98 Dead In 6 Days Of Renewed Protests in Iraq

Tahrir Sq Baghdad (Al Ghad Press)

Protests continued in Baghdad and southern Iraq with more students and professionals joining in. Members of the oil industry have started coming out as well. Two more people died in the capital bringing the deaths to 98 since the unrest restarted on October 24. Sympathy actions continue in parts of northern Iraq, but under heavy pressure of the security forces. The political situation remains up in the air however.

This Day In Iraqi History - Oct 31

1979 Saddam demanded end of Algiers Treaty Iran give up two border towns and give autonomy

to Iran’s Kurds and Arabs

(Musings On Iraq book review Iran-Iraq War Volume 1: The Battle for Khuzestan, September 1980-May 1982)

1980 Iranian navy made 2^nd raid on Fao oil facilities in Basra

1982 Iran launched Muharram al-Haram attacking Diyala and Maysan Took back 120 sq mi of

Iranian territory 330 sq mi of Iraqi land Led Iraq to call up its reserves

(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)

(Musings On Iraq book review Iran-Iraq War Volume 4: The Forgotten Fronts)

1995 INC HQ in Salahaddin, Irbil bombed by Iraqi National Accord killing 28 At time Kurds blamed

Baghdad for bombing

1998 Iraq suspended all cooperation with UN weapons inspectors Led Clinton to order military build

up in Gulf

(Musings On Iraq book review The Saddam Tapes)

(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)

(Musings On Iraq Chilcot Report Sec 1.1 UK Iraq Strategy 1990 To 2000)

(Musings On Iraq article Charles Duelfer’s Account Of The End Of The 1990s U.N. Inspections)

1998 Pres Clinton signed Iraq Liberation Act opening up $97 mil for opposition parties

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

2001 ABC withdrew story that Iraq might be behind anthrax letters sent to Wash DC

2002 Blair agreed to offer a division to US for invasion of Iraq

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

2002 UK energy companies met with govt official complaining business deals being made for

postwar Iraq and they were being left out

2002 Iraqi opposition met in Salahddin Kurdistan Said they were united to remove Saddam Wanted

to end sectarianism and create federal democratic state

2004 US Gen Sattler Unless US and Iraqi forces stopped insurgent intimidation campaign against

Iraqi civilians they couldn’t win

2004 Report US intel est 8,000-12,000 insurgents in Iraq and well financed Was far more than

previously believed

2004 Report US army overrode objections of contracting officers who complained about cost

overruns and non-competitive bids given to Halliburton in Iraq

2005 US report Iranian Revolutionary Guard Iraqi militias and police carrying out assassinations in

Basra IRGC gave assassination orders to Sayid al-Shuhada Iraq Hezbollah Thar Allah Fadhilah Badr and others

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

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

2006 Iraq’s Health Min reported 3,590 civilians killed Jul 3,009 in Aug 3,345 in Sep 3,709 in Oct 06

2006 PM Maliki ordered US to remove checkpoints around Sadr City set up few days before after US

            soldier kidnapped

2006 Sadr ordered start of strike in Sadr City against U.S. checkpoints Mahdi Army members

enforced strike

2006 ISI’s Furquan Institute for Media Production made its first release

2006 State Dep memo to Sec State Rice said ISF not capable of controlling violence Meant Clear

Hold Build impossible Said Maliki talked about being national leader but was proving sectarian

(Musings On Iraq 2006 Clear Hold Build: An Iraq Strategy That Wasn’t A Strategy)

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

2006 Iraq spokesman at donor-UN conference in Kuwait said Iraq needed $10 bil for rebuilding over

4-5 yrs Said oil production not high enough to pay for reconstruction

2006 Report US soldier killed in ambush by Iraqi police in Shula Baghdad earlier in Oct Head of US military

training team said 70% of Iraqi police infiltrated by militias Junior Iraqi police officers talked about militia control of police force in Baghdad neighborhoods

2008 600 Sahwa arrived at Al Furat Iraq Police Training Center in Baghdad to receive basic training

(Musings On Iraq article on Maliki govt integration of Sahwa)

2010 ISI attacked Our Lady of Salvation church in Baghdad Took 100 hostages Goal was publicity

and gain donations 68 killed

(Musings On Iraq book review Christianity in Iraq)

2015 Albu Faraj north of Ramadi attacked by ISF after it was declared freed 3 times

2016 Iraqi forces attacked Gogjali eastern suburb of Mosul

(Musings On Iraq Review They Will Have to Die Now: Mosul and the Fall of the Caliphate)

2018 Basra Human Rights Commission said that activists were gong to restart protests in province

(Musings On Iraq article on renewed Basra protests)

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Massacre Of Karbala Protesters As Talk Begins Of PM Abdul Mahdi Resigning

Tahrir Square, Baghdad (Al Jazeera)

During the night of October 28 an unknown group attacked the protest camp in Karbala. The result was hundreds of dead and wounded. This was the single deadliest assault upon the demonstrations since they started on October 1. That didn’t stop people coming out across eleven provinces. The pressure appears to be working as there were the first reports that Prime Minister Abdul Mahdi may be replaced. That may not satisfy the activists however as they are demanding new elections, not just the resignation of the current government.

This Day In Iraqi History - Oct 30

1918 British forces took Shirqat from Ottomans

1918 Armistice of Mudros signed between British and Ottomans 6^th Army in Mesopotamia surrendered to

UK Ended WWI in Iraq UK wasn’t able to seize Mosul province and its oil before end of war

(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)

1918 British officials in Baghdad told London to create central council of chiefs of Southern Kurdistan

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

1936 Hikmat Sulaiman became premier of Iraq leading to 1^st govt with pan-Arabists out of power

Sulaiman was hoping that new govt would lead to liberal reforms but General Sidqi wanted to maintain status quo General won and most of Sulaiman’s followers left govt

1936 Sulaiman govt banished former PM Hashimi, Rashid al-Gaylani and Nuri al-Said

(Musings On Iraq book review The Role of the Military In Politics, A case study of Iraq to 1941)

1980 Saddam predicted Iran-Iraq War would only last 6-12 months

(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)

(Musings On Iraq book review Iran-Iraq War Volume 4: The Forgotten Fronts)

1990 Meeting of Bush advisers on Kuwait National Security Adviser Scowcroft said US policy at

fork in road Could continue defense or go on offense against Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait Joint Chiefs head Gen Powell said Gen Schwarzkopf asked for troops for offensive operations against Iraq Defense Secretary Cheney said offensive action against Iraq should be on the table

1990 Bush decided to double number of US troops in Saudi Arabia

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

(Musings On Iraq book review The Bush Administrations and Saddam Hussein, Deciding on Conflict)

1992 Kurds allowed PKK to retreat further into Kurdistan on condition they stopped military

operations against Turks

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

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

1997 Tariq Aziz claimed surveillance planes used by inspectors were working for US intelligence

Threatened to shoot them down CIA was using planes to spy on Iraq

(Musings On Iraq article on how US used UN inspectors to spy on Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq book review The Saddam Tapes)

(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)

2002 VP Cheney told head UN Inspector Blix that inspections couldn't last forever and US was ready to

discredit them anyway to disarm Iraq

(Musings On Iraq article on UN weapons inspections)

2003 VP Cheney said Iraq had WMD

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

2003 Dep Sec of Def Wolfowitz said because US had missed so much of Iraq’s WMD program in

1991 it might have exaggerated them in 2003

2003 Report White House pushed Pentagon to speed up training of Iraqi forces

2003 US Natl Intel Est on Iraq said Iraqis not foreigners behind most of insurgency and local

grievances including US occupation were fueling violence

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

2005 Spec Insp Gen for Iraq Recon report said US had no policy for staffing reconstruction of Iraq

Said lack of planning by US plagued rebuilding

2005 Report Italian press believed SISMI intel agency forged docs claiming Iraq-Niger uranium deal

and shared them with US and UK

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

2005 Report PUK built dozens of houses in Kirkuk City and moved Kurds in Said to reverse Saddam’s

Arbization program

2006 Militias killed 17 Sunni police near British run training center in Basra

2006 SecState Rice aide told her little chance for US success in Iraq Another said Iraq heading

towards genocidal violence Rice talked about giving up reconciliation in Iraq and just worrying about stability

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

2009 Iraq said Syria and Baathists behind Oct 25 bombings of Justice Min and provincial council in

Baghdad Was done by ISI

(Musings On Iraq Iraq Returns To Blame Game Over Baghdad Bombings)

2012 Election Commission called for provincial elections on 4/20/13 that excluded Kirkuk and KRG

2015 PM Abadi went to Dawa meeting to answer critics of his reforms

(Musings On Iraq interview with Reidar Visser on PM Abadi’s reform program)

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Iraq Protests Get Huge Boost As Students And Professional Groups Join In

Iraqi students joining the protests (Reuters)

Iraq’s protests were ebbing and flowing. On October 28, they received a huge boost when thousands of students and professionals joined. That was offset by the latest acts of violence by the government forces.

This Day In Iraqi History - Oct 29

1936 Planes dropped flyers over Baghdad demanding PM Yasin Hashemi’s resignation as troops

marched on capital in coup led by Sulaiman and Gen Sidqi PM Hashemi asked for King Ghazi’s support When didn't get it offered his resignation Parliament building bombed in coup Def Min Askari was assassinated by Gen Bakr Sidqi coup plotters Nuri al-Said Yasin Hashemi Rashid Ali al-Gaylani all fled Iraq fearing assassination after coup 1^st coup in Iraq

(Musings On Iraq book review The Role of the Military In Politics, A case study of Iraq to 1941)

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

1980 2 Iraqi Tu-22 bombers shot down ending Baghdad’s bombing campaign of Iranian cities

1983 Iraq abandoned Penjwin Kurdistan but prevented Iranians from taking it during Op Wa al-Farj 4

(Musings On Iraq book review Iran-Iraq War Volume 4: The Forgotten Fronts)

1986 Iran Op Fath 2 Iranian commandos and KDP attacked air defense radar in Irbil

(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 of Iran-Iraq War Volume 4: The Forgotten Fronts)

(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 UN Security Council said overtures to Iraq had failed and talked about alternatives but came up

with nothing

1990 Bush said US wouldn’t rule out use of force against Iraq for Kuwait invasion

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

(Musings On Iraq book review The Bush Administrations and Saddam Hussein, Deciding on Conflict)

1997 Tariq Aziz said no Americans would be allowed as inspectors accusing them of being spies and

trying to overthrow Saddam

1997 IAEA suspended all its work in Iraq

(Musings On Iraq book review The Saddam Tapes)

(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)

(Musings On Iraq article Charles Duelfer’s Account Of The End Of The 1990s U.N. Inspections)

2002 Gen Franks briefed Bush on war plans again

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

(Musings On Iraq book review Leap of Faith, Hubris Negligence, and America’s Greatest Foreign Policy

Tragedy)

2003 Bush said he supported Bremer’s plan for Iraq but that it could be sped up

(Musings On Iraq book review Squandered Victory, The American Occupation And the Bungled Effort to Bring Democracy to Iraq)

2004 CIA report said that Iraqi elections would likely lead to opposition from Sunni Arab govts

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

2004 1^st Lancet report on Iraqi casualties claimed 100,000 civilians died since invasion mostly due to

Coalition 1^st Lancet gained huge publicity but was mostly discredited by experts but not in media

(Musings On Iraq article Major Flaws in Lancet Report Pt 1)

(Musings On Iraq article Major Flaws in Lancet Report Pt 11)

(Musings On Iraq article New Study Refutes Lancet Reports)

(Musings On Iraq interview with Prof Mark Van Der Laan on Lancet Reports)

(Musings On Iraq interview with Prof Michael Spagat on Lancet reports)

2004 Al Qaeda in Iraq beheaded Japanese civilian Shosei Koda

2004 Report US forces reached Al Qaqaa site during 03 invasion then left and site looted of high

grade explosives

2005 Def Sec Rumsfeld disagreed with Rice’s Clear Hold Build strategy Said Iraqis were ones that needed to

stand and fight and not rely on US troops

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

(Musings On Iraq 2006 Clear Hold Build: An Iraq Strategy That Wasn’t A Strategy)

2006 Spec Insp Gen for Iraq Recon report US didn’t track hundreds of thousands of weapons it

bought for ISF and didn’t provide spare parts maintenance personnel training manuals 14,331 assault rifles sub machine guns and pistols went missing

2008 US turned over Wasit to Iraqi control 13^th of 18^th province to do so

(Musings On Iraq article on Wasit handover)

2015 VP Maliki said PM Abadi removing Vice Presidents was illegal

(Musings On Iraq interview with Reidar Visser on PM Abadi’s reform program)

2017 Pres Barzani said he would step down and defended independence referendum KDP followers

attacked press and opposition politicians and burned their offices Stormed KRG parliament building

(Musings On Iraq article on Pres Barzani’s resignation)

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

View the Iraq History Timelines 

More Confrontations Between Protesters And Govt 3rd Day Of Renewed Demonstrations

Student strike in support of protests in Baghdad (Baghdad Today)

October 27 saw people come out across Baghdad and southern Iraq again demanding that the government resign. There were some peaceful gatherings as well as confrontations, while the authorities continued their crackdown.

This Day in Iraqi History - Oct 28

1913 Secret Ahd Association of Ottoman officers formed Included many Iraqis that would

become leaders and prime ministers under monarchy such as Nuri al-Said Yasin Hashemi Jamil Midfai and others Called for Arab autonomy

1980 Major fighting ended in Khorrmahshahr with Iraqis in control Iraq lost 2,000 dead 6,000 wounded Iran

lost 1,500 dead Heavy losses meant Iraq gave up assault on Abadan to secure eastern shore of Shatt al-Arab and decided to surround city instead

(Musings On Iraq book review Iran-Iraq War Volume 4: The Forgotten Fronts)

1980 Iranian navy made raids on Fao oil facilities in Basra

1987 Soviet diplomat Vorontsov made another trip to Iran and Iraq to try to negotiate end to war

(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 Bush speech said Iraq frontline of war on terror and would take time to win

2003 Def Sec Rumsfeld and Joint Chiefs Vice Chairman Gen Pace said US had to return sovereignty as

soon as possible and get Iraqis to run things

2003 Sec State Powell said security number one priority in postwar Iraq otherwise nothing else would

matter

2005 Bush speech said Iraq central front in war on terror against Al Qaeda and US would have

complete victory US strategy was for withdrawal not winning

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

2005 VP Cheney chief of staff Libby indicted on obstruction perjury false statements for retaliating vs

FmrAmb Wilson over Iraq-Niger deal

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

2006 PM Maliki-Bush talked 50 min to overcome rift after Maliki objected to Amb Khalilzad’s

benchmarks for Maliki govt Agreed to create committee to speed up training of ISF and turning over security to Iraqis

2006 ISI launched first chlorine bomb

2006 Spec Insp Gen for Iraq Recon report US hadn’t trained enough Def and Interior Min personnel

to handle logistics Didn’t think ISF would be ready to handle own logistics by Jan 08 deadline it set

2007 Report Interior Min refused to train senior officers at Habaniya Police Center aimed at incorporating

Anbar Awakening into ISF US pushed govt to hire 6,000 Diyala Sahwa into ISF but Interior Min refused Interior Min did hire 548 that were mostly Shiites Interior Min sent 663 Shiite police to Tal Afar Ninewa police chief said that disrupted effort to have more balanced provincial police force Anbar proposed 9,000 Awakening be hired into police Interior Min okayed 5,000

2007 US commander northern Iraq Gen Mixon complained PM Maliki agreed to hire 6,000 Diyala Sahwa

into police in April 07 but never happened

2008 Report PM Maliki tried to set up Tribal Support Council in Khanaqin Diyala Maliki tried to assert

federal control over district run by Kurds for months Maliki also just said he was closing all councils

(Musings On Iraq article on PM Maliki and Khanaqin District)

(Musings On Iraq article on PM Maliki’s patronage system including Tribal Support Councils)

(Musings On Iraq article Disputes over PM Maliki’s Tribal Support Councils)

(Musings On Iraq book review Iraq After America, Strongmen, Sectarians, Resistance)

2015 Report Up to $500 bil ½ of Iraq’s revenue from 2006-14 went missing under PM Maliki Fmr Def

Min Shalan Fmr Trade Min Sudani Fmr Electricity Min Samarrie all charged with corruption

(Musings On Iraq interview with Special Inspector Gen for Iraq Reconstruction Bowen on corruption in Iraq)

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

2016 KRG PM Barzani replaced 4 Gorran ministers with 4 KDP politicians in dispute over Pres

Barzani’s term

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Death Toll Rises As Govt Tries To Break Up Iraq Protests

(AP)

On the second day of renewed protests the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) made a concerted effort to break up the crowds. They were largely successful as there was little of the vandalism seen the day before. The death toll also continued to rise as a result.

This Day In Iraqi History - Oct 27

1982 Saddam ordered increased attacks upon Iranian cities 3 SCUD missiles fired at Dezful

(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)

1984 Iraq restored diplomatic relations with US which ended in Oct 1967

1992 Report before Gulf War Bush admin approved sale of computers and software to Iraq that were

used on missile and supergun programs

1992 Opposition meeting in Salahaddin Kurdistan called for democratic and federal Iraq Made INC

umbrella organization with ethnosectarian quotas

(Musings On Iraq article on 1992 Salahaddin meeting)

1992 PUK KDP PKK signed ceasefire after PUK and KDP helped Turks attack PKK

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

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

2002 US intel complained to press Pentagon using own intel on Iraq and relying upon INC too

much

(Musings On Iraq book review Leap of Faith, Hubris Negligence, and America’s Greatest Foreign Policy

Tragedy)

2003 Bremer returned to DC to discuss his long term plan for Iraq which White House had turned

against

(Musings On Iraq book review Squandered Victory, The American Occupation And the Bungled Effort to Bring Democracy to Iraq)

2003 Def Sec Rumsfeld told Bremer of plan to return Iraq sovereignty by Apr 04 Bremer said needed new

Iraqi govt and constitution 1^st

2003 Bush at NSC meeting said US had to stay the course in Iraq Gen Abizaid said US had to bring

back ex-Iraqi soldiers to rebuild army Bremer said too risky Natl Sec Adv Rice said insurgency desperate and not going to succeed

2003 Zarqawi bombed Red Cross HQ and 4 police stations in Baghdad Sixth attack foiled 35 dead

and 244 injured at start of Ramadan

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

2003 Saddam called on insurgents to attack Iraqi security forces rather than US led coalition

2003 U.S. military blamed foreign fighters for spate of Baghdad bombings Day before denied foreign

fighters important in capital Said insurgents were paying 10 times as much for people to carry out attacks against US forces

2003 UnderSecDef Feith provided evidence of Iraq-Al Qaeda ties his office had collected to Senate

Intel Comm Feith told comm Iraqi govt knew Zarqawi entered Iraq in 2002

(Musings On Iraq book review Leap of Faith, Hubris Negligence, and America’s Greatest Foreign Policy

Tragedy)

2003 Bush told press that violence in Iraq desperate act and sign that US was making progress

2004 Report number of IEDs being planted in Iraq went from 500 per months in May and June 04 to

1,000 by Oct 04

2005 Baghdad insurgent leader told Guardian he supported voting on Constitution and opposed Al

Qaeda in Iraq

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

2007 Gen Petraeus said ISI no longer had any strongholds in central Baghdad Said ops in Baghdad Belt

responsible Said harder to root out militias

2007 Report Winter 06 Sadiya Baghdad was being cleansed of Sunnis by Mahdi Army and Interior Min’s

Wolf Brigade Half population fled US troops arrived during Surge Were attacked by police US hired Sunnis into police PM Maliki govt objected

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

(Musings On Iraq Columbia University Charts Sectarian Cleansing Of Baghdad)

2008 Iranian agent arrested attempting to infiltrate into eastern Basra 3^rd such incident in Oct

(Musings On Iraq article on Iranian infiltration into Iraq)

2011 Salahaddin council voted to start process to become a federal region Maliki blocked move

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

2015 60 members of State of Law sent letter to PM Abadi demanding answers about his reforms organized

by VP Maliki

(Musings On Iraq interview with Reidar Visser on PM Abadi’s reform program)

2017 Ceasefire announced between federal and Kurdish forces to allow for talks after independence

            referendum

(Musings On Iraq Baghdad Ups Ante Attempting To Seize Control Of Kurds’ Oil Pipeline)

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

View the Iraq History Timelines 

42 Killed First Day Of Renewed Protests In Iraq

Tear gas being fired at protesters in Baghdad's Tahrir Sq (Baghdad Post)

The much anticipated national protests returned to Iraq after the Arbaeen pilgrimage. There were demonstrations in Baghdad and all the south for a total of ten provinces. Things quickly escalated with the security forces and security guards firing into crowds, political and government offices being sacked and burned, and political and tribal rivalries going on in some areas.

This Day In Iraqi History - Oct 26

1920 UK High Commissioner Sir Cox formed Iraqi provisional govt after 1920 Revolt led

British to give up direct rule Abd Naqib of Baghdad was premier Had 21 ministers 12 with no portfolios Naqib opposed giving any ministries to Shiites

(Musings On Iraq book review of Reclaiming Iraq, The 1920 Revolution and the Founding of the Modern State)

(Musings On Iraq book review Dictatorship, Imperialism & Chaos, Iraq since 1989)

1920 UK High Commissioner Sir Cox said Basra province showed no support for Mandate Merchants in

province just wanted to maintain status quo Mid-Euphrates sheikhs and landlords the same Baghdad and Mosul provinces want to have role in govt Intellectuals were nationalists

1952 Baghdad Pharmacy College strike over exams Turned into riot that spread to other cities 

1978 Pres Assad signed National Charter of Joint Action to counter Israel-Egypt peace treaty while

visiting Baghdad

1980 Iraq fired missiles at Dezful, Iran for 2^nd day

1980 Most of the Iranian forces driven out of Khorramshahr Gave Iraq control of Shatt al-Arab Iraq lost

4,000-12,000 casualties

1980 Soviet news agency accused Iraq of aligning with US in Iran-Iraq War

1980 Iran objected to Iraq abrogating 1975 Algiers Agreement in letter to U.N. Said Iran still

following it Iraq broke it

1984 Tariq Aziz told Sec of State Shultz Iraq ready to resume full diplomatic relations with US after

17 yr break

(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)

1989 Sec of State Baker memo said that ties with Iraq important to shape Middle East politics

2001 After anthrax letters sent to Wash DC ABC reported anthrax trademark of Iraq’s WMD

program

2001 Czech Interior Ministry told press 9/11 hijacker Atta met Iraqi intel officer in Prague

2003 DepDefSec Wolfowitz arrived in Baghdad and met with Chalabi who warned him insurgents

knew he was in the country

2003 Baghdad’s Rashid Hotel hit by rocket while Dep Sec of Def Wolfowitz staying there 16 killed

18 wounded

2003 US military said were not many foreign fighters in Baghdad

2003 Iraq Survey Group found aluminum tubes Iraq tried to buy were not for centrifuges Pentagon

replied group had not finished its analysis

(Musings On Iraq article on the aluminum tubes story)

2003 Report CIA interviewed head of Iraq’s centrifuge program who said Iraq ended centrifuge work

after Gulf War and tubes had nothing to do with it CIA claimed head of Iraq’s centrifuge program was not telling truth about aluminum tubes Iraq tried to buy

2004 PM Allawi blamed US for deaths of 49 army recruits killed in Diyala by Zarqawi

2005 Report CIA review said Zarqawi visited Baghdad May 02 but probably didn’t have protection of

Iraqi govt Review of Zarqawi’s trip based upon interviews with Saddam era Iraqi officials Bush admin originally claimed Zarqawi was given safe haven by Saddam and said sign of Iraq-Al Qaeda ties

2006 PM Maliki interview refuted US timetable for Iraq Said ISF could take over security in 6 months

not 12-18 US set out Said he didn’t agree to timetable Said he met with Sadr and they agreed greatest threat to Iraq was Al Qaeda in Iraq and Baathists not militias

2006 Def Sec Rumsfeld said US had not gotten PM Maliki to agree to crackdown on militias Said Maliki

would work towards US benchmarks but would be no deadlines or penalties if he didn’t

2007 Islamic Army fought ISI outside Samarra Salahddin

(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 Report US and ISF targeting insurgent finance networks in Mosul Found kickbacks overbilling illegal

sales real estate deals black market gas and propane sales earned $40-$60 mil for insurgents over last few years

2008 US Special Forces raided ISI camp in Syria used to ferry foreign fighters into Iraq captured

huge amount of documents

2017 Iraqi forces renewed west Anbar op This time aimed at liberating Qaim along Syrian border

2017 More clashes between Iraqi forces and Peshmerga in Fishkhabur Dohuk and Altun Kupri Ninewa after

            independence referendum

(Musings On Iraq Baghdad Ups Ante Attempting To Seize Control Of Kurds’ Oil Pipeline)

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

View the Iraq History Timelines 
-->

Iraq Protesters Outsmart Govt And Security Forces

Protesters in Tahrir Square Thursday (Nas News)

For days now Iraq has been preparing for the return of protests on October 25. As it turned out, demonstrations started a day early catching the authorities off guard.

This Day In Iraqi History - Oct 25

1922 Gertrude Bell wrote that King Faisal was trying to create his own party but was being

played by politicians

(Musings On Iraq book review of Gertrude Bell And Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq book review Gertrude Bell, Explorer of the Middle East)

1937 Nuri al-Said’s son told him to return from exile in Egypt after made contact with pan-Arab

Golden Square officers

(Musings On Iraq book review The Role of the Military In Politics, A case study of Iraq to 1941)

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

1980 Iraq fired missiles at Dezful, Iran

1983 Iran claimed Iraqi troops destroyed Kurdish town of Penjwin

(Musings On Iraq book review Iran-Iraq War Volume 4: The Forgotten Fronts)

1984 Iranian troops recaptured Mehran, Iran ending Op Dawn 7

(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)

(Musings On Iraq book review Iran-Iraq War Volume 4: The Forgotten Fronts)

2000 Congress authorized increase in support for Iraqi opposition groups to $25 mil in 2001 $18 mil

would go to INC

2002 VP Cheney met with Russian For Min Told him countries that sided with US in war would get

preferential treatment in contracts afterward

2003 Iraqi prisoners were stripped handcuffed and piled in pyramid on top of each other by US

jailers in Abu Ghraib

2004 Report top contracting official at US Army Corps of Engineers questioned Halliburton’s no-bid

Iraq contracts

2004 Report 380 tons of high grade explosives looted from Al Qaqaa site

2004 Kurds marched in Kirkuk demanding Kurdish control of city

2005 Results of Constitutional referendum announced 79% voted for constitution Anbar and

Salahaddin overwhelmingly voted no

(Musings On Iraq interview with constitutional scholar Zaid al-Ali on Iraq’s constitution)

(Musings On Iraq book review The Occupation of Iraq, Winning The War, Losing The Peace)

2005 Death toll for Americans in Iraq reached 2,000 since 03 invasion

2005 Iraq Body Count est 26,690-30,051 Iraqi civilians and police died since 03 invasion

2006 Bush speech Iraq challenge of our time Knew people weren’t happy with Iraq war and neither

was he Bush speech said US winning in Iraq Bush said he didn’t believe in timetables for Iraq but Gen Casey and Amb Khalilzad issued a timetable the day before Said they were benchmarks and not a timetable At time he thought strategy failing and working on new one

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

2006 CNN poll found 34% of Americans supported Bush on Iraq 64% disapproved

2006 PM Maliki criticized US timetable for his govt Said no one had right to impose deadlines on Iraqi

govt Said timetable was created for US consumption before Nov elections Amb Khalilzad said Maliki agreed to idea of a timetable

2006 US and ISF raided Mahdi Army areas in east Baghdad PM Maliki complained about raids saying

they wouldn’t happen again

2006 Report British military wanted to withdraw from Iraq within a year British officials told US

that British military near breaking point with long deployments to Iraq

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

2006 Special Insp Gen for Iraq Recon audit found some US reconstruction contracts had 55% overhead

costs Main reason was long delay between signing contracts assembling teams and actual work starting US wrote poor contracts bad to no oversight needless delays poor practices

2006 Report US raid in Washash Baghdad found Mahdi Army papers listing 65 houses that had

Sunni families in them replaced by Shiites Also draft of threats to Sunnis to drive them out

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

(Musings On Iraq Columbia University Charts Sectarian Cleansing Of Baghdad)

2006 Report Feb 05 Gen Casey said US would transfer security to ISF by end of 05 Jun 06 Casey

sent plan to White House saying that US troops would start withdrawing by Sep 06 and have 50% out by Dec 07 Oct 24 Casey said that ISF would take over security in 12-15 months

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

(Musings On Iraq book review Fiasco: The American Military Adventure In Iraq)

2009 ISI bombed Justice and Municipalities Ministries in Baghdad 155 dead 721 wounded PM Maliki

blamed Baathists but was ISI

(Musings On Iraq Fall 09 When Maliki Blamed Islamic State Bombings In Baghdad On Baathists)

2017 KRG offered to freeze results of independence referendum in return for ceasefire and talks Led to halt

in fighting between federal and Kurdish forces PM Abadi demanded full cancellation of referendum

(Musings On Iraq Baghdad Ups Ante Attempting To Seize Control Of Kurds’ Oil Pipeline)

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

2018 Adel Abdul Mahdi sworn in as prime minister

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Review They Will Have to Die Now: Mosul and the Fall of the Caliphate

Review Verini, James, They Will Have to Die Now: Mosul and the Fall of the Caliphate, New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2019

Seizing Mosul was what marked the rise of the Islamic State in the summer of 2014. It had been rebuilding for years, but taking a major city in Iraq was a shock to the world. The loss of the city to the Iraqi forces backed up by the international coalition three years later, was its biggest defeat. It was inevitable that this would eventually be put into a book, and James Verini a contributing writer to the New York Times Magazine and National Geographic was the first to do so in They Will Have to Die Now: Mosul and the Fall of the Caliphate. The author does a good job weaving together his time with the Iraqi forces, speaking to displaced families from Mosul, and plenty of history of Iraq, the Islamic State, and Mosul.

This Day In Iraqi History - Oct 24

1978 Pres Assad visited Baghdad 1^st time to talk about unifying Iraq and Syria Issued

unification declaration

1980 Iraq took city center in Khorramshahr and declared it taken Fighting continued for four more

days

(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)

(Musings On Iraq book review Iran-Iraq War Volume 4: The Forgotten Fronts)

1984 US Info Service reopened office in Baghdad Closed since 1958 in first step to reestablish formal

relations between US and Iraq

(Musings On Iraq book review The Saddam Tapes)

1986 Iraq-Saudi pipeline opened

1997 KDP launched offensive against PUK ending last ceasefire in civil war

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

2002 Pentagon’s Policy Counterterrorism Group briefed Rumsfeld on Iraq-Al Qaeda ties

2002 Rumsfeld told press Policy Counterterrorism Group was not an intel unit

2002 Intel officials complained to press that Pentagon politicizing intel on Iraq

(Musings On Iraq book review Leap of Faith, Hubris Negligence, and America’s Greatest Foreign Policy Tragedy)

2003 US secured $13 bil in aid and loans from allies for Iraq at Madrid conference

2003 Maysan police chief assassinated by a local political faction

2005 Palestine Hotel and Sheraton Ishtar Hotel in Baghdad hit by truck bombs

2006 US Cmdr Gen Casey and Amb Khalilzad announced new timetable for US goals in Iraq Said

ISF should take over security in 12-18 months Govt had to demobilize and integrate Shiite militias, Draft bill to divide oil revenues End deBaathification Hold provincial elections Revise constitute Set no date for when goals had to be achieved or any consequences for not meeting them

2006 SCIRI head Hakim gave sermon in Baghdad calling for 8-9 province federal region in south

Said would not mean partitioning of Iraq Condemned a strong central govt Said southern region supported by history when south was Basra province in Ottoman era

(Musings On Iraq history of Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq book review Iraq After America, Strongmen, Sectarians, Resistance)

2006 US forces cordoned off Sadr City after US soldier went missing there Violence dropped 50% in

            district as a result

2007 Fighting broke out between Mahdi Army and Badr in Karbala despite Sadr’s freeze on his militia

and peace deal between Sadr and Hakim signed Oct 6 City was shut off to try to keep militias out Each accused the other of being an Iranian tool

2008 2 Iranian agents intercepted attempting to infiltrate into Wasit One killed one arrested Were

allegedly planning military operations in Iraq 2^nd such incident in Oct

(Musings On Iraq article on Iranian infiltration into Iraq)

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

2014 Babil’s Jurf al-Sakhr finally cleared after a dozen attempts All civilians forced out of city and

not allowed to return Turned into Hashd base

2017 2 clashes between ISF and Hashd vs Peshmerga in Fishkhabur Dohuk Kurds afraid Baghdad was

attempting to seize its pipeline to Turkey after independence referendum

(Musings On Iraq Baghdad Ups Ante Attempting To Seize Control Of Kurds’ Oil Pipeline)

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

2018 Parliament voted on 14 of PM Abdul Mahdi’s 22 candidates for cabinet

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Report On Violence Used Vs Iraq Protests Covers-Up Govt Responsibility

PM Abdul Mahdi's govt released a report on violence used against protests which whitewashes those responsible (Al Forat)

Under pressure from Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani who called for the government to hold responsible those who were behind the murder of protesters at the start of October 2019, the Iraqi government released its report on the violence. It claimed that the commanders of the Iraqi forces (ISF) lost control of their troops during the demonstrations and recommended that several officers be removed or investigated. No politicians nor the Hashd were blamed. This was a white wash to cover up those really responsible.

This Day In Iraqi History - Oct 23

1918 Battle of Shirqat started as British forces moved north from Baghdad to seize Mosul

province and its oil before war ended 

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

1973 Baghdad ordered its units home in 1973 Arab-Israeli War

1977 Ayatollah Khomeini’s son Mustafa died in exile in Najaf Iranian secret police believed to be

behind it

1980 US said Iran’s national integrity was threatened by Iraq Pres Carter was trying to get US

hostages released by Iran

(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 Baghdad imposed economic embargo on Kurdistan in retaliation for clashes with Peshmerga

1996 PUK and KDP signed ceasefire brokered by US, UK and Turkey

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

1997 UN Resolution 1134 said that Iraq had to fully comply with weapons inspectors and condemned non-

cooperation Were splits within UN security council over continued weapons inspections

(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)

(Musings On Iraq article Charles Duelfer’s Account Of The End Of The 1990s U.N. Inspections)

2002 US and UK submitted draft UN resolution for new inspections in Iraq

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

2003 Madrid Conf began with 76 countries to garner international aid for Iraq Germany Russia

France offered nothing having opposed war

2003 US guards at Abu Ghraib prison photographed an Iraqi prisoner with a leash on and other

abuses

2004 Al Qaeda in Iraq dressed as police took 49 Iraqi soldiers off bus and executed them in Diyala

2005 Islamic Army got in gun battle with Al Qaeda in Iraq in Taji north Baghdad over the latter

killing members of the Islamic Army

(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)

2006 Natl Sec Adv Hadley told UK officials Op Together Forward II failing Said Iraqi army hadn’t sent

enough troops Iraqi police couldn’t hold areas cleared Said Maliki govt didn’t fully support plan

(Musings On Iraq book review Fiasco: The American Military Adventure In Iraq)

2006 White House said US policy was not to stay the course in Iraq despite Bush repeatedily using that

phrase Said U.S. had a flexible policy in Iraq

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

2006 Report UN recorded 1.6 mil refugees 1.5 mil displaced 40,000 Iraqis arriving in Syria per month

365,000 new refugees since Samarra bombing in Feb 06

(Musings On Iraq book review Children of War, Voices Of Iraqi Refugees)

2007 State Dept official said Iranian Revolutionary Guard working in Iraq under orders of Tehran’s

leadership

(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)

2007 Report State Dept couldn't’ account for $1.2 bil contract with DynCorp to train Iraqi police $4 mil

that was supposed to build a police facility spent on an olympic size pool and VIP trailers $4 mil spent on X-Ran machine never used Part of State Dept’s bad contracting in Iraq

2007 Mahdi Army fought Iraqi police in Basra City despite Sadr’s freeze upon his militia

2017 ISF and Peshmerga clashed in Fishkhabur Dohuk Kurds feared Baghdad was attempting to seize

KRG pipeline to Turkey as a result of independence referendum

(Musings On Iraq Baghdad Ups Ante Attempting To Seize Control Of Kurds’ Oil Pipeline)

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

View the Iraq History Timelines