and PUK Change

accused PUK security of attacking its followers

2011 Sulaymaniya protesters went to KDP headquarters to protest shooting of demonstrators on Feb 17

(Musings On Iraq interview with journalist Wladimir Van Wilgenburg on 2011 KRG protests)

2013 Osama Nujafi gave interview to al-Jazeera saying either Sunnis and Shiites were equal in

number in Iraq or there was a Sunni majority

2017 Attack on West Mosul began by Iraqi forces

(Musings On Iraq Review They Will Have to Die Now: Mosul and the Fall of the Caliphate)

(Musings On Iraq Review Shatter the Nations, ISIS and the War for the Caliphate)

View the Iraq History Timelines 

This Day In Iraqi History - Feb 18

 

1921 Nuri al-Said returned to Baghdad from Syria Would become 1^st chief of staff of Iraqi army through his

brother in law Defense Min Askari Was fmr Ottoman officer who fought with Faisal against Turks and served him in Syria

1940 PM Said resigned over growing problems with pan-Arabist Golden Square officers Said

wanted Gaylani to become PM and he would become Foreign Minister to maintain pro-UK policies Golden Square objected to Gaylani govt because it would include Said and Gen Hashemi Went to Regent calling for their exclusion from new govt Regent disagreed with Golden Square officers over new govt and made Gen Umari Mosul garrison commander retire as a result

(Musings On Iraq review Rashid Ali al-Gailani, The National Movement in Iraq 1939-1941)

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

(Musings On Iraq review The Modern History of Iraq)

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

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq Between the Two World Wars, The Militarist Origins of Tyranny)

1964 Radio Baghdad said 450 Kurdish prisoners would be released

(Musings On Iraq review of The Kurds, A Modern History)

(Musings On Iraq review Kurds of Iraq, Tragedy and Hope)

(Musings On Iraq review The Kurdish Revolt 1961-1970)

(Musings On Iraq review Journey Among Brave Men, Travels in Kurdistan)

1965 Mullah Mustafa Barzani sent memo to UN claiming Arif govt carrying out scorched

earth campaign against Kurds Got no support

1984 UN negotiated deal for Iran and Iraq to stop attacking civilian areas Didn’t last

1986 Iraqi high command finally accepted Faw main goal of Iranian offensive after falling for Tehran’s

deception and believing it wasn’t

(Musings On Iraq interview with author Anthony Tucker-Jones on Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq interview with author Tom Cooper on Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq review Iran-Iraq War Volume 2: Iran Strikes back, June 1982-December 1986)

(Musings On Iraq review The Iran-Iraq War 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq review Iran-Iraq War, The Lion of Babylon, 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq review The Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq review The Longest War, The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict)

1991 Tariq Aziz went to Moscow and accepted Soviets unconditional withdrawal plan from Kuwait Then

demanded end to all UN sanctions and resolutions

1991 Report 1986-91 US sold $1.5 bil in goods to Iraq Some went to WMD program Dual use

equipment Pentagon stopped Commerce Dept allowed to be sold Fmr US amb to Iraq Wilsey created US-Iraq Business Forum in 1985 Lobbied Congress not to impose sanctions on Iraq after Halabja US intel reported on German companies helping Iraq with WMD Reagan admin kept info quiet to support Iraq in Iran-Iraq War

(Musings On Iraq Origins Of Iraq’s WMD Programs)

1999 Ayatollah Mohammed Sadiq al-Sadr assassinated by Saddam

(Musings On Iraq interview with Univ of Haifa’s Prof Amatzia Baram on the legacy of Ayatollah Sadiq al-Sadr)

(Musings On Iraq A Divided Sadr Trend)

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq Between Occupations, Perspectives from 1920 to the Present)

(Musings On Iraq review Death of the Mehdi Army, The Rise, Fall, and Revival of Iraq’s Most Powerful Militia)

(Musings On Iraq review Muqtada, Muqtada Al-Sadr, The Shia Revival, And The Struggle For Iraq)

1999 Fmr CIA counterterrorism officer Cannistraro said Iraqis met bin Laden in Dec 98 False story

2002 US Embassy in Niger said new details on Iraq-Niger uranium deal meant a new look into story was

needed Story fake

(Musings On Iraq How US Intelligence Failed The Iraq-Niger Uranium Story)

(Musings On Iraq Review Hubris, The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, And The Selling Of The Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq review The WMD Mirage, Iraq’s Decade of Deception and America’s False Premise for War)

2005 Al Qaeda in Iraq suicide bombers hit Shiite pilgrims in Kadhimiya

(Musings On Iraq review The Caliphate At War, Operational Realities and Innovations of the Islamic State)

(Musings On Iraq review The ISIS Reader, Milestone Texts of the Islamic State Movement)

(Musings On Iraq review Suicide Bombers In Iraq, The Strategy and Ideology of Martyrdom)

2007 PM Blair announced plans to cut British troop strength in Iraq from 7000 to 4000

(Musings On Iraq Review The Report of the Iraq Inquiry, Executive Summary)

2007 US forces began campaign to clear Ramadi block by block of insurgents

(Musings On Iraq review Confronting Al Qaeda, The Sunni Awakening and American Strategy In Al Anbar)

(Musings On Iraq review The Marines Take Anbar, The Four-Year Fight Against Al Qaeda)

(Musings On Iraq review The Sheriff of Ramadi, Navy SEALS and the Winning of Anbar)

2007 1^st living standards study since 03 Found 1/3 of Iraqis living below poverty level 40% lacked good

sanitation 50% lacked adequate water supplies Said free market reforms that cut subsides were lowering living standards for middle and working class families Said service projects should take precedent over reforms

2007 Report ISI targeting US helicopters Shot down 7 in 3 weeks Set up ambushes for US troops looking

to rescue crews

2008 Report Kurdish police arrested activists trying to organize people to demand better services in

KRG

2008 United Iraqi Alliance and Islamic Party made deal to end protests in Diyala against provincial

police chief accused of being sectarian and attacking Sunnis

2009 Pres Talabani met with PUK officials like Kosrat Rasul and Barham Salah who wanted

reforms within party or were threatening to leave Talabani promised transparency

(Musings On Iraq Pres Talabani Heads Off Political Revolt Within The PUK)

2009 Report Housing prices and rent up in Baghdad with violence down UN expected 500,000

refugees to return in 09 63% were from Baghdad Hard to find housing Baghdad had new elite that mostly made money through corruption and reconstruction contracts

2009 KRG PM Barzani said PM Maliki had not kept promises to Kurds Said afraid PM would move

            against Kurds after US withdrawal

2009 MP Dani of Iraqi National Dialogue Front said govt had arrested 1 of his bodyguards and his

secretary in Feb Dani accused of mortar attack on Green Zone Bombing of parliament’s cafeteria Apr 07 Robbery Murder of 110 in Diyala

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Review People Without A Country, The Kurds and Kurdistan

Chaliand, Gerard, Editor, People Without A Country, The Kurds and Kurdistan, London: Zed Books, 1980

 

People Without A Country, The Kurds and Kurdistan is an anthology trying to cover the Kurdish populations in Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria and the Soviet Union. All but one of the writers was a Marxist or leftist. While they all believed in the Kurdish desire for independence it noted that these efforts failed for a number of reasons. That included tribalism, depending upon unreliable foreign powers, and the lack of a revolutionary ideology that would link the parties with the people. The chapters on the Ottomans, Turkey, Iran and Iraq were quite good providing a historical overview of the Kurdish question up to the 1970s, while there is very little on Syria and the U.S.S.R. due to a lack of resources.