This Day In Iraqi History - Sep 18

 

1916 British leaders told troops to continue advance in Mesopotamia vs Ottomans after huge loss

at Kut One of biggest British defeats in WWI

1950 PM Said threatened to expel Jews from Iraq over Israel

1961 Iraqi Air Force bombed Barzan again while Zebaris attacked Barzani

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

(Musings On Iraq review Journey Among Brave Men, Travels in Kurdistan)

1980 Iran’s Foreign Minister rejected Iraq’s claim to Shatt al-Arab

1980 Saddam sent Tariq Aziz to Arab countries to argue Iraq’s case to back it against Iran

(Musings On Iraq review Iran-Iraq War Volume 1: The Battle for Khuzestan, September 1980-May 1982)

1980 Iraqi artillery hit Iranian city of Abadan

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

1980 2 Iranian F-5 Tiger IIs fired upon Iraqi troops along the Iran-Iraq border and were shot down by

Iraqi anti-aircraft fire

1980 2 Iraqi divisions seized border posts in Iran’s Khuzistan province

1980 Iraq’s generals made final battle plans for invasion of Iran and set 9/22/80 as invasion date

1985 Iranian Op Al Quds 5 in Kurdistan ended with Iranian forces largely pushed back after Iraqi

counteroffensive

(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 4: The Forgotten Fronts)

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

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

(Musings On Iraq review The Iran-Iraq War)

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

1990 Iraq Army Chief of Staff Gen Khazraji told Saddam Iraq would lose any war with US Saddam

dismissed warning

(Musings On Iraq review Desert Storm, Volume 1)

1994 UN Security Council reviewed sanctions Tariq Aziz said if UN agreed to UN Res 833 on Iraq-

Kuwait border oil embargo should end US said Iraq not fully complied with inspections No changes made

1995 Hussein Kamal interview with Time Said he defected to Jordan to help Iraq Said Iraq had been at war

too long since Iran-Iraq War Criticized Saddam for executions and arrests

1996 KDP attacked Kurdish displaced camp along Iranian border killing 11 wounding 30 during campaign

against PUK

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

2001 Richard Clarke’s counterterrorism office sent Natl Sec Adv Rice memo saying no Iraq-9/11 links

found

2001 DepDefSec Wolfowitz wrote Def Sec Rumsfeld that Iraq backed terrorists and might have been

behind 1993 World Trade Center bombing using conspiracy theorist Mylroie’s argument 

(Musings On Iraq Laurie Mylroie’s Convoluted Iraq-Terrorism Conspiracy Theory)

(Musings On Iraq Laurie Mylroie’s Iraq Conspiracy Theory Was Debunked By Captured Baath Documents)

(Musings On Iraq Iraq, 9/11 And The Bush Administration)

(Musings On Iraq From 9/11 To The Invasion of Iraq: Analysis of Bush Administration Decision Making)

(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 Next Attack, The Failure of the War on Terror and a Strategy for Getting it Right)

2001 Reuters reported 9/11 hijacker Atta met with Iraqi intelligence in Europe Story was false

2002 Def Sec Rumsfeld told House Iraq close to acquiring materials for a nuclear bomb Said

going to war important decision and why Bush had not decided on it yet Said war would not be costly and would not last more than 2 years Said US would not occupy Iraq

(Musings On Iraq How US Intelligence Created An Iraqi Nuclear Threat In 2002)

(Musings On Iraq Iraq One Of The Worst Intelligence Failures In US History)

(Musings On Iraq review Bush At War)

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

Tragedy)

(Musings On Iraq review What Happened, Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception)

(Musings On Iraq review The WMD Mirage, Iraq’s Decade of Deception and America’s False Premise for War)

2002 CIA Paris Station chief met with Lebanese journalist who said Iraq’s Foreign Min Sabri willing to

work with US Lebanese journalist told CIA Sabri said no WMD or nuke programs Station chief went to CIA HQ to tell about Iraq Sabri’s claims about WMD and nuke programs

2002 CIA’s Iraq Operations Group said Iraq Foreign Min Sabri’s claims WMD and nuke programs inactive

was disinformation

2003 Head weapons inspector Blix said he believed Iraq destroyed its WMD in 90s

(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 Report wave of kidnappings for ransom across Baghdad

2004 Zarqawi front group Jihad and Unification video aired on Al Jazeera saying it had kidnapped 2

Americans and a Briton in Baghdad Demanded release of Iraqi women prisoners

2005 Iraq draft constitution presented to UN Hussein Shahristani of United Iraqi Alliance read draft to

parliament without giving members opportunity to vote or debate it

(Musings On Iraq interview with constitutional scholar Zaid al-Ali on Iraq’s constitution)

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

(Musings On Iraq review The Struggle For Iraq’s Future, How Corruption, Incompetence and Sectarianism Have Undermined Democracy)

2005 UK General Brims reported 12 car bombs in Baghdad weekly casualties up 122% after Zarqawi

declared war on Shiites

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

(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)

2005 UK arrested 2 Sadrist clerics in Basra city for involvement in bombings Led to confrontation with

Mahdi Army

2006 US turned over central Salahaddin to Iraq’s 4^th Division Was second such handover to ISF

2007 Report Shiite religious parties in Basra city banned public parties selling music CDs in stores and

alcohol Criticized artists Put up signs telling women to cover themselves

2008 Iraqi army demanded Peshmerga withdraw from Jalawa Diyala after negating deal with Kurds to

allow them to remain in town Part of Maliki policy to pressure Kurds in disputed areas

(Musings On Iraq Cold War Between Baghdad and Kurds Turns Hot)

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

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq After America, Strongmen, Sectarians, Resistance)

2008 Report PM Maliki formed Tribal Support Councils in Babil Karbala Maysan Basra ISCI claimed

these were not about security but Maliki building support before 09 elections

(Musings On Iraq Argument For Maliki Being Iraq’s Next Strongman)

(Musings On Iraq Disputes Over Tribal Support Councils)

2009 Report Norway investigated insider trading involving KRG Natural Resource Min Hawrami

and DNO that had oil contract in KRG Oct 08 DNO sold 43 mil shares for $29.7 mil to Genel Energy with Hawrami acting as middleman

(Musings On Iraq Oil Scandal Hits Kurdistan)

2012 Cabinet approved new oil export-revenue sharing deal with KRG

2015 Protests in Baghdad Babil Karbala Najaf Qadisiyah Muthanna Dhi Qar Wasit Maysan Basra Diyala

over reforms

2018 Kataib Hezbollah threatened to overthrow next govt if it didn’t respect the sacrifices of the Hashd

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

View the Iraq History Timelines 

This Day In Iraqi History - Sep 17

 

1953 Mohammed al-Jamali became PM Cabinet included 7 Shiites most ever Presented reform

package which parliament rejected eventually bringing down his govt 1922-58 were 59 cabinets

(Musings On Iraq review The Chatham House Version and other Middle-Eastern Studies)

(Musings On Iraq review Iraqi Statesman, A portrait of Mohammed Fadhel Jamali)

1965 PM Razzaq attempted coup vs Col Arif discovered and had to flee Razzaq was mad at Arif for

not uniting Iraq with Egypt

1975 Iran and Iraq ratified border treaty between two

1980 Saddam called emergency session of parliament Announced 1975 Algiers Treaty on border and

Shatt al-Arab with Iran was voided Blamed Iran’s constant violations of Iraqi sovereignty for failure of 1975 treaty Said Shatt al-Arab needed to be Arab as it had been throughout history

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

1980 Saddam gave TV speech Said Iran violated 1975 Algiers Treaty was backing Kurds Refused to

return Iraqi territory Saddam then abrogated the 1949 Treaty of Good Relations and 1975 Algiers Treaty Also claimed sovereignty over Shatt al-Arab waterway

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq in Wartime, Soldiering, Martyrdom, and Remembrance)

1980 Iran refused Saddam’s demands over border and sent forces to Iraqi border Said US backing Iraq for a

            counterrevolution

(Musings On Iraq review Iran-Iraq War Volume 1: The Battle for Khuzestan, September 1980-May 1982)

1980 Heavy fighting broke out between Iraqi and Iranian forces in Shatt al-Arab

(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)

1995 SCIRI claimed it attacked 3 Iraqi army positions in Baghdad in September

1997 UN inspectors watched Iraqis moving files and burning documents while waiting for access to a WMD

site

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

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

(Musings On Iraq review Out Of The Ashes, The Resurrection of Saddam Hussein)

(Musings On Iraq review The Saddam Tapes)

1998 Italian paper claimed Iraq offered bin Laden safehaven if he was expelled from Afghanistan False story

1998 Talabani and Barzani met in Washington to announce power sharing deal in Kurdistan

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

2001 Iraq’s Foreign Minister Sabri said that Muslims and Arabs considered US a terrorist state

2001 Bush said he believed Iraq was involved in 9/11 to his national security staff

(Musings On Iraq Was Iraq An Imminent Threat To The West?)

(Musings On Iraq review Bush At War)

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

(Musings On Iraq review The Next Attack, The Failure of the War on Terror and a Strategy for Getting it Right)

(Musings On Iraq review The Endgame, The Inside Story of the Struggle for Iraq, from

George W. Bush to Barack Obama)

(Musings On Iraq review The One Percent Doctrine, Deep Inside America’s Pursuit Of Its Enemies Since 9/11)

(Musings On Iraq review To Start A War: How The Bush Administration Took America Into Iraq)

2001 Bush signed order for war in Afghanistan that also called for Pentagon to look into plans to

seize Iraq’s oil fields Bush told Def Sec Rumsfeld Iraq plans weren’t a priority like Afghanistan

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

Tragedy)

(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)

2001 Bush told Pentagon it needed to be ready to deal with Iraq if it acted against US interests

2001 Dep Sec of Def Wolfwotiz sent memos to Def Sec Rumsfeld advocating for attacking Iraq Said better

than 10% chance Iraq behind 9/11 Memo used Iraq conspiracy theorist Mylroie’s claim that Iraq behind 1993 World Trade Center bombing

(Musings On Iraq From 9/11 To The Invasion of Iraq: Analysis of Bush Administration Decision Making)

(Musings On Iraq Laurie Mylroie’s Convoluted Iraq-Terrorism Conspiracy Theory)

(Musings On Iraq Laurie Mylroie’s Iraq Conspiracy Theory Was Debunked By Captured Baath Documents)

(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)

2001 David Wurmser and Iraq conspiracy theorist Mylroie talked to media about possible Iraq role in 9/11

2001 Sen Allen told CNN US might think of regime change in Iraq

2002 National Security Strategy for Bush admin released Called for preemptive war to deal with rogue

states

(Musings On Iraq review America at the Crossroads, Democracy, Power, and the Neoconservative Legacy)

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

Tragedy)

2002 UnderSecDefense Feith aide told DepDefSec Wolfowitz Cheney chief of staff Libby DepNatlSecAdv

Hadley asked for chronology of 9/11 hijacker Atta’s travels after briefed by Feith’s staff that Atta met with Iraqi intel officer in Prague in 01 False story

2003 Bush said no evidence Iraq involved in 9/11 but Iraq had ties to Al Qaeda

(Musings On Iraq review What Happened, Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception)

2003 Saddam audio tape released on Al Arabiya called for US to withdraw from Iraq and to increase attacks

2004 British forces raided Sadrist headquarters in Basra city Found 15 tons of weapons and ammo leading

to temporary halt in Mahdi Army attacks

2004 Draft of Iraq Survey Group report said Saddam wanted to produce WMD but had no stocks or

programs Said only WMD Iraq had were poisons for assassinations by Iraqi intelligence

(Musings On Iraq Iraq One Of The Worst Intelligence Failures In US History)

2005 SAS arrested Mahdi Army commander in Basra Fartusi Led to retaliation by militia

(Musings On Iraq US Army History of Iraq War Vol 1- Chapter 18 – Defeated By Democracy, Winter 2005-2006)

2006 Anbar Salvation Council issued ultimatum for Al Qaeda in Iraq to leave Anbar

(Musings On Iraq Demise, But Not Death of Al Qaeda In Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq How A Change In Perceptions Led To The Anbar Awakening)

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

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

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

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

2006 Report Inter Min didn’t have political backing to purge police of militias US commander said 5-6 of

27 National Police battalions were sectarian and criminal US began reform of National Police giving each battalion an inspection and training Maliki govt stopped Iraqi-US inspections of Iraqi prisons No officials charged with prisoner abuse despite lots of evidence Interior had fired 1500 police since June 2006 Fingerprint campaign found 1,228 police and Inter Min workers had been convicted of violent crimes under Saddam

(Musings On Iraq interview with Jerry Burke police and Interior Min adviser on how Badr took over Interior Ministry)

(Musings On Iraq review The U.S. Army In The Iraq War: Volume 1, Invasion, Insurgency, Civil

War, 2003-2006)

2006 Report Pentagon tried to hire Republicans to staff CPA Hired many unqualified personnel Thomas

Foley in charge of privatizing state owned enterprises was a Republican donor who went to college with Bush Foley put Jay Hallen former real estate agent in charge of Iraq’s stock market Hallen tried to reform market that Iraqis didn’t want so change rejected

2007 Report Mahdi Army had 17,000 men in Basra Controlled hospitals police schools ports oil terminal

electricity Received food from Iran that it sold for a profit ISCI and Badr controlled customs police intelligence border crossings to Iran and Kuwait that it kept duties from Fadhila party controlled governorship force protection police PM Maliki appointed new Basra commander and division commander in bid for power Competition between parties increased with UK withdrawal

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

2008 ISCI accused PM Maliki of creating Tribal Support Councils to bolster his support

(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)

2018 Activist in Basra said that ISF were carrying out arbitrary arrests of demonstrators without warrants

2019 PM Abdul Mahdi issued Order 331 trying to re-organize Hashd Comm and take powers away from

deputy head of Comm Abu Muhandis Never implemented

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Review Fallujah Awakens, Marines, Sheikhs, and the Battle Against Al Qaeda

Ardolino, Bill, Fallujah Awakens, Marines, Sheikhs, and the Battle Against Al Qaeda, Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2013

 

Fallujah Awakens, Marines, Sheikhs, and the Battle Against Al Qaeda is Bill Ardolino’s tale of how the Marines forged an alliance with sheikhs from the Albu Issa tribe in the Fallujah peninsula south of the city to battle the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) in 2007. The area was a base for ISI and split the Albu Issa literally in half. A few sheikhs were tired of the insurgents taking over their territory and asked the Americans for help. The story is about how ISI alienated members of the Albu Issa while the Marines tried new tactics which turned around the security situation.

This Day In Iraqi History - Sep 16

 

1961 Iraqi military began offensive to put down Barzani revolt

(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)

1961 Iraqi Air Force bombed Barzan base of Barzani clan for Arkou tribe attacking army

1980 Revolutionary Command Council met to discuss border skirmishes with Iran Saddam said Iran

vulnerable and this was the time Iraq could seize control of Shatt al-Arab and disputed territories between the two Said that Iran would not fight Iraq because it was afraid Saddam told advisers that he would order invasion of Iran in coming days

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

1980 Ali Hassan al-Majid head of Mukhabarat only one of Saddam’s advisers to voice concerns about

going to war with Iran

(Musings On Iraq review Iran-Iraq War Volume 1: The Battle for Khuzestan, September 1980-May 1982)

1983 Iranian Revolutionary Guard and KDP attacked Chwart Kurdistan

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

1986 Iraq air strike on Iran’s Lavan oil terminal 

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

(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)

1988 Report Belgian and US companies sold chemicals to Iraq used in WMD program West Germany

helped build plants used for WMD During Iran-Iraq War Western govts tried to set up export restrictions to stop their companies selling agents to Iraq that could be used for WMD but too many were dual use to be effective

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

1990 Bush said sanctions on Iraq would end when it withdrew from Kuwait and released foreign

hostages

(Musings On Iraq review from storm to Freedom, America’s Long War with Iraq)

1990 UN Resolution 667 demanded Iraq release foreign nationals it detained in Kuwait

1991 Mohammed Zubaidi became Iraq’s premier

1995 PKK ended its campaign against KDP

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

1998 Wolfowitz testified to House Committee that US should help Iraqis overthrow Saddam

2001 Bush said unless Iraq connected to 9/11 it would be dealt with diplomatically not with force

(Musings On Iraq review Bush At War)

2001 Def Sec Rumsfeld told Dep Def Sec Wolfowitz and Undersec Def Feith to meet with Gen

Newbold and Gen Abizaid from Joint Chiefs about Iraq

2001 VP Cheney on Meet The Press No evidence Iraq was linked to 9/11 Said focus was on Al Qaeda

2001 Defense Policy Board’s Perle told CNN Iraq linked to Al Qaeda and Saddam backed terrorism and

states like Iraq had to be dealt with

(Musings On Iraq Iraq, 9/11 And The Bush Administration)

(Musings On Iraq From 9/11 To The Invasion of Iraq: Analysis of Bush Administration Decision Making)

(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 Next Attack, The Failure of the War on Terror and a Strategy for Getting it Right)

2001 Fmr CIA Dir Woolsey said stories of 9/11 hijacker Atta meeting with Iraqi intel showed Iraq needed

to be investigated False story

2002 Iraq told UN it would allow new weapons inspections with no conditions

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

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

2002 VP Chief of Staff Libby and DepNatlSecAdv Hadley briefed by Pentagon group on Iraq-Al Qaeda

connections Claimed over 2 dozen high level Iraq-Al Qaeda meetings for more than a decade Claimed Iraq played role in 9/11 Claimed 1 hijacker given money by Iraq Hijacker Atta met twice with Iraqi intelligence False story

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

Tragedy)

2002 New draft of UK dossier on Iraq said it had recently produced WMD but no evidence

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

2003 Def Sec Rumsfeld said he believed US intelligence that Iraq had WMD

(Musings On Iraq Iraq One Of The Worst Intelligence Failures In US History)

(Musings On Iraq How The Administration Reversed Itself On Finding Iraq’s WMD)

(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 Def Sec Rumsfeld said no evidence Iraq involved with 9/11

2003 Def Sec Rumsfeld ordered US troops in Iraq to be cut from 125,000 to under 100,000 by March 2004

2003 NatlSecAdv Rice said one reason US invaded Iraq was because Saddam was from Middle East where

9/11 attacks came from

2003 Senior Iraqi scientist said WMD programs dismantled by UN inspectors in 90s

2003 Bremer told CENTCOM cmdr Gen Abizaid and Sec Def Rumsfeld would take at least a year to build

up police and not to believe numbers of police as sign of success

(Musings On Iraq interview with Col Ted Spain on how US struggled to establish law and order in post-invasion Iraq)  

(Musings On Iraq interview with Jerry Burke police and Interior Min adviser on how US failed to develop the Iraqi police)

(Musings On Iraq US Army History Of Iraq War Vol 1- Chapter 8 – Muddling Through August-October 2003)

2004 UN Sec Gen Annan told BBC that US invasion of Iraq was illegal

2004 July Natl Intel Est on Iraq leaked to press Best case Iraq would remain unstable Worse Iraq would

break out into civil war

2004 US launched Op Hurricane to root out Zarqawi group from Ramadi

2006 Report US officials said they were impatient with Maliki govt Needed to take action on suppressing

sectarian violence and moving towards reconciliation

2007 Blackwater guards fired at car in west Baghdad killing 17 civilians and wounding 20

2007 Report US tried to expand sahwa to southern Shiite tribes to counter militias

2008 Pres Barzani told US Amb Crocker that PM Maliki was beginning to act like a dictator

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq After America, Strongmen, Sectarians, Resistance)

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

(Musings On Iraq Argument For Maliki Being Iraq’s Next Strongman)

2008 Gen Petraeus said ISF were ready to take on security throughout country

2008 Report 2 Sahwa leaders in Dora Baghdad arrested by govt as part of PM Maliki’s crackdown on

Sahwa while deadline to integrate them neared Sheikh said he felt US had betrayed them

2008 Syria announced it would be sending ambassador to Iraq 1^st time since 2003 one appointed

2008 Report Iraqi army beating squatters to force them out of homes in Baghdad 600 families removed

from buildings Part of PM Maliki’s plan to remove squatters to encourage displaced and refugees to return

2009 US closed Camp Bucca prison which had served as recruiting ground for insurgents

2017 Akashat in central west Anbar along Syrian border freed from IS

2017 State of emergency declared in Kirkuk province ahead of KRG independence referendum

(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)

2017 MPs filed petition to dismiss Kirkuk council over KRG independence referendum

2017 PM Abadi said that Iraqi forces that carried out abuses during Mosul battle had been held

accountable Nothing actually happened

2018 Protests at West Qurna 1 oil field South Gas Company for jobs and services and protest for Basra

governor in Basra city

2018 Basra activist claimed Hashd working with ISF to detain protesters without warrants

2018 Muthanna Human Rights Office said that ISF issued warrants for activist

 

View the Iraq History Timelines 

U.S. Army History Of Iraq War Vol 1 - Chapter 18 – Defeated By Democracy, Winter 2005-2006

The end of 2005 brought continued failure for the U.S. effort in Iraq which the American military was ironically completely unaware of. The commanding General George Casey actually thought his strategy was working and the U.S. could start withdrawing its troops soon. He couldn’t have been more wrong. The country was moving towards civil war as shown by not only violence, but the elections and constitutional drafting process. The U.S. was also ignoring Iran’s interference and England’s failure in Basra. It would take another year for the Americans to realize that things had gone tragically wrong in Iraq.

This Day In Iraqi History - Sep 15

 

1950 Nuri al-Said became PM 6^th time 1922-58 were 59 cabinets

(Musings On Iraq interview with Historian Phebe Marr comparing PM Said with PM Maliki)

(Musings On Iraq interview with Western Kentucky’s Prof Romero on the Qasim govt)

(Musings On Iraq review ‘Independent Iraq’ The Monarchy & British Influence, 1941-1958)

(Musings On Iraq review The Chatham House Version and other Middle-Eastern Studies)

1965 PM Razzaq planed for Iraqi air force planes to intercept Pres Arif while he was flying

to Morocco for Arab League Summit and overthrow govt

1980 Iran accused Iraq of attempting to shoot down helicopter with Iranian Pres Bani Sadr and Premier

Rajai on it

1980 Iranian F-14 Tomcat shot down an Iraqi MiG

1981 Reagan administration discussed covert arms deal with Iraq to get a Russian T-72 tank in return Iraq

rejected idea

1987 Saddam told UN delegation he would accept ceasefire if UN punished Iran

(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)

1989 Iraq arrested UK Observer reporter Bazoft for reporting on missile program

Led to condemnation in UK media Saddam believed West plotting against Iraq and Bazoft’s arrest would be sign to them to leave Iraq alone

1992 PUK and KDP agreed to merge their Peshmerga under command of Kurdish parliament

1995 PUK and KDP broke off peace talks brokered by US to end civil war

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

1997 Inspectors obstructed during trip to Sarabadi Republican Guard base

2001 Bush held meeting at Camp David to determine response to 9/11 Iraq brought up several times

Pentagon paper for Camp David said 3 priorities in war on terror: Al Qaeda, Taliban, Iraq Joint Chiefs head Gen Shelton went over Afghanistan war plans and Iraq ones if necessary National Security Adviser Rice said US military should think about military action in other places in case Afghanistan went bad Opened up opportunity to bring up Iraq Dep Def Sec Wolfowitz was afraid Afghanistan would be a quagmire Said Iraq would be easy in comparison and 10-50% chance Iraq behind 9/11 Said US should go after Iraq if serious about war on terror CIA Counterterror Chief Black said Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 Wolfowitz said Iraq sent intel agents to Sudan and made alliance with bin Laden in 90s Black said he was Sudan station chief at time Said Iraq agents and bin Laden met but no alliance Bush said Iraq would be dealt with later Sec State Powell said Wolfowitz had no proof Iraq involved in 9/11 and was just using it for his Iraq agenda During break Wolfowitz brought up Iraq again with Bush After break Wolfowitz said that if US backed rebels in the south along with Kurds could seize all of Iraq’s oil Def Sec Rumsfeld asked if it was time to attack Iraq Powell objected saying it would cost international support Powell said US had to do Afghanistan first and would make Iraq easier if wanted to deal with it later Bush didn’t want to do more than one war at a time Later Wolfowitz brought up Iraq again Before lunch Bush said he’d heard enough about Iraq After lunch Bush asked each adviser for their ideas Powell said if US wanted to go after other states they would still be there after Afghanistan Powell said he was against attacking Iraq because US would lose coalition and confuse war on terror Rumsfeld said if hitting Iraq would cost coalition US needed a new coalition Chief of Staff Card said US should build up troops in Persian Gulf that could be used vs Iraq but then said case against Iraq had not been made Cheney said if US attacked Iraq would lose its good guy image in war on terror Did say Iraq would be dealt with later on CIA Director Tenet said Afghanistan should be focus Voted on issue with 4-0 against going after Iraq with Rumsfeld abstaining

(Musings On Iraq review Bush At War)

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

(Musings On Iraq review The Next Attack, The Failure of the War on Terror and a Strategy for Getting it Right)

(Musings On Iraq review The One Percent Doctrine, Deep Inside America’s Pursuit Of Its Enemies Since 9/11)

2001 Bush said he thought Iraq involved in 9/11 but told Rice it would be dealt with later

(Musings On Iraq Iraq, 9/11 And The Bush Administration)

(Musings On Iraq From 9/11 To The Invasion of Iraq: Analysis of Bush Administration Decision Making)

(Musings On Iraq Was Iraq An Imminent Threat To The West?)

(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 To Start A War: How The Bush Administration Took America Into Iraq)

2001 UK Embassy in US warned that 9/11 would mean those in Bush admin that wanted regime change

would push their agenda more

(Musings On Iraq Chilcot Report Sec 3.1 Development of UK Strategy and Options on Iraq, 9/11 to Early January 2002)

2004 Around 1000 protested in Najaf demanding that Sadr and his aides leave the city

2004 Gen Chiarelli said that US would clear militias from Sadr City Didn’t happen

2006 US and Maliki govt announced new plan to cut weapons and bombs entering Baghdad with

checkpoints at entrances and trench around city

2006 Bush speech Said he was listening to his generals who said things were working in Iraq Privately Bush

had decided Iraq strategy not working and wanted new one

(Musings On Iraq Did the US Ever Have A Strategy To Win In Iraq Before the Surge?)

(Musings On Iraq interview with Prof Mansoor on the Surge)

(Musings On Iraq review The War Within, A Secret White House History 2006-2008)

2006 Report US Army battalion expelled Special Forces unit working with Albu Nimr tribe in Hit Anbar

because felt Special Forces were not sharing information on their activities Shut down tribal outreach and recruitment into ISF

2006 Last 5 days 142 bodies found executed in Iraq

2006 Report Sept 02 Iraq’s Foreign Min Sabri told CIA Iraq had no ties to al Qaeda Info was not given to

White House Sabri said that Iraq was working on nuclear and WMD programs and that was given to White House

2007 ISI leader Abu Omar al-Baghdadi announced Ramadan offensive named after Zarqawi

2007 Sadrists withdrew from United Iraqi Alliance Claimed shut out of decision making and Maliki govt

didn’t investigate Mahdi Army-Badr clash in Karbala in Aug 07

(Musings On Iraq A Divided Sadr Trend)

2007 GAO said Iraq met 3 partially met 4 not met 11 of 18 total benchmarks set by Congress for progress

during Surge

2008 Latest female suicide bombing as woman killing 22 and wounded 34 in Diyala

(Musings On Iraq The Rise of Female Suicide Bombers0

(Musings On Iraq Motivations Behind Female Suicide Bombers)

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

2015 Cabinet voted on law to cancel Vice Presidents

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

2018 Parliament elected Mohammed al-Halbusi former Anbar governor Speaker His al-Hal party was

accused of cheating in May elections and were reports he used bribes to attain the position

(Musings On Iraq Speaker Of Iraq’s Parliament Selected Amongst Controversy)

2018 Pro-Iran Hashd held demonstration in Basra City

2019 Health Min Alwan resigned over corruption and govt officials spreading misinformation

View the Iraq History Timelines 

U.S. Army History of Iraq War Vol 1 - Chapter 17 Innovation In The Face Of War, Summer-Fall 2005

During the summer of 2005 the United States was still struggling in Iraq. New commander General George Casey wanted to change tactics but didn’t listen to experts while the rebuilding of the new Iraqi Security Forces was running into major issues including sectarianism and corruption. On the other hand, some American units were creating successful tactics on a local level but they weren’t sustainable. Finally, more splits were happening between Al Qaeda in Iraq and tribes in western Anbar. The U.S. failed to exploit this development because the Iraqi government was opposed to any aid going to Sunnis.