Iraq Oil Exports And Revenues Up In March 2018

Iraq has seen slight fluctuations in its oil exports in 2018. In March, they were up from February, which helped as prices have gone down each month of the new year.

This Day In Iraqi History - Apr 3

1929 Shah and King Faisal passed notes that legal barriers over Persian nationals

            In Iraq had been lifted

1939 King Ghazi died in car accident King Faisal II took power but was only 3 His

            cousin Abd al-Ilah chosen to rule in his place

1941 Golden Square officers picked Gaylani to become PM for 3^rd time Started arresting

            pro-British politicians

1941 British War Office asked commander in Middle East what forces available

for Iraq after Golden Square military coup

1941 Nazi Germany sent letter saying it supported the Golden Square coup and would

            lend military aid

1965 Army and KDP clashed in Sulaymaniya killing 60

1970 Def Min Tikriti Inter Min Ammash named co-VPs under Pres Bakr to try to end

rivalry between two for power

1987 Iran Op Karbala 8 started in Basra Made little gains

1991 Saddam’s troops captured Sulaymaniya last major town held by Kurdish rebels

after Gulf War

1991 Saddam told aides that Iraqi army was psychologically defeated by Gulf War

            and that was why Shiites and Kurds rose up against govt

(Musings On Iraq article on Saddam’s view of 1991 uprisings)

1991 UN Resolution 687 said Iraq had to agree to border with Kuwait peacekeeping

force along that border and Coalition forces would exit southern Iraq

1991 UN Res 687 said Iraq had to destroy its WMD and long range missiles

1991 UN Res 687 said Iraq had to make a declaration on its WMD and nuclear

            programs by 4/17/91

1991 UN Res 687 said that UN Secretary General would create a weapons inspection

            commission by 5/17/19

1991 UN Res 1687 said Iraq had to return stolen property pay reparations to Kuwait

            Until all of those were met sanctions would remain

2003 Baath officials began fleeing Baghdad

2003 Sadrists held march in east Baghdad

2003 US forces reached Baghdad international airport

2003 Information Minister Sahaf denied U.S. had taken Karbala or Um Qasr in Basra

            and said all those stories were lies

2003 Power cut in Baghdad

2003 British forces made deep thrust into Basra City

2004 US arrested Sadr’s deputy Mustafa Yacoubi for murder of Sheikh Abdul Khoei

2004 Sadr said that he wanted to unite with Hezbollah and Hamas

2004 Powell said US intelligence gave him questionable intelligence about Iraq mobile

            WMD labs

2004 Marines ordered to go into Fallujah and arrest culprits behind killing Blackwater

            contractors became Op Vigilant Resolve

2008 Maliki officially extended Charge of Knights op against Mahdi Army to Sadr City

2008 Sadr said he would help govt clear ISF of militias

2008 Iraqi special forces arrested head of Thar Allah party claiming it was stealing

            govt property and behind violence

2012 Kurds accused Shiite parties in Baghdad of smuggling oil to Israel via Jordan

            after Shahristani accused KRG of smuggling oil to Iran

2012 Sistani rep in Hillah had house bombed in wave of attacks against Ayatollah’s

            followers

2012 Obama called Maliki about Iran flying weapons to Syria via Iraqi airspace

2014 Sadr said Maliki should not run for 3^rd term as premier

2015 Salahaddin council called on Sistani to intervene to stop burning and looting in

            Tikrit

2015 Head of Salahaddin council said Hashd were looting and burning buildings in

            Tikrit

2015 VP Nujafi complained about looting and burning homes in Tikrit

2015 Abadi ordered ISF to arrest anyone breaking law in Tikrit

2015 Sistani reps Friday sermon called for ending of looting in Tikrit

2015 Police said there had been clashes between soldiers and Hashd to stop them from

            looting in Tikrit

View the Iraq History Timelines

March 2018 The Return Of The Islamic State Insurgency

In October 2017, the Islamic State’s Al-Naba newspaper called on its followers to switch to an insurgency like it did after the Surge. Faced with offensives by the Iraqi government backed by the U.S. led Coalition, the militants could no longer hold ground and suffer such heavy losses at the same time. As a result, the operations to free the last pieces of territory that IS held in Iraq were met with little resistance as Islamic State fighters fell back to regroup. Five months later and the insurgency has finally re-emerged. The number of incidents is still relatively flat since Al Naba’s announcement in October, but the type of attacks has definitively changed with bolder operations and an attempt to gain control of rural areas across the center of Iraq.

This Day In Iraqi History - Apr 2

1941 Regent of Iraq arrived at British airbase at Habaniya Anbar after Golden

            Square officers tried to arrest him after coup

1941 Regent tried and failed to organize resistance to Golden Square coup in Basra

            Then fled to Jordan

1975 Iraq army sealed border with Iran and declared Kurdish revolt over Mustafa

            Barzani and 150,000 Kurds fled to Iran

1975 1972-75 some 17,000 killed and 280,000 displaced during Kurdish rebellion

1982 Dep Cmdr of Iran’s armed forces claimed end of Iran-Iraq War was near

1986 Khomeini called for all able bodied men to join armed forces to overthrow

            Saddam

1990 Saddam threatened to use WMD against Israel if it was attacked 

(Musings On Iraq article on Saddam’s motivation for threatening Israel before the Kuwait invasion)

1991 State Dept U.S. never said that it was for removing Saddam

1991 Turkey said that 30,000 Kurds had entered country and 220,00 more coming as

            Saddam put down Kurdish revolt

1991 Iran and Turkey went to UN about Iraq’s suppression of Kurd and Shiite revolts

            and refugee crisis it was creating

1991 Kurds began fleeing Sulaymaniya in face of govt offensive to retake it from

            Peshmerga

2003 US forces took Karbala

2003 US forces reached outskirts of Baghdad Rep Guard Medina division

            counterattacked but turned back

2003 Qusay Hussein told Gen Hamdani that US attack in south was deception and

            real invasion would come from north

2003 US raid freed US POW Jessica Lynch from an Iraqi hospital

2003 Talabani said Peshmerga would not attack Kirkuk city to stave off criticism from

            US and Turkey Kurds ended up taking city

2003 Rumsfeld sent memo to military to cooperate with ORHA because wasn’t helping

            it

2003 State Dept leaked complaints to LA Times about Pentagon’s postwar plans to

            exclude UN and support Chalabi and INC

2004 Sadr gave angry speech against US occupation after CPA closed his newspaper

2004 Sadrists protested outside Green Zone demanding movement paper be re-opened

2004 Mahdi Army began marching in Sadr City as tensions with US grew

2004 Some Friday prayers in Fallujah condemned attack on Blackwater contractors in

            city

2004 Powell criticized US intel for giving him faulty claims about Iraq’s WMD for

            his Feb 03 UN speech

2005 Al Qaeda launched suicide attack on Abu Ghraib prison starting battle for town

2006 SecState Rice UK ForSec Straw told PM Jaafari he didnt have support and

            should step down Jaafari said no

2006 US military reported 1313 Iraqi civilians killed in sectarian murders in March

            2006 173 killed in suicide bombings

2006 US Amb Khalilzad said militias should be disarmed Iraqi officials said that would

            create more violence

2006 PM Jaafari said he would integrate militias into security forces to control them

2006 Fmr CENTCOM cmdr Gen  Zinni on Meet the Press said Iraq failure of strategic

            planning by US

2008 Retired Gen McCaffrey said ISI’s urban insurgency was defeated

2010 Maliki said he was going to form alliance with Kurds and backed Talabani to

            remain as president to form new govt

2010 Sadrists began referendum amongst followers to see who they wanted to be new

            premier

2010 Maliki talk with National Alliance failed as SIIC Hakim’s opposed Maliki’s

            2^nd term

2011 56 wounded in clashes between police and protesters in Sulaymaniya

2012 Over 300 followers of Mahmoud Sarkhi arrested in Nasiriya

2012 Oil Min Luaibi claimed Exxon was halting work in KRG so that it could continue

            working with central govt on oil industry Wasn't true

2012 Dep PM Shahristani accused Kurds of smuggling oil to Iran

2013 Insurgents attacked Akkas gas field in Anbar

2013 Gunmen in army uniforms attacked 4 independent newspaper offices in Baghdad

            Mahmoud Sarkhi blamed

2013 Election Commission said provincial vote in Anbar and Ninewa would be

            delayed until May

2013 Sadrists said they would end cabinet boycott

2015 PM Abadi arrived in Tikrit after its liberation to make victory tour in city

2015 Sadr said brazen militias should be removed from Tikrit by ISF after stories

            of looting and burning homes

2015 Hashd leader Muhandis said that any looting and abuses in Tikrit were done

            by locals not Hashd

2015 Guard in Tikrit said he counted more than 200 homes in Qadisiyah district destroyed

            after city’s liberation

2016 Kurdish Alliance said it would not vote on Abadi’s new cabinet unless it

            got its quota of ministers

View the Iraq History Timelines 

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

Review Dodge, Toby, Inventing Iraq: The Failure of Nation Building and a History Denied, New York: Columbia University Press, 2003

The Americans would have been well served to have read Inventing Iraq during their occupation of the country. Toby Dodge wrote the book attempting to explain the ideology largely based upon stereotypes of the Ottoman Empire and colonial territories that shaped British rule during the Mandate period from 1920-32. Those ideas mixed with budget constraints and fading interest in London combined to undermine the creation of the modern state the English wanted in Mesopotamia. The book makes some excellent observations about the troubles the British ran into, which are directly comparable to what happened to the Americans when they occupied Iraq. Unfortunately, the book is a bit inconsistent in its writing and content. 

This Day In Iraqi History - Apr 1

1941 PM Hashemi deposed in Golden Square officers coup after Hashemi tried

            to remove them

(Musings On Iraq article on 1941 coup)

1941 Army surrounded royal palace Regent escaped to Anbar with help of US

            ambassador Nuri al-Said and other pro-British politicians fled Iraq

1941 US and England believed Iraq coup part of German plan in coordination with

            invasion of Balkans and Libya Wasn’t

1941 Golden Square officers thought British were plotting against them

1975 Iraqi amnesty offer to Kurdish rebels and army deserters expired

1975 Iran closed border to Kurds fleeing Iraqi government offensive against them

1980 Islamic Action Organization made attempt on Dep PM Tariq Aziz at Mustansiriya

Univ, Baghdad

1988 End of 2^nd Anfal campaign

(Musings On Iraq article on Anfal campaign)

1989 Saddam held elections for new parliament as part of political reform after

            Iran-Iraq War 160 of 250 seats went to Baathists

1990 Saddam speech said if US supported Israeli attack on Iraq he would burn

            Israel

(Musings On Iraq article on Saddam’s motivation for threatening Israel before the Kuwait invasion)

1991 Peshmerga repelled govt attack to retake Sulaymaniya

1991 Saddam’s forces put down Kurdish revolt in Zakho

1991 Barzani said 3 mil Kurds had fled to northern mountains along Turkish border

            to escape govt attacks

2002 UK ambassador to US Meyer warned Bush thinking of war with Iraq by

            autumn but no postwar plans

2003 US attacked Najaf Kut Samawa Hindiya Headed towards Hillah

2003 ORHA head Garner made 1 day trip to Um Qasr port 1^st time in Iraq

2004 CPA adviser Larry Diamond told Bremer that there was a security vacuum in

            southern Iraq being filled by militias

2004 Gen Kimmitt promised to pacify Fallujah after Blackwater contractors killed

2004 US intel officer told press regime change in Iraq could have been promoted as part

            of war on terror but admin wanted to scare public using WMD

2005 Report White House and CIA leadership created environment where only threat of

            Iraq WMD reports were acceptable

2008 Maliki praised Badr and Dawa militia for helping to fight Mahdi Army in Basra

2008 Maliki promised jobs and better services after Charge of Knights in Basra

2009 National Reconciliation Committee said it began talks with Asaib Ahl Al-Haq

2009 Baghdad was supposed to take control of all Sahwa in Iraq from US forces

2010 Iran said it would host Iraqi parties that wanted to talk about forming new govt

2010 Gorran head Mustafa taken to court for defamation against Pres Talabani

2010 Iraqiya announced regional tour of Egypt Qatar Turkey Syrian and Iran to drum

            up support for forming new govt

2011 Protests in Baghdad against corruption and demanded release of prisoners

2012 Maliki said that if Pres Assad lost power there would be problems throughout

            the Middle East Condemned Gulf States arming Syrian rebels

2012 KRG halted oil exports for Baghdad over payment dispute

2012 VP Hashemi went to Qatar violating his arrest warrant

2013 ISI suicide truck bomb on Tikrit police station and govt center

2013 PUK said it would run independently of KDP in next KRG elections

2014 KRG said it would export oil for Baghdad to help with negotiations with central

            government over industry but didn’t happen

2014 Kataib Hezbollah said that it was involved in Shjariya operation in Anbar

2015 Mopping up operations in Tikrit with small attacks in north

2015 UN received reports that govt forces looting Tikrit after it was liberated and

            burning homes

2015 Sadr complained about brazen militias and said any that broke law should

            be brought to justice

2015 IS video of Ninewa sheikhs giving it baya

2016 PM Abadi’s nominee for Oil Minister in new technocratic cabinet withdrew

            name saying no consensus on changes

2016 Maliki faction of State of Law said it would only support partial cabinet change

2016 Kurdish Alliance said if Fin Min Zebari was replaced they would not vote

            on new cabinet

2016 Higher Educ Min Shahristani and For Minister Jaafari refused to step down for

            Abadi’s cabinet changes

2016 Solution List complained that Abadi’s new cabinet was way to exclude some

            parties from power 

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Musings On Iraq In The News

I was quoted by Paul Iddon in "What's behind the PKK withdrawal from Sinjar" in Al Araby. That article was reprinted in Mepa News. I was cited by Aron Lund in "How Washington Learned to Love Haidar al-Abadi" for The Century Foundation. Paul Iddon quoted me again in "Iraqi and Syrian deployments hinder Turkish operations against Kurds" in Rudaw.