Security In Iraq May 22-28, 2019

(Iraqi News)

The Islamic State’s new spring-winter offensive is in its second month. There has been a steady increase in incidents and casualties as a result. The last week of May for example saw the most attacks since October 2018.

This Day In Iraqi History - May 31

1915 British forces set out to capture Amarah from Ottomans

1924 UK High Commissioner for Iraq said Assyrians would get autonomous homeland in

            Dohuk Called on Iraqi govt to grant Assyrians land

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

(Musings On Iraq book review State and Society in Iraq)

1931 Iraq made first payment of oil revenues to Turkey in return for giving up claims to Mosul

(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)

1932 Kurdish revolt led by Barzanji put down by RAF

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

1933 Assyrian leader Mar Shimun wrote letter to King Feisal Said Interior Minister told

            him how the govt disliked him

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

(Musings On Iraq book review State and Society in Iraq)

1941 Mayor of Baghdad worked out peace treaty with British surrendering city

1941 Yunis Sabawi pro-Nazi leader appointed himself governor of southern Iraq and told Jews to stay in

homes

1941 Ger Amb to Iraq told Berlin UK-Iraq armistice signed False rumor British seized Mosul airport

forced ambassador to flee to Syria

1941 German High Command told German planes heading to and based in Iraq to gather in Aleppo until

further notice

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

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

1967 Jordan invited Iraqi army to deploy troops in its territory for war with Israel

1971 Nixon went to Tehran Shah asked U.S. help to aid Kurds against Baghdad leading to covert CIA

operation

(Musings On Iraq article on Nixon admin support for Kurdish revolt)

(Musings On Iraq book review Killing Hope, U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II)

(Musings On Iraq book review The Great Betrayal, How America Abandoned The Kurds And Lost The Middle East)

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

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

1981 Iran attacked Iraqi forces in Qasr-e-Shirin and Dehloran in central and northern Iran

1984 Saddam threatened to destroy Iran’s main oil port at Kharg Island hoping it would

            force Iran to negotiate end to war Iran didn’t reply

(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)

1992 Bush proposed doubling budget for covert action to overthrow Saddam

(Musings On Iraq book review The United States And Iraq Since 1990: A Brief History with Documents)

2001 1^st of four Deputies Committee of NSC meetings on revising Iraq policy

2003 Badr Brigade claimed it gave up its heavy weapons Wasn’t true

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

2003 DepDefSec Wolfowitz said that US would find Iraq’s WMD

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

2003 CIA Dir Tenet said that CIA had not compromised its intelligence on Iraq

2005 Basra police chief said he had no control of 3/4 of his officers who were loyal to

            political parties and militias and were carrying out assassinations

2005 Basra police chief said militias were the real power in the province and they were criminals and

bad people Said 2 main groups were Badr and Mahdi Army

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

2006 PM Maliki declared one month state of emergency in Basra after 100 killed in fighting between

            militis

2007 2^nd day of fighting between ISI and Islamic Army in Baghdad’s Amiriya 1920 Revolution

Brigades joined to help Islamic Army would lead to Sahwa being formed

(Musings On Iraq article on splits within insurgency)

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

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

2007 5 British nationals kidnapped in Baghdad Likely retaliation for UK killing Mahdi Army leader for

Basra

2007 White House spokesman said US wanted long term military presence in Iraq to support ISF

2008 US put PKK on sanctions list as a terrorist group

2008 Report only 15% of Sawha integrated into govt as promised

2009 Ex-Trade Min Sudani placed in Samawa prison for trial after arrested trying to leave country

Charged with corruption

(Musings On Iraq interview with fmr anti-graft official Vincent Foulk on corruption in Iraq)

2011 ISI cell arrested that created fake human rights organization as front group

2011 Protests in Ramadi demanding army withdraw from city after police chief killed in raid

2012 2^nd day of 4^th auction round for Iraq oil and gas fields Only 2 winning bids

2012 Iraq announced 5^th auction round for Iraqi oil and gas fields would be held after disappointing 4^th

auction

2012 Ninewa Gov Nujafi claimed almost enough votes in parliament to hold no confidence move against

PM Maliki

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

2013 Fight broke out amongst protesters in Fallujah between those for and against Anbar becoming

federal region

2014 ISIS kidnapped and killed 8 Naqshibandi members in Baiji who would not give it allegiance

2014 Operation started to clear Saqlawiya north of Fallujah in Anbar

2015 Kurdish MP said 1205 Peshmerga killed 6595 wounded fighting IS since Jun 2014

2015 Badr head Amiri dismissed PM Abadi’s plans to retake Ramadi Claimed only Hashd could free

city

(Musings On Iraq interview with Ahmed Ali on fall of Ramadi)

2017 ABC News story offered more information on Rapid Reaction unit abuses first Reported in Der

Spiegel during Mosul campaign

(Musings On Iraq article on Der Spiegel article on abuses by Rapid Reaction Division during Mosul battle)

(Musings On Iraq article Human Rights Watch called for investigation into Der Spiegel article)

(Musings On Iraq article ABC News had follow up to Der Spiegel article on abuses by Rapid Reaction Division during Mosul battle)

(Musings On Iraq article Toronto Star added more to story about abuses by Rapid Reaction Division during Mosul battle)

(Musings On Iraq article reactions to Der Spiegel article on abuses by Rapid Reaction Division during Mosul battle)

(Musings On Iraq article Iraq Joint Operations Command attacked Der Spiegel article on abuses by Rapid Reaction Division during Mosul battle) 

View the Iraq History Timelines 

This Day In Iraqi History - May 30

1926 Verbal agreement made between British and Turks to give Turkey 10% of Mosul oil

revenues for 25 years in return for giving up claims to province

(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 Last brigade of British 10^th Infantry Division from India landed in Basra

1941 British troops reached Baghdad Iraqi army barracks bombed leading it to ask for peace

1941 Baghdad mayor and army officers approached British embassy asking for armistice

1941 German Amb to Iraq Grobba fled to Mosul Told German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop Iraqis still in

the fight

1941 Ger For Min Ribbentrop told Ger Amb to Iraq Grobba that more planes arriving Jun 1 Grobba said

because of lack of fuel German planes would have to be based in Syria

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

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

1946 PM Suwaidi resigned over controversy over Iraq-Turkey Friendship Treaty Nuri al-Said negotiated

treaty without consulting with govt

1959 Last British soldier departed Habaniya base in Iraq as English military withdrew from country

1968 Iraqi army arrived in southern marshes to put down Communist uprising

(Musings On Iraq book 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)

1982 Protests and riots in Karbala Basra Nasiriyah Baghdad over battlefield losses in Iran-Iraq War

1985 Iraq carried out heavy air raid on Iran oil terminal at Kharg Island

(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)

2003 Gen Conway 1^st Marine Expeditionary Force surprised hadn’t found any Iraq WMD in searches Said

intel about Iraq having ready to use WMD was wrong

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

2003 Sec Def Rumsfeld announced new Iraq Survey Group would be formed to take over search for Iraq’s

WMD

2003 Coalition forces looking for Iraq WMD increased to 1300 personnel

2003 Final report of UN inspectors found no evidence of WMD programs

2003 UN inspectors said soil samples helped back Iraq story that they destroyed anthrax

(Musings On Iraq article UN Inspectors Were Right Iraq Was Not A Threat)

(Musings On Iraq article Iraq’s Rejection of UN Inspectors Led To Mistrust Over WMD and 2003 Invasion)

2003 PM Blair said he was sure evidence of Iraq’s WMD would be found

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

2003 Sec Def Rumsfeld said war was not based upon lies because both US and England said Iraq had

WMD

2003 Bush said US found WMD because 2 alleged mobile WMD labs were found Inspection found not

labs

(Musings On Iraq article on mobile labs story)

2003 UnderSecDef for Intel Cambone said only 70 of roughly 600 suspected WMD sites in Iraq had been

inspected

2003 CIA Dir Tenet said that its Iraq intelligence was not politicized by Bush admin

2003 US report on Iraqi police Said they were corrupt and needed reform Called for 6,000 advisers which

US didn’t have

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

(Musings On Iraq interview with Jerry Burke police and Interior Min adviser on how US failed to develop the Iraqi police)

2004 US Op Smackdown to probe Mahdi Army defenses of Kufa mosque began

2004 7 US soldiers disciplined for not stopping Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal

2004 Leaked parts of Ryder report on Abu Ghraib found 100s of Iraqi prisoners were held despite lack of

evidence

2005 VP Cheney said Iraq in “last throes” of an insurgency

2006 Pentagon report to Congress said violence increased since 2004 from avg 400 attacks/wk spring 04 to

550 attacks/wk Aug 05-Feb 06 to 600 attacks/wk Feb-May 06

2007 US turned over security for Kurdistan to Peshmerga

2007 Op Alljah started to clear Fallujah

(Musings On Iraq interview with author Green on Fallujah during the Surge)

(Musings On Iraq review Fallujah Redux The Anbar Awakening and the Struggle With Al Qaeda)

2007 Graffiti appeared in Baghdad’s Amiriya saying down with ISI It attacked a mosque associated

with Islamic Army in retaliation killing its local commander Islamic Army then attacked an ISI mosque leading to 4 hr gun battle

(Musings On Iraq article on splits within insurgency)

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

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

2007 Asaib Ahl Al-Haq arms supplier Abu Abdullah captured by U.S. forces

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

2008 ISF raided Iraqi National Gathering HQ in Basra

2008 CIA Chief Hayden said ISI near strategic defeat in Iraq

2008 Ayatollah Sistani aide said he was opposed to Status of Forces Agreement with U.S.

2008 Fmr White House spokesman McClellan said Bush White House so caught up in pushing war

ignored intel that didn’t fit argument

2009 Ex-Trade Min Sudani tried to leave Iraq but plane turned around and arrested at Baghdad airport on

corruption charges Used stolen money to fund PM Maliki’s 2009 and 2010 election campaigns

(Musings On Iraq interview with fmr anti-graft official Vincent Foulk on corruption in Iraq)

2009 Ex-Trade Min Sudani’s brother arrested trying to leave Iraq by land Tried to bribe border police Also

charged with corruption

2009 Gov Nujafi accused Peshmerga of human rights abuses and breaking law in Ninewa

2010 Diyala police chief complained his forces were infiltrated by insurgents

2010 PM Maliki met with Pres Barzani in Irbil to lobby for 2^nd term

2011 Ninewa Gov Nujafi escaped bombing on his motorcade in Mosul

2011 Maysan council voted to keep US forces out of province as objection to a US raid

2011 VP Mahdi resigned saying position no longer held power and Najaf objected to way VPs elected

2012 PM Maliki said he was reinstating Saddam era army officers as concession to Sunni parties to stop

no confidence vote against him

2012 Pres Talabani met Pres Barzani Allawi Speaker Nujafi Dep PM Mutlaq in Sulaymaniya and refused

to back no confidence vote vs PM Maliki 

2012 Sadr said if Iraqiya and Kurdish Coalition backed no confidence vote against PM Maliki he would

support it Sadrists said replacing PM Maliki only solution to political crisis in Iraq

2012 Badr and Fadhila wrote letter to PM Maliki saying they supported him during no confidence move

against him

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

2012 Iraq Oil Ministry held 4^th auction for 12 oil and gas fields Only 1 winning bid

2013 3 Reports militias killing civilians kidnapping people manning checkpoints with ISF in Baghdad

2013 Anbar governor escaped car bombing in Ramadi

2014 Ramadi protest leader said Sunni autonomy was way to go and rejected armed struggle

2014 Protest in Qadisiyah over lack of services and development

2014 Report Iran funding Asaib Ahl Al-Haq operations in Fallujah and Jurf al-Sakhr

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

2015 IS held ceremony where Ramadi sheikhs gave it allegiance

(Musings On Iraq interview with Ahmed Ali on fall of Ramadi)

2016 Hashd and Federal Police stopped displaced fleeing Sjar Anbar Executed 12 men

View the Iraq History Timelines

-->

Review Leap of Faith, Hubris, Negligence, and America’s Greatest Foreign Policy Tragedy

Review Mazarr, Michael, Leap of Faith, Hubris, Negligence, and America’s Greatest Foreign Policy Tragedy, New York: Public Affairs, 2019

RAND’s Michael Mazarr wanted to bring together all the research, reports and memoirs on the decision to invade Iraq in 2003 into one book and analyze what led to this momentous decision. As he wrote, it was a completely unjustified war. Iraq possessed no weapons of mass destruction, and had no connections to Al Qaeda. This is not hindsight, because if the government had gone closely through the intelligence it could have ascertained this. Not only that, but the United States failed to achieve its goal of spreading democracy across the Middle East and deterring future terrorism and jihadism. The overall lesson of Iraq was that the United States put itself into a quagmire and exhausted itself in the process. In the end, Mazarr believes this was an example of criminal negligence because the Bush administration never had a debate about the rational for war, never went through the information on Iraq or consider the risks and consequences. This was the strong point of Leap of Faith. Where Mazarr fell short was his overall thesis for why America chose war. If someone asked Mazarr why Iraq? He would ultimately say because the U.S. thought it could do good. He argued politicians believed the United States had a special mission in the world to fix its problems and the Bush White House made a value judgement about attacking Iraq rather than an analytical one. This explanation would make no one happy.

This Day In Iraqi History - May 29

1941 Italian planes got into dogfight with British planes over Baghdad 1 Italian and 2 British

planes shot down

1941 British defeated Iraqi forces at Abu Ghraib Turned back at Abu Ghraib canal in push on Baghdad 2^nd

time

1941 British forces defeated by Iraqi army at Kadhimiya, Baghdad

1941 PM Gaylani told military leadership had fled to Persia leading to his own escape there along with

Mufti of Jerusalem

1941 German ambassador to Iraq fled Baghdad for Kirkuk fearing British advance

1941 Governor of Baghdad captured by British on trip to Samarra

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

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

1948 Battle of Jenin between Jewish and Iraqi forces started 1^st Arab Israeli War

1981 Iran attacked Penjwin Kurdistan but stopped

1983 Tariq Aziz tried to open talks with Iran to stop bombing civilians area via UN Iran rejected offer

1984 US backed UN resolution condemning Iranian attacks on Persian Gulf shipping Didn’t mention

Iraq’s attacks

1987 US Asst Dep Sec of Def Armitage said U.S. couldn’t see Iraq defeated in Iran-Iraq War

1988 Reagan-Gorbachev Summit Gorbachev said he would pressure Iran to end Iran-Iraq War if US

helped with Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan

(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)

1996 PUK and KDP agreed to extend Kurdish parliament for another year hoping that assembly would

help end civil war

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

2002 UK Def Min official Kelly said Blair govt had spun WMD dossier on Iraq

2003 Bush said US found WMD because 2 alleged mobile WMD labs were found Inspection found were

not labs

(Musings On Iraq article on mobile labs story)

2003 Retired CIA and State Dept officials sent memo to Bush saying they questioned intel cited by White

House for Iraq war

2003 BBC report Blair’s office had sexed up UK dossier on Iraq’s WMD

2003 Elections led to Abdul Rahman Mustafa a Kurd being elected mayor of Kirkuk

2003 Cheney chief of staff Libby asked Undersecretary of State Grossman about a former ambassador

going to Niger mentioned in Wash Post column Grossman told him it was Joseph Wilson

(Musings On Iraq article on Iraq-Niger uranium story)

2004 Report incoming interim PM Allawi had links to CIA and MI6 since 1980s as opponent to Saddam

2005 Op Lightning largest joint US-Iraq op so far Aimed at clearing Baghdad of insurgents

2005 Report May 2002 US and UK increased air strikes on Iraq using No Fly Zones in attempt to provoke

Saddam to justify invasion

2007 Asaib Ahl Al-Haq kidnapped 5 Brits from Finance Ministry in Baghdad 4 would be killed

Ransomed 5^th Op planned by Iranian Revolutionary Guards

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

(Musings On Iraq interview with Naval Postgraduate School’s Ostovar on history of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard)

(Musings On Iraq book review Vanguard of the Imam, Religion, Politics, and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard)

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

2007 Insurgents in Amiriya Baghdad told US they were going to attack ISI and needed help Gen

Petraeus said he would support them Became Sahwa

(Musings On Iraq article on Sahwa)

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

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

2008 US Amb to Iraq Crocker said ISI near defeat

2008 Interior Min fired 7500 police for corruption ghost officers negligence

2009 Video emerged of Trade Min Sudani and brothers drinking with prostitutes talking about PM Maliki

Sudani from Dawa

2010 Sadrists said they would not allow dictatorship or autocracy to return to Iraq referring to PM Maliki

2011 Iraqiya nominee for Def Min Obeidi escaped sticky bomb attempt on his life in Mosul

2012 Basra council called for province to become federal region

2012 PM Maliki held cabinet meeting in Mosul to try to undermine no confidence vote against him

Kurds boycotted meeting

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

2012 Iraqi court found Hezbollah operative Daquq innocent of terrorism charges Was liaison between Iran

Hezbollah and militias

(Musings On Iraq article on Hezbollah presence in Iraq)

2012 Shahristani denied that he ordered stop of fuel deliveries to KRG even though he did

2014 Mutahidun Arabiya and Nationalists formed Union of National Forces list

2016 After he was dismissed by parliament Ninewa Gov Nujafi refused to leave office

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Chilcot Report Volume 2 Section 3.3 Development of UK Iraq Strategy and Options, April to July 2002

Section 3.3 of the Chilcot Report covers the spring-summer of 2002 after Prime Minister Tony Blair told President Bush that the United Kingdom would work with the U.S. against Saddam. England was trying to set out a plan of action that the two countries could follow including going to the United Nations and creating an overall strategy. London believed that if the U.S. was going to war with Iraq, it should take part and that meant it would have a say.

This Day In Iraqi History - May 28

1933 Interior Ministry had Assyrian leader Mar Shimun come to Baghdad to discuss

differences with govt over settling community in north Interior said it was willing to acknowledge Mar Shimun as spiritual leader but would not give him any political power Said British officer arriving to help settle community Mar Shimun said he would help with settlement Pledged loyalty to King Feisal

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

(Musings On Iraq book review State and Society in Iraq)

1941 British forces captured Khan Nuqta fort on march from Fallujah to Baghdad

1941 British troops moved from Basra to Baghdad take Ur

1941 British forces attacked Abu Ghraib canal but turned back by Iraqis

1941 British intel spread rumor to Iraqi military that 100 tanks heading to Baghdad Led PM Gaylani to

flee

1941 3^rd shipment of German military supplies arrived in Mosul Never used

1941 Iraq Chiefs of Staff decided to withdraw to Kirkuk to avoid British attack on Baghdad PM Gayalni

joined them

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

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

1968 Communist uprising began in southern Marshes

(Musings On Iraq book 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)

1981 Dawa blew up an ammo and fuel dump at Baghdad Airport

1981 Saddam gave speech saying Iraqi army could take any area in Iran Led to attack upon Dehloran

in central front Only held it for 12 hours and had to retreat

1982 Iran launched attacks on Qasr e-Shring and Sumer in center across from Diyala but failed

(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)

1990 Arab summit in Baghdad Saddam spoke about freeing the Palestinians

(Musings On Iraq article on Saddam’s motivation for threatening Israel before the Kuwait invasion)

1990 Arab summit Saddam accused Kuwait of breaking OPEC quotas driving down oil prices costing Iraq

$14 bil called Kuwait’s oil policy an act of war against Iraq

(Musings On Iraq book review from storm to Freedom, America’s Long War with Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq book review The Saddam Tapes)

1990 At Arab summit Saddam personally warned Sheikh Sabah he was being manipulated in US

conspiracy against Iraq Demanded $27 bil in compensation from Kuwait

1990 Arab summit backed Iraq’s right to protect itself from any Israeli attack

1990 PLO chief Arafat said Saddam was bringing new leadership to pan-Arab cause

2003 PM Blair said he still believed Iraq had WMD

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

2003 DepDef Sec Wolfowitz said threat of Iraq came from its WMD and links to terrorists Said no one

expected finding Iraq’s WMD would be easy because so good at hiding them

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

2003 CIA-DIA report said that 2 trailers found during invasion were mobile WMD labs Denied Iraqi

claims trailers were for weather balloons They were

2003 CIA held conference call with reporters to brief them on WMD mobile labs report

2003 DIA inspection team in Iraq sent memo to Washington 2 trailers not mobile WMD labs

(Musings On Iraq article on mobile labs story)

2004 Iraqi Governing Council agreed upon Iyad Allawi as head of interim govt

2007 US and Iran held meeting US demanded Tehran stop supporting militias Nothing came of talks

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

2008 Sadr called for weekly protests against security agreement with US

2008 Fmr White House press sec McClellan’s book said White House shaped war debate so force only

option vs Iraq Said that Iraq war was not necessary

2009 Protest in Tal Afar to make it independent of Ninewa Complained about Gov Nujafi and neglect

Part of Kurd-Al Hadbaa dispute

(Musings On Iraq article on Kurd-Al Hadbaa dispute in Ninewa)

(Musings On Iraq article on Al-Hadbaa taking over Ninewa council)

(Musings On Iraq article Kurd-Al Hadbaa dispute in Ninewa continues)

2009 Report Asaib Ahl Al-Haq demanded release of its members from jail and to run in elections in

return for releasing 5 Brits it kidnapped

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

2009 PM Maliki said he gave up with outreach to Saudis Said futile and made Iraq look weak

2009 Last British troops withdrew from Iraq

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

2011 Protests and clashes in Ramadi after raid killed police chief ISF said he was linked to ISI Residents

complained about army raids

2011 ISF raided protest organization HQ in Baghdad arresting 11 activists

2011 Report PM Maliki turning to Asaib Ahl Al-Haq to counter Sadrists in Baghdad and southern Iraq

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

2012 KRG PM Barzani compared PM Maliki to Saddam claiming Kurds were being expelled from Diyala

and Kirkuk

2012 Meeting in Irbil with Speaker Nujafi Allawi Sadr spokesman and Kurds over no confidence vote

against PM Maliki

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

2013 Security ops against ISIS in Anbar Ninewa Diyala Salahaddin Babil Baghdad

2014 ISIS killed 8 Naqshibandi fighters in Baiji

2014 Peshmerga Min punished Peshmerga who protested not getting paid in Sulaymaniya

2014 Iraqi intelligence received report on neighborhoods in Mosul ISIS would attack in June

2015 New U.N. resolution to try to crackdown on IS smuggling of antiquities from Iraq and Syria

2015 Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander killed near Ramadi

(Musings On Iraq interview with Naval Postgraduate School’s Ostovar on history of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard)

(Musings On Iraq book review Vanguard of the Imam, Religion, Politics, and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard)

2015 Reinforcements arrived to try to take back Ramadi Wouldn’t happen until Feb 2016

2016 PM Abadi approved parliament’s dismissal of Ninewa Gov Nujafi

2017 Attack on final section of Mosul under IS control began

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Iraq’s Rejection Of UN Inspectors Led To Mistrust Over WMD And 2003 Invasion

(AP)

In January 2006 the Central Intelligence Agency released a review of how Iraq dealt with the United Nations’ weapons inspections in the 1990s and 2000s. It came to the conclusion that Iraq’s early deception campaign forever shaped how western governments and intelligence agencies perceived Iraq. That meant in 1995 when Iraq tried to come clean about its weapons programs and in the 2000s when it thought it was cooperating with a new inspections regime, it was still thought of as a country that was hiding its weapons of mass destruction.

This Day In Iraqi History - May 27

1917 UK Col Clayton worried Sykes-Picot would create opposition by Sharif of  Mecca against

UK taking Baghdad

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

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

1941 Operation Regulta began British forces marched north from Basra to Kut and onto Baghdad

Captured Ur

1941 British forces moved from Fallujah to cut Baghdad-Mosul road and railway Forced Iraqis out of Taji

north of Baghdad

1941 PM Gaylani told Italians he was disappointed with Axis assistance

1941 UK Foreign Min Eden said that Regent Ilah lacked a strong character but he was loyal to England

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

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

1947 Month after returning to Iraq Mustafa Barzani started another revolt against govt

1982 Iranian Supreme Defense Council went to Ayatollah Khomeini and recommended Iran go on

the offensive and invade Iraq

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

1988 Iraq recaptured Shalamcheh Basra

(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)

1991 Kurdish parties threatened to go back to fighting if deal not reached with Baghdad over autonomy

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

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

1993 UN Resolution 833 set Iraq-Kuwait border

1995 PUK and KDP met to maintain Kurdish parliament during civil war

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

2003 Sec Def Rumsfeld said Iraq might have destroyed its WMD right before war but they would be

found

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

2003 Preliminary report sent to Washington said 2 captured trailers were not mobile WMD labs as first

thought

(Musings On Iraq article on mobile labs story)

2003 Cleric at Fallujah mosque praised 1^st serious attack on US troops 2 soldiers killed 9 injured at

checkpoint

(Musings On Iraq book review The Battle for Fallujah, Occupation, Resistance and Stalemate in the War in Iraq)

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

2003 Outgoing ORHA head Garner told Bush and Sec Def Rumsfeld Iraq making progress and US would

be out of country in weeks

2003 New UN Rep to Iraq deMello said that the sooner Iraqis had power the better

2003 UK Rep to Iraq Sawers reported that CPA needed to create an interim Iraqi administration as

soon as possible and work with UN on transferring power to Iraq Said Bremer opposed an Iraqi body drafting new constitution

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

2004 Sadr agreed to deal to end fighting US forces in Najaf and other southern cities

(Musings On Iraq book review Battle For The City Of The Dead)

2005 Badr militiamen in Wolf commando brigade blamed for sectarian attacks on Sunnis

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

(Musings On Iraq interview with Jerry Burke police and Interior Min adviser on how Badr took over Interior Ministry)

2005 Sheikh Janabi of National Dialogue Council said violence had changed to killing based upon identity

Sunnis getting killed for being Sunni

2006 US forces said it would hand over security of Baghdad to Iraqis by end of year Didn't happen

(Musings On Iraq article on pre-Surge US Iraq strategy)

2008 PM Maliki issued arrest warrants for new party in Diyala made up of Sahwa Part of crackdown on

Sunnis in province

2008 Fmr Under Sec of Def Feith criticized Bush for switching goal of Iraq war from threat of Saddam to

spreading democracy

2009 US Army Chief of Staff Gen Casey said US could be fighting in Iraq for next 10 yrs

2009 Iraq signed 2 year deal with IMF for $7 bil to help with budget deficit

2011 Anbar council rejected protest calls to make province federal region

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

2011 Protest in Baghdad over lack of services demanded release of prisoners

2012 Pres Barzani said KDP and PUK peshmerga would be united by end of year Still hasn't happened

2012 Kurdish Coalition said hadn’t decided on no confidence vote against PM Maliki 

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

2013 13 ISIS car bombs in Baghdad killed 36 wounded 147

2013 Sadr gave PM Maliki 24 hrs to have ISF clear Asaib Ahl Al-Haq from streets of Baghdad

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

2014 New operation to clear Jurf al-Sakhr Babil four days after declared freed

2014 Protest in Nasiriya over lack of electricity and services

2014 Report Iran pushing PUK to support 3^rd term for PM Maliki

2015 Iranian Foreign Min denied Iranian troops fighting in Baiji said only advisers

2015 Fmr MP Othman said 2,822 Peshmerga killed fighting IS since June 2014

2015 Report Army and Hashd ordered to shut bridge to displaced trying to flee Anbar into Baghdad

2016 Sadrists protest in Baghdad Police fired tear gas to break them up Demos in Babil Karbala

Basra Dhi Qar Muthanna too

(Musings On Iraq interview with Cambridge’s Michael Clark on Sadr, protests and PM Abadi’s reforms)

2016 Kataib Hezbollah stopped large group of displaced fleeing Sjar Anbar abducted 73 men not seen

afterward

2017 Iranian Revolutionary Guard general killed advising Hashd around Baaj western Ninewa

(Musings On Iraq interview with Naval Postgraduate School’s Ostovar on history of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard)

(Musings On Iraq book review Vanguard of the Imam, Religion, Politics, and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard)

2017 Toronto Star printed story by Der Spiegel author providing more information on abuses by Rapid

Reaction unit during Mosul battle

(Musings On Iraq article on Der Spiegel article on abuses by Rapid Reaction Division during Mosul battle)

(Musings On Iraq article Human Rights Watch called for investigation into Der Spiegel article)

(Musings On Iraq article ABC News had follow up to Der Spiegel article on abuses by Rapid Reaction Division during Mosul battle)

(Musings On Iraq article Toronto Star added more to story about abuses by Rapid Reaction Division during Mosul battle)

(Musings On Iraq article reactions to Der Spiegel article on abuses by Rapid Reaction Division during Mosul battle)

(Musings On Iraq article Iraq Joint Operations Command attacked Der Spiegel article on abuses by Rapid Reaction Division during Mosul battle) 

View the Iraq History Timelines 

This Day In Iraqi History - May 26

1921 Govt passed law allowing for enlistment to new Iraqi army

1941 2^nd trainload of German military aid arrived from Syria Stored in Mosul but never used

1941 12 Italian planes landed in Kirkuk from Syria to operate under Germans Immediately attacked British

forces in Anbar

1941 Mussolini met with German military attache and expressed concern about Iraq Asked whether Berlin

would give substantive or symbolic support to Iraq

1941 Mussolini told German military attache Iraq could turn tide in Mediterranean Attache said Berlin

serious about Iraq

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

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

1964 Pres Arif established Joint Presidency Council with Egypt in failed attempt to unite 2 countries under

pan-Arabism

1981 Iraqis forced to withdraw from around Susangard Khuzistan due to Iran Op Imam Ali

1983 French Pres Mitterand agreed to rent 6 Super Etendard jets to Iraq for 2 years Iraqi pilots went to

France for training

1986 Iran launched 2^nd counterattack in Fao Peninsula

1988 Iraq Op Tawakalna ala Allah reached Iranian border in Basra Also forced Iranians out of southern

marshes north of Basra city 6,000 Iranian casualties 3,000 Iraqi casualties

1988 Saddam had meeting with military staff Decided next offensive would be to recapture Majnoon

Islands in Basra

(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 Iran-Iraq War Volume 3: Iraq’s Triumph)

(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)

2002 During trip to France Bush said he had no Iraq war plans Ordered revision of war plans Sep 2001

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

2003 Ex-Iraqi general addressed protesters outside Green Zone saying Iraqi govt needed to be formed

security established salaries paid to soldiers or would be resistance to US occupation

2004 NYTimes said some of its reporting on Iraq before war was questionable and not sufficiently vetted

2005 PM Jaafari said govt would crackdown on those taking law into their own hands in response to reports

of Shiite death squads

2006 Pentagon report to Congress on Iraq said insurgency had not started civil war Said violence only in 4

provinces Said insurgency would decline in early 2007

2006 Sec State Rice said 48 US govt workers signed up to work in Iraq Gen Casey said not enough Rice told

him he was out of line

2006 Report PM Maliki wanted to increase number of Iraqi forces from 250,000 to 325,000 by end of year

Was trying to purge militias from Iraqi forces

2006 Report PM Maliki wanted Iraqi forces to control all of Iraq’s provinces except Baghdad and Anbar by

end of 2006

2008 US military reported attacks in Iraq at lowest level since May 2004

2008 Iraq brokered deal to have quicker release of Iraqi prisoners Year later Iraq would complain about

releases increasing terrorism

2008 ISI elements that that fled Mosul during govt crackdown began attacking Yazidis in Sinjar

2009 Integrity Comm head attacked PM Maliki for allowing Trade Min Sudani to resign Said it helped him

escape questioning for corruption Sudani had used stolen money to pay for Maliki’s 2009 and 2010 election campaigns

(Musings On Iraq interview with fmr anti-graft official Vincent Foulk on corruption in Iraq)

2011 Inter Min Explosive head Gen Jabri released after arrested for involvement in buying fake bomb

detectors

2011 ISI killed Accountability and Justice Comm head Ali al-Lami in east Mosul

2011 Sadr told BBC that his militia was attacking US forces as they were withdrawing     from Iraq

2011 Sadrists held rally in Baghdad against US occupation

2014 Jihadist intellectual Maqdisi said talks to heal ISIS-Al Qaeda rift had failed Said Abu Bakr al-Bahgdad

and his followers were deviants and called on ISIS members to join Jabhat Al-Nusra

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

2015 IS executed Iraqi soldiers from Sadr City in Fallujah Hung him from bridge Hashd used it to justify

attacking city in July

2015 Report over 400 buildings in Dour district in Tikrit destroyed by Hashd after city freed

2016 PM Abadi called on reform protests to stop due to Fallujah operation

View the Iraq History Timelines 

This Day In Iraqi History - May 25

1940 Iraq For Min Said said England and France should grant Syria and Palestine Independence to

counter Axis propaganda

1941 British attacked Iraqis 6 miles up from Basra city 10^th Indian Div ordered to head north

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

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

1948 Iraqi forces took Geulim and reached Kfar Yona and Ein Vered 1^st Arab-Israeli War

1981 New Pres Mitterrand told Saddam France would support him during war

1983 Turkey launched first cross border raid under Iraq-Turkey security agreement 7,000 Turkish troops

moved 18 mi into Kurdistan to attack PKK bases

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

1983 Iraq offered to end bombing of civilians

1988 Iraq started Op Tawakalna ala Allah to clear Fish Lake Basra and force Iran into negotiations to end

war Used chemical weapons Took 6 miles

(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)

1999 Clinton Natl Sec Adv Berger met with 7 Iraqi opposition parties receiving US funds Told them

president wanted Saddam removed by end of his term

(Musings On Iraq book review The United States And Iraq Since 1990: A Brief History with Documents)

2003 5,000 Iraqis protested outside Green Zone demanding a new govt security salaries for soldiers

2003 CPA order 5 created DeBaathification Council Would be run by Ahmed Chalabi

2003 Inspection team examined 2 captured trailers Immediately found they were not mobile WMD labs as

originally thought

(Musings On Iraq article on mobile labs story)

2003 Kirkuk council elected 6 members then arrested by US for alleged Baathist ties

2007 Ret Gen Keane told VP Cheney Surge needed to be sustained until 2008

(Musings On Iraq interview with Prof Mansoor on the Surge)

2007 UK killed Mahdi Army commander for Basra Abu Qader leading to 2 days of fighting in city

2008 Report insurgents fled to Tikrit and Ramadi during Mother of Two Springs operation in Mosul

2008 Mayor of Mosul escaped 4th bombing attempt on his life in 10 days

2008 USAmb Crocker said ISI had been severely disrupted in Iraq

2008 US and ISF conducted weapons searches in Sadr City Arrested 200 Mahdi Army militiamen in Amil

and Baya

2008 Report Sadrists paid $300 for anyone that attacked British forces in Basra Money came from Iran

2009 PM Maliki accepted resignation of Trade Min Sudani charged with corruption He used stolen money

to fund Maliki’s 2009 and 2010 election campaigns

(Musings On Iraq interview with fmr anti-graft official Vincent Foulk on corruption in Iraq)

2011 Iraq ranked 2^nd to last in Global Peace Index

2011 Dep PM Shahristani said Iraq could not defend itself after US withdrawal at end of year

(Musings On Iraq book review The United States And Iraq Since 1990: A Brief History with Documents)

2012 Dawa held march in Baghdad to support PM Maliki during no confidence drive against him

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

2012 Baghdad said that all Kurdish oil deals with Turkey had to be approved by the central govt

2013 Mutahidun accused PM Maliki of backing militias with government money

2014 Anbar Operations Command claimed 90% of Ramadi freed ISIS still occupied major parts of city

2014 Anbar Operations Command said 40 attempts to take Fallujah from Jan-May 2014 and all failed

2014 Sadrists threatened to go into opposition if PM Maliki got 3^rd term

2018 Protesters in Basra blocked main road with burning tires over lack of services 

View the Iraq History Timelines