Iraq’s Oil Exports Up In Feb, Revenue Down

(Bloomberg)

Iraq’s oil exports increased in February 2020, but its revenues fell as oil prices took a hit from disruptions in the world economy.

This Day In Iraqi History - Mar 4

1935 Jamil al-Midfai became premier of Iraq 2^nd time

1950 Denaturalization law allowed Jews to leave Iraq if gave up citizenship

1959 Communists held large protests in Mosul trying to deter military revolt there against Gen Qasim

(Musings On Iraq book review Red Star Over Iraq, Iraqi Communism Before Saddam)

(Musings On Iraq Interview with Prof Johan Franzen on the history of the Iraqi Communist Party)

(Musings On Iraq interview with Western Kentucky’s Prof Romero on the Qasim govt)

1981 Islamic Conference Organization’s peace plan was rejected by both Iran and Iraq

1981 Italy authorized sale of 11 naval vessels and a floating dock worth $1.8 bil to Iraq

1984 Iraqi general quoted as saying that Iraq had right to use chemical weapons against Iran to defend itself

(Musings On Iraq article on the 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 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)

1991 Najaf and Kufa joined Shiite revolt after Gulf War

1991 Iraqi forces began retaking Basra from rebels

1991 Kurdish rebellion started in Raniya

(Musings On Iraq interview with National Univ of Singapore’s Fanar Haddad on the Impact of the 1991 Uprising)

(Musings On Iraq article on 1^st hand accounts of 1991 Uprising)

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

(Ahulbayt Video on 1991 Uprising)

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

1995 INC and PUK forces began attack upon Iraqi forces in planned uprising against Saddam but

failed due to lack of US support CIA had supported INC plan but White House backed out in end KDP refused to join as a result 

(Musings On Iraq book review of Iraq In The Eye of the Storm)

1995 Saddam told of meeting with bin Laden in Feb Saddam agreed to broadcast anti-Saudi lectures Said

future relations would be determined by more talks Meeting was only confirmed one between Iraq and al Qaeda

2001 US told UN Sec Council Iraq had been reselling supplies from Oil for Food program setting up

front companies giving kickbacks to get around sanctions

2002 State Dep intel memo sent to Sec State Powell and DIA Didn’t believe Niger would sell uranium to

Iraq

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

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

2003 Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Feith briefed Bush and NSC on Pentagon’s postwar plans

Goals were to maintain integrity of Iraq Improve living standards Create a democracy Destroy WMD Fight war on terror Get international support for rebuilding Gain support of Iraqis Get Iraqis to rule as quickly as possible to accomplish all tasks quickly Had no strategy on how to achieve goals

(Musings On Iraq article on Part I Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Hard Lessons Planning for Postwar Iraq September 2001 to May 2003)

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

(Musings On Iraq book review Iraq’s Future The aftermath of regime change)

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

Tragedy)

(Musings On Iraq book review Fiasco: The American Military Adventure In Iraq)

2003 US found that France made allegation that Iraq tried to buy uranium from Niger based upon fake

documents

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

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

2003 PM Blair told that US was thinking about starting war on 3/12/03 despite UK desire for 2^nd UN

resolution against Iraq

2003 UK For Sec Straw told parliament committee Iraq was in material breach of UN Res 1441 and that

gave legal authority for action

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

2005 US troops accidentally shot and killed Italian intelligence officer outside Baghdad Airport

2007 Report Number of bodies found in Baghdad went from 35-50 a day to 20 Shiites in Kadhimiya

trying to take over Sunni Hurriya neighborhood north Baghdad

(Musings On Iraq Columbia University Charts Sectarian Cleansing Of Baghdad)

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

2007 UK and Iraqi forces raided National Intelligence Agency HQ in Basra Found 30 prisoners that had

been tortured Intel office connected to attacks upon UK kidnappings and murders

2007 Report British army found missile that brought down helicopter in Basra in May 2006 came from

Iran

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

2007 1,100 US soldiers and ISF conducted search in Sadr City Came after Sadr told PM Maliki he

supported Baghdad security plan Was no resistance

2007 PM Maliki said he would change his cabinet including removing some Sadr ministers

2008 Head of National Reconciliation Council announced 12,000 Sahwa had joined ISF Was still below

the number govt promised

2012 ISI assassinated 2 police commanders in their homes and took a checkpoint in Haditha

2013 ISI and Al Nusra Front ambushed 48 Syrian soldiers in Anbar and executed them

2016 Sadrists held second demonstrations in Baghdad calling for reforms

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

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Allawi Gives Up Forming Govt As Iraqi Elite Fail Again

(Reuters)

Mohammed Allawi gave a speech apologizing to the public for failing to form a government and stepped down as the prime minister designate. The ruling parties are still divided about how to move forward leaving the government in continued crisis.

This Day In Iraqi History - Mar 3

1958 Nuri al-Said became premier 8^th time

(Musings On Iraq interview with Historian Phebe Marr comparing PM Said with PM Maliki)

(Musings On Iraq book review of ‘Independent Iraq’ The Monarchy & British Influence, 1941-1958 on Said govt)

1970 Committee created for economic cooperation between Iraq and Soviet Union

1973 Iraq offered trade agreement to Kuwait then withdrew it when Kuwait demanded no changes in

territory Bakr wanted Warbah and Bubiyan Islands

1981 Islamic Conf Organization went back to Tehran to present its peace plan

1983 Iraq claimed it destroyed several Iranian oil rigs and 5 Iranian ships in Persian Gulf

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

1984 US stopped company from selling products to Iraq that could be used for chemical weapons

(Musings On Iraq article on the origins of Iraq’s WMD programs)

1987 Iran attacked Iraqi lines in Basra Gained 3km

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

1987 Iran Op Karbala 7 in Haj Omran Kurdistan KDP took part Gained 10 miles heading towards

Rawandaz Turkey told Iran it would not allow it to take Kirkuk or Mosul Was diversionary attack from main operation in Basra

(Musings On Iraq book review Iran-Iraq War Volume 4: The Forgotten Fronts)

1987 Gulf Cooperation Council condemned Iran’s occupation of Fao Peninsula Basra

(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 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)

1991 Iraq signed ceasefire with US to end Gulf War

1991 Demonstrations against Saddam started in Najaf following Gulf War Fired upon by security forces

(Musings On Iraq interview with National Univ of Singapore’s Fanar Haddad on the Impact of the 1991 Uprising)

(Musings On Iraq article on 1^st hand accounts of 1991 Uprising)

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

(Ahulbayt Video on 1991 Uprising)

1995 CIA told its team in Irbil not to support INC uprising plan

(Musings On Iraq book review of Iraq In The Eye of the Storm)

1999 Pres Clinton told Congress that Iraq violated UN sanctions by smuggling oil

1999 SCIRI’s Hakim claimed it attacked govt buildings in Karbala in revenge for murder of Ayatollah

Sadr

2003 Russia threatened to use veto power in UN to stop any resolution authorizing war vs Iraq

2003 US and UK planes hit five targets in Wasit and Basra as part of no fly zone Were trying to weaken

Iraq’s air defenses before invasion

2003 IAEA told US that docs alleging Iraq-Niger uranium deal were forgeries

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

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

2003 ORHA head Garner went to UN to try to get support for postwar Iraq UN said no because White

House said it was opposed to any UN role

2003 UndersecDef Feith briefed Bush on Pentagon’s postwar plans Included creating democracy winning

intl support destroying WMD

(Musings On Iraq book review Fiasco: The American Military Adventure In Iraq)

2003 Pentagon postwar Iraq plans only outlined goals not how to accomplish them

(Musings On Iraq article on Part I Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Hard Lessons Planning for Postwar Iraq September 2001 to May 2003)

2003 US memo on setting up an Iraqi interim govt after invasion Said that Iraqi govt had to promise

equal rights to citizens ban Baath party deBaathify security forces

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

Tragedy)

2004 Gen Taguba’s investigation into abuses at Abu Ghraib prison sent to military

2005 Kurds said parties had agreed on Talabani being Iraq’s president and Jaafari prime minister in new

govt

2008 Court dropped charges against Sadrist fmr Dep Health Min Zamili and fmr head of Health Min

Facility Protection Force Shammari for lack of evidence Several witnesses did not appear after death threats Charged with allowing Mahdi Army to use Health Min vehicles and kidnapping and killing Sunnis at hospitals Stealing from contracts

2008 Report Some estimated up to 30,000 Iranian operatives in Iraq Up to 1/3 of Iranian religious

students to Iraq were intel agents

2011 Gorran and 2 Islamic parties boycotted Kurdish parliament in support of protests

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

2014 ISIS released statement telling people in Kirkuk not to vote

2018 Parliament voted on provincial election law including Kirkuk for first time since 2005

(Musings On Iraq article on provincial elections date set)

2018 2018 budget passed for $88 bil with $10.6 bil deficit Kurds boycotted session because KRG didn’t

have usual 17% allotment

(Musings On Iraq article on Iraq’s 2018 budget)

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Review The Longest War, The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict

Hiro, Dilip, The Longest War, The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict, New York: Routledge, 1991

The Iran-Iraq War was the longest conventional conflict of the 20^th Century. It cost thousands of lives and brought in countries from around the world mostly to sell weapons to the two combatants. Iraq invaded Iran believing that it could seize territory in the south and provoke a revolt against the new government led by Ayatollah Khomeini. Iran believed it could export its revolution to its neighbors and eventually overthrow Saddam Hussein. Dilip Hiro broke down the war into four main periods and provided two chapters on each. The first went over the progress on the battlefield and the internal impact of the war on Iraq and Iran. The second covered the international scene such as arms sales, etc. Hiro’s thesis is that the war was devastating to both countries, but ended inconclusively with no clear winners or losers.

This Day In Iraqi History - Mar 2

1981 Islamic Conf Organization met with Saddam Said he wanted ceasefire in war and wanted to

know what Khomeini wanted

1984 Iraqis used mustard gas against Iranians to try to turn them back in Basra marshes Was able to

gain bridgehead on South Majnoon island

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

1986 Iraq made another attempt to retake Fao Peninsula Failed

(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 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)

1988 VP Bush told Iraq that it could buy dual use equipment for its WMD program from US

(Musings On Iraq article on the origins of Iraq’s WMD programs)

1991 Shiite revolt spread to Suq al-Shuyukh and Nasiriyah in Dhi Qar after Gulf War

1991 Shiite rebels attacked military intelligence headquarters in Basra

(Musings On Iraq interview with National Univ of Singapore’s Fanar Haddad on the Impact of the 1991 Uprising)

(Musings On Iraq article on 1^st hand accounts of 1991 Uprising)

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

(Ahulbayt Video on 1991 Uprising)

1991 Iraqi Hammurabi Div ordered to move north from Basra to help put down uprising Fired upon

            US 24^th Inf Div breaking Gulf War ceasefire Was destroyed by US

1991 UN Resolution 686 required Iraq to accept 12 previous UN resolutions on Kuwait pay reparations

end annexation of Kuwait release POWs return stolen property

1992 UN investigation found that govt had executed hundreds of Shiites in southern marshes in recent

months

1992 Peshmerga launched counterattack upon Iraqi army in Kalak 60 killed

1993 After southern no fly zone created Iraqi forces began shelling and attacking southern marsh villages 

1995 US intercepted Iraqi report that it had uncovered INC-KDP-PUK uprising NSC ordered CIA to

withdraw any support for plan

1998 UN Resolution 1154 allowed weapons inspectors at Iraq’s presidential palaces US was hoping to

cause a confrontation to strike Iraq

1999 Wash Post reported that US intelligence was using UN inspectors to spy on Iraq something it denied

in Feb

(Musings On Iraq article on how US manipulated UN inspections)

(Musings On Iraq book review of Iraq In The Eye of the Storm)

2003 Senior admin official told NY Times UN weapons inspectors would not lead to anything

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

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

2003 Report US and UK increased air strikes in Iraq as part of no fly zone Were trying to weaken air

defenses before invasion

2004 5 Al Qaeda in Iraq suicide bombers hit Karbala and Khadimiya during Ashura killing 270 wounding

570

2007 300 ISI attacked funeral in Amiriya Fallujah for Feb 27 bombing of mosque attended by

Awakening leader Led to major battle between ISI vs Awakening police and army

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

(Musings On Iraq article on change in perceptions that led to Awakening)

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

(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)

(Musings On Iraq book review Iraq’s Sunni Insurgency)

2008 Mahdi Army and ISCI controlled ISF announced ceasefire in Nasiriya after 10 killed and 60

woundedin fighting between two sides

2015 Offensive to free Tikrit from IS began

2018 2^nd report that General Dynamics withdrew most of its maintenance crews for Iraqi army’s Abrams

because Hashd had some of the tanks

(Musings On Iraq article on how Hashd got Abrams tanks)

View the Iraq History Timelines 

This Day In Iraqi History - Mar 1

1939 PM Said claimed coup attempt to remove King Ghazi by fmr PM Sulaiman and Gen Sidqi

followers in army Many didn’t believe there was any coup Said just getting revenge on his political enemies Fmr PM Sulaiman given death sentence for coup plot Commuted to five years imprisonment upon intervention of UK ambassador

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

1969 KDP launched offensive against Bakr govt

1979 KDP leader Mustafa Barzani died in U.S. where he went for medical treatment for lung cancer

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

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

1981 Islamic Conf Org group met with Khomeini Said wanted aggressor in Iran-Iraq War punished

1981 Khomeini told Islamic Conf Org group he wanted plebiscite in Iraq to see whether people wanted

Saddam as their leader

1982 UN Rep Palme said his 5^th attempt to negotiate ceasefire in Iran-Iraq War failed

1983 Iraq attacked Iran’s Nowruz oilfield along Persian Gulf

1984 Iraq counterattacked vs Iran’s Op Kheibar Same time Iranians attacked southward into marshes

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

1984 France agreed to $500 mil loan to Baghdad that would pay for French contractors in Iraq

1985 Iraqi diplomat and son assassinated in Kuwait Iraq blamed SCIRI

1985 Iraq executed 10 Hakim family members in retaliation for assassination of its diplomat in Kuwait

1987 Iraq counterattack in Jasim River Basra to regain lost territory from Iran Op Karbala 5 Would

eventually regain 1/3 of lost territory but with high casualties

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

1988 Iraq fired missiles at Tehran for 2^nd day in last war of cities

(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 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)

1991 Iraqi army units in Basra began revolt after end of Gulf War

(Musings On Iraq interview with Natl Singapore Univ’s Fanar Haddad on social impact of the 1991 uprising in Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq article on 1^st hand accounts of 1991 Uprising)

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

(Ahulbayt Video on 1991 Uprising)

1991 Pres Bush said that the Iraqi people should overthrow Saddam

(Musings On Iraq article on how US encouraged 1991 uprising)

(Musings On Iraq Review The United States And Iraq Since 1990, A Brief History With Documents)

1995 Iraqi National Accord head Nouri went to US and successfully argued against backing INC’s uprising

plan

(Musings On Iraq book review of Iraq In The Eye of the Storm)

1998 UN inspectors revealed progress in their work with CNN violating agreement with Iraq on

inspection regime

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

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

1998 Pres Clinton called Saddam a predator who the US would not allow to have WMD

2001 NSC meeting on Iraq policy Sec State Powell told to devise smart sanctions proposal for UN

2001 Sec State Powell and Sec Def Rumsfeld argued over dual use equipment that should be banned from

Iraq

2001 Separate NSC meeting discussed working with Iraqi opposition and INC Talked about arming them

but couldn't agree on anything

(Musings On Iraq Chilcot Report Section 1.2 UK Iraq strategy September 2000 To September 2001)

2002 State Dept report on Iraq-Niger uranium deal Said it was unlikely

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

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

2003 1^st high level US meeting on creating Iraqi interim govt held just days before invasion UnderDefSec

Feith said US would set up an Iraqi authority as soon as possible and would pick the members with majority being exiles because they would understand democracy better

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

Tragedy)

2003 Turkish parliament rejected allowing US forces to use country for Iraq invasion

2004 Iraqi Governing Council agreed to text of Transitional Administration Law to be Iraq’s interim

constitution

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

2004 Weekly Standard article talked with Mukhabarat officer who claimed he was emissary to Al Qaeda

2007 Fmr Dep Def Sec Feith set up website criticizing Pentagon Inspector General report

on his Office of Special Plans Claimed Report never said whether his criticism of the CIA was wrong Claimed report was trying to protect the CIA and Agency had made plenty of errors in the past Inspector General said that Feith’s intelligence on Iraq-Al Qaeda ties was unreliable

2007 Study found after Iraq War 7 fold increase in jihadist attacks in world If Iraq and Afghanistan

excluded 1/3 increase in jihadist attacks Found Iraq war inspired Muslim youths to join jihadist groups

View the Iraq History Timelines