This Day In Iraqi History - May 4

1941 British bombed Iraqi air bases in Baghdad and Baquba Destroyed or damaged 29 planes in

Baghdad 14 in Baquba

1941 British bombers arrived at Habaniya airbase in Anbar from Egypt while Iraqis continued to shell base

150 UK troops also flown into base

1941 British troops in Habaniya base in Anbar attacked and failed to take Sin al-Dhibban used to cross

Euphrates and supply Iraqi troops outside base

1941 British dropped leaflets on Baghdad saying war was with Gaylani govt not Iraqi people

1941 Regent broadcast radio message asking people not to follow Gaylani govt Baghdad radio called on govt

to arm the people

1941 PM Gaylani sent diplomat to Tehran and told embassy in Turkey to pressure Germans to send aid

1941 UK Chiefs of Staff told Mid-East commander Gen Wavell he had to take action against the Gaylani

govt

1941 UK War Sec Eden told Iraqi charge d’affaires if war continued and German joined all of Iraq would

become a battlefield

(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)

1966 Iraqi troops started military campaign against KDP

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

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

1981 Iraq began shelling Iran’s oil refinery at Abadan

(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)

1988 Iraqi forces attacked PUK in Askar Kurdistan during 4^th Anfal campaign

(Musings On Iraq article on Anfal campaign)

1989 Saddam’s cousin and Def Min Adnan Kairallah died in mysterious helicopter crash

1991 2^nd round of peace talks between Kurds and Baghdad postponed due to differences between KDP and

PUK over need for international help and oil

1995 Turkey withdrew 15,000 troops after KDP said it would crackdown on PKK in Kurdistan

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

2003 Powell said sure US would find Iraq’s WMD Rumsfeld said US never claimed finding WMD would be

easy Powell denied stories that Iraq sent its WMD to Syria

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

2003 US official said unlikely to find any large MWD or nuke stocks in Iraq Said sanctions had led Iraq to

get rid of most of its WMD

2003 Iraqi scientists told US investigators Iraq had no WMD for years

2003 ORHA memo said security was still top priority in Iraq

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

2004 Shiite leaders called on Sadr to withdraw his Mahdi Army from Najaf and Karbala

2004 US announced it would not be withdrawing forces from Iraq as planned

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

2004 CIA started investigation into whether it kept undocumented prisoners in Iraq It did

2005 Sadrist cleric in Basra talked about imposing Islamic Law on city Bombed liquor stores imposed

Islamic dress Attacked mixed picknickers Said Sadrists didn’t want to be like Iran because most

            Iranians were corrupt

2005 Doctors in Basra said Mahdi Army had tried to stop male doctors from serving female patients Posted

pictures of Sadr in hospitals

2006 Zarqawi gave presentation saying Al Qaeda in Iraq needed to expand its base from Anbar into

Salahaddin and Diyala Said Ramadi was to be named capital of emirate

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

2006 Fmr CIA National Intelligence Officer Pillar said that Bush admin manipulated evidence to tie Iraq to

Al Qaeda before invasion Part of CIA vs White House blamed gave for prewar intel

2007 US broke up arms smuggling ring in Sadr City bringing in EFPs and other arms from Iran into Iraq

(Musings On Iraq interview with Galen Wright of Arkenstone blog on Iranian arms shipments to Iraqi militias) 

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

2007 Iraqi Accordance Front said joining politics was adisaster Said it agreed to join politics based upon

promises of constitutional reform and reconciliation but didn’t happen

2008 ISF raided Thar Allah prayer ground in Basra

2008 Iraqi delegation in Iran to try to end Charge of Knights were refused meeting with Sadr

2008 Iraq backed down on charges that Iran was supporting militias fighting govt

2008 Iraq general in Karbala said Iran giving weapons to militias in city and undermining security

2008 Maliki said special committee created to look into Iranian interference in Iraq

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

(Musings On Iraq interview with Galen Wright of Arkenstone blog on Iranian arms shipments to Iraqi militias) 

2009 Sadr said he had given up on armed struggle against US and wanted to focus upon politics

2009 ISCI MP from Diyala said that no one trusted ISF or new Op Promise of Good II in province Said false

info being used to conduct arrests Another MP demanded that Gen Ghidan in charge of operation resign

(Musings On Iraq article on Op Promise of Good II)

2010 Baathist leader apologized for mistakes of party Said wanted to join politics Public needed to

remember achievements of party

2010 State of Law and National Alliance announced joining to form National Coalition after elections

2011 Speaker of US House Boehner said US forces should stay in Iraq past end of 2011 deadline

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

2011 Maliki submitted new list of nominees for security ministries empty since 2010 elections

2012 Maliki’s media advisor Ghabban said he thought dispute between Baghdad and KRG would be over by

end of 2012

2012 Pres Barzani gave speech saying Kurds would never live under a dictatorship meaning PM Maliki

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

2012 KRG called for Baghdad to pay oil companies operating in Kurdistan

2012 KRG said in talks with Turkey to build an oil and gas pipeline between two

2013 Election Commission announced final results for provincial elections State of Law lost 30% of its

seats from 09 vote

2013 Asaib Ahl Al-Haq rally in Baghdad announced it was fighting in Syria as part of Abu al-Fadhl

al-Abbas Brigade

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

2014 Al Qaeda’s Zawahiri said that ISIS fighting in Syria was a disaster

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

2014 Fighting between Ansar al-Sunna and ISIS in Kirkuk

2014 Sadrists said talks with SIIC, Kurds and Allawi to block Maliki from 3^rd term as PM

2017 Iraqi forces attacked Mosul from northwest opening new front in city 

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