Security In Iraq Jul 15-21, 2021

Violence in Iraq declined for the second week. Incidents by both the Islamic State and pro-Iran groups went down during the third week of July 2021. The insurgents were able to launch a mass casualty bombing in Baghdad however.

This Day In Iraqi History Jul 26

 

1920 Gertrude Bell wrote that Baghdad started the 1920 Revolt but not lost control of it when tribes rose up

and they listened to no one Baghdad did not start revolt

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

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

(Musings On Iraq review Gertrude Bell And Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review Gertrude Bell, Explorer of the Middle East)

(Musings On Iraq movie review Letters from Baghdad)

(Musings On Iraq review Desert Queen, The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell: Adventurer, Adviser to Kings, Ally of Lawrence of Arabia)

1920 UK Cmdr in Iraq Gen Haldane requested two divisions as reinforcements to deal with 1920

Revolt

1933 Iraq-French meeting Iraq told new border meant Assyrians who tried to get into Syria

            were actually still in Iraq French didn't want them in Syria

(Musings On Iraq review The Tragedy of the Assyrian Minority in Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review State and Society in Iraq)

1983 Iran Op Wa al-Fajr 2 captured Haj Omran pass and Mount Kerde Mand in Iraqi Kurdistan

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

1985 Iranian Op Al Quds 4 in Mandali Diyala

1988 Iraq began Op Eternal Light using Mujahedeen e-Khalq attacking towards Kormanshah

Advanced 60 miles Took 2 Iranian towns with Iraqi air support hoping to start revolt against Khomeini

1988 Iran and Iraq foreign ministers met to discuss ceasefire

(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)

1988 PUK decided to withdraw from Balisan Valley Hit by chemical weapons while retreating

1992 Iraq agreed to UN inspection of Agriculture Min after two week standoff as long as

            wouldn’t include any Americans

(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)

2001 Last of 4 NSC Deputies Committee meetings on revising Iraq policy

2005 US Army interrogators testified that dogs sleep deprivation and nudity all used on

            prisoners held at Abu Ghraib

2007 Truck bomb in Baghdad’s Karrada market killed 92 wounded 127

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

2007 US general said militias more accurate in targeting Green Zone because of training from Iran

(Musings On Iraq Iran’s Policy Towards Iraq)

2007 Audit Bechtel only finished half of its contracts Other half either canceled cut back or didn’t

            finish US only had 2 people to oversee contracts

2010 ISI bombed Al Arabiya TV station

2012 Protests in Basra against lack of electricity

2014 Ansar al-Islam refused to give allegiance to IS in Sadiya Diyala Led to fighting

            between two with IS winning

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

2015 Protest in Nasriaiya over power shortages

2017 Court issued arrest warrant for head of Salahaddin council for corruption

2018 Protest at West Qurna 2 field in Basra Tried to set up sit-in camp Broken up by ISF

            Another protest at Zubayr oil field went off peacefully

2020 Protests in Basra Dhi Qar Wasit Diwaniya Najaf Muthanna Baghdad ISF fired on protests and killed

3 in Baghdad

(Musings On Iraq National Protests Start In Iraq During The Weekend UPDATED)

(Musings On Iraq UN Report On Violence Against Iraqi Protesters)

View the Iraq History Timelines 

This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 25

 

1920 Karbala joined 1920 Revolt Tribal fighters beat British at Raranjiya

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

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

1920 British reinforcements to Hilla devastated in route

1961 Gen Qasim claimed Kuwait as part of Iraq for 2^nd time

(Musings On Iraq review Unholy Babylon, The Secret History of Saddam’s War)

1968 PM Naif announced press censorship was ending

1985 Congress agreed to State Dept request to remove Iraq from list of states supporting terrorism Was

            part of Reagan’s move towards Iraq

1990 OPEC agreed to raise oil prices and follow quotas allaying Iraq complaints Kuwait and UAE

overproducing and lowering prices

(Musings On Iraq review Unholy Babylon, The Secret History of Saddam’s War)

1990 Saddam met US Amb to Iraq Glaspie Said he wanted meeting to be message to Bush Saddam said

US and Iraq didn’t have close understanding of each other that could lead to problems and misunderstandings Claimed US was plotting against him Said UAE and Kuwait forcing down oil prices which was an attack upon Iraq Said US supporting Gulf States at expense of Iraq Said US had to choose sides Said that he would not threaten Kuwait if it forgave debt agreed to OPEC quotas Saddam said he would talk to Kuwait but would not sit and wait while Kuwait waged economic war on Iraq Said that Gulf States refused to renegotiate Iraq’s debt and this was conspiracy led by Kuwait Claimed he would talk with Kuwait about dispute if they didn’t give into Iraqi demands he would act

(Musings On Iraq review the Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait)

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

(Musings On Iraq review The Outlaw State, Saddam Hussein’s Quest for Power and the Gulf Crisis)

1990 Amb Glaspie told Saddam Bush wanted better Iraq-US relations Apologized for bad press on Iraq

Asked why Saddam had placed troops near Kuwait border Told Saddam US had no opinion on Iraq-Kuwait border dispute but warned not to use force

1990 US Defense Special Assessment said Iraq trying to pressure Kuwait to give into its demands and

didn’t think it would use military force

1990 Sec of State Baker told Commerce Dept export controls needed on US technology going to Iraq that

could be used for weapons programs

1990 Asst Sec State for Near East Kelly cancelled interview with Voice of America that would have warned

Iraq about troops buildup along Kuwait border

1990 US intel observed Iraqi trucks moving supplies from Baghdad to troops in Basra on

Kuwait border

1990 Pres Mubarak called Saddam worried about Iraq putting troops on Kuwait border Claimed Saddam

promised not to attack Kuwait Saddam later denied that

1992 PUK head Talabani said he wanted to joint a democratic Turkey rather than stay part of Iraq Came

after talks between Turkey and KDP-PUK after Gulf War and pledges by them to stop the PKK

2003 Sadr held rally in Najaf saying that he would form his own army to oppose US occupation

(Musings On Iraq A Divided Sadr Trend)

(Musings On Iraq review The Triumph of the Martyrs, A Reporter’s Journey into Occupied Iraq)

2003 Japan authorized largest deployment of troops since 1945 to be sent to Iraq

2003 CENTCOM cmdr Abuzaid memo to Rumsfeld Situation in Iraq met definition of insurgency US

shouldn’t be afraid to use term

2005 New US Amb Khalilzad said security was his top priority

2005 Sunni members of constitutional committee ended boycott after member assassinated

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

2006 Op River Falcon to secure Sayifiya south of Baghdad started

2007 Iran gave PM Maliki his own personal jet

2007 US commanders in south Baghdad meeting on reconstruction Found Shiite areas had plenty of

water provided by govt Sunnis areas were facing huge water shortage US had to provide water to Sunni areas Talked about pressuring Maliki govt but it was unresponsive because made decisions on sectarian basis

2009 KRG held parliamentary and presidential elections

(Musings On Iraq Implications of the Kurdish Elections On Iraq’s Parliamentary Vote)

2018 Protest in Dhi Qar Called for removal of governor

2018 Report Iraq Election Comm warned that using electronic voting machine could undermine trust in

vote Told machines had major problems South Korean company would not properly audit vote

2020 Protests in Najaf Diwaniya Basra Babil Karbala Dhi Qar over electricity lack of services

and govt workers not being paid

(Musings On Iraq National Protests Start In Iraq During The Weekend UPDATED)

View the Iraq History Timelines 

This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 24

 

1920 British regiment driven from Kifl during 1920 Revolt after losing 180 men killed and 160

captured

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

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

1923 Turkey signed Treaty of Lausanne agreeing to League of Nations deciding future of Mosul Gave up

call for Kurdish independence

(Musings On Iraq How The Ottoman Province Of Mosul Became Part Of Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review The Creation of Iraq 1914-1921)

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

1983 Saddam and Adnan Khairallah went to Kurdistan Khairallah took control of defenses against 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)

1986 Saddam said unwise to clash with rising Islamism in Arab World but Iraq should be ready to strike

against it if threatened

1986 Saddam decided to reach out to Muslim Brotherhood in Sudan

1990 US military exercise with UAE Spokesman said US committed to defending its friends in the Gulf

Saddam said he felt betrayed by US forces moving through the Persian Gulf

1990 White House said it was concerned about Iraqi troop buildup along Kuwait’s border

1990 State Dept US had no defense treaties or special relationship with Kuwait Did support Gulf States

right to self defense

1990 DIA reported weaknesses in Iraqi logistics meant low chance Iraq would invade Kuwait

1991 Operation Provide Comfort II started to enforce northern fly zone and contain Saddam

1993 Kurds threatened retaliation if Iran didn’t stop shelling of border region trying to hit Iranian Kurdish

groups

2002 Kurds claimed Iraq coordinating with Ansar al-Islam and Al Qaeda in pre-invasion propaganda

campaign

(Musings On Iraq Why Didn’t Bush Strike Zarqawi And Ansar al-Islam In 2002?)

2003 Spain Foreign Min Palacio said no evidence Iraq had a nuclear bomb program

2004 Zalmay Khalilzad became new US ambassador to Iraq Wanted to defeat insurgency not withdraw

which was existing plan

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

2004 500 marched in Sulaymaniya demanding an independent Kurdistan

2005 Allawi’s Iraqiya threatened to boycott constitutional commission because it wasn’t taken seriously

the concerns of Sunni delegation

(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)

2006 Report US 4^th Div carried out mass incarcerations abused Iraqi prisoners while stationed in Salahaddin

03-04

2006 Report Inter Min fired all Anbar police during 2004 Battle of Fallujah and police never rebuilt No

police in Rutba Ana Haditha few in Rawa

2006 City wide battle started between Al Qaeda in Iraq ISF and US forces in Ramadi with insurgents

beaten back

2006 Karrada Baghdad attacked by insurgents and forced out most Shiites

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

2007 US-Iran held 2^nd talks about Iraq US accused Iran of sending weapons and training militias Iran

accused US of occupation

(Musings On Iraq Iran’s Policy Towards Iraq)

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

2008 US Amb Crocker said insurgency had lost most of its relevancy

(Musings On Iraq Demise of Al Qaeda In Iraq Update)

2008 Female suicide bomber killed Sahwa leader and 7 others 24 wounded in Baquba

(Musings On Iraq 25^th Female Suicide Bomber of 2008)

(Musings On Iraq Motivations Behind Female Suicide Bombers)

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

2014 IS attacked State Company for Pharmaceutical Supplies in Ninewa to capture bomb supplies

2017 Ammar Hakim announced he was leaving Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq and forming new Hikma

Party

2017 Protesters in Babil cut Babil-Baghdad highway over lack of water due to drought

View the Iraq History Timelines 

This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 23

 

1933 Iraq asked France to impose treaty between two to remove Assyrians from Syrian border and

disarm them

(Musings On Iraq review The Tragedy of the Assyrian Minority in Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review State and Society in Iraq)

1954 PM Arshad resigned from office Regent asked Nuri al-Said to be premier again Agreed if new

parliament dissolved New elections held Parties dissolved Could end press licenses

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq Under General Nuri, My Recollections of Nuri al-Said, 1954-1958)

1982 Iran Op Ramadan made fourth attack into Basra Iraq counterattacked pushed Iranians back

again

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

1986 US briefing said that Iraq might need more US help because facing setbacks in Iran-Iraq War

(Musings On Iraq review The Saddam Tapes)

1987 Iraq For Min Aziz wrote UN saying Iraq welcomed ceasefire proposal UN Res 598

(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)

1990 British military attache told US Embassy in Baghdad that he’d seen thousands of military vehicles

            moving south towards Kuwait US intel thought troops were just for intimidation

1990 US Central Command ran war game on stopping Iraqi invasion of Kuwait US deployed airborne corps

and lost half its troops Led to reworking of plan that would be used in Gulf War

2002 Blair cabinet meeting John Scarlett head of Joint Intel Com said Saddam could only be

removed by invasion Sir Dearlove head of MI6 said Washington decided war was inevitable Bush wanted to justify invasion via terrorism and WMD Said that intelligence and facts were being used to justify invasion Blair’s foreign policy adviser said Iraq was fourth most dangerous country with WMD behind North Korea Iran and Libya Defense Staff head Sir Boyce gave 3 options for British in Iraq 1 Offer bases to US 2 Add air navy special forces 3 40,000 troops for invasion

(Musings On Iraq Chilcot Report Volume 2 Sec 3.3 Development of UK Iraq Strategy and Options April to July 2002)

(Musings On Iraq Chilcot Report Section 3.4 Development of UK Iraq Strategy and Options, Late July to 14 September 2002)

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

2003 Bush said deaths of Qusay and Uday Hussein showed that the old regime was gone and would

not return

2003 US released photos of Uday and Qusay to prove they were killed in face of Iraqi rumors they were

alive

2003 Bremer said only matter of time before Saddam was captured

2004 Ayatollah Sistani spoke against attacks on Christian churches

(Musings On Iraq review Christianity in Iraq)

2008 Kurdish List got Pres Talabani to veto draft provincial election law that included equal division of

power in Kirkuk

(Musings On Iraq Conspiracy Theories Abound On Election Law Veto)

2012 ISI carried out 30 car bombs and other attacks across 20 cities as part of new Breaking Walls

Campaign that killed more than 115

2018 Protesters blocked highway in Dhi Qar and march in Qadisiya broken up by ISF before it started

2018 Basra councilmen asked province to become autonomous region in response to demonstrations

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Review In The Claws Of The Tomcat: US Navy F-14 Tomcats In Air Combat Against Iran And Iraq, 1987-2000

Cooper, Tom, In The Claws Of The Tomcat: US Navy F-14 Tomcats In Air Combat Against Iran And Iraq, 1987-2000, Warwick: Helion & Company Limited, 2021

 

In The Claws Of The Tomcat: US Navy F-14 Tomcats In Air Combat Against Iran and Iraq by Tom Cooper is a military history about the development and deployment of the F-14 jet fighter during the Iran-Iraq War, the Gulf War and the No Fly Zones over Iraq in the 1990s. It starts with Soviet and U.S. military doctrine during the Cold War which shaped the development of the F-14 and its MiG counterparts. It then covers the U.S. navy deploying to the Persian Gulf during the Iran-Iraq War which led to a brief confrontation between American and Iranian F-14s. Most of the book however is on the Gulf War with Cooper providing an account from both sides as he has spent extensive time studying the Iraqi Air Force. The conflict was a what if event as there were few actual run ins between Iraqi MiGs and F-14s. The author explains how this was the result of U.S. strategy and Iraqi air command.

This Day In Iraqi Histry - Jul 22

 

1920 Albu Hassan took Kifil from British 1920 Revolt All of Mid-Euphrates under tribal control

except for Hillah Babil

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

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

1920 TE Lawrence wrote British officials refused to give Iraq autonomy

1923 UK Minister to Tehran arrived in Baghdad to discuss deportation and immigration of Iraqi opposition

figures to Persia Iraqi govt said they could return after elections for assembly held

1929 Iraq High Commissioner Sir Gilbert Clayton said giving Iraq concessions was best way to maintain

good relations with Iraq and bad negotiations would have opposite effect

1931 Shiite leaders told Yasin Hashemi they would back him for PM if they got majority of cabinet posts

1979 Televised session of Baath meeting Former Revolutionary Command Council secretary general

Mashadi claimed there was a Syrian backed coup Said Syria wanted to remove Iraqi leadership so that two countries could unite

1979 66 accused coup plotters had names read and then taken from Baath party meeting Party members

began praising Saddam Accused coup plotters included 5 of 21 from Revolutionary Command Council Former Oil Min Hadithi who helped nationalize Iraq Petroleum Company

1979 Another accused plotter Adnan Hussein al-Hamdani deputy prime minister and head of president’s

office who had been close aide to Saddam

1979 Court made up of 7 members of Revolutionary Command Council created to try 66 coup plotters 

1983 Iran’s Op Wa al-Fajr 2 took Piranshahr pass Attacked Haj Omran KDPI HQ and Rayat Mount

Kerman Advanced 10 mi into Iraqi Kurdistan

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

1988 Iraq Op Tawakalna ala Allah 4 in Qasr e-Shirin in center and Hoveyzah in south to push Iran

into direct talks Saddam didn’t believe Khomeini committed to UN Res 598 ceasefire Just wanted break and return to war Saddam also wanted one last try at victory in Iran-Iraq War with new offensive Iraqi forces turned back in Kurdistan and Basra but gained 40 mi in Khuzistan province 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)

1992 Iraq bombed southern rebels killing 30

1992 Report Sep 89 CIA told Sec Sate Baker Iraq working on nuclear bomb Bush admin did not put any

limits on tech going to Iraq that could help with program because policy was to improve relations Oct 89 Baker told Iraq’s Foreign Min admin would not put any export controls on tech sold to Iraq Nov 89 Baker played leading role in approving $1 bil in food aid to Iraq Some of that money used for weapons

2002 DIA officer told to start making secret intelligence briefings to Rumsfeld on Iraq-Al Qaeda ties based

upon request by Deputy Def Sec Wolfowitz

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

Tragedy)

2002 US Energy Dept assessed Iraq trying to buy magnets meeting with scientists Niger uranium story

showed that Iraq restarted nuclear program

(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)

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

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

2003 Iraqi Governing Council took office

(Musings On Iraq Origins Of Iraq’s Ethnosectarian Quota System)

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

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq’s Dysfunctional Democracy)

(Musings On Iraq review Sectarianism In Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq in Fragments, The Occupation and Its Legacy)

2003 CPA issued 57 page Strategic Plan and Vision for Iraq Was more of a list rather than actual strategy

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

2003 U.S. forces killed Saddam’s sons Uday and Qusay Hussein in raid in Mosul

(Musings On Iraq review Special Operations Forces in Iraq)

2003 UN report said Iraqis becoming frustrated at US plans for returning sovereignty because would take

too long

2003 Bush speechwriter Gerson found 2 CIA memos from Oct 02 on why Iraq-Niger uranium story should

not be used in Bush speech Gerson’s discovery came just after White House blamed CIA Dir Tenet for why Niger story was used in Bush’s Jan 03 State of Union

(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)

2004 Pentagon report acknowledged abuse of Iraqi prisoners including sexual and physical assault and

deaths

2004 9/11 report 1994 or 95 Al Qaeda and Iraqi officials met Al Qaeda asked for aid and training camps

Iraq didn’t reply Al Qaeda worked with Ansar al-Islam in Iraqi Kurdistan

2006 1^st meeting of National Reconciliation committee with Pres Talabani PM Maliki Sunni and Shiite

         officials Talked about amnesty law

2006 US Iraq Cmdr Gen Casey said PM Maliki took no responsibility for anything Tried to take control of

ISF Casey said Maliki blocked 5 ops in Sadr City to protect Mahdi Army Maliki gave him list of 10 Shiite notables that could not be touched by US Sadr and aides at top of list

2006 US Iraq Cmdr Gen Casey said PM Maliki wanted militias to gain more control over Baghdad Said

Shiite politicians not serious about limiting Mahdi Army or death squads Said US forces clearing areas in Baghdad but Iraqis couldn’t hold them

2006 US Iraq Cmdr Gen Casey said US had no political strategy for Iraq since Dec 05 elections

2006 US Iraq Amb Khalizad said Sunnis and Shiites not accepted each other as equals not willing to

cooperate

2006 NatSecAdv Hadley told Bush US had no security strategy for Baghdad

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

2008 109,087 pardoned under Amnesty Law Govt originally claimed only had 26,000 prisoners

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s Amnesty Law)

2009 Report State Dept wanted to cut back staff at US Embassy in Baghdad and end Provincial

Reconstruction Teams Another step back from Iraq by Obama admin

2012 ISI head Baghdadi announced it had returned to its strongholds that it was driven out of by by Surge

2013 ISIS issued paper arguing that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was fit to be the next caliph

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

2017 Anbar council voted 3^rd and final time to dismiss Governor Rawi on corruption charges

2018 Protests in Baghdad Basra Qadisiya and Wasit for jobs water electricity Dhi Qar and Muthanna

demonstrators called for governor to step down

2018 Communications Minister said govt had blocked certain websites because they were being abused by

demonstrators

2018 PM Abadi said he needed more time to meet demands of protesters so soon after war with Islamic

State ended

2018 Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights said Iraqi forces were making arrested protesters sign pledges not

to demonstrate again in order to be released from jail

 View the Iraq History Timelines