Reconciliation between Baghdad and Irbil in the aftermath of the September independence referendum has been going at a snail’s pace. Prime Minister Haidar Abadi still claims the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has not cancelled the results of the vote, while making various demands about its oil industry, air ports, border crossings, budget, etc. Recently, the central government made some small concessions.
Wednesday, January 31, 2018
Baby Steps Towards Reconciliation Between Iraq’s Central And Regional Govts
Reconciliation between Baghdad and Irbil in the aftermath of the September independence referendum has been going at a snail’s pace. Prime Minister Haidar Abadi still claims the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has not cancelled the results of the vote, while making various demands about its oil industry, air ports, border crossings, budget, etc. Recently, the central government made some small concessions.
This Day In Iraqi History – Jan 31
1941 PM Gaylani stepped down fearing civil war due to his
reaching out to Axis that had split govt
and angered
British
1941 UK Foreign Office decided to give money to Regent to help
him return to power
1991 US and Saudis pushed Iraqi forces out of Saudi city of
Khafji after 2 days of fighting
1999 Soviet paper claimed hundreds of Afghan Arabs were
being trained in terrorism in south Iraq
to fight US
2003 Blair’s advisers told him had to prioritize pushing
Bush on postwar planning for Iraq but
Blair
failed to do so
2003 Bush and Blair said that invasion would start Mar 10
2003
2003 Blair told Bush he needed a 2nd UN
resolution for use of force against Iraq for domestic
politics
Bush agreed
2003 Bush and Blair said a 2nd U.N. resolution
would be good against Iraq but not necessary to go
to war
2003 Bush said fighting between Iraqi factions would be
unlikely after invasion
2003 Bush and Blair talked about provoking Iraq to help
justify war including getting US spy
plane fired
upon
2004 Gen Taguba started investigation of abuses at Abu
Ghraib prison
2004 Car Bomb at Mosul police station killed 9 wounded 45
2005 Assyrians in Ninewa’s Bashiqa and Bartella told
couldn’t vote after promised they could
when
ballots ran out on Jan 30
2005 Assyrians demonstrated in Ninewa Plains over not being
allowed to vote Broken up by
Kurdish
security forces
2006 US Emb-military report situation in 6 of Iraq’s 18
provinces serious 1 critical
2006 US Emb-military report said militias infiltrating
security forces in Basra Lots of
gangs
smuggling assassinations
2009 Provincial elections held
Tuesday, January 30, 2018
Security In Iraq, Jan 22-28, 2018
The number of incidents reported in Iraq has stayed steady
for the start of 2018. During the third week, there was a large number of
fatalities because of two mass graves.
This Day In Iraqi History – Jan 30
1927 1st student protest in Iraq held over firing
of teachers Organized by Communists
1940 Regent of Iraq fled Baghdad for Diwaniya fearing retaliation
by PM Gaylani
1940 British were hoping to use Regent fleeing to spread
unrest in Iraq to remove PM
Gaylani
from power
1984 State Dept memo said that US considered discouraging
military exports to Iraq
1985 Iraq attacked Said Saad
1991 Saddam ordered Op Samarra hit and run air attacks on
Coalition air force
2001 1st NSC meeting of Bush admin talked about
how Iraq destabilizing Middle East
CIA Dir
Tenet provided intel Iraq working on WMD at factory
2001 Treasury Sec O’Neil asked about WMD intel Tenet
admitted no confirmation that
Iraq
producing WMD
2001 Sec of State Powell argued for smart sanctions
2001 Sec of Def Rumsfeld wrote memo noting Iraq and others
trying to buy advanced
military
technology
2002 Rice said Axis of Evil countries had to be dealt with
diplomatically but at same
time said
they couldn’t be negotiated with
2002 CIA unclassified report to Congress Iraq trying to
rebuild its nuclear program
2003 Bush told Italian Premier Berlusconi that Iraq would be
disarmed and Saddam
removed
2003 UN Amb Negroponte told Senate aluminum tubes Iraq
bought were not right
for rockets
in response to IAEA findings
2003 Same hearing Dep Sec of State Armitage said there were
differences in US about
the tubes
2003 White House spokesman said Bush stood by claim that
aluminum tubes Iraq tried
to buy were
for nuke program
2003 UK Att Gen Goldsmith wrote Blair telling him UN Res
1441 didn’t authorize
use of
force against Iraq
2003 Aid group warned that breakdown of law and order likely
right after Iraq invasion
unless US
immediately established control
2003 Powell’s chief of staff Wilkerson began going through
intel on Iraq with CIA
for
Powell’s Feb 03 UN speech
2004 CIA and Congressional inquiries no evidence White House
pressured US intel on
Iraq’s WMD
and ties with Al Qaeda
2004 Congressional committee found CIA relied too much on
circumstantial outdated and
satellite
and intercept intel on Iraq WMD
2005 Elections held for parliament to draft new Iraqi
constitution Sunnis boycotted vote
Also voted
for provincial councils
2012 Maliki warned Salahaddin governor that he would be
removed if he pushed
provincial
autonomy
2014 8 gunmen stormed Human Rights Min office in Baghdad and
took hostages
Were killed
Monday, January 29, 2018
This Day In Iraqi History - Jan 29
1917 British captured Ottoman fort at Khadairi Bend in
campaign to recapture
Kut
1948 PM Jabr forced to resign over protests over
Anglo-Iraq treaty organized by
Communists Regent
also against Jabr
1948 Sayid Mohammed al-Sadr replaced Jabr as PM
1953 Jamil al-Midfai became PM for 5th time
1982 King Hussein said Jordanian troops would be sent to
Iraq to help in Iran-Iraq
War
1991 Iraq launched probing attack upon Saudi city of
Khafji occupying it
1998 Last part of final report of UN inspectors in Iraq issued
2002 Bush State of Union called Iraq part of Axis of Evil
Said it still had WMD
programs
2002 Iran and North Korea added to Axis of Evil speech
because Bush admin didn’t
want to be
seen as focusing upon Iraq
2003 UN Amb Negroponte said Iraq bought aluminum tubes for
nuke program
2003 Rumsfeld said Iraq had a nuke weapons program and
tried to buy uranium from
Africa
(Musings On Iraq article on Iraq-Niger uranium story) 2003 Powell Chief of Staff Wilkerson went over info to be used in Powell speech to UN
at CIA HQ
2003 State’s Wilkerson rejected using Cheney Chief of
Staff’s briefing as basis for
Powell’s UN
speech CIA Dir Tenet said NIE on Iraq should be used instead
2003 Aid groups warned that if Pentagon ran postwar Iraq
many international donors
would be
reluctant to give relief
2004 NatlSecAdv Rice said what US predicted about Iraq WMD
before war not what
found
afterward
2004 NatlSecAdv Rice said Saddam deceived US and world
about its WMD
2004 State Dept said failure to find out about Iraq’s WMD
was not US failure but
international
one
2004 Ex-Iraq Survey Group head Kay told Bush Saddam wanted
Iraqis to believe
country had
WMD when it didn't
2004 Fmr Iraq Survey Group head Kay said he thought Saddam
destroyed his WMD
stocks
because too easy to find
2004 Bush asked Ex-Iraq Survey Group head Kay why Saddam
didn’t admit he had
no WMD Kay
said Saddam wanted fear to stop revolts by Shiites and Kurds
2005 RAND Corp Iraq became center for jihadist cause and
cause of terrorism in rest of
world
2005 Human Rights Watch US Abu Ghraib prison scandal
became recruitment tool for
terrorists
2006 Al Qaeda sent 2nd letter to Ansar
al-Sunnah saying it sent representative to
Iraq to
work out issues with Al Qaeda in Iraq
2006 Sharia Committee for the Army of the Followers of the
Sunnah and the Collective
joined
Mujahedeen Shura Council
2006 Sharia Committee for the Army of the Followers of the
Sunnah and the
Collective’s
emir was Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's group
2006 Report after US made deal with sheikhs in Ramadi
against Al Qaeda in Iraq in
mid-Jan 3 sheikhs assassinated
leading tribes to retaliate against AQI
2006 Report 3 Islamist insurgent groups once aligned with
Al Qaeda in Iraq in Ramadi
broke with
it
2006 National Security Adviser Rubaie said Al Qaeda in
Iraq feuding with Islamic Army
and
Mujahedeen Army
View the Iraq History Timelines
Sunday, January 28, 2018
Still Pulling Bodies From Wreckage Of Mosul
On January
12, 2018, the Civil Defense Department announced that it had finished
recovering bodies from the rubble of Mosul. It said that roughly 2,500 people
had been found, and any other remains were Islamic State members. Voice of
America reported
on January 26 however, that municipal workers were still pulling people out of
the Old City in west Mosul. The day the VOA journalist was in the city for
example, a 10-year-old girl was discovered. Much of the Old City remains a
disaster area, so Civil Defense was probably premature to say that its work was
done.
This Day In Iraqi History – Jan 28
1920 Turkish National Pact said Turkey gave up rights to all
Ottoman provinces
with Arab
majorities including Basra and Baghdad
1920 Turkish National Pact did not include Mosul province
which Turkey claimed had
Turkish
majority Kurds called Turks
1920 British also claimed Mosul province which it occupied
after armistice with
Ottomans in
1918
1941 Regent appointed 2 new ministers to try to unseat PM
Gaylani leading Gaylani to plot against
Regent
1985 Iraq launched first offensive since 1981 attacking Qasr
e Shirin central Iran
1985 Iraq tried to re-take Majnoon Islands from Iran but
failed
1998 UK discussed using force against Iraq to ensure
continued UN weapons
inspections
2003 Bush’s State of Union said Iraq wasn’t disarming and
hiding its programs from
weapons inspections
2003 Said Iraq had 25,000 liters of anthrax enough to make
38,000 liters of botulinum
toxin
Making sarin and VX gas Had mobile WMD labs
2003 Bush speech asked what 9/11 hijackers could’ve done if
given WMD by Iraq
2003 Bush said British learned Iraq tried to buy uranium
from Africa
(Musings
On Iraq article on Iraq-Niger uranium story)
2003 Bush’s State of Union said Saddam was harboring Al
Qaeda members
2003 UK Foreign Sec Straw told For Office legal adv Wood
that he didn’t think 2nd UN
resolution
was necessary for action vs Iraq
2003 ORHA head Garner met with NSC’s Zalimay who said goal
of postwar Iraq
should be
getting Iraqis to govern as soon as possible
2003 Cheney chief of staff Libby gave copy of his briefing
on Iraq WMD and ties to
Al Qaeda to
Powell to be used as basis for his UN speech
2004 Ex-IraqSurveyGroup’s Kay told Congress everyone wrong
about Iraq having
stocks of
WMD but did have programs
2004 Ex-IraqSurveyGroup head Kay told Congress an
investigation was needed on intel
failure
over Iraq’s WMD
2004 White House said that Iraq Survey Group needed more
time to make conclusions
about
whether Iraq had WMD or not
2004 Hutton Inquiry said Sep 02 dossier on Iraq’s WMD had
not been influenced by
political
pressure from Blair govt
2004 UN Sec Gen Annan said UN delegation would go to Iraq to
look into elections
2004 CPA Order 55 created Integrity Commission to investigate corruption
2004 CPA Order 55 created Integrity Commission to investigate corruption
2006 Aglus Sunnah wal Jammah joined Mujahadeen Shura Council
2007 Soldiers of Heaven started revolt in Najaf leaving
almost 300 dead
2011 Protest in Mosul demanded govt release of prisoners
2016 Abadi met with Pres Masum Speaker Jabouri to talk about
technocratic govt and reforms
View the Iraq History
Timelines
Saturday, January 27, 2018
Iraq’s Former Trade Minister To Finally Face Prison Time For Corruption
Former Trade Minister Abdul Falah al-Sudani will finally go
to prison three years after he was sentenced for corruption. The Lebanese
government cooperated with Baghdad to extradited Sudani
back to Iraq. He was arrested there in September 2017, after fleeing Iraq a few
years beforehand.
This Day In Iraqi History - Jan 27
1925 League of Nations Commission on Mosul arrived in
province to protests Was to determine who
would get Mosul Iraq or Turkey
1925 Commission interviewed hundreds of locals and mapped
economy, land, trade
routes,
ethnicities
1948 Communists called for more protests against
Anglo-Iraq Treaty to topple govt
1948 Mass demonstration against Anglo-Iraq treaty led to
clashes with police in
Baghdad 77 killed Hundreds wounded
2002 Gen Franks briefed Rumsfeld on latest war plan Said
Iraqi military degraded by
sanctions
Wanted info campaign vs Iraq to start
2002 Gran Franks claimed the more the U.S. got involved
against Saddam the less
Iraqi
people would support regime
2002 Gen Franks had cut war plan to 150 days down
from 7 months and 245,000
troops
2002 Gen Franks wanted to cut timeline for war down to
even less time
2003 Head UN inspector Blix told Security Council that
Iraq cooperating with
inspections
but had not accepted disarmament
2003 Head UN inspector Blix asked what undeclared WMD
items did Iraq have Asked
did it illegally
produce anything after 98
2003 UN head inspector Blix said Iraq’s Dec WMD
declaration had provided no new
info and
not answered questions
2003 Head UN inspector Blix said were questions about
Iraq’s production of anthrax
VX gas and
WMD bombs from Iran-Iraq War
2003 El Baradei told Security Council IAEA had found no
evidence of an active
nuclear
program in Iraq
2003 El Baradei said aluminum tubes Iraq tried to buy were
probably for rockets
not nuclear
program
2003 Powell said Iraq was hiding its WMD
2003 US intelligence said Blix would back off next
declaration to UN on inspections
because
didn't want to start war
2003 Some in White House believed Blix lying about
inspections and could not be
trusted
2003 Bush believed US stuck in inspection process and pushed
him towards war
2003 CIA report said Iraq tried to buy uranium from Niger
in 1999 Said was uranium
in
warehouse in Benin but was going to France not Iraq
2003 CIA Dir Tenet given copy of Bush’s State of the Union
address that included
claim that
Iraq tried to buy uranium from Niger Tenet didn’t read speech
2003 CIA Berlin chief said that Iraqi defector CURVEBALL was considered a
problem by Germans
and they
hadn’t confirmed any of his stories of mobile WMD labs
2003 ORHA began contracting for supplies and personnel for
post-war Iraq 2 months
before
invasion
2003 William Safire NYTimes piece said Zarqawi went to
Baghdad Then to Kurdistan
to Ansar
al-Islam proving Iraq-Al Qaeda link
2004 Ex-IraqSurveyGroup head Kay Iraq told UN in 1995 it
had destroyed WMD
and nuke
program but no one believed them
2006 Report shifting US reconstruction money to security
meant 60% of water and 125
electricity
projects would not be finished
2012 bombing of Shiite funeral left over 90 casualties
View the Iraq History Timelines
Friday, January 26, 2018
This Day In Iraqi History - Jan 26
1948 PM Said said that Anglo-Iraq Treaty was still on the
table after Regent
cancelled
it Led to new protests
1948 PM Said ordered suppression of protests against
Anglo-Iraq Treaty
1982 Iran and Iraq agreed to family visits for prisoners
of war
1987 Islamic Conference Organization invited Iran and Iraq
to summit in Kuwait Iran
said no
1987 UN Sec Gen de Cuella addressed Islamic Conf Org
saying aggressor in Iran-Iraq
War needed
to be determined
1997 Iraqi National Accord operative gave interview saying CIA behind bombing campaign
in Iraq form 1994-95
1998 Project for New American Century sent letter to Clinton demanding US
in Iraq form 1994-95
1998 Project for New American Century sent letter to Clinton demanding US
overthrow
Saddam
1998 11 of 18 that signed letter from Project for New
American Century would join
Bush
administration in 2001
2003 Powell speech asked why Iraq tried to buy uranium Reference to Iraq-Niger uranium deal
2003 Blair said Iraq non-cooperation with UN inspectors
was material breach of
UN
Resolution
2004 Japanese troops deployed to Iraq as part of Coalition
of Willing
2005 Insurgent umbrella group announced campaign to
disrupt that year’s elections
2005 US Cmdr in Iraq Gen Casey said US and Iraqi forces
killing more insurgents and
taking
fight to Sunni areas
2005 US Cmdr in Iraq Gen Casey said Iraqi forces could
secure country but could
secure
voting stations during elections
2006 Al Qaeda sent letter to Ansar al-Sunnah suggested it
merge with Al Qaeda in Iraq
2011 insurgents caught crossing from Syria to Anbar Said
they got aid from
Syrian govt
2015 after battle with IS in Barwanah, Diyala Hashd kill
70 civilians
2017 All of east Mosul freed by Iraqi forces after Abadi declared it cleared
View the Iraq History Timelines
Thursday, January 25, 2018
This Day In Iraqi History - Jan 25
1917 British attack Ottoman
positions along Hai River
1959 Gen Qasim legalized trade unions
1967 Pres Johnson met 5 Iraqi generals and Iraqi Amb Hani
at White House and
said that
they would build closer ties
1981 Islamic Conference Organization created group to try
to mediate end to Iran-Iraq
War
1987 3rd War of the Cities ended
1990 OPEC said Kuwait and UAE agreed to limit exports to
try to settle dispute with
Iraq
1998 1st part of final report of UN inspections
in Iraq
2003 Military Industrialization Commission officials had
Republican Guard
commanders
sign docs that they had no WMD in units
2003 Cheney chief of staff Libby briefed White House on
case vs Iraq’s WMD and ties
to Al Qaeda
2003 Libby said Iraq hiding its WMD and cleaning sites
before UN inspections
2003 Libby said Iraq-Al Qaeda ties strong
2003 Libby played recording of 2 Al Qaeda operatives
talking about poisons that Libby
said they
got from Iraq
2003 Libby claimed 9/11 hijacker Atta met with Iraq
intelligence in Prague up to 4 times
2004 Ex-Iraq Survey Group Head Kay US intel was wrong
about state of Iraq’s WMD
programs
2004 Ex-Iraq Survey Group head Kay US intel agencies had
to explain why they failed
on Iraq
intel on WMD
2004 Ex-Iraq Survey Group head Kay said Iraq tried to
restart nuke program in 2000-01
but didn’t
get far
2004 Ex-Iraq Survey Group head Kay said Iraq had active
biological weapons program
2004 Ex-Iraq Survey Group head Kay 1998 US bombing had
stopped Iraq’s chemical
weapons
program
2005 Bush admin said it would ask Congress for another $80
bil for Iraq and
Afghanistan
wars
2005 Human Rights Watch reported arbitrary arrests torture
abuse threats corruption in
Iraqi
justice system
2006 Report US wanted to make Iraqi army light infantry
force to fight insurgency and not
threaten
neighbors Meant given no artillery or heavy weapons besides 77 T-72 tanks
2010 3 international hotels bombed
2013 ISF killed 9 protesters at Fallujah protest camp for
throwing stones
2015 Yazidi militias and YPG forced Arabs out of Om
Danabuk, Sinjar Killed 10 and
looted
village
2015 Badr’s Amiri claimed all of Diyala cleared of IS
View the Iraq History Timelines
Wednesday, January 24, 2018
Iraq’s Parliamentary Elections Set For May 12, 2018
There was some debate about whether Iraq would hold its next
national elections on time. Some Sunni parties wanted a delay. A Federal Court decision
sealed the deal and voting will happen as planned on May 12, 2018. The
alliances were set beforehand, although there were several attempts at moves
after the fact. Prime Minister Haidar Abadi heads into the vote with the upper
hand, but there are always twists and turns in Iraqi politics.
The Day In Iraqi History – Jan 24
1969 Former MP Bajari during spy trial claimed opposition
leaders were trying
to
overthrow Pres Bakr’s govt
1970 42 more sentenced to death for coup plot against Pres
Bakr
2003 Gen Franks presented final war plan to Rumsfeld and
Joint Chiefs head Gen
Myers
2003 Blair sent note to Bush suggesting delaying Iraq
invasion for a month to allow
more time
for postwar planning
2003 UK Foreign Office legal adv Sir Wood told Foreign Sec
Straw that Britain could
not go to
war with Iraq without a 2nd UN resolution
2003 IAEA told Wash Post aluminum tubes Iraq tried to buy
were wrong for nuke
program
2003 Archaeologists and scholars briefed Pentagon about
historical sites in Iraq that
should be
spared from bombing
2003 DIA report repeated CIA reporting on Iraq-Niger uranium
deal and Navy
reported uranium was in a warehouse
in Benin Said Iraq could have gotten uranium
2003 2nd NYTimes article on Iraqi defector
Haideri provided by INC Said that he’d led to
dozens of DIA
reports on Iraq’s WMD
2003 Defense Policy Board’s Richard Perle accused CIA of
being biased against INC so
it wouldn’t
interview people like Haideri
2004 Iraq Survey Group took INC provided defector Haideri to
sites he claimed were WMD and
found nothing
2004 7,000 Kurds marched for a new federal Iraq
2006 Report Inspector Gen for US Reconstruction found
disputes lack of staff and
set rules
caused huge delays completing projects
2011 2 bombs hit Shiite pilgrims during Arbayeen
2017 East Mosul officially declared liberated by PM Abadi
View the Iraq History
Timelines
Tuesday, January 23, 2018
Security In Iraq, Jan 15-21, 2018
There was a large jump in casualties in Iraq during the
third week of January 2018. Part of that was due to two mass graves being
discovered in Ninewa. The main reason however was a suicide bombing in Baghdad
that left 143 casualties. This was the second week the Islamic State launched
such attacks.
This Day In Iraqi History – Jan 23
1920 British cabinet decided Iraqi oil would be developed by
a public company
Foreign
Secretary Curzon overturned decision
1920 UK Foreign Secretary Lord Curzon decided Turkish
Petroleum Company would
keep its
oil rights signed with Ottomans
1948 More protests against Anglo-Iraq Treaty leading to
fights between Communist and
Independence
party
1970 33 conspirators in coup against Pres Bakr executed
1991 Iraq dumped 400 mil gallons of oil into Persian Gulf to
try to prevent
US retaking
Kuwait
1999 NSC counterterrorism dir Clarke said US was right to
bomb factory in Sudan
because
connected to Al Qaeda and Iraq WMD experts
2003 Defense Ministry ordered that if Baghdad were to fall
all govt buildings were to
be looted
and burned
2003 Mukhabarat document called for looting and destruction
of property if Saddam
were
overthrown
2003 Rice wrote NY Times OpEd Iraq hiding its WMD programs
from UN inspectors
and tried
to buy uranium for its nuke program Reference to Iraq-Niger deal
2003 Rumsfeld said that Iraq had WMD and ties to terrorism
were one threat
2003 Under Sec of Def Wolfowitz said Iraq had tons of WMD
and time running out for
it
2003 DepDefSec Wolfowitz speech Said Iraq didn’t make
truthful weapons
declaration
to UN
2003 DepDefSec Wolfowitz said Iraqi defectors told about
Iraq having mobile
WMD labs
2003 DepDefSec Woflowitz said Iraqi govt threatening
scientists not to talk to
UN
inspectors
2003 White House released document saying Iraq hiding its
WMD and tried to buy
uranium for
its nuke program Reference to Iraq-Niger deal
2004 Iraq Survey Group head Kay resigned saying didn’t think
Iraq had any WMD
stocks or
large programs since 1980s
2004 Iraq Survey Group head Kay said Iraq destroyed its WMD
after Gulf War due to
inspections
and unilateral actions
2004 Iraq Survey Group head Kay resigned because group was
going to be diverted
from
finding WMD to fighting insurgency
2004 White House said it believed Iraq had WMD and it would
be found
2006 Report Iraqis going to Jordan jumped from 200-250/day
from 2004-05 to 1,100/day
in Jan 06
as people were fleeing violence
2007 Bush State of Union outlined the Surge
2008 Iraqi Ninewa campaign began to secure Mosul
2008 20,000 pound bomb went off in Mosul leaving 300
casualties
2010 Asaib Ahl Al-Haq kidnapped US contractor Issa Salomi
which it swapped for 4 of
its members
held in prison
2015 Hashd destroyed four mosques in Muqtadiya, Diyala after
operation there
View the Iraq History
Timelines
Monday, January 22, 2018
This Day In Iraqi History - Jan 22
1970 3 coup plotters executed by
Pres Bakr govt
1970 Iraq expelled Iranian ambassador accusing Tehran of
backing 1970 failed coup
1991 Iraqi SCUD missile and 2 U.S. Patriot missiles landed
on Israeli city of
Ramat Gan
1991 Iraqi forces set fire to 700 Kuwaiti oil wells
2003 2nd meeting of US UK Australia on postwar
Iraq Little came of meeting
2003 CIA sent its report on Iraq WMD to White House to
help make case for war
2003 CIA analyst told IAEA aluminum tubes Iraq tried to
buy were for centrifuges
IAEA said
they were for rockets IAEA proved right
2004 Cheney Iraq had mobile labs and WMD programs Inspections
found no mobile
labs
2004 Cheney said overwhelming evidence Saddam linked to Al
Qaeda
2004 Cheney said Iraq behind 1993 World Trade Center
bombing
2005 Report $300 mil for arms deal for Iraqi army went
missing after put on plane for
Lebanon
2005 INC’s Chalabi accused Defense Min Shaalan of stealing
the $300 mil Shaalan
threatened
to arrest Chalabi for the charge
2006 Report 34,131 attacks in 2005 up from 26,496 in 2004
Car bombs went from 420
in 2004 to
873 in 2005 IEDs went from 5,607 in 2004 to 10,953 in 2005
2007 Maliki announced he would no longer protect the Mahdi
Army from U.S.
raids
2008 Mahdi Army tried to kidnap PM Maliki’s national
security adviser Mowafaq
Rubaie in
Baghdad
2012 Iraq voted in Arab League for a transition of power
in Syria away from Assad
View the Iraq History Timelines
Sunday, January 21, 2018
This Day In Iraqi History - Jan 21
1916 Ottomans retreated up Tigris after defeat at Battle of
Wadi only to lose
again to
British at Battle of Hanna
1948 Demonstrators against Anglo-Iraq Treaty fired upon
again Led Regent to
repudiate
treaty
1970 Pres Bakr announced failed coup by ex-army officers
and special tribunal to try
plotters Accused
Iran of backing coup
1970 Imam Khomeini started lectures in Najaf outlining his
concept of vilayat al-faqih
1987 Saddam sent letter to Iranians asking them to
challenge Khomeini’s right to
rule and
conduct of Iran-Iraq War
1999 SCIRI rejected any U.S. aid
2002 Weekly Standard OpEd by Robert Kagan and William
Kristol called for Iraq to be
attacked as
next step in war on terror
2003 Bush said that Saddam was not interested in disarming
and that time was
running out
on Iraq
2003 Blair said 2nd UN resolution not necessary
for use of force against Iraq
2003 DeptSecState Armitage spoke at US Inst of Peace
saying US trying to avoid war
but Iraq
not accounted for its WMD
2004 VP Cheney said there was overwhelming evidence Iraq
and Al Qaeda connected
2005 Knight Ridder analysis Violence in Iraq increased
after every US benchmark such
as capture
of Saddam handing over sovereignty etc
2009 1st NSC meeting in Obama admin president
said he wanted to withdraw from
Iraq but
preserve successes Wanted 3 options for Iraq policy
2011 3 bombs hit Shiite pilgrims during Arbayeen
View the Iraq History Timelines
Saturday, January 20, 2018
How US Intelligence Failed, The Iraq-Niger Uranium Story
Within the U.S.
intelligence community that story that Iraq tried to buy yellowcake uranium
from Niger was never very important. It was a considered a secondary claim to
other reports that Iraq had restarted its nuclear program. It would later
become a huge controversy when it was included in the president’s 2003 State of
the Union address, and then Vice President Dick Cheney tried to discredit
former Ambassador Joseph Wilson who disputed the story. That embarrassing
episode was only the public face of a larger example of the intelligence
failure America suffered from in the lead up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
This Day In Iraqi History – Jan 20
1948 March by railway workers and students against
Anglo-Iraq treaty fired
upon by
police killing some
1970 failed military coup against Pres Bakr led by ex-Gen
Rawi and Col Samarraie
backed by
Iran
1970 Iran expelled Iraq’s ambassador military attache and
four embassy staff over
failed coup
1970 Shah of Iran opposed to Baathism’s Pan-Arabism and
socialism Moved troops
to border
after coup leading to war scare
2003 Military Industrialization Commission ordered its
director generals to come
forward
with any info on WMD
2003 White House gave report to Congress on Iraq’s
noncompliance with UN inspectors
included
Iraq not mentioning trying to buy uranium
2003 National Sec Presidential Dir 24 gave Pentagon control
of postwar Iraq
2003 Pentagon would dismiss previous NSC planning for
postwar Iraq and kick out
State Dept
officials
2003 Office for Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance
(ORHA) created to
run
post-war Iraq 2 months before invasion
2003 UK announced it deployed ground forces for Iraq War
2003 France’s For Min deVillepin said there was no
justification for war against Iraq
2003 Powell furious at French statement because took threat
of war off table at UN
and
strengthened Saddam
2004 Bush’s State of the Union said US was committed to
spreading democracy to
Iraq
2004 Bush’s State of the Union said Iraq Survey Group found
Iraq’s WMD programs and
if US
hadn’t invaded Iraq would still have them
2006 Dec 05 election results announced United Iraqi Alliance
128 seats Kurds 53
Accordance
Front 44 Iraqiya 25 National Dialogue Front 11
2006 Al Qaeda in Iraq said Abdullah Rashid al-Baghdadi had
become emir of new
Mujahedeen
Shura Council
2006 Amb Khalizad met with Iyad Allawi and Fadhila head
Jabiri Jabiri promised PM
spot if he
broke with United Iraqi Alliance and backed Allawi Sunnis and Kurds
2006 Iyad Allawi told his followers he would get Fadhila
head Jabiri to back him as PM
after he
broke with United Iraqi Alliance
2007 Asaib Ahl Al-Haq in an Iranian Revolutionary Guard
planned op attacked
Karbala
Center and kidnap and kill 5 US soldiers
View the Iraq History
Timelines
Friday, January 19, 2018
This Day In Iraqi History - Jan 19
1948 Kurds from Iraq and Iran met
in Baku, Soviet Union Mustafa Barzani
led plans
for Kurdish movement
1987 Iranian attack on Basra city caused population to
start fleeing
1991 Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim said that Supreme Council was
against U.S.
aggression vs Iraq over its Kuwait invasion
1991 US 5th Special Forces Group entered Iraq
to carry out covert ops behind Iraqi
lines during Gulf War
1991 Iraqi terrorist tried to bomb US Information Service
HQ in Philippines in retaliation for Gulf
War
1992 Report Saudis pushed US to help foment military coup
in Iraq to topple
Saddam
2003 US offered Saddam immunity if he departed Iraq to avert
war
2003 Pentagon officials leaked info on US invasion plans
of Iraq to Time to push back
against
Rumsfeld’s small invasion force
2003 Fmr UN inspector David Kay OpEd in Wash Post said UN weapons
inspectors would never
find any hard
evidence against Iraq
2004 Iraqi Governing Council went to UN to ask it for help
with transition to
sovereignty
against wishes of CPA
2004 100,000 marched in Baghdad calling for early
elections
2004 US Cmdr in Iraq Gen Sanchez ordered secret
investigation into Abu Ghraib
prison abuse
2007 US arrested Abdul al-Daraji and Ali Smaisin for
running death squads for
Sadr
2014 Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi told his fighters to march
towards Baghdad
View the Iraq History Timelines
Thursday, January 18, 2018
Churchill In His Own Words On Mesopotamia/Iraq
A recent article outlined how England’s War and later Colonial Secretary Winston Churchill’s main focus after World War I was to save money. England had expended a huge amount to fight the war, and then faced continued obligations and conflicts in Ireland, Palestine, Russia, Turkey, and Mesopotamia/Iraq. In the latter, the British had seized the Ottoman provinces of Basra and Baghdad as part of a strategy to attack the Turks from the east. After the war, it took Mosul as well. The question was then what to do with them.
This Day In Iraqi History - Jan 18
1981 Saddam accused Iran of getting US spare parts despite
US embargo
1981 UN Envoy Palme warned that superpowers may get
involved in Iran-Iraq War
1987 Iran ended Op Karbla 6 seized western bank of Shatt
al-Arab Iran-Iraq War
1991 Iraq launched missiles at Israel and Saudi Arabia at start of Gulf War
1991 Iraqi terrorist tried to blow up US ambassador’s
house in Indonesia in retaliation for Gulf War
1993 US UK and France carried out air and missile strikes
on Iraq for not cooperating
with UN
inspectors
1996 Iraq agreed to talk about UN Resolution 986 that
would create Oil For Food
program
2003 UN inspectors said sites named by US as WMD
facilities had been looked at
and nothing
found
2003 Report Saudis attempted to get Saddam to go into
exile to avert war
2004 Truck bomb hit US headquarters at Republican Palace
Baghdad Killed 20
wounded
more than 100
2008 Fighting broke out between Soldiers of Heaven and Iraqi forces in Nasiriya and Basra
View the Iraq History Timelines
Wednesday, January 17, 2018
Security In Iraq, Jan 8-14, 2018
The number of security incidents remained low for the second week of January 2018. There were very few attacks and casualties. The week did see the return of mass casualty bombings by the Islamic State.
This Day In Iraqi History – Jan 17
1974 Bakr govt held talks with
Mustafa Barzani and KDP
1987 Iraq conducted missile and air strikes on Tehran and
other major cities 3rd War of
the Cities Iran-Iraq War
1988 Mahdi Hakim killed in Sudan by Iraqi intelligence
1989 US report said Iraq was working on typhoid cholera
anthrax for its chemical
weapons
program
1990 Iraq ended foreign travel ban for citizens
1990 Bush admin signed directive for normalized relations
with Iraq
1991 Operation Desert Storm-Gulf War started to expel Iraq
from Kuwait Coalition
began air
campaign against Iraq
1993 US UK and France carried out air and missile strikes on
Iraq for not cooperating
with UN
inspectors
2002 Gen Franks briefed his commanders at CENTCOM on initial
Iraq war plans for 1st
time
2003 CIA report said Iraq had rebuilt its nuclear program
Said were reports Iraq tried to
buy uranium
from Africa
2003 CIA told Joint Chiefs of Staff that it had some reports
that Iraq tried to buy
uranium
from Africa
2003 Blair agreed to 1 UK division and 3 combat brigades for
Iraq War to be deployed
in south
2003 UN inspectors after 4 inspections said Fallujah II
chlorine plant inoperative US
claimed it
was producing WMD
2008 Hawija Dist Head said Sahwa would be formed there
Didn’t need Peshmerga
2010 Chemical Ali sentenced to death for Halabja attack
2011 Parliament passed VP law taking away their power
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