This Day In Iraqi History - Oct 18

1920 Najaf surrendered to British in 1920 Revolt

(Musings On Iraq book review of Reclaiming Iraq, The 1920 Revolution and the Founding of the Modern State)

1928 Shiite sheikhs issued statement about conscription saying only the Shiites would be drafted as Kurds

and western tribes would never allow it meaning Shiites would make all the sacrifices

1940 Ger Amb to Turkey told Fin Min Shawkat Germany supported Arabs but gave no specific

promises or support

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

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

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

(Musings On Iraq book review Iraq And Syria 1941, The Politics and Strategy of the Second World War)

1980 Pres Carter called on Iraq to withdraw from Iran Carter was trying to get US hostages held by Tehran

released

1980 Iraqi forces attempted to attack Abadan from behind but failed Iranian counterattack in Andimeshk

forced Iraqi retreat

1984 Iranian Op Al Fajr 7 began to recapture Mehran Iran Discovered by Iraqi intelligence

(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)

1997 PUK and KDP agreed to US brokered ceasefire in civil war Clashes continued

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

2001 2^nd CIA report on story that Iraq tried to buy uranium from Niger Said Iraq didn’t have

facilities to process uranium

(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)

2001 Wall St Journal OpEd by ex-CIA Dir Woolsey said Iraq behind 9/11

2002 Sec Def Rumsfeld told Under Sec of Def Feith to create postwar planning office for Iraq Cancelled few

days later Cancellation came from White House that didn’t want postwar planning because could derail invasion

(Musings On Iraq article on Part I Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Hard Lessons Planning for Postwar Iraq September 2001 to May 2003)

(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)

2006 ISI held march in Ramadi to declare its Islamic state and mark its new name

2006 CENTCOM briefing said Iraq heading towards chaos Increased sectarian violence despite U.S.

security plan

2011 Exxon signed oil and gas deal with KRG marking 1^st major energy company to enter region

(Musings On Iraq article on Exxon-KRG deal)

2017 KRG Election Comm said it stopped preparations for presidential and parliamentary elections

because no candidates

(Musings On Iraq In Face Of Referendum Fallout Kurdish Ruling Parties Decide To Hold Onto Power)

2017 UN warned Election Comm that choosing electronic voting system would undermine trust in

voting

2018 Out going Oil Minister Luabi transferred 9 state oil companies to new Iraq National Oil Company that

he headed PM Designate Mahdi warned that his govt would cancel any orders it felt illegal

(Musings On Iraq article on transferring state oil companies to Iraq National Oil Company)

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Review Iraq in Wartime, Soldiering, Martyrdom, and Remembrance

Review Khoury, Dina Rizk, Iraq in Wartime, Soldiering, Martyrdom, and Remembrance, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013

Dina Rizk Khoury’s goal in Iraq in Wartime, Soldiering, Martyrdom, and Remembrance was to analyze how the Baath Party adapted its rule during two wars, the Iran-Iraq War and Gulf War, and the 1991 uprising. Her main resource was the Baath Party files that were taken out of Iraq after the 2003 invasion and sent to the United States, which currently reside at Stanford University. Khoury’s thesis is in line with other recent books on the Baath that it greatly expanded its role, and created a series of rewards and punishments to control the population during this period of extended conflict.

This Day In Iraqi History - Oct 17

1909 Mosul representatives to new Ottoman Assembly left for Istanbul Was part of Young Turks’

reforms

1920 Kufa fell to British during 1920 Revolt Led to surrender of Najaf next day Tribal siege of Diwaniya

also ended

(Musings On Iraq book review of Reclaiming Iraq, The 1920 Revolution and the Founding of the Modern State)

1973 Saddam said govt and KDP were far apart on autonomy talks for Kurds

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

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

1980 UN Security Council discussed Iran-Iraq War Addressed by Iran and Iraq Iran Foreign Min told UN

Iraq was aggressor Saddam wanted to overthrow Iranian govt Iraq backed by superpowers and Arab countries Iraq Foreign Min said Iran violated treaties attacked border towns never replied to letters calling for negotiations UN Security Council backed Secretary General’s attempts to negotiate a ceasefire in Iran-Iraq War

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

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

(Musings On Iraq 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)

1987 Iraq held national census

1994 Iraqi defector Saadi claimed he went to Jordan with Mukhabarat to buy nuke material from

Russians for a bomb

2001 NY Times article reported Iraqi defector saw Iraq training terrorists at Salman Pak to take

airliners Said INC claimed Iraq diplomat met bin Laden in 98 and offered him safe haven Reported Czech Inter Min said 9/11 hijacker Atta met with Iraqi intel officer in Prague

2003 Iraqi prisoner photographed stripped and handcuffed to cell door by US jailers at Abu Ghraib

2003 Gunfight outside Sadr office in Karbala killed 3 US soldiers and 7 Iraqis

2004 Zarqawi pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda Tawhid wal Jihad became Al

Qaeda in Iraq

(Musings On Iraq interview with former CIA analyst Nada Bakos that tracked Zarqawi)

2004 Heavy fighting in east and south Fallujah between US forces and insurgents

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

2006 NSC started review of Iraq strategy to come up with new one

(Musings On Iraq article on pre-Surge US Iraq strategy)

2006 Interior Min fired 3,000 police for human rights abuses corruption connection to militias 1

Police Commando commander and a public order brigade commander removed for ties to militias

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

2006 After 4 days of sectarian fighting Iraqi army and US forces deployed to Balad Almost entire

Sunni population had fled

2016 Mosul campaign started with joint operations between Iraqi forces and Peshmerga

(Musings On Iraq Interview with Ret. Col Witty on the Battle of Mosul)

(Musings On Iraq interview with Horizon Client Access’ Alex Mello on Battle of Mosul)

(Musings On Iraq interview with Amnesty International’s Donatella Rovera on Battle of Mosul)

(Musings On Iraq interview with International Center for Study of Radicalization’s Charlie Winter on how IS media dealt with its defeat in Battle of Mosul)

(Musings On Iraq interview with BBC’s Quentin Sommerville on the Battle of Mosul)

(Musings On Iraq interview with Niqash’s Mustafa Habib on Battle of Mosul)

(Musings On Iraq interview with Reuters’ Stephen Kalin on Battle of Mosul)

(Musings On Iraq interview with AFP’s Ahmad Mousa on Battle of Mosul)

(Musings On Iraq interview with journalist Florian Neuhof on Battle of Mosul)

2017 Kurds withdrew from 1 district in northeast Diyala and 5 in western Ninewa that they occupied in

2014 Was gun battle between Hashd and Police vs Peshmerga at Mosul Dam after independence referendum

(Musings On Iraq Kirkuk Aftermath)

(Musings On Iraq Kurds Fall Back to 2014 Borders)

(Musings On Iraq book review The Great Betrayal, How America Abandoned The Kurds And Lost The Middle East)

2017 Peshmerga clashed with Hashd at Mosul Dam before handing over facility to govt forces

2017 5 Turkish soldiers killed by IEDs laid by PKK 1^st time in years Turkish soldiers killed by PKK

in Iraq Would start escalation of conflict

2017 By end of 2017 318 PKK fighters and 23 Turkish soldiers killed along with 23 Turks wounded

in fighting

(Musings On Iraq interview with journalist Frederike Geerdink on escalating conflict between PKK and Turks in Iraq) 

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Islamic State Not Following Their Usual Pattern In Attacks In Iraq

(Al Maalomah)

September 2019 was the second month in a row that incidents in Iraq went up. Usually the Islamic State launches a spring-summer offensive and then during the fall things start quieting down. This year, there was a spike in attacks in May, little during the summer, but then they have gone back up in the fall. The militants are in the process of rebuilding, trying to preserve their cadre and leadership, and are obviously changing their strategy as a result.

This Day In Iraqi History - Oct 16

1973 Iraqi, Syrian and Jordanian forces attacked Israeli positions but were turned back

1991 Turkish army launched ground assault into Kurdistan to attack PKK

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

2001 CIA Dir Tenet met with UK officials and agreed no Iraq-9/11 connection

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

2002 Iraq held elections where Saddam voted president for another 7 years

2002 Iraq renewed offer for new UN inspections after US rejected deal

(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)

2002 French Pres Chirac said no Iraq Al Qaeda ties and attacking Iraq could lead to new terrorist

attacks

2002 State Dept intel agency gave CIA DIA NSA Energy Dept copies of Iraq-Niger uranium

documents

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

2003 UN Resolution 1511 set 12/15/03 as date for Iraqi Governing Council to submit plan for

interim govt and constitution

2003 UK Def Sec Hoon said that attacks on Coalition were increasing and Coalition response in

Sunni areas was alienating Iraqis

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

2004 Attacks upon 5 churches

2006 PM Maliki called Bush said he was worried US had set 2 month deadline for him to control

sectarian violence Said deadline and talk of dividing Iraq were undermining his govt Bush said he supported Maliki

2006 Report US Cmdr Iraq Gen Casey was worried that ISF couldn’t take over security as planned

start of 07 Casey said US could have substantial troop drawdowns but had to increase US forces by 10,000 due to violence in Baghdad

2006 PM Maliki interview said his govt wouldn’t disarm militias until end of 06/early 07 Said US

forces would start large withdrawals start of 07 Rejected US operations vs Mahdi Army in Sadr City

2006 Iraq Body Count criticized Lancet casualty report Said meant 500,000 death certificates were issued

but not recorded by govt Would mean thousands of Iraqis were wounded and never went for medical help Would mean only 1/10 of Iraqi deaths were recorded

(Musings On Iraq article Major Flaws in Lancet Report Pt 1)

(Musings On Iraq article Major Flaws in Lancet Report Pt 11)

(Musings On Iraq article New Study Refutes Lancet Reports)

(Musings On Iraq interview with Prof Mark Van Der Laan on Lancet Reports)

(Musings On Iraq interview with Prof Michael Spagat on Lancet reports)

2006 Sunni tribesmen fired mortars into Balad 13 vehicles stopped at police checkpoint south of Balad and

people taken away by insurgents afer 2 days of killings by Shiites for 26 Shiites killed in Dhuluiya Total of 80 bodies arrived at Balad morgue

2007 Report US stopped UK withdrawal from Basra for 5 months During time 25 UK soldiers killed and

58 wounded US said Iran would move into city if UK pulled out too soon British said Iraqi nationalism would hold Iran in check PM Maliki sent general to Basra to tell UK it should leave to reduce tensions

2007 Report Dec 06 US Embassy memo said every Iraqi ministry plagued by corruption Singled out

Interior Min as one of the worst Health Min run by Sadrists who extorted doctors and private clinics and stole drugs

(Musings On Iraq interview with Special Inspector Gen for Iraq Reconstruction Bowen on corruption in Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq interview with fmr anti-graft official Vincent Foulk on corruption in Iraq)

2007 Report US organized 34 Sahwa units in central Iraq 25 were Sunni 9 Shiite

2012 PM Maliki suspended Central Bank of Iraq head Shababi after he refused to stop dinar re-

valuation Appointed ally Turki head of Board of Supreme Audit as new bank head

2017 As Iraqi forces moved towards military base and oil fields in south Kirkuk fighting broke out with

Peshmerga Also clashes in Tuz Kharmato between Hashd and Peshmerga afer independence referendum

(Musings On Iraq book review The Great Betrayal, How America Abandoned The Kurds And Lost The Middle East)

2017 PUK Peshmerga retreated in Kirkuk forcing KDP forces to withdraw as well as Iraqi forces

took most of province and Kirkuk city Govt forces occupied Bai Hassan Avana and Bab Gargur oil fields in Kirkuk denying KRG roughly half of its revenues

(Musings On Iraq Kirkuk Aftermath)

(Musings On Iraq Kurds Fall Back to 2014 Borders)

(Musings On Iraq Seven Expert Opinions On The Kirkuk Crisis)

2017 PUK also withdrew its forces from Jawala Qara Tapa Mandali Daquq in northeast Diyala after

meeting with governor and army chief of staff

2017 In wake of Kirkuk KDP called PUK traitors PUK called KDP thieves

(Musings On Iraq In Face Of Referendum Fallout Kurdish Ruling Parties Decide To Hold Onto Power) 

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Development And Setbacks Of The Current Iraqi Military, Interview with CSU San Marco’s Prof Marashi

(AFP/Getty Images)

The Iraqi military has gone through several stages since the 2003 U.S. invasion. There was its disbandment by the Coalition Provisional Authority, the hasty attempt at rebuilding by the Americans, its collapse in the face of the Islamic State in 2014, and others. To help give some insights into the recent history of the force is California State University San Marcos’ Middle East Professor Ibrahim al-Marashi who has written about the Iraqi forces over the years including Iraq’s Armed Forces: An Analytical History. He can be followed on Twitter @ialmarashi.

This Day In Iraqi History - Oct 15

1906 Protests in Mosul ended against Ottoman census that included counting women

1927 1^st successful oil well started at Baba Gargur field in Kirkuk

1960 Islamic Party complained to Gen Qasim that his govt neglected religion while accepted Communists

Asked Qasim to ban Communists and their media while releasing any cleric arrested since 1958 coup

(Musings On Iraq book review Red Star Over Iraq, Iraqi Communism Before Saddam)

(Musings On Iraq Interview with Prof Johan Franzen on the history of the Iraqi Communist Party)

1973 Syrian-Jordanian-Iraqi offensive in southern Syria failed to achieve results

1980 Iraq Foreign Minister Hamadi presented Iraq’s case to UN claiming it acted in self-defense in Iran-Iraq

War

1980 Iran launched large counter attack against Iraqi forces around Andimeshk

(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)

1984 Iraq and Turkey made deal to fight PKK Allowed each country to enter 3 miles into others

territory to combat group

1994 Iraq withdrew troops from Kuwait border after Russian diplomacy and UN Res 949 that

demanded withdrawal UN Res 949 demanded Iraq’s full cooperation with UN inspectors

1995 Saddam won referendum for 7 more years as president with 99.9% of vote Was meant to

show public was behind Saddam after Hussein Kamal defected to Jordan

1997 Ayatollah Mohammed Sadiq al-Sadr gave sermon saying No! Yes is just for God mocking

Yes to Saddam slogan

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

1997 Turkey’s Op Dawn ended against PKK in Kurdistan

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

2000 Iran announced it was returning to 1975 Algiers Treaty Meant rapprochment with Iraq but

also Iraq gained nothing from Iran-Iraq War

2001 CIA report from Rome said that Italian intel said Iraq tried to buy uranium from Niger but

didn’t see much merit in it

2001 CIA DIA Energy Dept thought Iraq-Niger uranium deal was possible State Dept thought

story suspect

(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)

2001 White House spokesman said no connection between Iraq and anthrax letters sent to Wash DC

2002 Def Sec Rumsfeld wrote list of 29 things that could go wrong with Iraq War Including finding no

WMD ethnosectarian conflict List was to point out possible problems so war could be successful Had no follow up on how to deal with any problems listed

(Musings On Iraq article on Part I Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Hard Lessons Planning for Postwar Iraq September 2001 to May 2003)

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

Tragedy)

2002 Italy’s SISMI intel agency told CIA of Iraq-Niger uranium deal documents

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

2002 Under Sec of Def Feith briefed NSC on plan for governing postwar Iraq with 3-star general in

charge of military and civilian administrator

2003 Sec of State Powell said that his claims about Iraq’s WMD program had been proven

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

2003 Natl Sec Adv Rice said CPA’s schedule for Iraq wouldn’t work and new one had to be created

(Musings On Iraq book review Squandered Victory, The American Occupation And the Bungled Effort to Bring Democracy to Iraq)

2003 Sadr followers failed to take over Karbala shrine

2003 UK intel report Worried that Iraq would become new base for jihadists Significant number of Islamists

had already travelled to Iraq Could become base for recruiting training and attacks and could get worse

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

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

2004 US put Zarqawi on its terrorist list

2004 VP Cheney said Iraq could have given WMD to terrorists

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

2005 Referendum on new Iraqi constitution held

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

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

2006 Reconciliation conference indefinitely postponed due to weekend violence Setback for PM

            Maliki’s reconciliation plans

2006 Mujahedeen Shura Council again announced ISI and Islamic State in Baghdad Anbar Diyala

Kirkuk Salahaddin Ninewa Babil Said its goal was to govern

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

2006 Report auditors found ¼ of US funded water projects had broken down since being turned

over to Iraqis

2006 2 days Shiite gunmen killed 47 Sunnis in Balad in retaliation for 26 dead Shiites being found

in Dhuluiya

2006 6 car bombs in Kirkuk killed 10 and wounded dozens 52 killed in attacks in Baghdad

2006 500 Sunni sheikhs held meeting condemning federalism plan by SIIC objected to breaking

            up Iraq

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

2006 Islamic Party accused Interior Min of Oct 9 murder of VP Hashemi’s brother

2007 State Dept official told reporters corruption in Iraq was systemic and hindering govt Claimed PM

            Maliki was dealing with it

(Musings On Iraq interview with Special Inspector Gen for Iraq Reconstruction Bowen on corruption in Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq interview with fmr anti-graft official Vincent Foulk on corruption in Iraq)

2015 Immediately after Baiji refinery liberated Hashd began looting facility and selling off equipment to

Iraqi and Iranian businesses

2017 Hashd burned PUK office in Tuz Kharmato after fighting stopped there over independence

referendum

(Musings On Iraq book review The Great Betrayal, How America Abandoned The Kurds And Lost The Middle East)

View the Iraq History Timelines