This Day In Iraqi History - May 15

1935 Tribes seized Suq al-Shuyukh and cut railway between Basra and Nasiriya during revolt

against govt

1941 German major arrived in Baghdad to lead Brandenburgers Commandorecon unit in Iraq along with

squadron of bombers and squadron of fighters Met with PM Gaylani Decided priority blocking Transjordan force from reaching Habaniya base Was too late to do that

1941 Germany had total of 24 fighters and bombers in Iraq to help Gaylani govt fight German planes were

painted in Iraqi colors to hide their origin

1941 British received intel that German planes flying to Iraq from Syria

1941 German plane bombed British force from Palestine heading towards Habaniya Anbar

1941 British bomber attacked Iraqi column outside Rutba, Anbar

1941 Kurds began discussing revolt against PM Gaylani to take advantage of crisis with British

(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 Kirkuk oil workers protested against Anglo-Iraq Treaty

1948 Iraq Egypt Jordan Syria armies entered into Palestine to join in 1948 Arab-Israeli War Iraqi army

attacked Kibbutz Gesher in northern Palestine

1948 Baghdad declared martial law due to war but was really aimed at ending protests over new Anglo-Iraq

Treaty

1969 Bakr govt executed opponents in central Baghdad

1986 KDP Peshmerga and Iranian paratroopers took Mangesh north of Mosul near Kirkuk pipeline

1988 Start of 5^th Anfal Campaign aimed at destroying last of PUK’s bastions in Balisan Valley,

Sulaymaniya

(Musings On Iraq article on Anfal campaign)

1990 West Germany seized parts headed for Iraq suspected for 130ft long supergun

1991 International Atomic Energy Agency started first weapons inspection in Iraq

(Musings On Iraq article on UN weapons inspections)

2001 Sec State Powell told Congress UN sanctions had effectively contained Saddam

2003 2 most senior Iraqi biological scientists denied Iraq was working on WMD before war

2003 UK Foreign Secretary Straw hard evidence of Iraq WMD may never be found Not important Iraq was

in the wrong WMD was main reason UK joined war

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

2003 Undersec of Def Feith told Congress US found evidence of Iraq WMD and needed Iraqis to step

forward and tell them where it was

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

2003 Undersec of Def Feith told Congress US had commitment to stay and commitment to leave Iraq Said

CPA would create interim Iraqi government

2003 ORHA head Garner complained to Bremer about draft CPA Order 2 disbanding Iraqi security forces

Garner talked Bremer out of disbanding police and Interior Ministry

2003 CPA security adv Slocolmb told Garner Iraqi army had disbanded itself Colluded in Saddam’s crimes

and needed to go

2003 Bremer and CPA advisers reviewed CPA Order 1 DeBaathification

2003 CPA appropriated $2 bil for rebuilding Iraqi security forces electricity oil

2003 US forces launched Operation Planet X to arrest Baathists north of Tikrit

2003 Sadr cleric gave sermon in Baghdad accusing US forces of being able to see through women’s clothes

and giving pornography to children

2005 Sec of State Rice told Pres Barzani and PM Jaafari they had to include Sunnis in new govt

2005 Salah al-Mutlaq said couldn’t unite Iraq without including the Baathists

2007 Sadr returned from Iran to give sermon in Kufa Dismissed number of officials he felt were disloyal

Then went back to Iran

(Musings On Iraq article on Sadr fleeing to Iran during Surge)

2008 Sahwa in Mosul complained ISF were arresting them instead of insurgents during Mother of Two

Rivers Operation

2009 Mass grave found in Najaf with 3,000 Kurds killed during Anfal

(Musings On Iraq article on Anfal campaign)

2009 Oil Ministry said it wouldn’t pay oil companies exporting oil from KRG

2009 PM Maliki called for majority government and ending sectarian quota system

2009 PM Maliki claimed US releasing terrorists from prisons resulting in increased in violence 2008 Maliki

govt had negotiated quicker release of prisoners by US

2011 Sheikh Sulaiman said that tribes and politicians would make Anbar a federal region

2011 Salahaddin politicians met with Pres Barzani to discuss making province a federal region

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

2012 Trial of ex-VP Hashemi began Bodyguard claimed Hashemi implicated in 150 attacks from 2005-11

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

(Musings On Iraq article on charges against VP Hashemi)

2015 IS seized govt center in Ramadi in final drive to take city Reinforcements sent to Ramadi to stave off

IS offensive Never arrived

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

2018 Large demonstration by Arabs and Turkmen in Kirkuk city claiming voter fraud

2018 6 Kurdish opposition parties claimed cheating in Irbil election

(Musings On Iraq article on election crisis in Kirkuk and Kurdistan)

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