This Day In Iraqi History - Apr 13

1915 British won Battle of Shaiba Ottomans had 4200 casualties 700 captured Ottoman commander

killed himself in disgrace British 1200 casualties

1941 UK decided to go ahead with troop deployments to Iraq

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

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

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

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

1959 Gen Qasim made cover of Time magazine

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

1966 Pres Arif died in helicopter crash

1987 Iran and KDP captured strategic mountains near Sulaymaniya city

(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 Iraqi 5^th Corps published plans for collectivization in Kurdistan Would force people into govt

run villages

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

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

1988 PUK decided its Peshmerga and civilian followers would retreat north during Anfal campaign

1991 Pres Bush said US would send humanitarian aid to Iraq and condemned Iraqi attacks on civilians but

would not get more involved

1992 Sec Def Cheney said US didn’t overthrow Saddam in Gulf War because would be too difficult to

occupy Iraq

1998 IAEA report to UN Iraq provided full and complete record of its nuclear program and showed no new

activity

(Musings On Iraq article on UN weapons inspections)

1999 CIA paper said 4 reports claimed Iraq offered safe haven to bin Laden Were all false

2003 US forces captured Tikrit

2003 Bush criticized press for reporting on looting in Iraq Blamed Saddam for postwar chaos

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

2003 Rumsfeld said US would find Iraq’s WMD when people started coming forward and providing

intelligence about where they were hidden

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

2003 US forces found suspicious missile warheads that might have contained WMD Didn’t 

2003 Turkmen accused Kurds of killing a child Crowd called for revenge and Turkish intervention in

Kirkuk

2003 Turkmen Front demanded that KDP leave its headquarters in Kirkuk giving it eviction notice

(Musings On Iraq interview with Petit of 173^rd Airborne Bgd on operations in Kirkuk)

2003 US Gen Hawkins flew into Baghdad to try to get power grid up and working again since it went down

when city taken by US

2004 CENTCOM cmdr Gen Abizadi said that US needed 7000-10000 more troops in Iraq Bush agreed to

increase

2005 UK intel report on global Islamic terrorism Said Iraq war increased threat of international terrorism

and would continue to do that in the long term Said Al Qaeda in Iraq had benefited from the Iraqi jihad Used it to network with other groups

2006 Gen Swannack fmr cmdr 82^nd Airborne Div became 5^th retired general to call for Rumsfeld to resign

over Iraq

2007 9 insurgent groups joined together to fight ISI including Islamic Army Ansar al-Sunna 1920

Revolution Brigades Islamic Army called on bin Laden to intervene

(Musings On Iraq article on splits within insurgency)

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

2008 Iraq signed $833 mil arms deal with Serbia with no competitive bidding didn’t follow anti-corruption

rules and PM Maliki stopped audit

2008 1300 police and soldiers fired for not fighting Mahdi Army in Kut and Basra

2008 PM Maliki ordered crack down on gas stations and oil distribution centers controlled by Sadrists

2008 Cabinet approved bill that would ban political parties that had militias from taking part in provincial

elections

2008 US National Sec Adv Hadley said Iraq had agreed to pressure Iran to stop arming militias

(Musings On Iraq article on Iran’s Iraq policy)

2009 Sinjar and Makhmour said they would not cooperate with Hadbaa led Ninewa council

2009 PM Maliki signed technical military cooperation deal while on visit to Russia Including fixing

equipment and opened door to buying arms

2010 State of Law said it didn’t have any red lines with Iraqiya but said some members were tied to

Baathists

2010 Basra announced free trade zone with Iran

(Musings On Iraq article on Iran’s Iraq policy)

2010 KRG parliament passed regional budget Gorran and Islamic Group dissented saying that no reforms

included in it

2011 ISF raided union and women’s organization to arrest protest organizers in Baghdad

2011 Baghdad authorities tried to ban protests in Tahrir Square

2011 Head of Oil Police Gen Ibrahim said his forces were short 12,000 officers Led to signing 8,000

contractors

2011 Reported split within SIIC Wanted to remove Ammar Hakim and Adel Abdul Mahdi and elect new

leadership

2011 Protesters in Sulaymaniya refused to meet with Pres Barzani delegation Protesters called for Barzani

PM Salah and speaker to all step down

(Musings On Iraq interview with journalist Wladimir Van Wilgenburg on 2011 KRG protests)

2011 Gulf states asked Arab League to cancel summit in Baghdad due to Iraq criticizing crackdown in

Bahrain

2012 ISI said it was responsible for March prison break in Kirkuk that freed 19 prisoners

2012 Head of Election Commission and another member were arrested on corruption charges brought up by

PM Maliki to get rid of them

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

2013 Sadrists in Karbala and Iraqiya in Mosul claimed ISF were being told to vote for State of Law in

provincial elections

2014 ISIS held parade in Baiji

2015 Abadi fired 300 army officers as part of reforming ISF

2015 Maliki said Hashd had become 3^rd military force in country after army and police and said any

negative stories about them were all lies

2015 Hashd arrived at Assad base in Anbar for Albu Faraj op Would later claim they were not in Anbar due

to PM Abadi and US

2015 Kataib Hezbollah and Peace Brigades said they would take part in Anbar offensive Asaib Ahl

Al-Haq Hezbollah Nujaba and Badr said wouldn’t take part in Anbar offensive because of US airstrikes

(Musings On Iraq article on history of Asaib Ahl Al-Haq)

(Musings On Iraq article on the history of Badr Organization)

2016 Fist fight broke out in parliament over PM Abadi’s technocratic cabinet

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