This Day In Iraqi History - Sep 24

1920 British took Fallujah during 1920 Revolt

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

1978 In Iran-Iraq deal Iraqi troops surround Imam Khomeini’s house in Najaf Told he

            could only stay in Iraq if abandoned politics

1979 Iraq warned Iran to not to interfere in Bahrain after Ayatollah Rohani called on Shiites

            to rise up against their Sunni rulers

1980 Iraq headed towards Zagros Mountains in slow advance destroying timeline for

            invasion which was supposed to be a blitzkrieg Took Mehran in south

1980 Iranian planes attacked 6 Iraqi bases to try to destroy Iraqi air force in the air Iraq

didn’t respond relying upon air defenses 4 Iranian planes shot down 2 others lost Destroyed 3 Iraqi planes on the ground Also bombed 2 refineries in Baghdad and Basra Damaged Iraq-Turkey pipeline

1980 Iraq bombed Iran’s Bandar Khomeini petrochemical complex and Ahwaz fuel

            depot

1980 Iranian Navy attacked Basra and Fao Peninsula Destroyed 2 oil terminals limited

            Iraq’s exports

1980 Iran started naval blockade of Shatt al-Arab, Basra

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

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

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

(Musings On Iraq book review The Iran-Iraq War)

1990 Kurd Shiite and Communist opposition parties claimed united front against Saddam

1991 UN Inspectors found over 53,000 documents on Iraq’s nuclear program at Atheer

            facility but were held for 4 days by Iraqis until they could leave

1991 During standoff at Atheer facility US IAEA member Galluci sent important info

            about seized documents to State Dept

(Musings On Iraq article on UN weapons inspections)

1991 Talabani accused Iraqi army of stopping 300,000 displaced Kurds from returning

            to their homes

2001 William Safire OpEd said clear link between Iraq-Al Qaeda via Ansar al-Islam

2002 UK dossier on Iraq WMD released Blair told parliament that Iraq had WMD and it

was producing them Dossier said that Iraq could use WMD in 45 minutes That Iraq could build a nuclear bomb in 2 years Iraq tried to buy uranium from Africa Said no definitive intelligence that aluminum tubes Iraq tried to buy were for nuke program

(Musings On Iraq article on the aluminum tubes story)

(Musings On Iraq article on Iraq-Niger uranium story)

2002 UK ForSec Cook was surprised dossier on Iraq was mostly old WMD material

2002 CIA Dir Tenet briefed Senate Foreign Relations Committee on intel on Iraq’s WMD

Told comm Iraq rebuilding its nuclear program Proof bought aluminum tubes Mentioned Niger uranium deal Sen Biden asked CIA Dir Tenet what technical evidence did CIA have of Iraqi WMD Tenet said none but had good human source

2002 State and Energy Dept intel analysts testified to Senate Foreign Relations Comm that

            they did not believe aluminum tubes Iraq tried to buy were for centrifuges

2003 Bremer met Bush said he was optimistic about Iraq but concerned about growing

attacks Bremer complained about Congress number of US troops quality of intel training new Iraqi forces Bush told Bremer he was too controlling and doing too much Bremer said he would work on it

2003 CPA Governor of Anbar Mines warned that attacks and public anger at US growing

2004 Bush and Blair talked about staying course in Iraq and Allawi needing a

            professional staff

2004 Report Defense Science Board review found US didn’t have enough troops

            to stabilize Iraq

2004 US forces claimed Tal Afar cleared of insurgents

2006 Report National Intel Estimate said that Iraq war led ot new generation of Islamic

            radicalism Said Iraq war made terrorism worse

2008 Provincial Election Law passed allowing vote on Jan 31, 2009 by not including

            Kirkuk and KRG

(Musings On Iraq article on passing 2008 Election Law)

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Musings On Iraq In The News

I was interviewed by Ashraf Binandeh for the Kurd Press. I was mentioned by Paul Iddon in "Iraq's complacency, bad management will lead to further conflict" in Rudaw.

This Day In Iraqi History - Sep 23

1955 Iran joined Iraq, England, Turkey security agreement Would become

            anti-Communist Baghdad Pact

1961 KDP banned by Gen Qasim and several leaders arrested due to Mustafa Barzani’s

Kurdish revolt

1980 All Iranian air bases bombed Sep 22 were repaired and launched attacks on 8 Iraqi

            airfields and the Dora refinery in Baghdad Lost 7 planes Destroyed 3 Iraqi ones

1980 Iraq retaliated with airstrikes on 2 airbases with no real results Lost 4 planes 3 by

            friendly fire

1980 Iran came up with Operation Kama to attack Iraqi planes in flight because couldn’t

            destroy them on the ground

1980 Iraq took Qasr e-Shirin across from Diyala to protect road to Baghdad

1980 Iran bombed Fao port sinking 6 Iraqi navy ships

1980 King Hussein of Jordan said he backed Iraq in war Didn’t want to lose an ally and

face  Israel Syria Saudis and Iran alone Became major route for trade and weapons to Iraq

1986 Iran ended Op Karbala 3 in Fao Peninsula and Majnoon Island

1986 Soviet For Min Shevardnadze told UN that USSR was attempting to negotiate

            end to Iran-Iraq War

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

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

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

(Musings On Iraq book review The Iran-Iraq War)

1989 Kuwait Emir given medal by Saddam in Baghdad for help during Iran-Iraq

            War

2001 Rice told CNN Iraq would be stage two of war on terror

(Musings On Iraq article on how Bush admin went from 9/11 to Iraq invasion)

2001 Guardian article claimed Iraq knew about 9/11 attacks beforehand Said Iraq gave

money and support to Al Qaeda Claimed Iraqi intel met with Al Qaeda in Pakistan 4 months before 9/11 Sent money to Al Qaeda Quoted Israeli intel officer who said 9/11 probably funded by Iraqi intelligence Quoted INC defector ex-nuke scientist Hamza who said Iraq probably behind 9/11

2001 Telegraph quoted INC defector ex-nuke scientist Hamza that Iraq probably behind

            9/11 Claimed trained pilots for suicide attacks

2002 Blair told cabinet Iraq dossier would show Iraq expanding WMD capabilities and

erosion of sanctions one cause Educ Sec Morris asked Blair what had changed about Iraq to go to war other than Bush being elected

2002 Former UN inspector Albright for Inst for Science and Intl Security issued report

            aluminum tubes Iraq tried to buy were not for centrifuges Probably rockets

(Musings On Iraq article on the aluminum tubes story)

2003 Bush speech at UN said Iraq was frontline in war on terror

2003 Fr Pres Chirac and UN Sec Gen Annan speeches at UN criticized Iraq war saying

            US undermined international system  

2003 Gallup pol majority of Iraqis thought life would be better in 5 years 2/3 of

            Baghdadis said removing Saddam was worth hardships

2003 Iraqi Governing Council member Aqila Hashemi died after being shot 3 days

            before outside her home

2004 Allawi visited White House asking for more reconstruction money and bringing

            back old army units

2006 Army chief of staff called Gen Petraeus to review Iraq policy

2006 DefPolicyBoard member Adelman told Rumsfeld he was a failure as SecDef and

            never took responsibility for Iraq

2006 Report only 1000 of promised 4000 Iraqi soldiers deployed to Baghdad for Op

            Together Forward II Iraqi troops refusing to leave their home provinces

2007 ISI accused Hamas of Iraq and 1920 Revolution Brigades of killing its members

2016 Sunni tribal Hashd began destroying 220 homes in Aithah Salahaddin belonging

            to IS sympathizers

View the Iraq History Timelines 

This Day In Iraqi History - Sep 22

1980 Iraq attacked Iran’s air force starting Iran-Iraq War Attacked 10 air bases but

did little damage and only destroyed 4 planes and lost 5 of its own Were not trained for low level bombings Didn’t have munitions to penetrated bunkers and missed most runways

1980 Invasion plan was to seize Kermansha Dezful Ahwaz Abadan along border in less

than 10 days Deployed 2^nd Corps in Diyala to protect route to Baghdad 3^rd Corps would invade Khuzistan province to take Dezful Ahwaz Khorramshahr

1980 Iraqi invasion of Iran began with divisions leaving Diyala towards Qasr e-Shirin

in center to protect route to Baghdad Also attacked Panjwin to protect Sulaymaniya and Kirkuk in north

1980 Iraq Attacked Iranian naval base at Khosrowabad at mouth of Shatt al-Arab

1980 Iraq declared Khuzistan a new Iraqi province

1980 UK Defense Committee discussed how to start selling weapons to Iraq during

            war

1981 Iran began Operation Samen ol Aemeh to break siege of Abadan Iran’s 2^nd largest

            city

1987 Iranian speech at UN rejected UN ceasefire talks

1988 Pres Khomeini addressed UN condemning it for not doing anything about

            Iraq’s aggression during war

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

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

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

(Musings On Iraq book review The Iran-Iraq War)

1990 Iraq said if sanctions started to hurt it would attack Saudi Arabia and Israel

2001 Telegraph story claiming Iraq was funding Al Qaeda Quoted CIA and Israeli

            sources

2002 NatlSecAdv Rice said UN sanctions were failing and Iraq using illegal revenues to

            develop WMD

2003 Zarqawi bombed Canal Hotel Baghdad 2 dead 19 wounded

2003 Bombing of UN compound led to unanimous decision to evacuate UN

            staff from Iraq

2003 Bremer testified to Congress asking for approval of $87 bil in aid for Iraq

2003 Report Iraqi Governing Council members were going to tell Congress US

            reconstruction money being wasted

2004 US civilian Jack Hensley beheaded by Zarqawi Body dumped in Baghdad 

2004 2 suicide car bombs in Baghdad killed 21 wounded 150

2004 Gun battle in Samarra led US forces to seal off city

2005 Bush said with upcoming elections for parliament and constitution Iraq would

face more violence Said if US withdrew from Iraq it could become a terrorist safe haven

(Musings On Iraq article on pre-Surge US Iraq strategy)

2005 Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said Iraq could be breaking up

2005 Report Shiite cleansing of Baghdad by insurgents increasing especially in Dora,

            Amiriyah, Ghaziliya, Sadiya

2006 Ret Gen Keane told Joint Chiefs head Gen Pace he was failing and his only priority

should be winning in Iraq Gen Pace agreed to set up staff to go over Iraq strategy afterward Keane suggested Gen Petraeus should be new US Iraq Cmdr to Gen Pace

2006 US military said militias in Baghdad earning up to $1 mil/day via kidnapping

            extortion black market blackmail running Petrol stations

2008 Wasit council headed by SIIC refused to set up Tribal Support Councils because

            seen as tool of Maliki

2016 Parliament dismissed Finance Minister Zebari on corruption charges led by

            Maliki and Reform Front

View the Iraq History Timelines 

This Day In Iraqi History - Sep 21

1965 Abdul al-Bazzaz became premier

1968 Provisional constitution drafted by three jurists and presented to Pres. Bakr

            Included return of parliament

1980 Iraq letter to UN outlined steps it took to try to work out outstanding issues with

            new revolutionary govt in Iran

1990 Revolutionary Command Council said it would not retreat from Kuwait and was

            ready for mother of all battles

2001 1^st CIA report on Iraq and 9/11 found no connection but two had contacts in 1990s

Bush was briefed on findings Said didn’t think 9/11 hijacker Atta met with Iraq intel officer in Prague in 2001

2001 DIA analyst Pentagon’s Office of Special Plans on CIA report Said info good but

findings of no Iraq-Al Qaeda ties should be ignored

2001 Under Sec of Def Feith sent DIA analysis of CIA report to Wolfowitz and Rumsfeld

2001 CIA Dir Tenet told Bush CIA Czech office questioned whether 9/11 hijacker Atta

            met Iraqi intel officer in Prague

2001 Admin officials told Wash Times Saddam talked with bin Laden just before 9/11

(Musings On Iraq article on how Bush admin went from 9/11 to Iraq invasion)

2001 INC provided Iraqi defector claimed Iraq was training terrorists to take over

            airplanes at Salman Pak, Baghdad

2002 NY Times article said Bush received detailed Iraq war plan

2003 French Pres Chirac called for US to immediately hand over sovereignty to Iraqis

2003 Report mid to low level Baathists being assassinated in Baghdad

2003 Iraqi Governing Council said they were under increasing attack after 1 number

            ambushed and shot in Baghdad

2004 Head of Fallujah Shura Council Janabi said that city didn’t need Zarqawi to defend

it Differentiated between resistance that was against occupation and Zarqawi who led terrorists Janabi said that resistance wasn’t about killing innocent Iraqis and Zarqawi had harmed the insurgency and cost it support

2005 Anti-occupation demonstration by police in Basra City

2005 Basra council voted for non-cooperation with British forces in province until

            compensation paid for casualties in Sep 10 shootout

2006 US military turned over 2^nd province to the Iraqi forces, Dhi Qar

2008 Kurds made another deal with Maliki to evacuate govt buildings in Khanaqin dist

            Maliki was attempting to pressure Kurds and assert control of dispuated areas

(Musings On Iraq article on Maliki’s pressuring Kurds in Diyala)

2013 Elections for Kurdish parliament held

2014 IS captured Saqlawiya and Sjar, Anbar

2017 Ana in west Anbar freed while Shirqat in northern Salahaddin and Hawija in

            south Kirkuk attacked by Iraqi forces

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Review Dictatorship, Imperialism & Chaos, Iraq since 1989

Review Abdullah, Thabit, Dictatorship, Imperialism & Chaos, Iraq since 1989, London, New York, Nova Scotia Zed Books, 2006

Thabit Abdullah was a professor at York University in Canada and an Iraqi expat when he saw the chaos that ensued in his former homeland after the 2003 invasion. That inspired him to write Dictatorship, Imperialism & Chaos, Iraq since 1989. Despite the title, the book is actually a short, only 121 pages of text, history of Iraq from ancient Mesopotamia to 2006. Abdullah provides a rather conventional narrative of Iraq, but it’s good for any beginner looking for a compact introduction to the subject.

This Day In Iraqi History - Sep 20

1959 Gen Qasim executed several leaders of Mosul coup attempt

1980 Iran called up its military reserves

1980 Iraq’s Def Min Khairallah went to Iran-Iraq border to give commanders orders for

            Iran invasion

1983 Iran threatened to close Persian Gulf if West and Gulf States continued to aid Iraq

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

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

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

(Musings On Iraq book review The Iran-Iraq War)

1990 British intel report said lots of unknowns about Iraq’s ballistic missile program

1998 British intel report said Iraq probably still had biological weapons program

2001 During meeting on war on terror Blair asked Bush about Iraq who said it was not an

immediate problem Blair told Bush they should take time to build up case against Iraq

2001 Undersec of Def Feith told Rumsfeld war on terror should be broad and Iraq should

be included Feith complained about lack of good targets in Afghanistan and suggested bombing Iraq for 9/11

2001 Project for a New American Century in letter to Bush said Iraq might have

            supported 9/11 and Saddam had to be targeted in war on terror

2001 US intel officials told press they were looking into Iraq’s connections to 9/11

(Musings On Iraq article on how Bush admin went from 9/11 to Iraq invasion)

2001 Israeli intelligence said they thought Iraq connected to 9/11 Claimed Al Qaeda

            funded by Iraqi Intel Service

2001 US and UK jets bombed missile batteries in southern Iraq as part of No Fly Zones

2002 Pentagon set up planning group to deal with rebuilding Iraq’s oil industry after

            invasion

2002 UK Def Min said it could provide forces for military action against Iraq

2002 Time article White House using unsubstantiated stories to make case of Iraq-Al

            Qaeda ties

2002 Powell testified to House International Relations Comm to lobby for Congressional

use of force resolution vs Iraq Powell said there was debate about Iraq’s intent on buying aluminum tubes but Saddam trying to get nuke technology

(Musings On Iraq article on the aluminum tubes story)

2003 Ansar al-Sunnah formed

2003 Governing Council member Aqila Hashemi shot outside her home in Baghdad

            Would die 3 days later

2003 Funeral for SCIRI head Ayatollah Baqir al-Hakim turned into anti-US occupation

            demonstration in Najaf

2004 Zarqawi aired video of beheading American Eugene Armstrong kidnapped in

            Baghdad

2004 Sadr faction released 15 Iraqi National Guardsmen they kidnapped

2004 US and Iraqi forces raided Sadr’s office in Najaf arresting two aides

2006 US commander in Iraq Gen Casey gave his support to Anbar Awakening

(Musings On Iraq article on Anbar tribes turning on Al Qaeda in Iraq)

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

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

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

2006 Chief judge in Saddam’s trial removed by cabinet for saying Saddam was not a

            dictator

2006 Intel report to Rumsfeld Iraq breaking up more Iraqi politicians stuck in

            ethnosectarian camps

2015 Human Rights Watch report on Hashd and Jabouri tribe destroying buildings in Dour

Albu Ajeel Alam Ali an part of Tikrit after Tikrit freed 400-600 buildings destroyed in Dour 75 in Albu Ajeel 45 in Alam 28 in Ali over 200 in Tikrit’s Qadisiyah

2017 Ana in west Anbar attacked by Iraqi forces

2017 Former Salahaddin Governor Jabouri released under Amnesty Law Was convicted of

            stealing public funds

2017 2 former Diyala governors were found guilty of manipulating contracts and

            stealing funds in absentia

View the Iraq History Timelines