1916 British forces attacked Ottomans at Fallahiya to try to relieve surrounded British troops in Kut
1939 Abd al-Illah asked Nuri al-Said to become PM again
(Musings On Iraq interview with Western Kentucky’s Prof Romero on the Qasim govt)
(Musings On Iraq interview with Historian Phebe Marr comparing PM Said with PM Maliki)
(Musings On Iraq review The Chatham House Version and other Middle-Eastern Studies)
1965 Arif govt launched military offensive against Kurds
(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)
1980 Saddam gave speech saying conflict with Iran was about Arabs vs Persians and denounced
Khomeini
1980 Funeral of those killed in Mustansiriya bombing hit by a bomb Both done by Islamic Action
Organization Iran again blamed
(Musings On Iraq review The Longest War, The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict)
1984 Reagan issued NSDD 139 that US would help Iraq in Iran-Iraq War
(Musings On Iraq review The Saddam Tapes)
1985 Iranian delegation to Soviet Union said that Tehran would only accept complete Iraqi surrender to
end Iran-Iraq 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 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 said it would destroy its WMD if Israel did the same and signed 1968 nuclear non-proliferation
treaty
(Musings On Iraq Why Did Saddam Threaten Israel Before The 1990 Invasion of Kuwait?)
(Musings On Iraq review Iraq in Wartime, Soldiering, Martyrdom, and Remembrance)
1991 Saddam declared that Kurdish and Shiite rebellions were crushed following Gulf War
(Musings On Iraq review Kurds of Iraq, Tragedy and Hope)
(Musings On Iraq interview with National Univ of Singapore’s Fanar Haddad on the Impact of the 1991 Uprising)
(Musings On Iraq Remembering The 1991 Uprising In Iraq)
(Musings On Iraq Saddam’s View of Iraq’s 1991 Uprising)
(Musings On Iraq When The US Helped Start A Rebellion In Iraq That It Didn’t Want)
1991 Bush authorized airdrops of supplies to Kurds
1991 UN Resolution 688 condemned Saddam’s repression of its civilian population
1991 Some displaced Kurds began leaving mountains after govt appealed to them while Turkey let
80,000 into country
2002 PM Blair gave TV interview saying Saddam needed to go
2002 PM Blair and Bush met and talked about using UN inspections to pressure Saddam
(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 Review The Report of the Iraq Inquiry, Executive Summary)
2003 US 3rd Inf Div launched Thunder Run into Baghdad
(Musings On Iraq review Voices From Iraq, A People’s History, 2003-2009)
2003 US air strike in Basra attempted to kill Chemical Ali Missed Killed 17 civilians Most in Basra
believed Ali died
2003 National Intel Comm memo said docs claiming Iraq-Niger uranium purchase were fakes and 2002
report on deal was not credible
(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 Sec State Powell said he was sure Iraq’s WMD would be found
(Musings On Iraq Iraq One Of The Worst Intelligence Failures In US History)
(Musings On Iraq review Hoodwinked, The Documents That Reveal How Bush Sold Us a War)
(Musings On Iraq review What Happened, Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception)
2003 DIA task force said Baathists made plans for an insurgency with help of jihadists Would later prove
false
(Musings On Iraq Did Saddam Plan The Insurgency In Iraq?)
2004 Marines tried to cordon off as much of Fallujah as possible at start of Op Vigilant Resolve
2004 2nd Iraqi Battalion took part in battle for Fallujah 106 out of 695 Iraqi soldiers deserted and 104
refused to fight
(Musings On Iraq review The Battle for Fallujah, Occupation, Resistance and Stalemate in the War in Iraq)
2004 Mahdi Army occupied Basra governor’s office
2004 Bremer called Sadr an outlaw and promised to put down his revolt
(Musings On Iraq review Squandered Victory, The American Occupation And the Bungled Effort to Bring Democracy to Iraq)
2004 CPA announced Iraqi judge issued arrest warrant for Sadr for murder of Khoei
2004 Bremer met with security comm on Iraqi Governing Council It did not want to confront Sadr Justice
Min wanted to give concessions Def Min Allawi wanted to fight insurgents and leave Sadr alone Some said Sadr just wanted positions in govt but Bremer opposed
2004 Zarqawi recording released calling for more attacks upon US led Coalition and Shiites
(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 Insurgent Iraq, Al Zarqawi and the New Generation)
2004 Bremer referred INC officials to criminal court for illegally recycling old dinars that were supposed
to be destroyed Attempting to obtain state property via Finance Min and sell it Kidnapping and attacking rivals
(Musings On Iraq interview with Special Inspector Gen for Iraq Reconstruction Bowen on corruption in Iraq)
(Musings On Iraq interview with fmr anti-graft official Vincent Foulk on corruption in Iraq)
2006 Iraqi parties chose Maliki to be new PM over keeping PM Jaafari
2007 Islamic Army condemned ISI for imposing Islamic law and attacking other insurgent groups Also
attacking civilians and stealing women Forced women to cover themselves Banned satellite TV
(Musings On Iraq The Demise But Not Death of Al Qaeda In Iraq)
(Musings On Iraq review Iraq’s Sunni Insurgency)
(Musings On Iraq review The Caliphate At War, Operational Realities and Innovations of the Islamic State)
2007 Al Qaeda told Ansar al-Sunnah that its complaints about ISI were unbelievable and it was still
under Al Qaeda’s leadership
2007 Pentagon Insp Gen report on fmr Dep Undersec of Def Feith’s Counterterrorism Task Force Feith’s
office claimed active Iraq-Al Qaeda ties CIA and DIA found no such ties Insp Gen said Feith’s work inappropriate Said postwar interviews found no Iraq-Al Qaeda relationship
(Musings On Iraq review Leap of Faith, Hubris Negligence, and America’s Greatest Foreign Policy
Tragedy)
2008 Meeting of ruling parties decided to back PM Maliki in Charge of Knights and criticized Sadr
2008 PM Maliki called on all political parties to disband their militias or they might get banned from
politics
2008 ISF and US forces cordoned off Sadr City as fighting continued between Mahdi Army and US
(Musings On Iraq review Death of the Mehdi Army, The Rise, Fall, and Revival of Iraq’s Most Powerful Militia)
2008 Iran’s Gen Suleimani met Pres Talabani and promised to stop arming militias Said Sadr was
uncontrollable
(Musings On Iraq Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ Commander General Suleimani And His Role In Iraq, An Interview With The New Yorker’s Dexter Filkins)
2008 British sent military trainers to Basra to help ISF during Charge of Knights op against Mahdi Army
2008 Fmr Under Sec of Def Doug Feith claimed US invasion of Iraq prevented next terrorist attack on US
2009 Basra Gov Waeli escaped IED probably done by Special Groups or Mahdi Army
2010 World Bank gave $250 mil loan to Iraq to help with budget
2010 UNAMI held meeting between Hadbaa and Kurdish Alliance in Ninewa to try to repair relations
(Musings On Iraq Tit For Tat In Ninewa)
(Musings On Iraq Arab-Kurdish Divide Over New Ninewa Provincial Council)
2011 Speaker Nujafi said parliament would work with provinces to deal with detainees in response to
protests
2011 PM Maliki said ministries could reform in 100 days to respond to protests Didn’t happen
2011 Govt talks with 5 insurgent groups broke down
2011 Islamic Union and Islamic Group in KRG called for govt to step down and interim one formed to
carry out reforms due to protests
(Musings On Iraq interview with journalist Wladimir Van Wilgenburg on 2011 KRG protests)
2012 US Amb Jeffrey met with PM Maliki 9 times since start of year to try to mediate Baghdad vs Irbil
argument
2012 New KRG cabinet under Premier Nechirvan Barzani sworn in Opposition boycotted ceremony
2012 Pres Barzani said Iraq could become a dictatorship again due to PM Maliki
(Musings On Iraq review Iraq From War To A New Authoritarianism)
(Musings On Iraq interview with Inside Iraqi Politics’ Sowell on whether Maliki became a dictator)
(Musings On Iraq interview with Historian Phebe Marr comparing PM Maliki with MP Said)
2013 Iran delivered bodies of Iraqi militiamen killed fighting for it in Syria
2013 National Alliance delegation went to KRG to try to end Kurds boycott of govt over budget
2013 PM Maliki said he was open to better ties with Turkey which US had been pushing
2013 Iraq threatened legal action against Turkey for oil deals with Kurdistan
2013 1st shipment of Kurdish oil sold on international market
2013 PM Maliki said he would form a majority govt and not follow sectarian quotas anymore
2014 25 families fled Jurf al-Sakhr, Babil as ISIS moved into area from Anbar
2014 Sadrists began campaign for national elections calling for majority govt and end to sectarian quotas
2015 Tribes claimed 400 buildings burned in Tikrit after liberation
2015 Iraqi military spokesman said some Hashd took part in looting in Tikrit Said they were undermining
the victory
2015 Speaker Jabouri said there was looting in Tikrit Sadr called for end of looting in Tikrit
2015 KDP arrested Haider Sesho in Sinjar for forming his own militia and siding with Baghdad
2015 3 Presidents said that tribes in Anbar and Ninewa should be armed to fight IS
2016 Supreme Council said Abadi’s technocratic cabinet was not serious move
2016 Sadrists complained ruling parties not supporting reforms even though public had called for them
via protests
(Musings
On Iraq interview with Cambridge’s Michael Clark on Sadr, protests and PM
Abadi’s reforms)
View the Iraq History Timelines
1927 UK official wrote Foreign Sec Chamberlain saying UK got Mosul by trick Promised 25 yr Iraq
Mandate Now pushing Iraq independence
1939 King Ghazi’s death publicly announced PM Said resigned
1939 Mob in Mosul attacked UK consulate claiming it was behind King Ghazi’s death
1941 UK called new Gaylani govt illegal and distributed copies of message by Regent to resist
1941 Ultra intel in UK intercepted message from Italian amb in Tehran that Rome and Berlin were
going to send arms to Iraq via Syria
1941 UK Chiefs of Staff asked Middle East cmdr Gen Wavell how many troops he could spare for
Iraq
(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s First Battle Of Fallujah 1941)
(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 The Role of the Military In Politics, A case study of Iraq to 1941)
(Musings On Iraq review Iraq 1941, The Battles for Basra, Habbaniya, Fallujah and Baghdad)
(Musings On Iraq review Iraq And Syria 1941, The Politics and Strategy of the Second World War)
(Musings On Iraq review Blood, Oil and the Axis: The Allied Resistance Against A Fascist State In Iraq and the Levant, 1941)
1948 Port of Basra strike against Anglo-Iraq Treaty
1955 UK joined Iraq-Turkey security agreement that would become anti-Communist Baghdad Pact
1959 Qasim govt approved United Democratic Party of Kurdistan publishing a newspaper
1980 Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Sadr arrested in Najaf by Saddam
(Musings On Iraq review Muqtada, Muqtada Al-Sadr, The Shia Revival, And The Struggle For Iraq)
1981 Iran bombed Iraq’s H3 airbase near Syria Destroyed 23 planes and 4 helicopters 15 other planes
damaged 6 senior Iraqi officers were executed after raid
1981 Iran said it wouldn’t negotiate a ceasefire with Saddam
1981 Head of US Interests Section in Iraq said that US and Iraq were growing closer
1983 Iraq offered 1 day ceasefire in order to clean up oil spill Iran rejected offer
(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 Report Iraq working on nuclear bomb Imported equipment from western companies 1984 ex-Italian
intel officers indicted for trying to sell plutonium and yellowcake to Iraq 1987 France offered to rebuild Osirak nuclear reactor 1985-88 Iraq might have built isotope plant Saudis said to be funding program
1991 Report Pres Bush gave CIA okay to support opposition in Iraq Led to creation of Voice of Free Iraq
radio station run by Saudis during Gulf War Didn’t allow support for 91 uprising
(Musings On Iraq When The US Helped Start A Rebellion In Iraq That It Didn’t Want)
(Musings On Iraq review Out Of The Ashes, The Resurrection of Saddam Hussein)
1991 Britain offered $37 mil in humanitarian aid to Kurds
1991 Turkey said it couldn’t support Kurdish refugees flowing into country so shut border 10,000
crossed into Turkey 80,000 held at border
(Musings On Iraq review Kurds of Iraq, Tragedy and Hope)
2002 UK intel officials claimed that PM Blair decided that WMD and Saddam were not good argument
for going to war in Iraq
2003 3rd Inf Div captured Saddam International Airport in Baghdad Fedayeen counterattack turned
back Took 3 days to clear airport Saddam finally accepted US would attack Baghdad
(Musings On Iraq review Voices From Iraq, A People’s History, 2003-2009)
2003 US forces sent to southern Baghdad to destroy Republican Guard units but they fled instead of
fighting
2003 Saddam appeared on Iraqi TV touring Baghdad neighborhood
2003 Information Minister Sahaf finally admitted US forces were in Baghdad at airport
2003 US forces hit by female suicide car bomb at Haditha Dam Women had made video beforehand aired on Al Jazeera
(Musings On Iraq review Suicide Bombers In Iraq, The Strategy and Ideology of Martyrdom)
2003 PM Blair sent letter to Iraqi people saying Saddam would fall and Coalition would not be in Iraq
longer than necessary
2003 Power surge knocked out most of the electricity in Baghdad Would be out for weeks after war over
2003 Natl Sec Adv Rice said US wanted a democratic Iraq with no WMD that would not be threat to
neighbors
(Musings On Iraq review America at the Crossroads, Democracy, Power, and the Neoconservative Legacy)
(Musings On Iraq review The Road to Iraq, The Making of a Neoconservative War)
(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)
(Musings On Iraq review The Assassins’ Gate, America In Iraq)
2004 Sadrists rose up in Baghdad Najaf Kut Karbala Kufa Nasiriya against US Ambushed US patrol in
Sadr City Killed 8 Americans
(Musings On Iraq review Battle For The City Of The Dead)
(Musings On Iraq review Revolt On The Tigris, The Al-Sadr Uprising And The Governing Of Iraq)
(Musings On Iraq A Divided Sadr Trend)
2004 80% of one Iraqi National Guard battalion and 70% of another deserted in Baghdad in 1st day of
fighting Mahdi Army
2004 40% of police in Najaf and Kut fled when Sadrists rose up in 2 cities
2004 Mahdi Army attacked Najaf Left 200 Iraqi casualties Spanish unit refused to fight and cmdr tried to
negotiate with Sadr
2004 Polish battalion held Karbala city hall but rest of city fell to Mahdi Army
2004 Italian governor of Dhi Qar made deal with Mahdi Army to stay in base while militia took Nasiriyah
2004 CPA created Ministerial Committee for National Security in Iraqi govt
2004 UN special envoy Brahimi arrived in Iraq to help put together interim govt
(Musings On Iraq review Squandered Victory, The American Occupation And the Bungled Effort to Bring Democracy to Iraq)
2004 Operation Vigilant Resolve launched by Marines starting 1st battle of Fallujah
(Musings On Iraq review The Battle for Fallujah, Occupation, Resistance and Stalemate in the War in Iraq)
2005 Outgoing Inter Min Naqib warned US if SCIRI got Inter Min would fill it with Badr militiamen
which it did
(Musings On Iraq Badr Organization A View Into Iraq’s Violent Past And Present)
(Musings On Iraq interview with Jerry Burke police and Interior Min adviser on how Badr took over Interior Ministry)
2006 Report Inter Min refused to deploy any police trained by US-UK mission in last 3 months because
didn’t control recruits
2007 Report US arrested Sadrist Dep Health Min Zamili in Feb Accused of taking kickbacks for
orders with money funneled to Sadrists 15 warrants for ministers for corruption not served MP Jabouri in hiding accused of stealing $7 mil for pipeline security force he created Allawi Def Min Shaalan facing $1 bil in corruption charges
(Musings On Iraq interview with Special Inspector Gen for Iraq Reconstruction Bowen on corruption in Iraq)
(Musings On Iraq interview with fmr anti-graft official Vincent Foulk on corruption in Iraq)
2008 PM Maliki said he would stop raids against Sadrists
2008 PM Maliki said he didn’t negotiate ceasefire with Sadr but Iran did
2008 PM Maliki said he would recruit 10,000 local tribesmen into security forces in Basra
after Charge of Knights
2008 Report PM Maliki integrated 10,000 Dawa and Badr members into army
(Musings On Iraq Badr Organization A View Into Iraq’s Violent Past And Present)
2008 Report 30% of soldiers went AWOL during Charge of Knights in Basra Mahdi Army was supplied
by Iran during fight
2008 Report National Intel Estimate said that Surge decreased violence but security fragile Insurgents
still capable of large attacks Slow progress towards reconciliation
(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)
2008 Pres Talabani banned PUK members from criticizing govt in media or could be expelled Came after
PUK accused of corruption and power struggles
2009 PM Maliki said that Baathists and ISI had infiltrated Sahwa
2009 Sahwa leader in Baghdad said govt was out to destroy Sahwa Another leader in Muqdadiya
Diyala arrested 3rd leader said 500 of his 1,000 men fired and no sign others would get govt jobs
(Musings On Iraq Sons of Iraq Integration Update)
2009 Sheikh Abu Risha said he would run with Maliki’s State of Law in provincial elections
(Musings On Iraq Anbar’s Forgotten Sheikh)
(Musings On Iraq Anbar Sheikhs Reach Out To Shiites)
2009 Report 2005-07 40% of development funds in Iraq given to insurgents as protection money
2010 3 car bombs on Iranian Egyptian and German Embassies in Baghdad killed 41
2011 Baghdad Operations Command accused Harith al-Dhari head of Muslim Scholars Association of
assassinations in Baghdad
2011 Day of Dignity protests in Baghdad
2011 Opposition parties walked out of KRG parliament when Peshmerga and Interior ministers refused
to appear for questioning over treatment of Sulaymaniya protests
2011 Sulaymaniya protesters called on KRG government to resign
(Musings On Iraq interview with journalist Wladimir Van Wilgenburg on 2011 KRG protests)
2012 Dep PM Shahristani told Kirkuk governor had to stop oil smuggling to KRG
2012 State of Law MP accused Kurds of trying to prevent army from buying new equipment
2012 PM Maliki sent envoy to try to improve ties with Turkey but failed
2013 Turkey said it was willing to split payments of oil exports between Baghdad and Irbil
2015 Great Tikrit Mosque set on fire after city freed Tribes demanded Hashd withdraw from area
2016 Kurdish Alliance said it would not vote on any ministers it didn’t nominate
2016 Allawi said if new govt was to be nonpartisan than PM Abadi had to resign too along with his
cabinet
2017 Kirkuk council called for referendum to integrate province into KRG
(Musings On Iraq review The Great Betrayal, How America Abandoned The Kurds And Lost The Middle East)
(Musings On Iraq review Quicksilver War, Syria, Iraq and the Spiral of Conflict)
2018 Pres Masum filed lawsuit over 2018 budget saying it violated the constitution
View the Iraq History Timelines
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
1939 Ger Amb to Iraq Grobba spread rumors that England behind Ghazi’s death Led to riot in Mosul that
sacked British consulate and killed consular
1941 Golden Square officers picked Gaylani to become PM for 3rd time Started arresting pro-British
politicians
(Musings On Iraq interview with Prof Boich World War II In Iraq and Syria)
(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)
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
(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s First Battle Of Fallujah 1941)
(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 The Role of the Military In Politics, A case study of Iraq to 1941)
(Musings On Iraq review Iraq 1941, The Battles for Basra, Habbaniya, Fallujah and Baghdad)
(Musings On Iraq review Iraq And Syria 1941, The Politics and Strategy of the Second World War)
(Musings On Iraq review Blood, Oil and the Axis: The Allied Resistance Against A Fascist State In Iraq and the Levant, 1941)
1965 PM Yahya told Egypt’s Gen Nasser Iraq was about to launch offensive against Kurds
Nasser objected believing it would weaken Arab front he was trying to create against Israel
1969 Communist militant Hajj who tried and failed at armed revolt in 1968 appeared on Baghdad TV
attacked his group and denounced the Communists Was appointed Iraq’s representative to UNESCO in Paris as reward
(Musings On Iraq 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)
1970 Def Min Tikriti Inter Min Ammash named co-VPs under Pres Bakr to try to end rivalry between two
for power
1991 Army captured Sulaymaniya last major town held by Kurdish rebels after Gulf War
(Musings On Iraq review Kurds of Iraq, Tragedy and Hope)
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 Saddam’s View of Iraq’s 1991 Uprising)
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 Said Iraq had to destroy its WMD and long range missiles Said Iraq had to make a declaration on its WMD and nuclear programs by 4/17/91 Said that UN Secretary General would create a weapons inspection commission by 5/17/19 Said Iraq had to return stolen property pay reparations to Kuwait Until all of those were met sanctions would remain
(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 Origins Of Iraq’s WMD Programs)
(Musings On Iraq review The Saddam Tapes)
2003 Baath officials began fleeing Baghdad
2003 Sadrists held march in east Baghdad
2003 US forces reached Baghdad international airport
(Musings On Iraq review Voices From Iraq, A People’s History, 2003-2009)
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
(Musings On Iraq A Divided Sadr Trend)
2004 Sadr said that he wanted to unite with Hezbollah and Hamas
2004 Sec State Powell said US intelligence gave him questionable intelligence about Iraq mobile WMD
labs
(Musings On Iraq How Iraqi Defector CURVEBALL Became Basis For US Claims That Iraq Had WMD)
2004 Marines ordered to go into Fallujah and arrest culprits behind killing Blackwater contractors
Became Op Vigilant Resolve
(Musings On Iraq review The Battle for Fallujah, Occupation, Resistance and Stalemate in the War in Iraq)
2005 Hajim al-Hassani named speaker of parliament in first step in creating 1st post-03 elected Iraqi govt
2007 Integrity Comm head Radhi said Iraq lost $8 bil since 2004 due to corruption $2 bil for electricity
disappeared Fmr Electricity Min Samarraie convicted of corruption but fled Iraq for US Radhi said ministers blocking investigations into $55 mil in missing funds
(Musings On Iraq interview with Special Inspector Gen for Iraq Reconstruction Bowen on corruption in Iraq)
(Musings On Iraq interview with fmr anti-graft official Vincent Foulk on corruption in Iraq)
2007 Report 8 Mahdi Army commanders dismissed for insubordination and crimes
2008 PM 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
2008 UK Cabinet officials reported PM Maliki had not told UK about Charge of Knights beforehand
Excluded UK military for command center Then blamed UK for not helping ISF when it ran into problems in Basra
2008 RAND’s Kelly told Senate Iraqis probably wouldn’t reconcile for a generation US couldn’t
achieve all of its goals in Iraq because didn’t have capabilities Questioned whether Iraq could become functioning democracy
2012 Kurds accused Shiite parties in Baghdad of smuggling oil to Israel via Jordan after Dep PM
Shahristani accused KRG of smuggling oil to Iran
2012 Ayatollah Sistani rep in Hillah had house bombed in wave of attacks against Ayatollah’s followers
2012 Obama called PM Maliki about Iran flying weapons to Syria via Iraqi airspace
2014 Sadr said PM Maliki should not run for 3rd term as premier
2015 Salahaddin council called on Ayatollah 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 PM Abadi ordered ISF to arrest anyone breaking law in Tikrit
2015 Ayatollah 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
1941 Regent of Iraq arrived at UK airbase at Habaniya Anbar after Golden Square officers tried to
arrest him after coup Regent tried and failed to organize resistance to coup in Basra Then fled to Jordan
(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s First Battle Of Fallujah 1941)
(Musings On Iraq interview with Prof Boich World War II In Iraq and Syria)
(Musings On Iraq review of Persian Gulf Command, A History of the Second World War In Iran and Iraq)
(Musings On Iraq review of 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 Iraq Between the Two World Wars, The Militarist Origins of Tyranny)
1946 National Democratic Party and Istiqlal/Independence Party licensed Became major opposition
parties during monarchy
1975 Iraq army sealed border with Iran and declared Kurdish revolt over Mustafa Barzani and 150,000
Kurds fled to Iran 1972-75 some 17,000 killed and 280,000 displaced during Kurdish rebellion
(Musings On Iraq review Killing Hope, U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II)
(Musings On Iraq review The Kurds, A Modern History)
(Musings On Iraq review Kurds of Iraq, Tragedy and Hope)
(Musings On Iraq review The Great Betrayal, How America Abandoned The Kurds And Lost The Middle East)
(Musings On Iraq When The Shah and Nixon Manipulated The Kurds)
1980 Saddam said those killed in attack on Mustansiriya Univ Baghdad bombing would not be forgotten
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
(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 Report Iraq wanted to double oil exports by end of yr to pay debts and rebuild after Iran-Iraq war
Analysts doubted capable because so oil dependent Lacked foreign exchange having spent most of it on war Paid little of its debt Inflation at 40% Imported most of its food Still spent large sums on military and nuclear bomb program
1990 Report personal typewriters were no longer illegal in Iraq but had to be registered with the govt
1990 Saddam threatened to use WMD against Israel if it was attacked
(Musings On Iraq Why Did Saddam Threaten Israel Before The 1990 Invasion of Kuwait?)
(Musings On Iraq review The Saddam Tapes)
(Musings On Iraq review the Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait)
(Musings On Iraq review Iraq in Wartime, Soldiering, Martyrdom, and Remembrance)
1991 State Dept U.S. never said that it was for removing Saddam
(Musings On Iraq review The United States And Iraq Since 1990: A Brief History with Documents)
(Musings On Iraq review Out Of The Ashes, The Resurrection of Saddam Hussein)
(Musings On Iraq When The US Helped Start A Rebellion In Iraq That It Didn’t Want)
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
(Musings On Iraq review Kurds of Iraq, Tragedy and Hope)
2002 UK Amb Meyer and PM Blair foreign policy advisor Manning met with Natl Sec Adv Rice
Reported Bush hadn’t worked out any details on Iraq yet and smarting from European rejecting pivot towards Iraq
(Musings On Iraq Chilcot Report Volume 2 Sec 3.3 Development of UK Iraq Strategy and Options April to July 2002)
(Musings On Iraq Review The Report of the Iraq Inquiry, Executive Summary)
2003 US forces took Karbala
(Musings On Iraq review Voices From Iraq, A People’s History, 2003-2009)
2003 Emergency meeting of Iraqi commanders Gen Hamdani asked to move Nida and Medina Divs south
to protect routes to Baghdad Qusay Hussein and Def Min Gen Hashim told Hamdani Saddam wanted to keep current position protecting Baghdad from main US attack coming from Jordan Saddam got that idea from Russian intel
(Musings On Iraq Russia Provided Iraq With Details Of US Plans Right Before Invasion)
2003 1st Marine Division crossed Tigris River at Numaniya and destroyed Baghdad Republican Guard Div and moved north to destroy Nida Republican Guard Div
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
(Musings On Iraq How Did Kirkuk Become Such A Divisive Issue? A Portrait of The City In
2003)
2003 Sec Def Rumsfeld sent memo to military to cooperate with ORHA because wasn’t helping it
(Musings On Iraq review Iraq and Back, Inside The War To Win The Peace)
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 Sec State Powell criticized US intel for giving him faulty claims about Iraq’s WMD for his Feb 03
UN speech
(Musings On Iraq Iraq One Of The Worst Intelligence Failures In US History)
2004 Natl Sec Adv Rice told Bremer that Chalabi was working against US interests by siding with Shiite
bloc in Iraqi Governing Council Rice wanted him out
(Musings On Iraq review The Man Who Pushed America To War, The Extraordinary Life, Adventures, and Obsessions of Ahmad Chalabi)
2005 Al Qaeda in Iraq launched suicide attack on Abu Ghraib prison starting battle for town
(Musings On Iraq review Suicide Bombers In Iraq, The Strategy and Ideology of Martyrdom)
2006 Sec State 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 as civil war took off after Feb Samarra bombing
(Musings On Iraq review Voices From Iraq, A People’s History, 2003-2009)
(Musings On Iraq review Suicide Bombers In Iraq, The Strategy and Ideology of Martyrdom)
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
(Musings On Iraq review Fiasco: The American Military Adventure In Iraq)
(Musings On Iraq review Losing Iraq, Inside The Post War Reconstruction Fiasco)
(Musings On Iraq review Plan of Attack: The Definitive Account Of The Decision To Invade Iraq)
2007 Ayatollah Sistani said he opposed US plan to reform deBaathification and allow former Baathists
back into govt Came after Sistani met with deBaathification Comm head Chalabi
2008 Retired Gen McCaffrey said ISI’s urban insurgency was defeated but that the war was
unsustainable for US
2008 Council on Foreign Relations’ Biddle told Senate US would have to stay in Iraq for a very long time
to maintain stability
2008 Revenue Watch’s Said told Senate Iraq wasn’t using improved security to carry out any political
reforms Said ruling parties consolidating power and incapable of providing for public
2008 Center for a New American Security’s Flournoy told Senate couldn’t have any more security gains
without political reforms Surge made Iraqis believe in US not Baghdad Iraqi govt unwilling to make any changes and US didn’t have strategy to get Baghdad to change
(Musings On Iraq review Surge, My Journey with General David Petraeus and the Remaking of the Iraq War)
2009 Arab Jabour Baghdad Sahwa leader arrested for killing ISI fighters as part of PM Maliki’s
crackdown on Sahwa
(Musings On Iraq Problems With Integrating Sons of Iraq Continue)
2009 Report PM Maliki and Sadr agreed to shut out ISCI from most provincial govts after Jan vote
Agreed to joint rule in Babil Dhi Qar Muthanna Najaf Wasit
2010 PM 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 PM Maliki’s talks with National Alliance failed as ISCI’s Hakim opposed Maliki’s 2nd term
2011 56 wounded in clashes between police and protesters in Sulaymaniya
(Musings On Iraq interview with journalist Wladimir Van Wilgenburg on 2011 KRG protests)
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
1941 PM Hashemi deposed in Golden Square officers coup after he tried to remove them Regent escaped
to Anbar with help of US Nuri al-Said and other pro-UK politicians fled Iraq Golden Square officers immediately thought UK ws plotting against them
(Musings On Iraq interview with Prof Boich World War II In Iraq and Syria)
(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s First Battle Of Fallujah 1941)
(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 The Role of the Military In Politics, A case study of Iraq to 1941)
(Musings On Iraq review Iraq And Syria 1941, The Politics and Strategy of the Second World War)
(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)
1941 US and UK believed Iraq coup part of German plan in coordination with invasion of Balkans
and Libya It wasn’t
1955 PM Said announced 1930 Anglo-Iraq Treaty would be terminated Said new Anglo-Iraq treaty
would be signed Apr 4 Air bases would be turned over to Iraqi control
1962 Barzani ambushed govt forces disrupting Baghdad’s spring offensive
(Musings On Iraq review Kurds of Iraq, Tragedy and Hope)
(Musings On Iraq review The Kurdish Revolt 1961-1970)
(Musings On Iraq review The Kurds, A Modern History)
(Musings On Iraq review Journey Among Brave Men, Travels in Kurdistan)
1975 Iraqi amnesty offer to Kurdish rebels and army deserters expired
1975 Iran closed border to Kurds fleeing Iraqi government offensive against them
(Musings On Iraq review The Kurds, A Modern History)
(Musings On Iraq review Kurds of Iraq, Tragedy and Hope)
(Musings On Iraq review Killing Hope, U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II)
(Musings On Iraq review The Great Betrayal, How America Abandoned The Kurds And Lost The Middle East)
(Musings On Iraq When The Shah and Nixon Manipulated The Kurds)
1980 Mustansiriya Univ in Baghdad bombed by Islamic Action Organization in attempt on life of
Deputy PM Tariq Aziz Iraq blamed Iran
(Musings On Iraq review The Longest War, The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict)
1981 General uprising in Iranian Kurdistan backed by Iraq started
1988 End of 2nd Anfal campaign
(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s Anfal Campaign And The Destruction Of The Kurdish Opposition)
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 Why Did Saddam Threaten Israel Before The 1990 Invasion of Kuwait?)
(Musings On Iraq review The Saddam Tapes)
(Musings On Iraq review the Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait)
(Musings On Iraq review Iraq in Wartime, Soldiering, Martyrdom, and Remembrance)
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
(Musings On Iraq review Kurds of Iraq, Tragedy and Hope)
(Musings On Iraq interview with National Univ of Singapore’s Fanar Haddad on the Impact of the 1991 Uprising)
(Musings On Iraq Remembering The 1991 Uprising In Iraq)
(Musings On Iraq Saddam’s View of Iraq’s 1991 Uprising)
(Musings On Iraq When The US Helped Start A Rebellion In Iraq That It Didn’t Want)
2002 UK ambassador to US Meyer warned Bush thinking of war with Iraq by autumn but no postwar
plans
(Musings On Iraq Chilcot Report Volume 2 Sec 3.3 Development of UK Iraq Strategy and Options April to July 2002)
(Musings On Iraq Review The Report of the Iraq Inquiry, Executive Summary)
2003 Iraqi commander in south Gen Hamdani recalled to Baghdad Saddam told him real invasion was
coming from Jordan through Anbar
2003 US attacked Najaf Kut Samawa Hindiya Headed towards Hillah in Babil
(Musings On Iraq review Voices From Iraq, A People’s History, 2003-2009)
2003 3rd Infantry Div moved through Karbala Gap and destroyed Medina Republican Guard Div
2003 ORHA head Garner made 1 day trip to Um Qasr port 1st time in Iraq
(Musings On Iraq review Iraq and Back, Inside The War To Win The Peace)
2004 CPA adviser Larry Diamond told Bremer that there was a security vacuum in southern Iraq being
filled by militias
(Musings On Iraq review Squandered Victory, The American Occupation And the Bungled Effort to Bring Democracy to Iraq)
2004 Mahdi Army attacked CPA compound in Nasiriya
2004 Gen Kimmitt promised to pacify Fallujah after Blackwater contractors killed
(Musings On Iraq review The Battle for Fallujah, Occupation, Resistance and Stalemate in the War in Iraq)
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
2007 PM Maliki told Integrity Commission head Radhi charges against ministers cabinet presidential
staffs had to be okayed by PM office as way to block investigations
(Musings On Iraq interview with Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart Bowen on corruption in Iraq)
(Musings On Iraq interview with anti-graft US official Vincent Foulk)
2007 Report VP Hashemi and Pres Talabani in talks with insurgents in Jordan Anbar Salahaddin Diyala
Talabani said insurgents came to govt for talks 1920 Revolution Brigades Islamic Army Jaish al-Rashideen Omar Brigades Rayat al-Sood talking about breaking with ISI
2007 Anbar Salvation Council in talks with tribes in Amiriya Fallujah to split from ISI
2007 Report Zoba tribes started fighting ISI Reports of clashes between Islamic Army and ISI in Dour
Samarra Tuz Kharmato and Dhiliya in Salahaddin 2 tribes fighting ISI in Diyala
(Musings On Iraq Diyala Province Backgrounder)
(Musings On Iraq The Demise But Not Death of Al Qaeda In Iraq)
(Musings On Iraq review Iraq’s Sunni Insurgency)
2008 PM Maliki sent 1st Quick Reaction Division from Anbar to Basra to restart Charge of Knights
offensive
2008 PM Maliki said 10,000 tribesmen in Basra would be organized into a Sons of Iraq program Would
become Tribal Support Council
(Musings On Iraq Argument For Maliki Being Iraq’s Next Strongman)
(Musings On Iraq Disputes Over Tribal Support Councils)
(Musings On Iraq review Iraq After America, Strongmen, Sectarians, Resistance)
2008 PM Maliki praised Badr and Dawa militia for helping to fight Mahdi Army in Basra
(Musings On Iraq Badr Organization A View Into Iraq’s Violent Past And Present)
2008 PM 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
(Musings On Iraq Asaib Ahl Al-Haq From A Breakaway Sadr Militia To Defenders Of Iraq)
2009 Baghdad was supposed to take control of all Sahwa in Iraq from US forces
2009 Report Baathist Naqshibandi now one of largest insurgent groups Gets money from
Iraqi exiles in Syria
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 PM 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
(Musings On Iraq review Suicide Bombers In Iraq, The Strategy and Ideology of Martyrdom)
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
2015 Kataib Hezbollah said that it was involved in Shjariya operation in Anbar
(Musings On Iraq Instrument Of Iran’s Power In Iraq And Syria Kataib Hezbollah)
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
2015 KRG was $17 bil in debt Couldn’t pay public workers Started large borrowing
2016 PM Abadi’s nominee for Oil Minister in new technocratic cabinet withdrew name saying no
consensus on changes
2016 PM 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 Foreign Min 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
Iraq recently announced that it was exporting over 3 million barrels a day in oil but this is coming at a huge cost due to...
