This Day In Iraqi History - Feb 28

 

1941 Mufti of Jerusalem Pan-Arab Golden Square officers Rashid al-Gaylani had secret

meeting Decided to remove PM Hashemi if he insisted on ending relations with Italy Golden Square decided to replace PM Hashemi with Gaylani if he would not change policy on Italy Agreed on no concessions to UK Refused to break relations with Italy Would expel pro-British politicians

(Musings On Iraq review Persian Gulf Command, A History of the Second World War In Iran and Iraq)

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

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

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq 1941, The Battles for Basra, Habbaniya, Fallujah and Baghdad)

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq Between the Two World Wars, The Militarist Origins of Tyranny)

1963 Mulla Mustafa Barzani said Kurds would go back to fighting government if didn’t commit to

Kurdish autonomy

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

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

(Musings On Iraq review The Kurdish Revolt 1961-1970)

(Musings On Iraq review Journey Among Brave Men, Travels in Kurdistan)

1972 Iraq Petroleum Company came to terms with Baghdad over nationalization including compensation

1979 Ayatollah Baqir al-Sadr congratulated Ayatollah Khomeini for the Iranian revolution

and said some tyrants hadn’t seen their day of reckoning yet

1981 Iran told Islamic Conference Org that it wanted Iraq found aggressor and punished for Iran-Iraq

War and withdrawal from territory

1981 Speaker Rafsanjani later told Islamic Conf Org Iran sure it would win war so didn’t want to

negotiate

1984 Iraqi counterattack against Iranian Op Kheibar retook Beida Iranian Revolutionary Guard

began retreating in disarray Iran lost 3,000 dead

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

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

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

1986 Iran Op Wa al-Fajr 9 in Penjwin and Halabja stopped by Iraqi counterattack

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

1987 Iraq ended 3rd War of Cities after Soviet appealed and new arms deal

1987 During war of cities 1984-87 35 Iranian cities hit 3,000 dead 9,000 injured Baghdad and Basra

hit 300 dead 1,000 wounded

1987 Iran attacked and broke through Iraqi lines Iraq counterattacks regained lost territory in 12 hrs

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

1988 Iran fired SCUD missiles at Baghdad and Tikrit Tehran was trying to lure Iraq into another war

of cities to decrease attacks upon its economic infrastructure

(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 review The Iran-Iraq War 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq review Iran-Iraq War, The Lion of Babylon, 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq review The Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq review The Longest War, The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict)

1987 Ali Hassan al-Majid made governor of northern Iraq provinces and told to end Kurdish insurgency

Would start Anfal Campaign

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s Anfal Campaign And The Destruction Of The Kurdish Opposition)

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

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

1990 Saddam warned of Israeli aggression backed by US at Arab Cooperation Council meeting

(Musings On Iraq Why Did Saddam Threaten Israel Before The 1990 Invasion of Kuwait?)

(Musings On Iraq review The Saddam Tapes)

(Musings On Iraq review the Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait)

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq in Wartime, Soldiering, Martyrdom, and Remembrance)

1990 At Arab Cooperation Council Saddam demanded moratorium on loans from Gulf States and $30 bil

investment by them to help Iraq rebuild

1990 Saddam said that if Gulf States did not provide money and help with debt he knew how to get it

1991 Bush announced that Kuwait was liberated and Iraq defeated in Gulf War Started ceasefire in war

1991 Saddam said that Iraq had succeeded in defeating the United States

1991 Jalal Talabani tried to tell State Dept of impending Kurdish revolt but was turned away

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

(Musings On Iraq interview with National Univ of Singapore’s Fanar Haddad on the Impact of the 1991 Uprising)

1992 Iraqi army attacked Peshmerga in Kalak

1999 General uprising in southern Iraq planned following Saddam’s killing of Ayatollah Sadiq al-

Sadr

(Musings On Iraq interview with Univ of Haifa’s Prof Baram on legacy of Ayatollah Sadiq al-Sadr)

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq Between Occupations, Perspectives from 1920 to the Present)

(Musings On Iraq review Muqtada, Muqtada Al-Sadr, The Shia Revival, And The Struggle For Iraq)

2002 PM Blair told Australian TV Iraq was a threat because it had WMD

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

2002 Gen Franks delivered target list for air strikes in Iraq to Sec Def Rumsfeld

2003 Iraq agreed to destroy Samud II ballistic missiles that violated UN restrictions

2003 US attacked Iraq agreement to destroy Samud II missiles claiming it was just propaganda not real

disarmament

2003 Sec Def Rumsfeld said Iraq never cooperated with UN inspectors

2003 UN said found no evidence of active WMD programs in Iraq

2003 UN inspectors went to site CURVEBALL claimed was secret WMD facility for second time for

samples Found nothing

(Musings On Iraq How Iraqi Defector CURVEBALL Became Basis For US Claim That Iraq Had WMD)

(Musings On Iraq Look Who The LA Times Dug Up – CURVEBALL)

(Musings On Iraq Story of CURVEBALL And Iraq’s Mobile Biological Weapons Labs)

2003 UN inspectors found small stock of mustard gas and some old WMD warheads and Iraq built 2

banned missiles Inspectors said Iraq had not provided any new information to answer questions from 90s inspections

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

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

2003 State Dept said Iraq tried to buy aluminum tubes for its nuke program Were for rockets

(Musings On Iraq How A Contested Aluminum Tubes Story Became The Basis For War With Iraq)

2003 UK Def Min report said Coalition had to prevent security vacuum after invasion of Iraq and stop Al

Qaeda from expanding into country

2003 UK Def Min note to PM Blair’s office said UK failed to influence US postwar Iraq planning and

UK would have to deal with US decisions made for it

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

2003 ORHA head Garner made 1^st brief of postwar Iraq plans to Bush 1 month before war

(Musings On Iraq on Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Hard Lessons Chapter 3 The Department of Defense Takes Charge)

2003 Defense Policy Board warned by peacekeeping expert Perito could be breakdown in law order right

after invasion if Iraqi police didn’t go back to work Board told that US troops could not take over police duties after invasion because not trained

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

Tragedy)

2004 Iraqi Governing Council said it would draft and approve an interim constitution Couldn’t agree on

role of Islam

2004 Women’s delegation visited Iraqi Governing Council demanding interim constitution protect

women’s rights

2005 Al Qaeda in Iraq suicide truck bomb on police and National Guard recruits in Hillah killed 127

(Musings On Iraq review Suicide Bombers In Iraq, The Strategy and Ideology of Martyrdom)

2005 Annual State Department human rights report accused Iraqi security forces of rape torture and

illegal arrests

2006 Prosecution presented Saddam’s order to executed 148 people in Dujail in 1982 at his trial

2006 Report US warned about growing insurgency mid-03 and was largely Iraqi not foreigners Ignored

by Bush admin

2006 DIA Dir Gen Maples told Senate Armed Services Comm as long as Sunnis were disenfranchised

insurgency would continue

2008 Report attacks on Sahwa went from 26 in Oct 07 to 100 in Jan 08 as part of ISI campaign

2008 Report Interior Min investigation found 15-20% of police or 11,000 officers didn’t exist Anbar

25% of police didn’t exist

View the Iraq History Timelines 

After 6 More Protesters Killed PM Kazemi Seeks To Control Explosive Situation In Dhi Qar

(Shfaaq News)

Things continued to escalate in Dhi Qar. On February 22 the police fired into a group of protesters in the provincial capital of Nasiriya killing two. A third person died on February 25 when the police were trying to clear the Al-Nasr Bridge in the city. The next day people returned to the streets where a day of clashes left six more fatalities. A member of the Iraq Human Rights Commission said the situation was out of control and the government was doing nothing. This all occurred despite Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kazemi ordering months ago that the security forces could no longer use live ammunition against demonstrations. Kazemi came into office saying he stood with the protesters but he has changed his position since then to wanting them to stop their actions.

This Day In Iraqi History - Feb 27

 

1923 UK High Comm Cox wrote London that Faisal complained Anglo-Iraq treaty was only new

phase of mandate instead of ending it

1982 US removed Iraq from list of terrorist countries in step towards restoring relations

(Musings On Iraq review The Saddam Tapes)

1984 Iran captured Majnoon Islands Basra Iraqi counterattack began Iran built pontoon bridges from Iran

to Majnoon to supply 2 divisions defending area Was turning point in war

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

1984 Iraq bombed Iran’s main oil terminal Kharg Island Said it would continue to attack oil industry

until Iran agreed to end war

1984 Iraq claimed it used leased French Super Etendard jets for 1^st time attacking two Iranian tankers

Was propaganda and no attacks took place

(Musings On Iraq review Iraqi Mirages, The Dassault Mirage Family In Service With The Iraqi Air Force, 1981-1988)

1988 Iraq fired missiles on Saqqez Iran killing 26 Also bombed Tehran refinery Iran bombed Baghdad in

retaliation

(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 review The Iran-Iraq War 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq review Iran-Iraq War, The Lion of Babylon, 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq review The Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq review The Longest War, The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict)

1991 Battle of Medina, Basra US 1^st Armored Div and 3^rd Inf Div defeated Iraq’s Medina and Adnan Divs

in largest tank battle of Gulf War

(Musings On Iraq review M1 Abrams vs T-72 Ural, Operation Desert Storm 1991)

1991 Battle of Kuwait Airport US 1^st Mar Div took airport

1991 Pres Bush declared Kuwait liberated

1991 Voice of Free Iraq radio station aired broadcast calling on Iraqis to rise up against Saddam Was

            financed by US and Saudis

(Musings On Iraq When The US Helped Start A Rebellion In Iraq That It Didn’t Want)

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

(Musings On Iraq review Out Of The Ashes, The Resurrection of Saddam Hussein)

1991 Joint Chiefs head Gen Powell said he was ready to recommend end of Gulf War in 24 hrs Bush said

should end it now

1991 Bush offered ceasefire in Gulf War Iraq accepted it

1995 Car bomb in Zakho killed 76 PUK blamed Baghdad KDP blamed PUK

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

1996 Iraq provided new declaration on missile program with more info to UN inspectors

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

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

2001 Sec State Powell got Arab states to agree to new smart sanctions on Iraq

2001 DepDefSec Wolfowitz told Senate US reviewing Iraq policy and how to work with groups like INC

(Musings On Iraq review Losing Iraq, Inside The Post War Reconstruction Fiasco)

2002 UK Def Min said govt had to consider military action against Iraq

2003 DepSecDef Wolfowtiz told House Comm admin had no estimates of costs of reconstructing Iraq

and wouldn’t know until it got there Said calls for more troops to handle postwar Iraq were “outlandish” Said crazy to think postwar Iraq would take more troops than invasion Said Iraqis would greet US as liberators and that meant didn’t need more troops Said there would be large numbers of Free Iraqi Forces to restore order Said Iraq had no history of ethnic violence like in Bosnia that required long term peace keepers

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

Policy Tragedy)

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

(Musings On Iraq review Hard Lessons, The Iraq Reconstruction Experience)

2003 ORHA head Garner learned he only had $27 mil to run postwar Iraq

(Musings On Iraq on Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Hard Lessons Chapter 3 The Department of Defense Takes Charge)

2003 UK Att Gen Goldsmith changed his position that UN Res 1441 alone could be legal basis for action

against Iraq

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

2003 UK oil firms met with govt officials saying they thought US firms were getting deals for postwar

Iraq over them

2003 State Dept paper said multiple sources claimed Iraq had mobile WMD labs Didn’t exist

(Musings On Iraq How Iraqi Defector CURVEBALL Became Basis For US Claims That Iraq Had WMD)

2003 State Dept analysis said creating democracy in Iraq would be difficult and likely undermined by

internal and external issues

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq’s Future The aftermath of regime change)

2003 CIA told Sen Levine that it didn’t believe Iraq-Niger uranium deal made but Iraq might have been

interested in one in 1999 Niger deal fake

(Musings On Iraq How US Intelligence Failed The Iraq-Niger Uranium Story)

(Musings On Iraq Review Hubris, The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, And The Selling Of The Iraq War)

2003 Saddam agreed to destroy Saoud 2 missiles found to violate range limitations by UN inspectors US

            and UK said Iraq playing games

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

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

2004 Deadline to finish Iraq’s interim constitution Transitional Administrative Law missed

2004 Fmr chief UN inspector Blix told Guardian he thought US spied on him

2006 Amb Khalizad announced new draft law as a major accomplishment Was never passed

2007 Bombing at Municipalities Ministry aimed at VP Mahdi 7 killed including Dep Municipalities Min

Anbari and 31 wounded Mahdi blamed Sadrists

2007 Mahdi Army began attack on UK bases in Basra

2007 Report US carrying out talks with factions of Mahdi Army Military and intelligence sources said

claims of rogue elements of Mahdi Army were not true and just used to excuse it actions

(Musings On Iraq review The Unraveling, High Hopes And Missed Opportunity In Iraq)

2007 Report Mahdi Army men turning up dead in north and east Baghdad Allegedly killed by special

teams sent from Najaf to eliminate criminals and disloyal militiamen

2007 US National Intel Dir McConnell told Senate Iraq in civil war Security and political trends in Iraq

going in negative direction and would be nearly impossible for Iraqi leaders to change things Said Samarra bombing had increased polarization Said Iran training Iraqi militias in Iran and Lebanon

2007 DIA Dir Gen Maples told Senate avg 180 attacks per day Jan 07 Same as previous high in Oct 06

US officials claimed immediate decrease in violence when Surge started in Jan

(Musings On Iraq review Surge, My Journey with General David Petraeus and the Remaking of the Iraq War)

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

(Musings On Iraq interview with New America Foundation’s Ollivant On Reassessing the Surge)

2007 US announced it would meet with Iran and Syria to talk about Iraq

2008 Iraq’s intel chief accused Iran of sabotaging Sahwa

2009 Pres Obama announced withdrawal plan for US forces from Iraq by 2011 Obama would not

be keeping stay behind force as original planned and would not ask Iraqis about issue

(Musings On Iraq on Obama’s withdrawal announcement and US public opinion)

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

2009 Incoming Ninewa Gov Nujafi said he would work with Kurds if they stuck to Ninewa issues

If not he would not cooperate Dep Ninewa Gov Goran said Nujafi’s Al-Hadbaa party wanted to get rid of Kurds in Mosul

(Musings On Iraq Al-Hadbaa Party Leader’s Vision For Ninewa)

2009 Migration Minister Sultan said ministry ran out of money to pay refugees who returned to

Iraq Said govt had not helped refugees overall Said ministry lacked plans and resources to help refugees back to their original homes

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

(Musings On Iraq Refugees International Report On Iraq’s Refugees and Displaced)

(Musings On Iraq January 2009 U.N. Report On Iraq Refugee Returns)

2011 PM Maliki set 100 day deadline to reform government in response to national protests

2011 After Imam gave speech at Sulaymaniya protest was arrested and beat by peshmerga

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

2011 Babil Gov Zarkani resigned after protests and pressure from PM Maliki

2012 Diyala governor forced to resign after supported autonomy for province

2012 Head of Election Commission said that it got forms to register voters for referendum on Salahaddin

autonomy

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

2013 Wissam al-Hardan elected new head of Awakening Was move against Ahmed Abu Risha who

supported Anbar protests Hardan aligned with PM Maliki

2016 Sadr led demonstrations in Baghdad calling for ending corruption and reforming govt

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

View the Iraq History Timelines

3 Protesters Killed By Police In Dhi Qar

(Al Nasiriya)

Three protesters have been killed in recent days by police in Nasiriya the provincial capital of Dhi Qar. That city has seen the most consistent demonstrations in Iraq.

This Day In Iraqi History - Feb 26

 

1917 3 British gunboats fired upon by 4 Ottoman ships at Nahr-al-Kalek, Wasit 3 Turkish ships

sunk and 4^th captured

1983 Iran’s Op Fajr al-Nasr in Maysan to seize Basra-Baghdad road ended

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

1984 Iraq counterattack pushed back Iran’s Op Kheibar in Basra marshes

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

1987 Iran officially ended Op Karbala 5 in Basra Suffered 52,000-62,000 casualties vs 40,000 Iraqis

casualties

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

(Musings On Iraq review The Iran-Iraq War 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq review Iran-Iraq War, The Lion of Babylon, 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq review The Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq review The Longest War, The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict)

1991 Saddam said Iraq withdrawing from Kuwait Said was victory because Iraq stood up to 30 countries and

Kuwait legally became part of Iraq

1991 US 3^rd inf Div attacked 52^nd Armored Div 17 Div Adnan and Tawakalna Divs

1991 Battle of 73 Easting US 2^nd Arm Cav Rgt fought Iraq’s Tawakalna Div By end of day Tawakalna

            destroyed

(Musings On Iraq review Bradley vs BMP, Desert Storm 1991)

(Musings On Iraq review M1 Abrams vs T-72 Ural, Operation Desert Storm 1991)

1991 Battle of Norfolk US 1^st Arm Div UK 1^st Arm Div destroyed Iraq’s  25^th, 31^st, 48^th divisions

1991 US aircraft began attacking retreating Iraqi forces from Kuwait on Highway of Death

1991 Iraq said it was willing to end annexation of Kuwait and pay reparations for a ceasefire in Gulf War

and end of sanctions

1991 Bush admin officials said they wanted to keep sanctions on Iraq to provoke a coup

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

(Musings On Iraq review Out Of The Ashes, The Resurrection of Saddam Hussein)

2002 Fmr Amb Wilson arrived in Niger to investigate Iraq trying to buy uranium Story fake

(Musings On Iraq How US Intelligence Failed The Iraq-Niger Uranium Story)

(Musings On Iraq Review Hubris, The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, And The Selling Of The Iraq War)

2002 MI6 Chief Dearlove said US would demand weapons inspectors under conditions Saddam wouldn’t

accept to justify military action

2003 Bush speech at American Enterprise Institute Said Iraq was direct threat to US due to WMD

and links to terrorists Said US had experience in stability operations and putting reformers in power Said other nations would help rebuild Iraq and US would stay in Iraq as long as necessary but “not a day more” Said spreading democracy to Iraq would be an inspiration to Middle East

(Musings On Iraq review Hard Lessons, The Iraq Reconstruction Experience)

(Musings On Iraq review What Happened, Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception)

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

Tragedy)

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq’s Future The aftermath of regime change)

(Musings On Iraq review Wanting War: Why the Bush Administration Invaded Iraq)

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

2004 Gen Taguba handed in his report on Abu Ghraib prison abuse case

2004 Ayatollah Sistani dropped demand for elections to be held by June 04 but said they had to happen

by end of year

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

2006 Al Qaeda in Iraq assassinated Gen Saab Manfi Mohammed al-Rawi of Albu Rawi Member of Anbar

Security Council

(Musings On Iraq review Illusions of Victory, The Anbar Awakening And The Rise Of The Islamic State)

2007 Cabinet approved draft oil bill Unions Sunnis and Sadr all attacked bill Never passed

2007 Report EFP cache found in Hillah and another in Diyala US military said proof that Iran was

providing weapons to Iraqi militias

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

2008 Health Min Hasnawi blamed corrupt officials for importing expired and counterfeit medicines

2008 Fmr Defense Min Allawi said right after 03 invasion Badr Brigade sent in 10,000 fighters into Iraq

and took control of Baquba Kut and other southern cities along Iranian border

(Musings On Iraq Badr Organization A View Into Iraq’s Violent Past And Present)

2008 Report Tehran received files on Iraqi intel officers under Saddam that worked on Iran and carried

out campaign to assassinate them

2008 Report Badr provided intel on Sadrists to Americans to eliminate their rivals

2009 Iraqi Federation of Industries said 90% of factories closed since 1986

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s Closed Factories)

2009 Report Maliki govt put development projects on hold because pay raises on public workers

expansion of security forces and decline in oil revenues

2011 Riot police broke up demonstration in Sulaymaniya city 1 protester killed

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

2016 Sadrists joined Friday protests in Baghdad saying they would end support for Abadi if cabinet

wasn’t reformed Said would storm Green Zone

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

2016 Kurdish Alliance said they would not give up their ministries to go along with Abadi’s reforms

View the Iraq History Timelines 

This Day In Iraqi History - Feb 25

 

1984 Iranian troops headed towards Shatt al-Arab in Basra Reached Fish Lake and Majnoon Islands

1984 Iraqis used mustard gas against Iranians to try to turn back Op Kheibar All Iraqi reserves sent to

area

(Musings On Iraq Origins Of Iraq’s WMD Programs)

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

1984 Iraq began offensive attacking Iran’s ports and oil facilities along with shipping in Persian Gulf

(Musings On Iraq review Iraqi Mirages, The Dassault Mirage Family In Service With The Iraqi Air Force, 1981-1988)

1985 Iraqi military intel warned Saddam Iranian offensive in Basra marshes imminent

(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 review The Iran-Iraq War 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq review Iran-Iraq War, The Lion of Babylon, 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq review The Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq review The Longest War, The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict)

1990 Arab Cooperation Council meeting Saddam said Iraq’s economy needed to be saved with cash Asked

for $30 bil Said if Gulf states didn’t pay Iraq knew how to get money

1991 Soviets offered another peace plan and Iraq accepted it

1991 Iraqi SCUD missiles hit US army barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia killed 28 and wounded over

100 Gulf War

1991 US and UK destroyed Iraqi 26^th Inf Div and 52^nd Arm Div routing Iraqi 7^th Corps on western

            flank

1991 3 Republican Guard divisions ordered to west flank to block Coalition VII Corps

(Musings On Iraq review M1 Abrams vs T-72 Ural, Operation Desert Storm 1991)

1991 US Marine helicopters made attack upon Kuwaiti coast to tie down Iraqi forces there

1991 Iraqis made first counterattacks in Kuwait but were destroyed Ordered forces to retreat to Kuwait

City

1991 Radio Baghdad announced withdrawal from Kuwait

1991 Sec of State Baker Natl Sec Adv Scowcroft said if Saddam remained in power UN sanctions would

stay in place

2001 Sunday Times report Said Iraq had nuclear weapons and tested them based upon Iraqi

defector and INC

2002 1^st war game for Iraq invasion ran at Scott Air Force Base Illinois

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

2003 Army chief Gen Shinseki told Senate US needed several hundred thousand troops to successfully

occupy Iraq

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

Tragedy)

2003 PM Blair told CENTCOM cmdr Gen Franks UN had to play a major role in postwar Iraq

2003 Gen Franks told UK cmdr Adm Boyce US not thinking of WWII type Japanese or German

rebuilding effort in Iraq

(Musings On Iraq on Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Hard Lessons Chapter 3 The Department of Defense Takes Charge)

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

2003 Iraqi opposition meeting in Salahaddin, Irbil Couldn't agree on a govt in exile

2004 Insurgents killed deputy police chief in Mosul

2004 CPA press briefing Gen Kimmitt was asked why US helicopters flew so low and told it was scaring

kids Kimmitt replied Iraqis had to know that was the sound of freedom and they should be re-assured

2007 Report ISI killing opponents in Anbar including imams and sheikhs that spoke out against it

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

2007 Suicide Bomber detonated device inside Mustansiriya Univ Baghdad 41 dead 55 wounded

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

(Musings On Iraq review Suicide Bombers In Iraq, The Strategy and Ideology of Martyrdom)

2007 Sadr spokesman called on the ISF to protect the Iraqi people and not accept aid from U.S. Said no

security plan could work under the occupation

2007 Report Sadr purging Mahdi Army Suspended up to 40 commanders Sadr officials claimed they

were trying to purge those close to Iran and central control of militia Allowed some of his militia to be arrested by ISF

2007 Maliki govt claimed Iran halted all aid to militias

2010 Iraqi National Dialogue Front said it ended boycott of 2010 election and would run as part of

Iraqiya after its leader Salah al-Mutlaq was banned

(Musings On Iraq Timeline of Iraq’s De-Baathification Campaign)

2011 Day of Rage protests across Iraq 23 killed by security forces during protests

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

2011 Protests in Hawija and Riyad led to police stations being burned and 3 police killed

2011 Police broke up demonstrations in Irbil city

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

2011 Pres Talabani went to Kuwait independence day in 3^rd move to normalize relations between 2

countries

2011 PM Maliki forced out Basra Governor Abbud

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Review Iraq’s Burdens, Oil, Sanctions, and Underdevelopment

Alnasrawi, Abbas, Iraq’s Burdens, Oil, Sanctions, and Underdevelopment, Westport London: Greenwood Press, 2002

Iraq’s Burdens, Oil, Sanctions, and Underdevelopment by Abbas Alnasrawi is a very good academic book about the impact of oil and the 1990s United Nations sanctions upon Iraq. It’s a very short read but it packs some real insights into how Iraq developed. The one drawback is that the author repeats himself quite often. His thesis was that in the 1950s the Iraqi government had the opportunity to use its vast oil wealth to really grow its economy. Instead it became dependent upon oil which led to the total demise of the nation when wars and sanctions cut off this most important industry.

This Day In Iraqi History - Feb 24

 

1915 Viceroy of India confirmed Basra and Baghdad vilayets should be under British control and

            ruled from India

(Musings On Iraq book review Enemy On The Euphrates, The Battle For Iraq 1914-1921)

1917 British retook Kut from Ottomans in 2nd Battle of Kut

1921 Churchill met with French who argued against Faisal being put in power in Mesopotamia because

of his record in Syria against France

(Musings On Iraq Churchill In His Own Words On Mesopotamia/Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review Churchill’s Folly, How Winston Churchill Created Modern Iraq)

1927 UK Iraq Commissioner Dobbs said that if Iraq not given independence would be unrest and

England would have to re-occupy country or leave

1955 Iraq signed security treaty with Turkey UK eventually joined Would become anti-Communist

Baghdad Pact Attempt by UK to maintain position in region

1955 Iraq got control of Habaniya and Shaiba air bases from England UK would come to aid of Iraq in

war and continue with military supplies under Baghdad Pact

1967 Arif govt put military on alert for possible war vs Israel

1984 Iran ended Ops Fajr 5 and 6 attacking Wasit and Basra which were diversionary attacks from

main target Majnoon Islands

1984 Iran broke through Iraqi defenses on Majnoon islands in Basra

1986 2^nd Iraqi attempt to retake Faw in Basra from Iranians failed 10,000 Iraqis and 30,000 Iranians killed

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

1986 Iran’s Wa al-Fajr 9 attacked Sulaymaniya to try to draw Iraqi forces away from Faw Peninsula

Basra Included KDP

1986 UN Resolution 582 deplored use of chemical weapons in Iran-Iraq War but didn’t say who was

using them

1986 UN Resolution 582 also called for immediate cease-fire in Iran-Iraq 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 review The Iran-Iraq War 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq review Iran-Iraq War, The Lion of Babylon, 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq review The Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq review The Longest War, The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict)

1990 Saddam gave speech about liberating Jerusalem and warning US could take over Persian Gulf 

Saddam was trying to determine Israel’s policy towards Iraq before he decided to invade Kuwait

(Musings On Iraq Why Did Saddam Threaten Israel Before The 1990 Invasion of Kuwait?)

(Musings On Iraq review The Saddam Tapes)

(Musings On Iraq review the Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait)

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq in Wartime, Soldiering, Martyrdom, and Remembrance)

1991 U.S. led Coalition attacked Iraqi ground forces to liberate Kuwait in Operation Desert Sabr

1991 US-Saudi Voice of Free Iraq began broadcasting calling on Iraqis to rise up and overthrow Saddam

Allawi and Iraqi National Accord also part of radio station

(Musings On Iraq When The US Helped Start A Rebellion In Iraq That It Didn’t Want)

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

1991 Saddam told aides that Coalition airpower would limit troop movement but Iraqi soldiers were

better because of experience in Iran-Iraq War

1991 Saddam and aides believed that U.S. casualties would lead to end of Gulf War

2001 Sec State Powell said Iraq had not developed any significant WMD capability and UN sanctions

worked

2002 CENTCOM intel staff completed first draft of intel estimate for Iraq invasion

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

2003 US UK Spain tabled 2nd draft resolution to UN saying Iraq had not taken opportunity to disarm 

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

2003 Russia France Germany tabled counter draft resolution at UN calling for step by step disarmament

process in Iraq

(Musings On Iraq Section 3.7 Development of UK Strategy and Options, 1 February to 7 March 2003)

2003 Turkish cabinet agreed to allow US forces to be deployed for Iraq invasion in return for $1 bil in

aid

2003 Turkish Foreign Min asked US for $92 bil in aid and allowing Turkish troops into Kurdistan in

return for US using Turkey for Iraq invasion

(Musings On Iraq review Losing Iraq, Inside The Post War Reconstruction Fiasco)

2003 CIA denied Newsweek story that Hussein Kamal Saddam’s son in law claimed Iraq destroyed its

WMD in 90s He did say that

2003 NSC meeting on Iraq oil sector Said US should not determine industry Went over rebuilding and

getting sector back on line after war Bush told NSC important to get Iraqis to be seen running oil sector after war Bush worried about oil shocks due to invasion Saudis said they would handle prices

(Musings On Iraq on Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Hard Lessons Chapter 2 The Agencies Engage)

2003 US outlined general humanitarian relief plan for postwar Iraq including finances and

implementation

(Musings On Iraq on Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Hard Lessons Chapter 3 The Department of Defense Takes Charge)

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

Tragedy)

2007 ISI Car bomb hit Habaniya mosque in Anbar Killed imam that spoke out against ISI along with

Islamic Army Jaish al-Mujahadeen and 1920 Revolution Brigades members Total 39 dead 62 wounded

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

2008 Sheikh Suleiman of Anbar Salvation Council called for Anbar council to be dissolved because

controlled by Islamic Party

(Musings On Iraq interview with author Carter Malkasian on Anbar Awakening)

2009 Iraqi police officer killed U.S. soldier, interpreter and 2 Iraqi police and wounded 2 police, 3

Iraqi soldiers and an interpreter in Mosul 3^rd time ISF shot at U.S. troops since Nov 08

2009 Kurdish Alliance and Iraqi Accordance Front agreed to coalition to rule Diyala Accordance

Front would get governorship Kurds the head of council

2009 12 Iraqi police in Sadr city arrested for kidnappings and murders Killed sister of VP

Hashemi

2009 Head of Iraq’s Chamber of Commerce said 24,000 factories were either closed or damaged

and govt aid not helping

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s Closed Factories)

2010 Accountability and Justice Comm banned 376 ISF for Baathist ties 2008 Accountability and Justice

Act said Baathists were not allowed jobs in Defense and Interior Ministries US and Iraqi govts had recruited thousands of fmr Baath era officers and soldiers back into ISF

(Musings On Iraq Timeline of Iraq’s De-Baathification Campaign)

2011 All universities and institutes in Irbil closed to stop student protests

2011 Kurdistan Students’ Union told students in Irbil had to end protests or all services at school would

be closed to them

2011 Protests in Halabja turned violent as govt building burned and 3 died

2011 Kurdish protests spread to southern Kirkuk province

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

2014 ISIS released statement in Ninewa attacking PM Maliki and telling people not to vote in election

2016 Sources said Iran told PM Abadi he needed to keep Shiite quotas in any new govt

2016 PM Abadi issued Executive Order 91 creating Hashd Comm to legalize Hashd Made Hashd

independent force under military regulations Said couldn’t be affiliated with political parties

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Security In Iraq Feb 15-21, 2021

The winter lull in attacks by the Islamic State continued into the third week of February. Pro-Iran groups on the other hand looked to be increasing their attacks upon American targets in Iraq.

This Day In Iraqi History - Feb 23

 

1935 PM Ayubi gave resignation to King Ghazi King asked Yashin al-Hashemi to form new govt

but exclude Rashid Ali al-Gaylani and Hikmat Sulaiman because they were agitating mid-Euphrates tribes Hashemi became disillusioned with Ghazi and proposed someone else from Hashemite family to take his place Hashemi dissolved political parties Spied on rivals Pushed authoritarianism 1922-58 were 59 cabinets

(Musings On Iraq review The Chatham House Version and other Middle-Eastern Studies)

1946 Tawfiq Suwaidi became PM for 2^nd time Was supposed to carry out Regent’s

reform program Ended martial law allowed limited political parties freed political prisoners lifted censorship 1922-58 were 59 cabinets

(Musings On Iraq review ‘Independent Iraq’ The Monarchy & British Influence, 1941-1958)

(Musings On Iraq review The Chatham House Version and other Middle-Eastern Studies)

1959 Communists called for march in Mosul to counter rumors of military revolt against Gen Qasim

there

(Musings On Iraq 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)

(Musings On Iraq interview with Western Kentucky’s Prof Romero on the Qasim govt)

1980 Start of major military operation against Kurds

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

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

1985 Iraqi military intel warned Iranian offensive would happen in Basra’s Fish Lake Was wrong

1986 Iraq’s southern front to retake Faw in Basra stopped by Iranian anti-tank missiles

1986 KDP launched preparatory attacks in Sulaymaniya to support Iranian offensive starting next

day in area

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

(Musings On Iraq review The Iran-Iraq War 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq review Iran-Iraq War, The Lion of Babylon, 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq review The Iran-Iraq War)

(Musings On Iraq review The Longest War, The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict)

1988 1^st Anfal Campaign targeted PUK HQ in Jafati Valley, Sulaymaniya Yakhsamar Sergalou Bergalou

attacked

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s Anfal Campaign And The Destruction Of The Kurdish Opposition)

1991 Iraq said it agreed to Soviet peace plan and would withdraw from Kuwait unconditionally

1991 UN Security Council met Western countries said they weren’t interested in Soviet

            peace plan

1991 Bush ordered Gen Schwarzkopf to expel Iraq from Kuwait

1992 Report when Bush elected senior officials pushed Agriculture Dept to give billions in loans to Iraq

to buy US farm products Agriculture was afraid Iraq could not pay back money and that some of it was being used for weapons Oct 89 Bush signed NSD 26 saying US had to maintain good relations with Iraq to secure Persian Gulf Nov 89 Bush okayed $1 bil aid package to Iraq Apr and Jun 90 White House rejected call to limit high tech sales to Iraq that could be used for weapons programs

1994 Saddam diverted Tigris into southern marshes to put down rebels there

1996 Hussein and Saddam Kamal killed by uncle Ali Hassan al-Majid and members of tribe after talked

into returning to Iraq

1998 UN negotiated Iraq working with UN inspectors again including unrestricted visits but didn’t work

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

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

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

1998 Bin Laden issued fatwa against US sanctions on Iraq and called for attacks against it

1999 State Dept denied that US was using UN inspectors to spy on Iraq but it was

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

(Musings On Iraq UN Inspectors and CIA Spying On Iraq In The 90s)

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq In The Eye of the Storm)

2004 UN Rep Brahimi report said earliest Iraq could hold elections was late 2004-early 2005

2004 US killed Nidhal Mohammed Arabiyat Al Qaeda in Iraq’s top bombmaker Developed early car

bombs

2006 Iraqi govt ordered curfew in Baghdad Salahaddin Diyala Babil after Samarra bombing

2006 US report Sadr changed order to kill all Sunnis in east Baghdad Were to be taken to Sadr City to be

executed instead

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

2006 US report Iraqi army and police assisting Mahdi Army to kill Sunnis in east Baghdad

2006 Insurgents stopped vehicles in Baquba and executed 47 people who were heading to protest against

Samarra bombing

2006 Sunnis withdrew from talks with United Iraqi Alliance over new govt saying authorities were not

preventing revenge attacks after Samarra bombing

2006 Sec Gen of Iraqi National Dialogue Front Hayan said revenge attacks after Samarra bombing were

how a civil war started

2006 Assoc of Muslim Scholars said 168 Sunni mosques attacked 10 imams killed 15 abducted after

Samarra bombing

2006 Interior Min said 18 Sunnis mosques in Baghdad attacked 1 imam killed 1 kidnapped

2007 US Special Forces arrested Ammar Hakim on trip back from Tehran Was only released upon

protest of Gen Petraeus

2008 Sadr said he failed because US still occupying Iraq and many of his followers had left his

movement

2008 2 suicide bombers killed Sheikh Mutairi of Anbar Salvation Council in Fallujah Part of ISI

campaign against Awakening/Sahwa

(Musings On Iraq review Suicide Bombers In Iraq, The Strategy and Ideology of Martyrdom)

2008 US general in charge of Baghdad said attacks down 75% since June 07 90% drop in civilian deaths

85% drop in murders

2008 Report Basra beset by violence between militias Professionals politicians officials all subjected to

assassinations and kidnappings Many times police carried out murders Interior Min issued warrant for head of Basra Serious Crime Unit connected to Sadrists accused of running death squads but nothing done

2009 Report Ex-Salafi insurgent leader said Saudis funded his group from 03-06

(Musings On Iraq The Saudi Role In The Iraqi Insurgency)

2011 National Reconciliation Min announced that 5 insurgent groups had agreed to join politics

2014 ISIS sent 2 suicide bombers to kill Al Qaeda representative Abu Khald al-Suri who was supposed to

moderate differences between ISIS and Al Nusra Front

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

(Musings On Iraq review Suicide Bombers In Iraq, The Strategy and Ideology of Martyrdom)

2016 Kurdish Alliance said they didn’t support Abadi’s reform program and wanted their quota of

positions in his new cabinet

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

2018 Pro-Iran Hashd criticized US Said it had no right to demand that Abrams tanks Hashd had be

turned back over to Iraqi army

(Musings On Iraq Iraqi Army Supplied Pro-Iran Hashd With US Abrams Tanks)

View the Iraq History Timelines