This Day In Iraqi History - Feb 21

1922 UK Sec of War Evans told Foreign Office it should back King Faisal because that would allow

UK to exit Iraq and escape expenses of running country

(Musings On Iraq book review Supremacy And Oil, Iraq, Turkey, and the Anglo-American World Order, 1918-1930)

1984 Iranian Op Al Fajr 6 began Aimed at taking Ali al-Gharbi 15 miles into Iraq

1984 Iraq warned that it could use chemical weapons against next Iranian offensive

1986 Iraq counterattack to retake Fao began on 3 fronts Iraq used poison gas but bad weather dissipated

effects

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

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

(Musings On Iraq interview with author Tom Cooper on Iran-Iraq War)

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

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

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

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

1991 Foreign Minister Aziz went to Moscow Told Gorbachev Iraq wouldn't accept UN resolution to

recognize Kuwait independence and pay reparations

1991 Russia announced proposal for Iraq withdrawal from Kuwait in return for lifting of sanctions US

rejected offer

1999 Govt killed 20 protesting assassination of Ayatollah Sadiq al-Sadr by Saddam and arrested

            250 across Iraq In total 3,000 followers would be arrested 450 executed

(Musings On Iraq interview with Univ of Haifa’s Prof Baram on legacy of Ayatollah Sadiq al-Sadr)

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq Between Occupations, Perspectives from 1920 to the Present)

2002 Fmr Amb Joseph Wilson left for Niger to investigate Iraq buying uranium from it

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

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

2003 ORHA staff met in DC to have run through their Iraq postwar plans

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

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

Tragedy)

2003 PM Blair met Bush at Camp David to reaffirm their alliance to remove Saddam

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

2004 Report US did not brief UN inspectors on 21 of 105 WMD sites in Iraq US claimed it gave info on all

sites

2004 UN Secretary General Annan said UN was ready to assist Iraq with elections but couldn’t happen

before end of June 2004

2006 PBS Frontline show “The Insurgency” said Iraqi insurgency expanded and Islamists replaced former

regime members as leaders

2007 PM Blair announced England would begin withdrawing 1,500 troops from Basra

2007 Report British lost politically and militarily in Basra by 2005 when Shiite religious parties won

provincial election and took control of security forces and economy

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

2007 Australia said it would keep its 1,400 soldiers in Iraq

2008 Mahdi Army fought army unit controlled by Supreme Council in Baquba Diyala

2008 In Op Sun 800 Turkish troops moved 10 mil into Kurdistan to attack PKK Also moved out of base

inside KRG and stopped by Peshmerga who surrounded camp

2011 Group of men attacked protesters in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square while police looked on

2015 National Alliance MPs complained that Abadi didn’t consult with them about his reforms

2015 Sadrists said Abadi missed great chance to reform country Sadrists had been PM Abadi’s main

supporters

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

View the Iraq History Timelines

Review The Unraveling, High Hopes And Missed Opportunity In Iraq

Sky, Emma, The Unraveling, High Hopes And Missed Opportunity In Iraq, New York: Public Affairs, 2015

The Unraveling, High Hopes And Missed Opportunity In Iraq is the story of Emma Sky’s time serving in Iraq. Sky was a British activist who answered a call from London in 2003 for people to run postwar Iraq. She ended up being the governor for Kirkuk under the Coalition Provisional Authority. Later she returned to be the adviser to General Ray Odierno during the Surge in 2007, and then she went back a third time to be help Odierno again during the American military withdrawal. Her story is about the struggles of the early U.S. occupation of Iraq, then the success of the Surge, which was then undone when the U.S. pulled out.

This Day In Iraqi History - Feb 20

1940 Gen Umari Mosul garrison commander attempted coup rather than be forced to resign

by Regent Put down by Golden Square officers

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

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

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

1969 Bakr govt executed opponents in central Baghdad

1985 US and Soviet officials met to discuss ways to end Iran-Iraq War Nothing came of it

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

(Musings On Iraq interview with author Tom Cooper on Iran-Iraq War)

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

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

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

1991 US 1^st Cav Div launched large attack into Iraq Engaged 7 Iraqi divisions to deceive Iraqis on where

invasion would come from

1995 KDP and PUK resumed fighting in Rawandaz ending ceasefire

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

1996 Hussein Kamal and brother Saddam Kamal Saddam’s sons in laws accepted pardon and returned to

Iraq Were later killed

1998 UN Sec Gen Annan met with Saddam to try to restart UN weapons inspections

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

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

(Musings On Iraq article Charles Duelfer’s Account Of The End Of The 1990s U.N. Inspections)

1998 UN report said Iraq’s electricity situation was in dire straights

1998 UN Res 1153 increased Iraq’s exports from $2 bil in oil each 6 months to $5.2 bil and expanded

imports from food and medicine to infrastructure needs

1999 Supreme Council accused govt of killing Ayatollah Mohammed Sadiq al-Sadr

(Musings On Iraq interview with Univ of Haifa’s Prof Baram on legacy of Ayatollah Sadiq al-Sadr)

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq Between Occupations, Perspectives from 1920 to the Present)

2002 Secret CIA team entered Kurdistan to prepare for ops inside Iraq called Northern Iraq Liaison

Elements

2002 CIA gave fmr Amb Johseph Wilson talking points for his trip to Niger to investigate Iraq-Niger

uranium deal

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

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

2002 UK Joint Intel Comm chief Scarlett briefed For Sec Cook on Iraq’s WMD Cook thought Iraq didn’t

have capability for large scale WMD attack

2003 Chief UN Inspector Blix told PM Blair intelligence he’d gotten wasn’t great and maybe Iraq didn’t

have much WMD

2003 UN sources told press US intel on Iraq WMD was not turning up anything

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

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

2003 Report interviews with Iraqi scientists by inspectors had not turned up any evidence of a nuclear

program

(Musings On Iraq article on how poor US intel work led to claim Iraq rebuilt its nuclear weapons program)

2003 Pew/Council on Foreign Relations poll found 57% of Americans believed Saddam involved in 9/11

2004 Report CPA dropping caucus plan to elect Iraqi provisional govt and working with UN for

alternative Iraqi Governing Council wanted to expand membership from 25 to 125 and become new govt

2007 British turned over army base in Basra to Iraqi 10^th Division as part of withdrawal from province

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

2007 Report Officials claimed 80% drop in violence in Baghdad at start of Surge US focusing upon Dora

South Baghdad Sadr told Mahdi Army to stand down

2007 Report Sadrist mosques posted lists of Mahdi Army fighters expelled Sadr was trying to purge and

            control militia

2008 After Sadrist members were arrested Mahdi Army started fighting Iraqi army in Basra In Diwaniya

Sadrists accused ISCI controlled police of blowing up 4 houses

2012 Saudi Arabia named its Jordan Ambassador as non-resident ambassador to Iraq as relations were

slowly improving

2013 Iraq signed deal to build natural gas pipeline from Iran across Iraq to Syria

2016 PM Abadi said financial crisis meant reforms needed Called for end of quota system in govt

(Musings On Iraq interview with Reidar Visser on PM Abadi’s reform program)

2016 Sadr created committee to nominate technocrats for Abadi’s new cabinet

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

2018 Report some of the 9 Abrams tanks pro-Iran Hashd units got came from the Iraqi army rest were

captured from IS

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

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Review The United States And Iraq Since 1990, A Brief History With Documents

Brigham, Robert, The United States And Iraq Since 1990, A Brief History With Documents, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell, 2014

The United States And Iraq Since 1990 by Robert Brigham was written as a short college textbook covering America’s long experience with Iraq. It covers four broad periods starting with the Bush administration and the Gulf War, then the Clinton administration, the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and finally the American occupation. After each chapter there are a few primary source documents with questions about them. The book provides a good introduction to America’s Iraq policy, however there are some issues in the second half.

This Day In Iraqi History - Feb 19

1939 King Ghazi summoned army chief of staff Fawzi and ordered invasion of Kuwait PM Said

reversed order

1949 PM Said said Jews had been mistreated in Iraq and warned that things could get worse for them due

to Israel

1963 New Arif govt started talks with Mustafa Barzani and KDP to end Kurdish rebellion

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

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

1986 Iraq counterattack to retake Fao Peninsula called off

1986 US condemned Iraq’s use of chemical weapons against Iran in Fao Peninsula in Basra

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

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

1987 Iranian Rev Guard broke through Iraqi defenses Now 5 miles from Basra city

(Musings On Iraq interview with Naval Postgraduate School’s Ostovar on history of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard)

(Musings On Iraq book review Vanguard of the Imam, Religion, Politics, and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard)

1987 NSC official said US attempted to assist Iraq in Iran-Iraq War without providing it with arms

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

(Musings On Iraq interview with author Tom Cooper on Iran-Iraq War)

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

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

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

1990 Saddam demanded that US warships leave the Persian Gulf

1991 US 1^st Cav division launched probing attack into Kuwait to fool Iraq about where real offensive

would begin 

1995 Saddam representatives met with bin Laden in Sudan who asked for broadcast of jihadist lectured

and asked for joint ops against Saudis Meeting confirmed in Iraqi intel report Only confirmed meeting between two sides

1996 Saddam’s son-in-law Hussein Kamal sent letter to Iraq asking about returning to country after

defected to Jordan

1998 PM Blair said UN weapons inspections had to continue or action would be taken against Iraq

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

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

(Musings On Iraq Chilcot Report Sec 1.1 UK Iraq Strategy 1990 To 2000)

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

1998 Comm for Peace and Security in the Gulf publishes letter to Clinton saying US should overthrow

Saddam

1998 Report Al Qaeda operative was to travel to Iraq to talk with govt False story

1999 Followers of Ayatollah Sadr met in Saddam City after his assassination by govt Fired upon by army

80 killed Led to more protests Sadrists took over Nasiriya

(Musings On Iraq interview with Univ of Haifa’s Prof Baram on legacy of Ayatollah Sadiq al-Sadr)

2002 CIA met with fmr Amb Joseph Wilson to ask if he would go to Niger to investigate alleged Iraq

yellowcake deal 

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

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

2003 ORHA head Garner briefed Natl Sec Adv Rice to use Iraqi army and police to help rebuilding Iraq

after war

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

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

Tragedy)

2004 UN endorsed CPA’s timetable for transferring power back to Iraqis in June 2004

2004 CPA had to abandon idea of unelected caucuses choosing interim govt to write new Iraq

constitution

2007 VP Hashemi told Al Jazeera militia leaders told about Surge plan beforehand so they could avoid it

2007 2 suicide car bombs hit Awakening head Sheikh Abu Risha’s compound Ramadi district    

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Musings On Iraq book review The Sheriff of Ramadi, Nvy SEALS and the Winning of Anbar)

2008 1^st day of trial of Sadrist fmr Dep Health Min Zamili and ministry security chief Gen Shammari

accused of killing and kidnapping Sunnis in hospitals 7 of 9 witnesses threatened Judge in case accused of agreeing to acquit 2 before trial

2009 Provincial Election results announced PM Maliki’s State of Law won in 9 of 14 provinces

(Musings On Iraq article on 09 provincial election results)

2011 Sulaymaniya protesters went to KDP headquarters to protest shooting of demonstrators on Feb 17

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

2017 Attack on West Mosul began by Iraqi forces

(Musings On Iraq Review They Will Have to Die Now: Mosul and the Fall of the Caliphate)

(Musings On Iraq Review Shatter the Nations, ISIS and the War for the Caliphate)

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Poverty Rate In Iraq Down But Still Higher Than Pre-War Level

Iraq’s Planning Ministry announced that poverty had declined over the last two years, but it was still above the level seen before the 2014 war against the Islamic State. There were also huge variances in the percentage of people below the poverty line depending upon the province they lived in.

This Day In Iraqi History - Feb 18

1940 PM Said resigned over growing problems with pan-Arabist Golden Square officers Said

wanted Gaylani to become PM and he would become Foreign Minister to maintain pro-British policies Golden Square objected to Gaylani govt because it would include Said and Gen Hashemi Went to Regent calling for their exclusion from new govt Regent disagreed with Golden Square officers over new govt and made Gen Umari Mosul garrison commander retire as a result

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

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

1984 UN negotiated deal for Iran and Iraq to stop attacking civilian areas Didn’t last

1986 Iraqi high command finally accepted Fao main goal of Iranian offensive after falling for Tehran’s

deception and believing it wasn’t

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

(Musings On Iraq interview with author Tom Cooper on Iran-Iraq War)

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

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

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

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

1991 Tariq Aziz went to Moscow and accepted Soviets unconditional withdrawal plan from Kuwait Then

demanded end to all UN sanctions and resolutions

1999 Ayatollah Mohammed Sadiq al-Sadr assassinated by Saddam

(Musings On Iraq interview with Univ of Haifa’s Prof Amatzia Baram on the legacy of Ayatollah Sadiq al-Sadr)

1999 Fmr CIA counterterrorism officer Cannistraro said Iraqis met bin Laden in Dec 98 False story

2002 US Embassy in Niger said new details on Iraq-Niger uranium deal meant a new look into story was

needed

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

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

2005 Al Qaeda in Iraq suicide bombers hit Shiite pilgrims in Kadhimiya

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

2007 PM Blair announced plants to cut British troop strength in Iraq from 7000 to 4000

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

2007 US forces began campaign to clear Ramadi block by block of insurgents

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

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

(Musings On Iraq book review The Sheriff of Ramadi, Nvy SEALS and the Winning of Anbar)

2007 1^st living standards study since 03 Found 1/3 of Iraqis living below poverty level 40% lacked good

sanitation 50% lacked adequate water supplies Said free market reforms that cut subsides were lowering living standards for middle and working class families Said service projects should take precedent over reforms

2007 Report ISI targeting US helicopters Shot down 7 in 3 weeks Set up ambushes for US troops looking

to rescue crews

2008 Report Kurdish police arrested activists trying to organize people to demand better services in

KRG

2008 United Iraqi Alliance and Islamic Party made deal to end protests in Diyala against provincial

police chief accused of being sectarian and attacking Sunnis

2009 Pres Talabani met with PUK officials like Kosrat Rasul and Barham Salah who wanted reforms

within party or were threatening to leave

(Musings On Iraq article on splits within PUK)

View the Iraq History Timelines