This Day In Iraqi History - Apr 9

 

1915 New UK cmdr in Mesopotamia Gen Nixon arrived Ordered to take all of Basra vilayet Secure Tigris

River to protect Anglo-Persian Oil Company in Persia Plan for advance on Baghdad 1^st step in escalatin war form protecting oil concession to taking all of Mesopotamia

(Musings On Iraq book review Enemy On The Euphrates, The Battle For Iraq 1914-1921)

1918 UK threatened to bombard one quarter of Najaf if revolt not ended City surrendered

1922 Karbala conference led to call for war against Wahabis unless compensation paid for raid in

southern Iraq and Ibn Saud didn’t punish them

1922 Ikhwan invasion of south Iraq resolved by letters between Iraq and Saudis Ibn Saud apologized

1941 German Foreign Min Ribbentrop was told Gaylani govt was pro-Axis and Germany working on

getting it arms from region Ribbentrop okayed arms shipments to Iraq and sabotage in Iraq and region against UK

(Musings On Iraq interview with Prof Boich World War II In Iraq and Syria)

1941 Germany and Italy made joint statement of support for PM Gaylani promising military and

financial aid Statement to PM Gaylani encouraged him to confront UK

(Musings On Iraq review Rashid Ali al-Gailani, The National Movement in Iraq 1939-1941)

(Musings On Iraq review Persian Gulf Command, A History of the Second World War In Iran and Iraq)

(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)

1969 Jalal Talabani attempted to assassinate Mullah Mustafa Barzani

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

(Musings On Iraq review The Kurdish Revolt 1961-1970)

1972 Pres Bakr signed 15 yr treaty of friendship with Soviet Union

1980 Saddam deported 9,700 Shiites claiming they were Iranians Later deported another 16,000

(Musings On Iraq review The Longest War, The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict)

1985 UN Sec Gen deCuellar left Baghdad saying he had not been able to bridge divide between Iraq and

Iran

1986 Iraq made another attempt to re-capture Faw Peninsula Basra

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

1987 Iran started Op Karbala 9 attacking Qasr e-Shirin central Iran to try to draw Iraqi forces away

from Basra but Iraq didn’t respond 

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

1987 Iran broke through Iraqi defenses west of Fish Lake Basra Iraq counterattack failed Used

chemical weapons

(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 3: Iraq’s Triumph)

(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)

1987 Dawa attacked Saddam’s motorcade outside of Mosul to commemorate execution of Ayatollah

Baqir al-Sadr

(Musings On Iraq Interview with Lowy Institution’s Shanahan on history of the Dawa Party)

(Musings On Iraq review The Shi’ite Movement in Iraq)

1990 Saudi Amb to US Bandar told Pres Bush Saddam would not attack Israel but wanted guarantee that

Israel would not attack Iraq

1990 Bush told Saudi Amb Bandar that he didn’t understand Saddam’s threats unless he intended to

attack Israel Saddam wanted to make sure his western flank was protected from any Israeli action before he decided to invade Kuwait

(Musings On Iraq Why Did Saddam Threaten Israel Before The 1990 Invasion of Kuwait?)

1990 Report Bush admin told Congress against sanctioning Iraq for WMD and nuclear bomb programs

1991 French Foreign Min said thank god Saddam crushed 91 uprising otherwise would have led to

renewed Islamic fundamentalism in Iran and Gulf States

1992 Ahmed Chalabi convicted of financial fraud in Jordan for his Petra Bank Chalabi claimed it was a

political plot by Jordan and Iraq but his bank was mismanaged Banks faked Made insider trades embezzled money and more

(Musings On Iraq review The Man Who Pushed America To War, The Extraordinary Life, Adventures, and Obsessions of Ahmad Chalabi)

(Musings On Iraq review Arrows of the Night: Ahmad Chalabi and the Selling of the Iraq War)

2002 State Dept started Future of Iraq project bringing together 240 Iraqi exiles to chart out post-Saddam

Iraq

(Musings On Iraq Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction’s “Hard Lessons” – Part I: Planning for Postwar Iraq September 2001 to May 2003)

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

Tragedy)

(Musings On Iraq review Losing Iraq, Inside The Post War Reconstruction Fiasco)

(Musings On Iraq review Hard Lessons, The Iraq Reconstruction Experience)

2003 Abu Dhabi TV showed Saddam at Adhamiya Baghdad urging crowd to fight invasion Saddam

Qusay Uday left city that day

2003 Baghdad fell ending U.S. invasion

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

2003 Iraqis in Firdos Square pulled down Saddam statue with help of US Marines

(Musings On Iraq What Happened When Saddam’s Statue Came Down In Baghdad On April

9, 2003? The Creation Of An Iraq War Myth)

(Musings On Iraq Review Weapons of Mass Deception: The Uses of Propaganda in Bush’s

War on Iraq)

2003 Kurdish Peshmerga seized Kirkuk

(Musings On Iraq How Did Kirkuk Become Such A Divisive Issue? A Portrait of The City In

2003)

2003 Gen Franks told Bush war going according to plan Bush wanted to collect info on life under

Saddam to compare with life after

2003 CENTCOM said war reached tipping point Iraqis realized Saddam was done

2003 VP Cheney said Iraqi govt collapsing showed criticism of war was wrong

2003 VP Cheney said with a little investment Iraq could produce 2-3 mil/bar/day of oil by end of 2003

2003 US intel report Baathists Fedayeen Iraqi forces operating independently of orders Would continue

to fight until eliminated

(Musings On Iraq review The Terrorists of Iraq, Inside the Strategy and Tactics of the Iraqi Insurgency 2003-2014)

2003 Sadrists held first Friday prayers reviving tradition of Ayatollah Sadiq al-Sadr

(Musings On Iraq review Muqtada, Muqtada Al-Sadr, The Shia Revival, And The Struggle For Iraq)

2003 Chalabi on CNN criticized Garner for not hiring INC people and said ORHA had done nothing for

Iraqis

2003 US forces ordered Badr Brigade to disband but didn't

(Musings On Iraq Overview of Iran’s Influence In Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq Badr Organization A View Into Iraq’s Violent Past And Present)

2004 Human Rights Minister Abdul Turki resigned saying Battle of Fallujah was a violation of human

rights

2004 1 member of Iraqi Governing Council boycotted and two others threatened to resign over Battle of

Fallujah

2004 Bremer ordered end to 1^st Battle of Fallujah because of negative publicly and complaints by Iraqi

politicians 

(Musings On Iraq review The Battle for Fallujah, Occupation, Resistance and Stalemate in the War in Iraq)

2004 200,000 Sadrists and Sunnis rallied at Um al-Qura mosque run by Association of Muslim Scholars

in Baghdad against US occupation and in solidarity with Fallujah

2004 Bush called leaders of Poland, Italy and El Salvador to make sure they would keep troops in Iraq

2004 US contractor fuel convoy attacked in Abu Ghraib leading Brown & Root to suspend all its

convoys in Iraq

2006 Babil police chief said if US troops left province would be civil war next day Said police not strong

enough to intervene between warring militias

2006 Gen Newbold wrote in Time problems in Iraq due to “casualness and swagger” by Bush

administration

2007 1920 Revolution Brigades said ISI was killing civilians and other insurgents

2007 Islamic Army commander killed in Salahaddin for talking with govt ISI blamed

(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 40 religious scholars formed Council of Ulema of Iraq in Jordan to be religious body for insurgents

2007 Abu Wael declared his Sharia Council was breaking away from Ansar al-Sunnah

2007 Pres Barzani said Kurds main reason Iraq stayed unified

2007 Report militias burned Sunni neighborhoods in Babil Insurgents burned Sunni and Shiite homes

            in Diyala

2008 Fmr Under Sec Def Feith said Bush had good war plan but got bad advice from CIA State NSC that

caused all the problems in Iraq Claimed CIA and State opposed Chalabi which screwed up postwar Iraq Justified setting up intel unit in Pentagon because CIA was “politicized” and ignored Iraq-Al Qaeda ties

2008 Fmr UK Amb to US Greenstock said US had no real plans for postwar Iraq

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

2008 Oil Minister Shahristani claimed Charge of Knights cleared militias and gangs out of Basra waterway

New oil police in Basra created to replace Fadhila controlled one

2008 Report Fadhila Gov of Basra Waeli under house arrest after Charge of Knights Head of Basra

council from Dawa was now running Basra

2008 Iraqi general complained Iran interfering in Basra by supporting Mahdi Army

            during Charge of Knights op

(Musings On Iraq Iran’s Policy Towards Iraq)

2008 Sadr claimed he consulted with clerics who said he didn’t have to disarm Mahdi Army

2008 Ayatollah Sistani said he supported govt’s demand to disarm Mahdi Army

2009 Sadr had mass rally in Baghdad to mark fall of Saddam in 03 and called for US withdrawal

Sheikh Hayes of Anbar Awakening participated Praised Sadr for his leadership

2009 Baghdad said it was committed to Sahwa but it would purge all those who were Baathist and ISI

infiltrators

(Musings On Iraq Sons of Iraq Integration Update)

2010 Sadrists held demonstration in Najaf to mark fall of Saddam and protested US occupation

2011 Protests started in Mosul calling on govt to release prisoners

2011 Protests in Babil and Fallujah started demanding provincial councils disband and better services

2011 Sadr held anti-US demonstration in Baghdad threatened to bring back Mahdi Army if US forces

didn’t leave at end of year

2011 Dep PM Mutlaq compared PM Maliki to Saddam

2011 Speaker Nujafi said there was no power sharing in Iraq and PM Maliki concentrating authority in

his hands

2012 KRG cabinet said that KDP and PUK Interior Ministries were going to unite

2012 ISF attacked nightclubs and alcohol shops in Baghdad and shut them down

2012 Pres Barzani said that Baghdad was marginalizing Kurds within ISF and that F-16s could be used

against KRG

2012 Iraqiya complained PM Maliki centralizing power

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq From War To A New Authoritarianism)

2012 Parliament committee created to investigate mass arrests in Baghdad before Arab Summit Never

made report

2012 Parliament economic committee chairman accused foreign countries of pumping in counterfeit

dinars into Iraq

2013 Iran delivered bodies of Iraqi militiamen killed fighting for it in Syria

2013 Gorran rejected extending Pres Barzani’s term

2013 Turkey said it was ready to build a pipeline for Kurdish oil exports

2015 Hashd spokesman denied stories Hashd looting in Tikrit Blamed tribes and individuals

2015 Dep head of Anbar council said Kataib Hezbollah and Peace Brigades had deployed to Shjariya,

Anbar Hashd would later claim they were not in Anbar because of PM Abadi and US

(Musings On Iraq Instrument Of Iran’s Power In Iraq And Syria Kataib Hezbollah)

2020 Iraqi intelligence chief Mustafa al-Kazemi became new premier candidate after Adnan al-Zurfi

failed to reach consensus on his govt

(Musings On Iraq Iraq Has 3^rd Candidate For Premier)

View the Iraq History Timelines

Review Desert Queen, The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell: Adventurer, Adviser to Kings, Ally of Lawrence of Arabia

Wallach, Janet, Desert Queen, The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell: Adventurer, Adviser to Kings, Ally of Lawrence of Arabia, New York: Anchor Books, 2005

 

Desert Queen is one of the better biographies of Gertrude Bell. The author Janet Wallach had a real literary flair to her writing so it doesn’t read like your typical story of a historical figure. The book emphasizes three main aspects which the author believed shaped Bell’s life. Those were love of her family especially her father, her love of men which was always frustrated, and her of Iraq which she helped create after World War I.

This Day In Iraqi History - Apr 8

 

1916 British forces defeated Ottomans at Fallahiya

1919 UK and France began negotiations to give France oil concession in Iraq for UK getting Mosul

province

(Musings On Iraq book review Enemy On The Euphrates, The Battle For Iraq 1914-1921)

1941 UK Joint Planning Staff said all measures should be taken to overthrow PM Gaylani

(Musings On Iraq interview with Prof Boich World War II In Iraq and Syria)

1941 Churchill ordered Sec of State for India to put together force to be sent to Iraq

(Musings On Iraq review Blood, Oil and the Axis: The Allied Resistance Against A Fascist State In Iraq and the Levant, 1941)

1941 German Foreign Office said it supported Arab action against British for their freedom

(Musings On Iraq review Persian Gulf Command, A History of the Second World War In Iran and Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq 1941, The Battles for Basra, Habbaniya, Fallujah and Baghdad)

(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)

1942 UK ambassador to Iraq Sir Cornwallis wrote PM Said was following through with Anglo-Iraq Treaty

and anti-British forces were being put into concentration camps

1980 Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Sadr and sister Bint al-Huda executed by Saddam

(Musings On Iraq review Muqtada, Muqtada Al-Sadr, The Shia Revival, And The Struggle For Iraq)

1980 DIA said 50% chance Iraq would invade Iran Said Iraq thought Iranian military weak and could

easily be defeated

1980 Ayatollah Khomeini broadcast speech calling on Iraq people to topple their govt

(Musings On Iraq review The Longest War, The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict)

1981 Sec State Haig said that Iraq was an important Middle Eastern country and hoped for better

relations in future

1982 Syria closed border to Iraq Claimed Saddam backed Muslim Brotherhood against Assad

1983 Dawa bombed offices of Iraqi Airways in Baghdad

(Musings On Iraq Interview with Lowy Institution’s Shanahan on history of the Dawa Party)

(Musings On Iraq review The Shi’ite Movement in Iraq)

1985 2^nd War of the Cities ended

1985 UN Sec Gen de Cuellar went to Baghdad where Saddam said Iraq was ready to enter into talks to

end 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)

1991 Plan to create UN safehaven in northern Iraq for Kurds approved at European Union meeting

1991 US agreed to $10 mil in humanitarian aid to Kurds

(Musings On Iraq review The United States And Iraq Since 1990: A Brief History with Documents)

1991 European Community agreed to provide humanitarian aid to Kurds

1992 Kurds announced elections for Kurdish parliament and leader would be held 5/17/92

1995 PUK-KDP ceasefire in civil war Turkey mediated Ankara hoped to gain PUK-KDP help against

PKK in return

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

2001 Czech Inter Min claimed 9/11 terrorist Atta met with Iraqi intelligence in Prague Story false

2003 Bush said UN would play crucial role in creating an interim Iraqi govt but US had rejected role for

UN

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

Tragedy)

2003 US forces surrounded Baghdad US A-10 jet shot down by Iraqi surface to air missile over city

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

2003 Ayatollah Haeri said Iraq’s Shiites needed to seize power now that Saddam overthrown and oppose

US plans

(Musings On Iraq A Divided Sadr Trend)

(Musings On Iraq Early Report On Iran’s Activities In Iraq)

2003 Site south of Baghdad searched for chemical weapons but nothing found

2003 Sec Def Rumsfeld had meeting to find replacement for ORHA head Garner for new presidential

envoy to Iraq

(Musings On Iraq Special Inspector General For Iraq Reconstruction Hard Lessons Chapter 4 Staging in Kuwait)

(Musings On Iraq review State of Denial, Bush At War, Part III)

2003 British army appointed Muzahim Tamimi former general and Baathist as head of Basra province

Provoked demonstrations leading to Tamimi’s removal

2004 CENTCOM cmdr Gen Abizaid said that US would get Fallujah under control

2004 Fighting in Fallujah left 460 Iraqis and 36 US troops dead

(Musings On Iraq review The Battle for Fallujah, Occupation, Resistance and Stalemate in the War in Iraq)

2004 US 1^st Armored Div retook Kut from Mahdi Army

2004 Several Japanese aid workers kidnapped

2004 Inter Min Badran and Human Rights Min Turki resigned Sheikh Hatim from Amara suspended

membership in Iraqi Governing Council Pachachi considering resigning as well All over Sadr uprising and Battle of Fallujah

2004 UN Rep Brahimi threatened to end his work to create interim govt over Battle of Fallujah

2004 Bremer asked US cmdr in Iraq Gen Sanchez for ceasefire in Battle of Fallujah and against Sadr

because Iraqi Governing Council coming apart

2006 Iraqi general said country in a civil war

2007 1000s of Sadrists held anti-U.S. occupation march in Najaf

2008 Report 10% of Basra police facing legal action for not fighting Mahdi Army during Charge of

Knights Around 1,600 fired arrested or went AWOL

2008 End of Maliki’s deadline for militias to disarm in Basra Had not been successful ISF planned

sweeps through Basra to confiscate weapons but had been delayed twice

2008 US forces moved into southern Sadr City to build wall to prevent attacks on

            Green Zone Led to fighting with Mahdi Army

(Musings On Iraq review Death of the Mehdi Army, The Rise, Fall, and Revival of Iraq’s Most Powerful Militia)

2008 Gen Petraeus told Congress Baghdad had only accepted 21,000 Sahwa out

            of 91,000 into ISF

(Musings On Iraq review Surge, My Journey with General David Petraeus and the Remaking of the Iraq War)

2008 Gen Petraeus said Shiite Special Groups were largest longterm threat to Iraq

2008 Amb Crocker told Congress that if US withdrew from Iraq without

            accomplishing constitutional reform Iranians would come out winners

2011 Over 2,000 protested in Baghdad and Fallujah Demanded prisoners be released Some demanded

US forces to leave

2011 Soldiers from 11^th Div in civilian clothes arrested protest organizer and held him for a week and

tortured him 

2011 KDP and PUK rejected call by opposition to disband govt to meet demands of protesters

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

2011 PM Maliki told Def Sec Gates Iraq did not need a U.S. military presence after withdrawal at end of

year Gates was in Iraq to try to convince Maliki and political parties to accept stay behind force of US soldiers

(Musings On Iraq review Duty, Memoirs of a Secretary At War)

(Musings On Iraq review The United States And Iraq Since 1990: A Brief History with Documents)

2012 Sadr said that PM Maliki was becoming a dictator

(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 ISI released statement that it sent operative Jalwani to Syria to create Jabhat al-Nusra That group

was no longer and would be part of new ISIS

(Musings On Iraq review The Caliphate At War, Operational Realities and Innovations of the Islamic State)

2015 KDP released Haider Sesho Yazidi militia commander on promise that his men would follow

Peshmerga

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Iraq Dumps Economic Reform And Fiscal Responsibility With 2021 Budget

(Buratha News)

The combination of upcoming elections and rising oil prices led Iraq to pass the largest budget in its history with the largest projected deficit as well. The government has never been fiscally responsible in recent years and always expands the government when the energy market goes up.

This Day In Iraqi History - Apr 7

1916 Start of Battle of Bait Alsa and Sannaiyat between British and Ottomans

1918 UK artillery and attack drove rebels out of area outside of Najaf city

1941 UK Middle East cmdr Gen Wavell told War Office military intervention in Iraq not possible and

diplomacy should be used instead UK Mid East Cmdr Gen Wavell thought Regent of Iraq could be restored to power by strong statement and show of force by Royal Air Force

(Musings On Iraq review Persian Gulf Command, A History of the Second World War In Iran and Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq 1941, The Battles for Basra, Habbaniya, Fallujah and Baghdad)

(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)

1972 Soviet PM Kosygin inaugurated Russian company’s production at North Rumaila oil field

1980 Iran withdrew all its diplomatic personnel from Iraq

1980 Iran put military on full alert after accusing Iraq of repeated attacks upon its border area

(Musings On Iraq review The Longest War, The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict)

1988 Start of 3^rd Anfal campaign focused upon Germian, Sulaymaniya Civilians in area rounded up and

many executed

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s Anfal Campaign And The Destruction Of The Kurdish Opposition)

1991 Sec State Baker condemned Iraq crimes against its people but said US would not get involved

1991 US began humanitarian airdrops to Kurds

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

(Musings On Iraq review The United States And Iraq Since 1990: A Brief History with Documents)

1998 IAEA told UN Iraq not carrying out any prohibited nuclear activities at sites it had visited

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

2002 Blair and Bush met Blair pushed going to UN against Iraq Some claimed Blair okayed war with

Iraq at meeting Blair denied that

2002 Bush told TV network he’d decided Saddam must go

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

(Musings On Iraq review Wanting War: Why the Bush Administration Invaded Iraq)

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

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

(Musings On Iraq review The Bush Administrations and Saddam Hussein, Deciding on Conflict)

(Musings On Iraq review Plan of Attack: The Definitive Account Of The Decision To Invade Iraq)

2003 US 3^rd Inf Div conducted 2^nd Thunder Run into Baghdad Iraq’s Info Min Mohammed Sahaf denied

U.S. forces were in Baghdad

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

2003 US Marines entered east Baghdad which was empty of Iraqi forces

2003 US got intel Saddam in Mansour Baghdad Carried out air raid that killed 18 civilians

2003 British took Basra city

2003 Ayatollah Haeri named Moqtada al-Sadr his representative in Iraq

(Musings On Iraq A Divided Sadr Trend)

2003 Looting reported in Baghdad

(Musings On Iraq review The Fall Of Baghdad)

2003 NY Times reported 4 drums of possible nerve agents found near Karbala Story proved false

2003 Sec Def Rumsfeld opponents within military leaked details of Rumsfeld micromanaging invasion

plans to Seymour Hersh

2004 Mahdi Army seized control of Kut forcing Ukrainian troops to withdraw Ukrainians refused to

evacuate CPA civilians from city during retreat

(Musings On Iraq review Revolt On The Tigris, The Al-Sadr Uprising And The Governing Of Iraq)

2004 Mahdi Army attacked Polish patrols in Karbala and fought Spanish troops in Najaf

2004 Sadr claimed he was the military wing of Ayatollah Sistani

2004 Another marine unit arrived to take part in Op Vigilant Resolve 1^st Battle of Fallujah

(Musings On Iraq review The Battle for Fallujah, Occupation, Resistance and Stalemate in the War in Iraq)

2004 PM Blair called White House over his concern about attacks upon civilians during Fallujah Battle

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

2004 US intel memo said that Sunni areas were a lost cause Sunnis didn’t see themselves having role in

new Iraq US trying to create

(Musings On Iraq review Insurgency and Counter-Insurgency In Iraq)

2004 US report Iraq earned $10.1 bil by manipulating Oil for Food Program from 1997-2002

2004 Bremer and US cmdr in Iraq Gen Sanchez met with Iraqi Governing Council Hassani condemned

Battle of Fallujah Khufaji called for talks with Sadr Allawi dep Awadi said Sadr needed to be confronted Sumaidaie said had to stand firm

2005 Talabani sworn in as Iraq president and named Jaafari as new premier Ended interim govt under

PM Allawi

2006 3 suicide bombers hit Buratha mosque attempting to assassinate ISCI MP Saghir suspected of

running Badr death squads 80 killed

(Musings On Iraq Badr Organization A View Into Iraq’s Violent Past And Present)

(Musings On Iraq review Suicide Bombers In Iraq, The Strategy and Ideology of Martyrdom)

2006 Court papers showed Bush authorized leak of information on Iraq-Niger uranium story to support

administration

2006 Prosecutor claimed Cheney Chief of Staff Libby’s leaks to press were part of campaign to discredit

fmr Amb Wilson over Iraq-Niger story

(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)

2007 Islamic Army said it had tried working with ISI but failed Blamed ISI for killing anyone that didn’t

follow it

(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)

2008 Sadr said Mahdi Army would not disarm after demand by PM Maliki and threat to exclude him

from 2009 provincial elections Then said would consider it if Ayatollah Sistani and Iranian clerics suggested it

2008 Iran officially backed PM Maliki’s Charge of Knights Supported Mahdi Army during fighting and

then negotiated ceasefire

2009 Obama flew to Baghdad and met PM Maliki and Pres Talabani Said lots of political progress but

still issues in Iraq

2009 Report Schools falling apart across Iraq Wasit councilman said most money for schools stolen

by officials and contractors Principal in Baghdad said other principals kept money for themselves Education Min said it was Saddam’s fault

2010 Sadrist referendum on who movement wanted as new premier picked Jaafari after national vote

2012 Kurdish Alliance said committee put together to work out problems with PM Maliki

2012 Dep PM Shahristani complained about KRG oil contracts saying they were unrealistic

2013 Cabinet said it was going to amend Accountability and Justice Law to meet demands of protesters

2013 PM Maliki said early elections should be considered to solve political stalemate in country

2013 KRG PM Nechirvan Barzani said PM Maliki was violating constitution and consensus politics with

dispute over budget

2013 Report claimed soldiers in army brigade were told to vote for PM Maliki in elections

2014 PM Maliki told Shiite politicians he was turning to militias for security because frustrated with

ISF’s performance

2014 PM Maliki gave militias like Asaib Ahl Al-Haq and Kataib Hezbollah control of security in

Baghdad belts

(Musings On Iraq Asaib Ahl Al-Haq From A Breakaway Sadr Militia To Defenders Of Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq Instrument Of Iran’s Power In Iraq And Syria Kataib Hezbollah)

2014 Naqshibandi leader and son killed by ISIS in Hamrin, Diyala

(Musings On Iraq Precarious Relationship Between The Islamic State of Iraq And The Baathist Naqshibandi)

2015 Cabinet said Hashd part of ISF and under premier as commander in chief

2015 Sunni tribes blamed for some of the looting in Tikrit after city freed

2015 MP from Albu Ajeel tribe said looting and burning in Albu Ajeel and Dour were done out of

revenge for Camp Speicher massacre

2016 One committee set up to handle cabinet reform said most ruling parties rejected changes

2018 People started two days of sit in protests in central Basra over lack of services corruption and jobs

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Oil Market Continues To Recover Boosting Iraq’s Revenues

Iraq’s oil exports dipped slightly in March 2021, but prices continued to rise which meant revenues were up for the fifth month. This is important for the most petroleum dependent country in the world whose economy rises and falls with the energy market.

This Day In Iraqi History - Apr 6

 

1922 Fatwa said Saudi Wahabi Ikhwan were brigands and Shiites could fight them published in

Iraqi paper

1922 Shiite tribes mostly responded to fatwa Sunni ones thought Baghdad should deal with Ikhwan

1939 Abd al-Illah became Regent of Iraq to rule in place of infant King Ghazi Gained position with

backing of UK and PM Said

1941 British commander in Iraq asked for military reinforcements from Egypt but turned down

1941 Iraq banned British military from moving from Habaniya base Confiscated radios from British

Military Mission

(Musings On Iraq review Persian Gulf Command, A History of the Second World War In Iran and Iraq)

(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)

1948 Port of Basra protest against Anglo-Iraq Treaty

1963 Iraq Syria Egypt started talks about uniting three countries Nasser didn’t want to share power with

Baath so talks stalled

1968 Arif govt set up military mission in France Signed deal to buy 54 Mirage jets and 46

Alouette helicopters Was in response to defeat in 1967 Arab-Israeli War and inability to put down Kurdish revolt Iraqi Air Force cancelled deal complaining jets were too expensive and training would take too long

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

1972 Soviet PM Kosygin visited Baghdad to sign strategic agreement with Bakr govt

1979 Israeli agents sabotaged Osirak nuclear reactor while it was in France waiting to be shipped to Iraq

1980 Iraqi commandos fired rockets at Iranian oil field prelude to Iran-Iraq War

1984 Iran and Iraq announced end of 4^th round of war of cities Iran-Iraq War

1984 Report UK firms sold agents to Iraq to make mustard gas and sarin

(Musings On Iraq Origins Of Iraq’s WMD Programs)

1985 UN Sec Gen deCuellar announced he would go to Baghdad and Tehran to try to negotiate end to

Iran-Iraq War

1987 Iran Op Karbala 8 started in Fish Lake Iraqi defensive line in front of Basra city Only gained 1 mile

caused 2600 Iraqi casualties

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

(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)

1991 UNHCR est 750,000 Kurds fled to Iran and 280,000 to Turkey and 300,000 on Iraq-Turkey border

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

1991 Baghdad accepted UN resolution 687 that said Iraq had to recognize Kuwait sovereignty and

destroy WMD and missiles

1996 At conference in New York UN inspectors deducted that Iraq had biological weapons facility

at Hakam, Baghdad

(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 US 3^rd Inf Div attacked west Baghdad and seized bridges Iraqis counterattacked for next 60 hrs

2003 US marines joined US army in attacking east Baghdad

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

2003 British raid into Basra City led to overall attack to take city Looting began

2003 US raided Salman Pak Claimed found foreign fighters there proving Iraq was connected to

terrorism Thousands of foreign fighters had come to Iraq to defend against a western invasion Weren’t terrorists

2003 Tarqi Azziz said Saddam finally realized his end was near

2003 Pentagon told ORHA about replacements for its staff Asked when they would arrive Said hadn’t

informed some of them yet

(Musings On Iraq Special Inspector General For Iraq Reconstruction Hard Lessons Chapter 4 Staging in Kuwait)

2003 Pentagon flew Chalabi and his Free Iraqi Forces into Nasiriya Sec Def Rumsfeld wanted him flown

to Baghdad but Gen Franks said no

2004 CPA Order 71 was to decentralize power to local councils

2004 1/3 of Civil Defense Forces in Baghdad Iraqi police and Civil Defense Forces in Fallujah and police

across south all AWOL

2004 Marine reinforcements arrived for Op Vigilant Resolve in Fallujah US forces attacked center of

city

2004 Marines on way to Fallujah ambushed in Ramadi 12 killed and 25 wounded

(Musings On Iraq review The Battle for Fallujah, Occupation, Resistance and Stalemate in the War in Iraq)

2004 Mahdi Army attacked Coalition forces in Amara Nasiriya Kut Karbala Najaf Baghdad

(Musings On Iraq review Revolt On The Tigris, The Al-Sadr Uprising And The Governing Of Iraq)

2004 500 Japanese soldiers in Samawa Muthann told to halt work and retreat to camp out of fear of

attacks by Mahdi Army

2004 Based upon Gen Taguba’s report US army handed down 6 reprimands and 2 relief of duties over

Abu Ghraib prison scandal

2004 Deputy to Bremer told White House Coalition was winning against Mahdi Army and its defeat

would lead other militias in Iraq to disarm and join the ISF

2005 Talabani named president of Iraq, Mahdi and Yawar vice presidents in 1^st post-03 Iraqi govt

2006 Court documents showed that VP Cheney told aide to leak intelligence on Iraq trying to buy

uranium from Niger to press to discredit Fmr Amb Wilson

(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)

2007 Op Black Eagle US and Polish forces fought Mahdi Army in Diwaniya

2007 Report ISF claimed control of Ghaziliya and Amiriya in Baghdad but not true Ghaziliya surrounded

by ISF for a week Split between Sunni area run by insurgents that imposed Islamic law and Shiite area run by Mahdi Army Khadra also surrounded by ISF and split between Sunni-Shiite areas ISF didn’t allow young men into district during day At night insurgents had free reign Amiriya under ISI control ISF raided area and claimed it was cleared because arrested few Clashes along border of Amiriya and Abu Saifan run by militias

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

2008 PM Maliki said Mahdi Army needed to be disbanded if Sadrists wanted to run in 2009 provincial

elections

2008 PM Maliki deployed militias to checkpoints in Baghdad

2008 Green Zone and US base in south Baghdad hit by rockets by Mahdi Army Fighting continued in

Sadr City between Mahdi Army and US forces

(Musings On Iraq review Death of the Mehdi Army, The Rise, Fall, and Revival of Iraq’s Most Powerful Militia)

2008 Report US military believed that Iran had advisers in Basra helping Mahdi Army during Charge of

Knights

(Musings On Iraq Iran’s Policy Towards Iraq)

2008 69 sheikhs signed pact to support govt, rejected violence in effort by PM Maliki to

            build up patronage amongst tribes

(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 Fmr UnderSecDef Feith interviewed on 60 Min Said US invaded Iraq to prevent next terrorist

attack after 9/11 Claimed Saddam’s record showed he was going to attack the US in the future Denied US invaded because Iraq imminent threat with its WMD Said didn’t think US should have based war on WMD Claimed Def Sec Rumsfeld predicted some of the major problems that would happen in Iraq Admitted US didn’t have enough forces to secure Iraq after invasion Denied he wrote deBaathification plan Claimed Iraq would have been better off if US had given power to INC’s Chalabi after invasion Blamed State CIA and Gen Franks for problems in Iraq

2009 PM Maliki had police raid 1^st meeting of new Diyala council Had warrants for 6 members accused

of supporting insurgency US stopped arrests Came after Maliki’s State of Law not included in new provincial govt

(Musings On Iraq New And Old Provincial Councils in Diyala Embroiled In Controversy)

(Musings On Iraq Old And New Alliances Argue Over Control of Diyala Provincial Council)

(Musings On Iraq New Political Crackdown In Diyala)

2009 Report Gangs running child trafficking rings Police said 15 kids sold a day Said increased since

2005 Corrupt officials fill out paperwork for kids to leave country Many go to Europe and Mideast

2010 7 bombs in Baghdad destroyed 7 buildings and killed 35 over 100 wounded

2010 Dir of Central Organization for Statistics said 25% of Iraqis lived below poverty level

2011 Iraqi Assoc of Defending Journalists accused govt of cracking down on reporters trying to cover

protests

2011 Change Islamic Union and Islamic Group said they wanted a transitional govt in Kurdistan

2012 Proposed national conference to deal with protests and problems with PM Maliki didn’t happen

2012 ISF closed off Tahrir Sq to try to stop protests

2013 Suicide bomber attacked political rally for provincial vote in Baquba killed 22 wounded more than

50

(Musings On Iraq review Suicide Bombers In Iraq, The Strategy and Ideology of Martyrdom)

2013 Court issued arrest warrant for Finance Min Rafi Issawi on corruption

2014 2 ISIS leaders killed fighting Ansar al-Sunna in Kirkuk

2014 ISIS closed Fallujah Dam causing flooding

2015 MP said Hashd were looting Tikrit after its liberation

2015 PM Abadi said 152 houses and shops burned in Tikrit but didn’t say by who

2015 3 Yazidi activists fled Kurdistan due to death threats from Kurdish officials Accused KDP

2016 PM Abadi’s nominee for Finance and Planning Minister withdrew his name

2016 Ruling parties said they would submit 3 candidates for new ministers to undermine PM Abadi’s

candidates

2016 Supreme Council criticized PM Abadi for trying to determine new cabinet by himself

View the Iraq History Timelines