1985 Saudis announced attempt to end the Iran-Iraq War through dialogue with Tehran
(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)
2002 Iraq admitted that it was close to building a nuclear bomb but was abandoned a long time ago
(Musings On Iraq How US Intelligence Created An Iraqi Nuclear Threat In 2002)
2002 Gen Thurman and McKiernan went to Gen Franks and asked for more troops for Iraq invasion
2004 In Kuwait after being questioned about lack of up to date equipment for US troops in Iraq
Def Sec Rumsfeld said “You go to war with the army you have”
2004 2 US contractors assassinated in Baghdad Signed deal with Defense Min for $24.7 mil but money
sent to Lebanese middleman instead Went to Iraq to discuss deal with U.S. forces and killed
2005 Bin Laden’s Pakistani biographer quoted in Osama bin Laden I Know book said bin Laden
hated Saddam
2006 Bush told congressional leaders US needed new way forward in Iraq Wanted new tactics but
goal was still winning
(Musings On Iraq review The War Within, A Secret White House History 2006-2008)
2006 NSC meeting Sec State Rice pushed for not getting involved in civil war and pushing Iraqis to
do more Joint Chiefs head Gen Pace said US forces could not stand by during Iraq civil war Bush told NSC that US couldn’t wait for Iraqis to do more US had to act to reduce violence
(Musings On Iraq Did the US Ever Have A Strategy To Win In Iraq Before the Surge?)
(Musings On Iraq interview with Prof Mansoor on the Surge)
(Musings On Iraq review The War Within, A Secret White House History 2006-2008)
2006 Report Iraq Study Group found that Saudis were financing insurgency Much of it came through
religious donations Some money went to Sunni politicians and figures who then distributed it to militants Other money went directly to insurgency Saudis denied any money was going to Iraq but then set up monitoring group under US pressure to crackdown on religious donations
(Musings On Iraq The Saudi Role In The Iraqi Insurgency)
2009 ISI set off 5 car bombs hit Finance Justice Foreign Ministries in Baghdad killing 127 wounded 448 3rd
mass casualty bombing in Baghdad US and Interior Min warned Baghdad Ops Cmd in morning of an impending car bomb
(Musings On Iraq Terrorists Strike Baghdad With Massive Bombings For Third Time)
(Musings On Iraq Islamist Terrorists Return To Sectarian Attacks)
(Musings On Iraq Incompetence Of the Iraqi Security Forces Before the December 8 Baghdad Bombings?)
2009 PM Maliki dismissed Baghdad security chief Gen Qanbar and called for Interior Min Bolani to
resign after Baghdad bombings Dawa tried to blame Bolani for attacks
(Musings On Iraq Baghdad Bombings Set Off Political Bickering Amongst Iraqi Elites)
2009 Parliament demanded to question Interior Defense National Security ministers head of Iraqi
intelligence head of Baghdad Ops Cmd and PM Maliki over Baghdad bombings Maliki refused saying would only help his enemies
2011 Allawi said he was ready to reconcile with PM Maliki if he renounced earlier attacks upon
Iraqiya Invited Maliki and Pres Talabani to conference in January to discuss future of govt
(Musings On Iraq Premier Maliki Lashes Out At His Political Rivals In The Iraqi National Movement)
2019 Dozens of protesters were freed by ISF in Baghdad Said they were kidnapped by Kataib
Hezbollah on Dec 6
(Musings On Iraq Iraqi Forces Kidnapping Protesters As Part Of Intimidation Campaign)
(Musings On Iraq UN Report On Violence Against Iraqi Protesters)
(Musings On Iraq Instrument Of Iran’s Power In Iraq And Syria Kataib Hezbollah)
2019 Pro-Iran Hashd fired rockets at Baghdad Military Airport wounding 6 Counter Terror Service members
View the Iraq History Timelines
1915 Ottomans attacked British forces in Kut
1958 Plot against Gen Qasim by fmr PM Rashid Ali al-Gailani announced as foiled
1980 Saddam announced that Iraq was going on the defensive in the Iran-Iraq War Saddam thought
he could seize Khuzistan province leading to revolt against Khomeini govt but didn’t happen Thought Iran would negotiate new border agreement Failure to take Dezful or Abadan meant Iranian supply lines intact and could regroup
(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 1: The Battle for Khuzestan, September 1980-May 1982)
(Musings On Iraq review Iran-Iraq War Volume 4: The Forgotten Fronts)
(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)
2002 TV speech Saddam apologized to people of Kuwait for 1990 invasion
2002 Iraq gave its WMD and nuclear weapons declaration to UN as part of new inspections claiming
it had no WMD
(Musings On Iraq Chilcot Inquiry Section 3.6 Development of UK Strategy and Options, November 2002 to January 2003)
2002 Iraqi general claimed weapons declaration proved Iraq had no WMD
2002 US and UK condemned Iraq’s weapons declaration as being incomplete and for denying it had WMD
(Musings On Iraq Iraq One Of The Worst Intelligence Failures In US History)
(Musings On Iraq Chilcot Inquiry Section 3.6 Development of UK Strategy and Options, November 2002 to January 2003)
2002 VP Cheney told NSC Iraq’s weapons declaration was a material breach and Bush should move
towards war Cheney said Sec State Powell and UN wanted to use inspections to avoid war with Iraq Def Sec Rumsfeld and Natl Sec Adv Rice didn’t think Iraq’s weapons declaration was a material breach
(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 Gingrich went on offensive against CPA saying US should’ve given over sovereignty to Iraq
early on like in Afghanistan
2003 Report US forces using collective punishment Blowing up homes of suspected insurgents
Putting barbed wire around towns
2004 Number of US troops killed in combat in Iraq reached 1000 after soldier shot in Baghdad
2004 Report Nov 04 CIA said security deteriorating Iraqi govt had to assert authority and rebuild
economy
2005 KDP attacked PUK offices in Dohuk Zakho Amedia Shaklaca Kadash Sedarash Akre 3 killed including
a KDP candidate KDP followers set PUK office in Dohuk on fire wounding 21
2007 Gen Petraeus praised Sadr’s ceasefire for helping to reduce violence in Baghdad Said US in talks with
Sadr movement
2007 Pentagon audit couldn’t account for 86% of $1 bil in purchases for training and supporting ISF
2007 UN warned parts of Iraq too dangerous for refugees to return Aug-Nov 07 125,000 refugees had
returned from Syria but 97,000 had left Iraq Iraq govt was promoting returns with TV ads
(Musings On Iraq review Children of War, Voices Of Iraqi Refugees)
(Musings On Iraq Refugees International Report On Iraq’s Refugees and Displaced)
(Musings On Iraq January 2009 U.N. Report On Iraq Refugee Returns)
2007 US proposed job program for Sahwa since Maliki govt reluctant to fulfill promise to hire them
(Musings On Iraq review Surge, My Journey with General David Petraeus and the Remaking of the Iraq War)
2008 Qadisiyah Gov told Marines to shut down Sahwa in province on orders of PM Maliki Sahwa were
meant to counter militias
(Musings On Iraq Another Chapter In The Government’s Opposition To The Sons Of Iraq)
2013 Pro-Maliki Sheikh Hayes house mortared in Ramadi Nephew Sheikh Moahmmed al-Hayes
assassinated Sheikh Hayes blamed protesters Gave protest site 48 hours to turn over perpetrators or his men would storm the camp
(Musings On Iraq Security In Iraq’s Anbar Province December 2013)
View the Iraq History Timelines
1914 British forces attacked Qurna in Basra 2nd time and forced Turks to surrender Took 1,000
prisoners
1981 Iran freed Bostan strategic transportation center for southern Iran and forced an Iraqi retreat
Iraq lost 1500 dead 400 captured Iran lost 2500 dead 5000 wounded
(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 Iraq began issuing passports for Iranians to visit Shiites shrines in Iraq
2001 Letter to Wash Post by Senators McCain Lieberman and others said that Iraq had to be
eliminated
2002 White House accused Iraq of hiding WMDs from UN inspectors
(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)
2002 Official US troop buildup for Iraq invasion began Wasn’t made public until Feb 03
(Musings On Iraq review Shaping the Plan for Operation Iraqi Freedom, The Role of Military Intelligence Assessment)
2003 Bremer’s convoy attacked on Route Irish to Baghdad airport
2003 Def Sec Rumsfeld told Bremer Natl Sec Adv Rice was trying to take over political file on Iraq
Didn’t agree but was ceding role to her
(Musings On Iraq review State of Denial, Bush At War, Part III)
2005 KDP followers attacked four offices of Kurdistan Islamic Union in Dohuk Killed 2 wounded
dozens for party withdrawing from Kurdish list KDP Dohuk governor claimed Islamic Union’s ideology led to attacks and he couldn’t stop them Beforehand Islamic Union called KDP admin in Dohuk corrupt and said election would be struggle between Muslims and nonbelievers Beforehand KDP attacked Islamic Union for helping Arabs against Kurds
2006 Iraq Study Group report issued Said Iraqis needed to eventually take over security Needed to
increases quantity and quality of Iraqi units Said US needed to increase its aid to Iraqi forces and move away from combat Called for all US combat brigades to be out of Iraq by start of 2008 Said US special forces should focus upon taking down Al Qaeda in Iraq Said US couldn’t have open ended commitment to Iraq Baghdad needed to set reconciliation goals and if not met US would cut aid
(Musings On Iraq interview with Prof Mansoor on the Surge)
2006 Iraq Study Group found U.S. military underreporting violence Standards were used to keep
incidents down Example IEDs not against U.S. were not counted One day in July 05 U.S. officially reported 93 incidents Iraq Study Group found there were actually 1,100 incidents that day
2006 Report Neoconservatives launched media campaign to discredit Iraq Study Group and
support troop surge instead
2006 UK Intel report Said Sadr controlled majority of Mahdi Army Routinely attacked Coalition and
Sunnis Didn’t always follow Sadr’s orders but didn't mean they were breakaway units No organizational control of militia Acts of other militias usually blamed on Mahdi Army Sadr had to balance his desire for political power and using violence and militia Said other militias mostly responsible for attacks on UK in Basra Some of those militias trained funded supplied by Hezbollah and Iranian Revolutionary Guard Sadr accepted Iranian aid but didn’t trust Tehran Iran thought Sadr frustrating partner Sadrists joined militia for variety of reasons causing divisions Were Mahdi Army members in ISF especially police
(Musings On Iraq A Divided Sadr Trend)
(Musings On Iraq Iran’s Policy Towards Iraq)
(Musings On Iraq Hezbollah’s Role In Iraq)
2007 Basra police chief said he couldn’t secure the province after the British withdrawal at end of year
Said there were hundreds of police that didn’t answer to him and didn’t know who they answered to
2007 Report Surge and Awakening pushed insurgents out of Anbar and Baghdad into Mosul
including ISI War Min Masri
(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 PM Maliki announced 2008 as “Year of services” Promised $15 bil for rebuilding
2012 US mediated withdrawal of federal and Kurdish forces from Tuz Kharmato and creation of local
security forces along disputed areas US-Baghdad-Irbil agreement on security forces in disputed areas only partially implemented
2019 US sanctioned Asaib Ahl Al-Haq’s Qais and Laith Khazali for orchestrating
suppression of protests and sectarian cleansing of Sunnis in Diyala Hashd leader Hussein Al-Lami for suppressing protests Businessman Khamis al-Khanjar for corruption
(Musings On Iraq Asaib Ahl Al-Haq From A Breakaway Sadr Militia To Defenders Of Iraq)
(Musings On Iraq US Sanctions Iraqi Businessman Khanjar For Bribery And Supporting Iran)
(Musings On Iraq UN Report On Violence Against Iraqi Protesters)
2019 Kataib Hezbollah blamed for shooting protesters in Baghdad’s Al-Khalani Sq and
setting fire to parking garage Up to 85 killed at least 130 wounded
(Musings On Iraq Pro-Iran Hashd Carry Out Another More Deadly Attack Upon Baghdad Protesters)
(Musings On Iraq Kataib Hezbollah With Help From Security Forces Blamed For Friday’s Massacre Of Baghdad Protesters)
(Musings On Iraq Instrument Of Iran’s Power In Iraq And Syria Kataib Hezbollah)
View the Iraq History Timelines
1940 US Amb to Iraq sent note to PM Gaylani saying he was worried about direction of Iraq-
UK relations because of Gaylani’s overtures to the Axis
(Musings On Iraq review Persian Gulf Command, A History of the Second World War In Iran and Iraq)
(Musings On Iraq review Rashid Ali al-Gailani, The National Movement in Iraq 1939-1941)
(Musings On Iraq review Iraq And Syria 1941, The Politics and Strategy of the Second World War)
1985 Lebanon’s Al Safr paper published petition saying 500 Iraqi writer and intellectuals had been
interrogated and tortured to conform to govt
2000 UN Res 1330 renewed Oil for Food Program
2002 White House spokesman said Bush and Def Sec Rumsfeld wouldn't claim Iraq had WMD if it wasn't
true
(Musings On Iraq Iraq One Of The Worst Intelligence Failures In US History)
2002 Def Sec Rumsfeld aid Herbits said he was taking over postwar Iraq planning because it was a mess
UnderSecDef Feith’s office was supposed to do postwar Iraq planning Herbits said he was screwing up
(Musings On Iraq review Leap of Faith, Hubris Negligence, and America’s Greatest Foreign
Policy Tragedy)
(Musings On Iraq review State of Denial, Bush At War, Part III)
(Musings On Iraq review Hard Lessons, The Iraq Reconstruction Experience)
2002 Report Tuwaitha nuclear facility showed no signs of involvement in weapons program
2003 Pentagon banned France Germany Russia and other countries that opposed war from bidding
on reconstruction projects in Iraq
2003 US Air Force intel report Iran greatest threat to long term US influence in Iraq
(Musings On Iraq Iran’s Policy Towards Iraq)
2004 Suicide car bomb hit police station at main gate to Green Zone killed 7 wounded 50
(Musings On Iraq review Suicide Bombers In Iraq, The Strategy and Ideology of Martyrdom)
2005 Amb Khalilzad said he’d been authorized by Bush to start talks with Iran to get its help in Iraq
2005 Report US forces trying new Clear Hold Build in Husaiba Anbar Iraqis seemed disorganized
leaving US to do most things
2006 PM Maliki said he was sending envoys to regional countries to discuss conference on Iraq
US Abdul Hakim and Pres Talabani all rejected idea Nothing came of it
2007 Report 60,000 refugees returned to Iraq but only 2.4% of total Sep and Oct 07 had highest rate of
returns but then dropped in Nov Govt stopped telling refugees to return because couldn’t handle them Many refugees couldn’t return home and became displaced Some refugees were never able to come home for various reasons like working for US or being Baathists
(Musings On Iraq review Children of War, Voices Of Iraqi Refugees)
(Musings On Iraq Refugees International Report On Iraq’s Refugees and Displaced)
(Musings On Iraq January 2009 U.N. Report On Iraq Refugee Returns)
2007 Iraqi Red Crescent displaced down 4.8% in Oct 07 by 110,000 people First large drop in 2 yrs Still
2.1 mil displaced
2008 Report PUK fired several members in England Blamed PUK co-founder Mustafa for building up
opposition to leadership Called for Talabani to resign Would lead to Change Party
2019 Pro-Iran Hashd marched into Tahrir Sq to disrupt protests 20 people stabbed Asaib Ahl
Al-Haq blamed
(Musings On Iraq Pro-Iran Hashd Stab Protesters In Baghdad’s Tahrir Square)
(Musings On Iraq UN Report On Violence Against Iraqi Protesters)
(Musings On Iraq Asaib Ahl Al-Haq From A Breakaway Sadr Militia To Defenders Of Iraq)
View the Iraq History Timelines
I wrote a bibliographic essay on all the books I've read about the Iraqi insurgency and the Islamic State for the ISIS Reader Blog. Here's a link to the article.
The Mandate for Mesopotamia is a short overview of British rule and influence in Iraq after World War I. It covers Europe...
