This Day In Iraqi History - Apr 21

1802 Wahabi army from Arabia sacked Karbala 2,000-5,000 killed

1917 Battle of Istabulat in Diyala started between British and Ottomans with the Turks being defeated

1926 Turks told British it no longer wanted Mosul just a stake in the province’s oil

(Musings On Iraq article on how Mosul province became part of Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq interview with Princeton’s Sara Pursley on Sykes-Picot and creation of Iraq)

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

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

1941 PM Gaylani asked UK Amb that no more British troops land in Iraq and they all had to leave

Iraq

1941 Hitler told military aid to Iraq could only be delivered by air and that would require stop in

Syria which would need approval of Vichy France Hitler got intel of large British forces in Iraq and more arriving so was skeptical of providing aid to Gaylani govt

(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)

1981 Kuwait gave Iraq $2 bil interest free loan to help pay for Iran-Iraq War

1985 Saddam offered another ceasefire in war Iran continued to demand Saddam step down and repatriation

of Shiites back to Iraq

(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 began 1^st phase of collectivizing in Kurdistan Destroyed towns and forced people

into govt run villages 661 villages affected 200,000 displaced

1991 Iraqi govt forces began attack on southern marshes in Maysan Basra and Dhi Qar to root out rebels

2002 Telegraph reported Iraq supported Ansar al-Islam Al Qaeda affiliate in Kurdistan

2003 CPA created to take over running Iraq for US replacing ORHA

2003 ORHA staff and head Garner entered Baghdad Gen Franks had kept them out He didn’t want civilians

to get in way of military

(Musings On Iraq book review Iraq and Back, Inside The War To Win The Peace)

2003 Rumsfeld took advice of Gen Franks and cancelled sending 50,000 additional troops to Iraq from 1^st

Cavalry Div

2003 5,000 Sadrists protested arrest of its cleric Fartusi by U.S.

2003 NY Times article claimed Iraq had destroyed WMD right before war and moved rest to Syria

Said Iraqi scientist told US Iraq had been working on WMD for years and led US soldiers to banned precursors Story proved false

2003 UK Foreign Sec Straw told Blair he was skeptical evidence of Iraq’s WMD wound be found Thought it

might be destroyed

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

2003 2 US congressmen went to Syria and got Assad’s promise not to harbor any Baathists and expel those

that tried to flee there

2004 5 car bombs in Basra and Abu al-Khasib 68 killed

2004 CIA analyst told Congress no working relationship between Iraq and Al Qaeda

2004 Report Mar 04 CPA memo said Iraqi Governing Council a failure because corruption and nepotism

Called for removal of 4 corrupt ministers Criticized Bremer for trying to centralize power in his hands Said progress was made by Iraqis despite the CPA not because of it

2006 United Iraqi Alliance nominated Dawa’s Nouri al-Maliki as new PM Mahmoud Mashadani of

Accordance Front would become Speaker of Parliament

2008 Oil Minister objected to Kurds’ independent oil deals

2008 US general said if Sadr didn’t hold back Mahdi Army US would fight them

2009 Sahwa in Adhamiya put “X”s on houses of displaced Shiites and told them not to come back

2010 State of Law said Sadr reason no new govt after elections because Sadr opposed to Maliki 2^nd term

2011 Human Rights Watch report Govt arrested and tortured protesters in Baghdad and held some in secret

prison at Muthanna Airport

2011 Drive by shooting on opposition radio station that supported protests in Sulaymaniya

2011 2 offices of Kurdistan Islamic Group attacked in Sulaymaniya

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

2011 Lawyers protested in Fallujah demanding US withdrawal and release of prisoners

2011 Clash in Mosul as army tried to stop demonstration

2011 PM Maliki told US joint chiefs head Adm Mullen ISF could handle security after US withdrawal

2011 5,000 Sadrists held march in Basra to commemorate formation of Mahdi Army

2013 PM Maliki blamed anti-govt protests for increase in violence in country

2013 Protest leader in Hawija said army arrested 114 demonstrators after checkpoint was attacked and 1

soldier killed

2015 Pres Barzani and other KRG politicians complained about PKK being in Sinjar Claimed trying to take

over district

View the Iraq History Timelines