This Day In Iraqi History - May 23 CPA disbanded Iraq’s military

 

1919 Persian Kurds under orders of Barzinji took Sulaymaniya town Barzinji then declared himself

ruler of all Kurdistan

Review Anthony Cordesman, and Ahmed Hashim, Iraq Sanctions and Beyond, Westview Press, 1997

  

Anthony Cordesman has been one of the longest tenured Iraq analysts in the United Sates. His Iraq Sanctions and Beyond with Ahmed Hashim is a perfect example of his thorough and detailed work. Written at the end of the 1990s it attempted to break down the major political, economic and military aspects of Iraq as a backgrounder to American policy makers. The two authors represented the conventional wisdom during this period that Saddam Hussein remained a threat to the Middle East but that the policy of containment and especially sanctions was faltering requiring adjustments.

This Day In Iraqi History - May 22 Patriotic Union of Kurdistan formed

 

1941 Iraq attempt to recapture Fallujah failed

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s First Battle Of Fallujah 1941)

(Musings On Iraq interview World War II In Iraq and Syria Interview With Case Western’s Prof Broich)

This Day In Iraqi History - May 21 Treaty of Arzurum set line between Ottoman and Persian empires with Iraq as border area

 

1847 Treaty of Arzurum tried to set border between Ottoman Empire and Persia Gave

Sulaymaniya to Ottomans Shatt al-Arab to Persia Set up commission to demarcate border between Ottomans and Persia but never finished

(Musings On Iraq review An Analysis of Hanna Batatu’s The Old Social Classes and the Revolutionary Movements of Iraq)

Iraq’s Pro-Iran Resistance Continue Attacks Upon Neighbors

  

New Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has promised to bring all weapons under state control but the pro-Iran Resistance is not only being defiant but threatening Iraq’s relations with its neighbors.

This Day In Iraqi History - May 20 Bush said he opposed lifting sanctions on Iraq as long as Saddam in power

 

1917 Sharif Hussein of Nijaz agreed to UK control of Baghdad vilayet after WWI

Iraq’s Financial Woes Continue Due To Iran War And Trump Administration

  

A combination of foreign events is undermining Iraq’s fragile economy. On the one hand the Strait of Hormuz Iraq’s main oil export route remains closed cutting off the country’s main source of revenue. On the other hand, the money Baghdad is making from petroleum is being held hostage by the Trump administration that wants the new Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi to crackdown upon the pro-Iran Resistance. Together this is driving the government towards insolvency.