Iraqi Parties To Try Delay 2021 Vote Again

(CNN)
Many of Iraq’s political parties have been opposed to early elections in 2021. They have put up various roadblocks to try to delay them as a result. The latest is taking the election law to court.

This Day In Iraqi History - May 12

 

1920 US protested to UK about San Remo agreement that divided up Iraq’s oil between UK and

France saying London promised open door policy in region

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

1941 Soviet Union recognized PM Gaylani’s govt

(Musings On Iraq interview with Prof Boich World War II In Iraq and Syria)

1941 British reinforcements from Palestine and Transjordan attacked by a German bomber

1941 German air force liaison officer killed while trying to land in Baghdad during dog fight between

Iraqi and British fighter planes

1941 PM Gaylani told German ambassador to Turkey Ankara made offer to be middleman with England

Gaylani feared Turkey would intervene in Iraq

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

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq 1941, The Battles for Basra, Habbaniya, Fallujah and Baghdad)

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

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

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

1948 Railway strike against Anglo-Iraq Treaty

1948 Iraqi air force deployed to Transjordan for Arab-Israeli War

1962 Barzani cut off police battalion in Dohuk area

(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)

1969 Dispute over Shatt al-Arab discussed at UN after Iran protested Iraq expelling 10,000 Iranians

1982 Iranian Op Bait al-Moqaddas Reached Khorrmashahr across from Basra Drove Iraqi forces out of

Susangerd area

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

(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 US intel report Iraq was talking with China to build a covert nuclear power plant

1990 Italy said it seized parts headed for Iraq to make a 130 ft long supergun UK Turkey

Greece also found parts for gun

1991 Baghdad took journalists to mass grave with 100 bodies it claimed were killed by Iranians and

Shiite rebels in southern Iraq

1996 Sec State Albright interviewed on 60 Minutes Was asked whether 500,000 Iraqi children dying as a

result of sanctions was worth it Albright said yes

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

2003 Paul Bremer arrived in Iraq to take over new CPA During meeting Bremer suggested shooting

looters Remark leaked angering Iraqis

(Musings On Iraq review State of Denial, Bush At War, Part III)

2003 Only 4000 Iraqi police on duty in Baghdad to cover 7 mil inhabitants

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

2003 UK ForSec Straw said that Coalition failed to restore order in Baghdad

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

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

2003 Report on INC defector ex-nuke scientist Hamza Saddam’s son-in-law Kamal called Hamza a

liar Hamza and former UN inspector Albright tried to get book published on Iraq’s nuke program Said Iraq failed to build bomb Not published Hamza got new book published Saddam’s Bombmaker claiming Iraq was closer to building a bomb than anyone knew

2004 1800 new pictures of prison abuse at Abu Ghraib released

2004 Sec Def Rumsfeld told Senate US interrogation methods used in Iraq were legal and cleared by

Pentagon lawyers

2006 Bush invited 10 former Secretaries of State and Defense to ask them opinions about Iraq war

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

2007 Report US GAO found 100,000-300,000 barrels of oil missing each day Worth est $5-$15 mil

Smugglers likely culprit

2007 Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq dropped revolution from its title Also said that

it would look towards Ayatollah Sistani more than Ayatollah Khamenei Party was trying to distance itself from its pro-Iran history

2008 Sadr issued another ceasefire to try to stop govt offensive against Mahdi Army

2008 United Iraqi Alliance and Sadrists agreed not to attack each other politically after ceasefire

announced

2008 Report US judge who headed anti-corruption effort in Iraq in 07 said State Dept undermined effort

and allowed corruption to continue US embassy State Justice Depts and Iraqi govt ignored effort Jul 07 Amb Crocker told Iraqi official stole $1 bil in medical supplies and selling them on black market and to Syria US did nothing Judge worked on report on corruption Congress asked for copy State classified report and blocked testimony on it Embassy blocked Congress from interviewing anti-corruption officials in Iraq PM Maliki fired Sunnis on Integrity Comm and top investigator Head of Comm Judge Rahdi wouldn’t follow Maliki’s orders When Rahdi asked for asylum in US due to threats US Embassy wouldn’t help him

(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)

2008 Deputy head of US anti-corruption effort said US did nothing as PM Maliki worked to subvert

Integrity Commission

2008 Iran came out against Iraq signing Status of Forces Agreement with US

2009 PM Maliki had head of Ghazilia Baghdad Sawha arrested Was tortured by ISF

2009 Tribal march in Mosul for Hadbaa list and against Peshmerga and Asayesh presence in province

(Musings On Iraq Tit For Tat In Ninewa)

(Musings On Iraq Arab-Kurdish Divide Over New Ninewa Provincial Council)

2009 Mass grave in Qadisiyah found with 100 Kurds killed during Anfal campaign

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s Anfal Campaign And The Destruction Of The Kurdish Opposition)

2010 US general warned Sadrists carrying out attacks extortion intimidation in southern Iraq

2011 Parliament elected 3 VPs after 2010 elections Mahdi Hashemi and Khuzai

2013 Iraqi paper got memo showing PM Maliki okayed purchase of fake bomb detectors

2013 Supreme Council and Fadhila agreed to form coalition in 7 new provincial govts in south

2015 ISCI accused Kataib Hezbollah of attacking its offices in Basra Baghdad and other provinces

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

2016 IS began final assault on Ramadi with 12 suicide car bombs

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

2018 Iraq held fifth election for parliament 44% voter turnout lowest since elections started in 2005

(Musings On Iraq May 2018 Elections Triumph For Iraqi Democracy Failure Iraq’s Parties)

(Musings On Iraq Seat Allocation Announced For Iraq’s New Parliament)

(Musings On Iraq Iraq Election Results All 18 Provinces)

(Musings On Iraq interview with IRIS-Chatham House’s Mansour on 2018 elections)

(Musings On Iraq interview with Edinburgh Univ PhD student Benedict Robin on Sadr-Communist alliance and May election)

2018 PUK attacked Gorran HQ in Sulaymaniya Widespread accusations of voting fraud in Sulaymaniya

and Kirkuk provinces

(Musings On Iraq Growing Crisis Over Elections In Kirkuk and Kurdistan)

2018 Iran’s Quds Force head Gen Suleimani arrived in Baghdad for elections Reportedly started talks

afterward to form anti-Sadr coalition

(Musings On Iraq Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ Commander General Suleimani And His Role In Iraq, An Interview With The New Yorker’s Dexter Filkins)

View the Iraq History Timelines

Attacks By Pro-Iran Groups Force American F-16 Contractors To Withdraw

(Iraqi Air Force)

Balad Air Base in Salahaddin which is where Iraq’s F-16 fighters are housed has repeatedly been hit by rockets launched by pro-Iran groups. The base was struck in August 2020, February, March, April and May 2021. That has led Lockheed Martin’s contractors who service the planes to withdraw their staff once again. Some of the crews were pulled out in March, and now the company announced that all of its personnel have left Balad. This happened before in January 2020 for the same reasons. This will greatly curtail the use of the F-16s which are barely operating as of now.

This Day In Iraqi Histor - May 11

 

1925 UK Colonial Secretary wrote Arab elites knew Iraq was being held together by British

1935 Iraq air force bombed rebel villages in Diwaniya held by Abu Hassan Bani Zurayij and Zawalim

tribes

(Musings On Iraq review Wings of Iraq, Volume 1: The Iraqi Air Force, 1931-1970)

1941 British forces left Haifa, Palestine heading for Habaniya, Anbar

(Musings On Iraq interview with Prof Boich World War II In Iraq and Syria)

1941 More British planes landed as reinforcements at Habaniya air base Anbar

1941 German military aid began arriving from Syria by train Stored in Mosul but never used

1941 German diplomat Dr. Grobba arrived in Baghdad along with 3 German planes and 20,000 Pounds

for PM Gaylani

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

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq 1941, The Battles for Basra, Habbaniya, Fallujah and Baghdad)

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

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

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

1966 Barzanis forces destroyed army brigade during new govt offensive shaking morale of

army Largely ended campaign

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

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

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

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

1982 Iranian Op Bait al-Moqaddas Took Husseiniya and pushed Iraqis to border in Khuzistan province

Saddam ordered retreat to Khorramshahr across from Basra

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

1985 Iran launched attack into southern Iraq marshes to seize Basra-Baghdad highway

(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)

1991 UK PM Major said was against ending UN sanctions on Iraq until Saddam overthrown

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

1991 Ahmed Chalabi contacted by CIA officer Discussed Chalabi becoming organizer of Iraqi

opposition with CIA support Chalabi agreed CIA gave him $50,000

(Musings On Iraq review The Man Who Pushed America To War, The Extraordinary Life, Adventures, and Obsessions of Ahmad Chalabi)

(Musings On Iraq review Arrows of the Night: Ahmad Chalabi and the Selling of the Iraq War)

1991 CIA hired Rendon Group for propaganda ops in Iraq Would help create Iraqi National Congress

2002 Gen Franks briefed Bush on war plans at Camp David Said he would attack Iraq on 5 fronts: west

for special operations south would be main invasion front from Kuwait north would be Turkey if it agreed to be involved center would be Baghdad attacked by air strikes and last would be information campaign

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

Tragedy)

(Musings On Iraq review Shaping the Plan for Operation Iraqi Freedom, The Role of Military Intelligence Assessment)

2003 UK envoy to Iraq said US had no leadership no strategy for rebuilding Iraq

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

2003 Report US military team searching for Iraq’s WMD found nothing

2003 UN report Iraq farming could collapse threatening widespread hunger

2004 Zarqawi released video of himself beheading US hostage Nick Berg Zarqawi claimed revenge for

Abu Ghraib abuses

(Musings On Iraq review ISIS The State of Terror)

2004 Bush put training of new Iraqi security forces under CENTCOM

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

2004 Bush signed NSPP 35 okayed 1^st interagency plan to rebuild Iraq Happened year after invasion

ended

2004 Bush signed NSPP 36 giving State Dept control of Iraq after CPA closed

2004 Gen Taguba and Under Sec Def Cambone testified to Senate Armed Services Comm on Abu

Ghraib abuse Asked if Gen Miller’s visit to Iraq from Guantanamo Bay on interrogation techniques had led to abuse Cambone said no Taguba said yes

2004 Conspiracy theorist Mylroie claimed 9/11 hijacker Atta met with Iraqi intel in Prague in 2001 after

story discredited

(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)

2004 Report Red Cross pointed out only 600 out of 43,000 Iraqis arrested by US in 03 went to court

2005 Congress approved $5.3 bil to rebuild Iraqi security forces

2010 US arrested Kataib Hezbollah commander accused of attacking US and Iraq forces

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

2010 Report that Iran Rev Guards Quds Force’s Gen Suleimani helped negotiate State of Law-

National Alliance merger into National Coalition

(Musings On Iraq Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ Commander General Suleimani And His Role In Iraq, An Interview With The New Yorker’s Dexter Filkins)

2011 PM Maliki said US forces could stay past end of year if ruling parties agreed

2011 Tribes in Basra threatened revolt if US forces stayed past end of year

2012 PM Maliki said Turkey was not respecting Iraq

2014 Gen Austin and US diplomats met PM Maliki who asked for drones and air strikes Obama turned

him down

2014 Protest in Basra about lack of electricity

2014 ISIS spokesman Adnani released video saying ISIS was following true path of Al Qaeda while

Zawahiri had split the jihadist movement and only cared about promoting himself

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

2015 Kataib Hezbollah attacked ISCI office in Basra accusing official of corruption

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

2016 3 suicide car bombs in Baghdad killed 113 wounded 187 Deadliest day in years in Iraq

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

2020 PM Kazemi ordered raid on Thar Allah offices in Basra after it killed a protester

(Musings On Iraq Protests Return To Iraq Can New Govt Respond To Their Demands?)

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

2020 Sadr gave PM Kazemi 100 days to carry out reforms

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Security In Iraq May 1-7, 2021

The Islamic State’s annual Ramadan offensive in Iraq continued into the first week of May. Pro-Iran groups were active as well. That led to the most incidents since May 2020.

This Day In Iraqi History - May 10

 

1920 Nationalist Haras al-Istiqlal decided to increase campaign for independence in Baghdad

Agreed on joint Sunni-Shiite events during annual religious ceremonies

1923 Sir Henry Dobbs wrote US Consul in Iraq that King Faisal was not a strong leader and he

expected trouble from his rule

1941 New German ambassador to Iraq arrived in Mosul with 2 He 111 bombers

(Musings On Iraq interview with Prof Boich World War II In Iraq and Syria)

1941 Iraqis abandoned Fort Rutba in Anbar allowing British to capture it

1941 UK India cmdr Gen Auchinlek advocated occupying Baghdad Mosul Kirkuk to preclude German

intervention Mideast cmdr Gen Wavell told Auchinlek that Iraq not as important as other fronts and he had limited resources

1941 UK Mideast cmdr Gen Wavell told Churchill attack on Baghdad could start Arab revolt Wavell told

Churchill some Jordanian forces already refused to go to Iraq Wavell finally gave order for forces in Jordan to head for Habaniya Anbar Wavell ordered that Baghdad was not to be occupied

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

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq 1941, The Battles for Basra, Habbaniya, Fallujah and Baghdad)

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

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

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

1950 Grenade thrown at car company owned by Jews in Baghdad 4 injured 2^nd of 7 such attacks on Jews

1950-51

1950 Iraq prosecuted Jews for grenade attacks claiming Zionist plot to get Jews to move to Israel

Opponents argued most Jews already leaving Iraq so no need to scare them

1959 General Federation of Peasant Societies Law passed legalizing peasant groups Big victory for

Communists who were organizing peasants to push Gen Qasim to give it role in govt

(Musings On Iraq 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)

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

1967 PM Naji Talib forced to resign by military Pres Abdul Rahman Arif became premier

1976 New Kurdish rebellion led by PUK started Kurds backed by Soviet Union, Syria, Iran, Libya

1991 Iraq rejected US French UK proposal for international police force to deploy to Kurdistan

2002 Gen Franks discussed war plans with Sec Def Rumsfeld who was afraid Iraq might take initiative

and launch a pre-emptive attack

2002 Gen Franks briefed NSC on Middle Eastern countries and their role in invasion plans

(Musings On Iraq review Shaping the Plan for Operation Iraqi Freedom, The Role of Military Intelligence Assessment)

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

2002 CIA briefing book on Iraq’s WMD mentioned Iraq-Niger uranium deal

(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)

2003 Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim head of SCIRI returned to Iraq from Iran

2003 Outgoing ORHA head Garner flew to Qatar to brief incoming CPA head Bremer on situation in Iraq

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

2003 US forces surrounded Iranian opposition group Mujahadeen e-Khalq camp and demanded they

disarm

2004 Bush told Sec Def Rumsfeld he was doing a super job and US owed him a debt in middle of Abu

Ghraib scandal

2004 Human Rights Min Turki told Guardian Bremer warned in 2003 about prisoner abuse by US

soldiers

2004 PM Blair denied he knew about British forces abusing Iraqi prisoners

2004 US and ISF began returning to Fallujah

2004 Finance Min Chalabi sent letter to judge telling him to stop investigating ministry for corruption

2005 Parliament created 55 member constitution drafting committee but with no Sunni members

(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 Occupation of Iraq, Winning The War, Losing The Peace)

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

2008 Sadr announced ceasefire ending most fighting in Baghdad Led to many Special Groups and

Asaib Ahl Al-Haq to flee to Iran

(Musings On Iraq Asaib Ahl Al-Haq From A Breakaway Sadr Militia To Defenders Of Iraq)

2008 Op Mother of Two Rivers started in Mosul after Charge of Knights ended Mosul main insurgent

base after Surge Offensive announced publicly before started so many insurgents left

(Musings On Iraq The Security Situation In Mosul)

2010 Kurdish list in Ninewa said open to deal with Hadbaa to join provincial council which Kurds had

boycotted since 09

(Musings On Iraq Tit For Tat In Ninewa)

2010 ISI carried out coordinated car bombings in Baghdad Hillah Iskandiriya Basra

2010 Iranian helicopters attacked Kurdish villages and got into shootout with Peshmerga trying to target

PJAK

2011 Analyst est Iraq lost $493 bil 03-11 due to bad administration planning and project delays

2011 Army chief of staff Gen Zebari said US withdrawal would be bad for security in Iraq because ISF

not ready to defend country until 2020

2011 Allawi released insulting letter to PM Maliki in response to letter from premier

2011 Protest in Mosul demanding US withdrawal release of prisoners govt reform

2012 KRG complained about PM Maliki holding cabinet meeting in Kirkuk Listed all grievances with

Baghdad over oil Article 140 etc

2012 KRG Natural Resource Min said if Baghdad didn’t deliver regions’ share of budget it would truck

oil for exports independently

2020 Protests re-started in Iraq against election of new PM Kazemi govt

(Musings On Iraq Protests Return To Iraq Can New Govt Respond To Their Demands?)

View the Iraq History Timelines 

This Day In Iraqi History - May 9

 

1935 Iraqi air force dropped flyers telling tribes to end revolt in Diwaniya or govt would punish

them Tribes refused Govt started bombing area Martial law declared Rumaitha Gen Sidqi put in command of putting down revolt

(Musings On Iraq review Wings of Iraq, Volume 1: The Iraqi Air Force, 1931-1970)

1941 Germany announced aid package for Iraq

(Musings On Iraq interview with Prof Boich World War II In Iraq and Syria)

1941 German diplomat arrived in Syria to organize arms shipments to Iraq

1941 Start of 100 German and 20 Italian airplanes landing in Syrian bases to fight British in Iraq British

intel found out about planes being flown from Greece to Syria and that Vichy France sending trains full of military aid to Iraq

1941 British planes bombed Iraqi police holding Fort Rutba, Anbar while Iraqi

            reinforcements arrived Bombed air bases in Mosul and Rashid

1941 British cmdr in India Gen Auchinleck told Chiefs of Staff British had to deal with Iraq

1941 PM Churchill told MidEast commander Gen Wavell he had to take bold military action against Iraq

and wouldn’t negotiation with PM Gaylani

1941 Jordanian soldiers under UK command mutinied and refused to cross over into Iraq 240 men left

unit not wanting to fight fellow Arabs

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

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq 1941, The Battles for Basra, Habbaniya, Fallujah and Baghdad)

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

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

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

1954 Iraq and Syria met to discuss unification Never happened

1982 Iran cut off 2 Iraqi divisions and regained 116 sq mi in Khuzistan province in south

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

1984 State Dept memo said that new pro-Iraq policy could lead to export of dual use equipment for

Baghdad’s nuclear program

(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)

1991 US forces withdrew from southern Iraq after Gulf War

1991 Iraq rejected proposal to have intl police force to divide Iraqi forces from Kurds in north

1992 Saddam discussed assassinating Mubarak and King Fahd because they backed US in Gulf War

2001 US Energy Dept said aluminum tubes Iraq tried to buy fit specifications for rocket launchers IAEA

found similar tubes during inspections in Baghdad

(Musings On Iraq How A Contested Aluminum Tubes Story Became The Basis For War With Iraq)

2002 Gen Franks ordered commanders to plan for including Turkey in Iraq invasion plans Franks didn’t

believe Ankara would agree to allow US troops to use country for invasion but needed to plan for it

(Musings On Iraq review Shaping the Plan for Operation Iraqi Freedom, The Role of Military Intelligence Assessment)

2002 Pentagon memo to Rumsfeld said that US had to pick who would fill vacuum after Saddam Said

Iraqi opposition would help

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

2003 US and UK draft resolution to UN to make them occupying powers in Iraq

2003 Sec Def Rumsfeld US would keep as many troops as necessary in Iraq and would take more than

year to build Iraqi govt

2003 1^st joint US-Iraqi patrols started in Baghdad

2003 UK Cmdr in Basra said 900 unarmed poice had been reconstituted

2003 Sadrist cleric called for revenge attacks upon Baathists

2003 US general met with Iraqi officers about getting Iraqi soldiers back to their units and to stop looting

and impose order

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

(Musings On Iraq Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Hard Lessons Ch 5 ORHA In Baghdad)

2003 Bush signed memo officially making Bremer presidential envoy to Iraq

(Musings On Iraq review My Year in Iraq, The Struggle to Build a Future of Hope)

(Musings On Iraq review State of Denial, Bush At War, Part III)

2003 Bremer met Bush and mentioned RAND study that said US needed 500,000 troops to occupy Iraq

Bush asked Rumsfeld who said there were enough troops

2003 Bremer cancelled Khalilzad Zalimay’s return trip to Iraq to work on an interim Iraqi authority

2003 Under Sec Def Feith gave Bremer draft of deBaathification and disbanding Iraqi military Feith would

later deny he drafted orders Feith said he was going to give order to Garner but Bremer wanted to issue it

(Musings On Iraq Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Hard Lessons Chapter 6 Charting A New Course)

2003 CPA sent draft order to disband Iraqi military and build a new one to Sec Def Rumsfeld

2003 DepDefSec Wolfowitz in Vanity Fair Bush admin all agreed on WMD as way to justify Iraq war

2003 US announced it found mobile WMD labs Story proved false

(Musings On Iraq How Iraqi Defector CURVEBALL Became Basis For US Claims That Iraq Had WMD)

2004 Think tank estimated that Iraq would could cost $300 bil in ten years when Bush admin was

pushing low numbers

2004 Report some US officers worried winning militarily in Iraq but losing support of Iraqi public

2008 Government and Sadr signed ceasefire to end Charge of Knights Allowed ISF to conduct arrests and

raids in Sadr City

2008 Baghdad Operations Command said they found Iranian weapons with Mahdi Army in capital

(Musings On Iraq interview with Galen Wright of Arkenstone blog on Iranian arms shipments to Iraqi militias) 

2009 US said Iran continued to train Iraqi militias but at lower levels than before

(Musings On Iraq Iran’s Policy Towards Iraq)

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

2009 PM Maliki called for anti-corruption campaign Did nothing afterward

(Musings On Iraq interview with Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart Bowen on Iraq’s fight with corruption) 

(Musings On Iraq interview with former anti-corruption official Vincent Foulk)

2010 Protests in front of KRG parliament over murder of journalist Zardasht Osman

2011 PM Maliki released insulting letter to Allawi

2011 Former Health Minister warned that Iraq had become part of drug trafficking networks between

Middle East and Europe

2011 ISI was said to give allegiance to Al Qaeda’s Zawahiri and promised revenge for bin Laden’s death

2012 Report that $5 mil being stolen a month from contract for Turkish ships to provide electricity to

Basra

2012 PM Maliki said Peshmerga should leave Kirkuk while Kurds criticized PMs visit to city

2012 Turkey said it would not arrest former VP Hashemi who was residing there after Interpol notice for

him

2013 Pres Barzani said KRG was training Kurds to fight in Syrian war

2014 Govt claimed 90% of Ramadi cleared of ISIS when insurgents still occupied large areas of city

2015 Tribal fighters began training in Anbar with approval by PM Abadi

2018 Board of Supreme Audit warned Iraq Election Comm that Korean voting machines had problems

and Commission had not responded to its concerns earlier

View the Iraq History Timelines