Review The Industrialization Of Iraq, Harvard Middle Eastern Monographs, No. 5

Langley, Kathleen, The Industrialization Of Iraq, Harvard Middle Eastern Monographs, No. 5, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1962

 

The Industrialization of Iraq by Kathleen Langley is an overview of the development of Iraq from the Ottoman era up to the 1958 coup. The author found  no real plan to grow the economy until the 1930s. When one was finally created it was haphazard at best and failed in its goals. Langley’s thesis is that Iraq had potential for growth and the money to do it with its oil profits but only helped the rich and not the public overall.

This Day In Iraqi History - Mar 31

 

1934 Iraqi Communist Party founded

(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)

1940 Rashid Ali al-Gailani became PM in deal with Nuri al-Said and Golden Square officers 1922-

58 were 59 cabinets

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

1941 Pan-Arab Golden Square officers decided to remove PM Hashemi in coup

(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 Blood, Oil and the Axis: The Allied Resistance Against A Fascist State In Iraq and the Levant, 1941)

(Musings On Iraq review The Modern History of Iraq)

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

1946 Mullah Mustafa Barzani named general in Mahabad Republic in Iran

1981 Egypt began selling military equipment to Iraq in Iran-Iraq War

1985 Since Jan 1 in Tanker War Iraq hit 30 ships and Iran 7 in Persian Gulf

1985 UN Sec Gen arrived in Iran Told Iraqi air raids killed 1450 civilians and wounded 4000

1988 Iran claimed 44,000 of its troops suffered from Iraqi chemical attacks

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

(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)

1989 Iraq exported oil for 1^st time from Basra after Iran-Iraq War closed down ports

1989 Israel said Iraq embarked on crash course to build a nuclear bomb and a missile to deliver it

1990 Iraqi embassy in London organized protest outside mosque holding service for Observer reporter

Bazoft who was executed by Iraq for reporting on its missile program

1991 Govt op to retake Sulaymaniya from Peshemerga began

(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)

(Musings On Iraq Remembering The 1991 Uprising In Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq Saddam’s View of Iraq’s 1991 Uprising)

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

2000 UN Res 1293 doubled amount of spare parts Iraq could import to maintain its oil industry under Oil

for Food program

2002 PM Blair offered a division and UK bases to US for invasion

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

2003 Saddam didn’t give televised speech as expected Instead Information Minister Sahaf did Called on

Iraqis to carry out suicide missions against the invaders

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

2003 1^st car bomb in Iraq hit US checkpoint north of Najaf

2003 Ansar al-Islam issued statement Said it regrouped in north and would carry out

suicide bombings against the Coalition occupation

2003 US forces engaged Fedayeen and Republican Guard south of Baghdad

2003 US forces launched raid on Shatra Dhi Qar after receiving information Chemical Ali Hassan al-

Majid was there

2003 British military believed it could start popular uprising in Basra to take city rather than having to

attack it

2003 Sir David Manning told British would have huge shortage of troops for postwar operations in Iraq

2003 UK Foreign Office official wrote For Sec Straw saying Iraqis mistrusted US and US occupation

would be humiliation and untenable

2003 Israeli Infrastructure Min Paritzky said he wanted to reopen Kirkuk-Haifa pipeline by end of 03

Based upon promises made by Chalabi before war he would get Iraq to export oil to Israel

(Musings On Iraq Review Iraq and the Politics of Oil, An Insider’s Perspective)

2003 Def Sec Rumsfeld memo said important to create Iraqi interim authority as quickly as possible so

Iraqis were in power Had to pick pro-US Iraqis Said exiles could be core for new authority because they supported US goals in Iraq

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

Tragedy)

(Musings On Iraq review State of Denial, Bush At War, Part III)

(Musings On Iraq review The Endgame, The Inside Story of the Struggle for Iraq, from

George W. Bush to Barack Obama)

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

2004 Insurgents ambushed Blackwater convoy and killed 4 contractors in Fallujah 2 were strung up on

bridge

2004 Bush gave CPA 48 hours to resolve Blackwater attack in Fallujah

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

2004 Bush gave speech US would not give into violence in Iraq and fighting terrorism

2004 Sadrists marched to Green Zone in Baghdad to protest US occupation

2005 Silbermann-Robb report called US pre-war intel on Iraq one of largest intel failures in US history US data on Iraq was worthless and analysis wrong US lacked significant new intel on Iraq WMD so relied on Gulf War and 90s UN inspections and extrapolated from them Relied upon Iraqi defectors that were lying and ignored problems with their stories Relied upon satellite photos that showed nothing substantive US intel claimed Iraq made WMD advances that were technically impossible US intel ignored reports that Iraq no longer had any WMD UN inspectors disproved most of US case against Iraq’s WMD but were ignored CIA had little on Iraq’s nuke program outside of aluminum tubes but became basis for Oct 02 National Intel Est on Iraq’s WMD Aluminum tubes Iraq tried to buy were for rockets not centrifuges Example of misinterpretation by US Said aluminum tubes was a technical assessment which CIA failed at Went with assumptions rather than facts CIA never looked at Iraqi rockets to see whether they fit aluminum tubes CIA and DIA created theory on tubes that rejected all criticism Report found British and Australian intelligence didn’t believe aluminum tubes were for centrifuges

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

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

2005 RAND study showed post-war planning for Iraq was inadequate and never considered security of

Iraqi public

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

2006 100 insurgents attacked Muqtadiya police headquarters Killed 19 police and freed 33 prisoners

2007 PM Maliki made 1^st trip to Anbar and met with tribal leaders and provincial council who complained

about Baghdad’s neglect

2007 PM Maliki endorsed plan to relocate 1000s of Arabs settled in Kirkuk province during Arabization

program Said would get money and land for leaving Iraqiya opposed plan Never implemented

2007 1920 Revolution Brigades commander said ISI killed one of its leaders leaving it to either fight ISI

or work with US

(Musings On Iraq The Demise But Not Death of Al Qaeda In Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq’s Sunni Insurgency)

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

2008 Report 103 people killed by ISI found around Zahamm in Diyala River Valley When ISI first

entered village said they were opposing occupation Set up training camp and weapons caches Then began kidnapping and executing people who worked with ISF or didn’t follow rules like banning music smoking wearing the veil breaking curfew Extorted money from residents

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

2008 PM Maliki said would continue to go after Mahdi Army in Basra that didn’t follow

            cease-fire

2008 Interior Min announced 1000s of police would be fired for refusing to fight Mahdi Army in Basra

Baghdad and cities in the south 2 army regiments refused to fight Mahdi Army in Baghdad

2008 Report US special forces in Basra to help with air strikes vs Mahdi Army

2009 British ended military mission in Iraq

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

2009 Deadline for power sharing and provincial elections in Kirkuk passed with no progress

(Musings On Iraq Kirkuk Remains In Political Limbo)

2010 VP Hashemi said an Arab should be president no longer a Kurd

2010 Iraqiya said it would implement Art 140 on disputed areas to try to get Kurdish backing for Allawi

as premier

2010 Sadr said there would be a referendum on who his followers wanted as premier

2011 Pres Barzani said he would prosecute security members who fired on demonstrators in Sulaymaniya

2011 Protests in Kalar, Sulaymaniya become violent with rocks thrown at security forces

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

2012 Oil Ministry paid oil companies in Kurdistan $650 mil for exports

2014 ISIS released 2^nd annual al-Naba report on its operations

2014 ISIS held parade in Abu Ghraib

2014 Fmr Communications Min Allawi Fmr Fin Min Issawi and 8 general mangers charged with

corruption

2014 Mutahidun claimed 44 civilians killed by Hashd in Buhriz, Diyala with complicity of ISF

2015 Tikrit freed from IS 1^st stories emerged of Hashd looting afterward

2015 Diyala council voted to remove confidence from Gov Yacoub for stealing aid for displaced

2016 PM Abadi presented his list of technocratic ministers Sadr called off his protests after Abadi

announced cabinet

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

View the Iraq History Timelines

Security In Iraq Mar 22-28, 2021

The insurgency in Iraq remained at one of its lowest points since 2003 during the fourth week of March. This started in November with weekly incidents being in the single digits to the teens since then. Pro-Iran factions on the other hand have continued their steady pace of attacks upon American targets.

This Day In Iraqi History - Mar 30

 

1921 Cairo Conference decided on indirect rule in Iraq Would make Faisal King of a pro-British

Iraqi govt allowing withdrawal of British forces 

1921 Cairo Conference decided to keep UK High Commissioner for Iraq British advisers in govt naval

presence in Basra and RAF squadrons in rest of country

(Musings On Iraq How England Chose Feisal As 1^st King Of Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review Inventing Iraq: The Failure of Nation Building and a History Denied)

(Musings On Iraq review Supremacy And Oil, Iraq, Turkey, and the Anglo-American World Order, 1918-1930)

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

1939 King Ghazi gave pan-Arab speech saying he was interested in Arab brothers in Syria Palestine

Kuwait

(Musings On Iraq review Imagining The Nation, Nationalism, Sectarianism and Socio-Political Conflict in Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review Unholy Babylon, The Secret History of Saddam’s War)

1940 Fmr PM Said put together new govt with Rashid Gaylani becoming PM Said became Foreign

Minister Had backing of British

1940 Regent had one of the Golden Square officers ordered to Diwaniya He refused

order Was pushed by UK to try to break up pan-Arab officers in army

(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 And Syria 1941, The Politics and Strategy of the Second World War)

(Musings On Iraq review The Modern History of Iraq)

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

1945 UK Ambassador to Iraq Sir Cornwallis wrote he was afraid old Iraqi elite were never going to change

and that would lead to violence between haves and have nots

1963 Kurdish delegation headed by Talabani arrived in Baghdad for more talks about

Kurdish rights Govt refused to meet with Talabani

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

1980 Baath made membership in Dawa punishable by death

(Musings On Iraq Interview with Lowy Institution’s Shanahan on history of the Dawa Party)

(Musings On Iraq review The Shi’ite Movement in Iraq)

1982 Saddam admitted that Iraqi forces retreated from southern Iran

1984 UN condemned use of chemical weapons in Iran-Iraq War but didn’t mention Iraq as perpetrator

due to US and Soviet objections

(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)

1984 US banned export of 5 chemicals to Iraq that could be used to make chemical weapons

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

1990 Report Iraq trying to challenge Israeli military superiority in Middle East by developing nuclear

bomb Dec 89 Iraq launched new long range missile Mar 90 3 people arrested in England trying to smuggle equipment for program to Iraq Intl Institute for Strategic Studies said program only in theoretical stage Was actually far more advanced than anyone knew

1991 Saddam’s troops re-entered Dohuk and Irbil to put down Kurdish rebellion

(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)

(Musings On Iraq Remembering The 1991 Uprising In Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq Saddam’s View of Iraq’s 1991 Uprising)

1991 Majid al-Khoei son of Grand Ayatollah al-Khoei met with Saudi intelligence and was turned down

for aid because US objected

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

1995 INC and PUK attacked Iraqi forces in Kirkuk district destroying 2 brigades hoping to create a revolt

against Saddam

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

2002 Gen Franks presented new revised Iraq war plan to Bush

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

2003 British began 2^nd attack to take Basra city with 600 commandos

(Musings On Iraq review Target Basra, The High Octane Story of the Royal Marine Commandos In Iraq)

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

2003 UK Defense Minister Hoon told US didn't think taking Basra City important US wanted UK to hold

south oil fields and Um Qasr port

2003 US intensified air strikes on Republican Guard units with 800 sorties

2003 Saddam believed U.S. invasion was stalemated

2003 Saddam’s secretary told Iraqi Foreign Ministry to tell France and Russia Iraq would only accept an

unconditional withdrawal by U.S.

2003 Iraqi TV aired footage of Saddam Qusay and Uday handing out medals and money to soldiers

2003 Sec Def Rumsfeld told ABC that US knew exactly where Iraq’s WMD were Claimed they were

around Tikrit and Baghdad

(Musings On Iraq How The Administration Reversed Itself On Finding Iraq’s WMD)

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

2003 Sec Def Rumsfeld accused Syria of giving military aid to Iraq Syria claimed US committed crimes

vs Iraqi civilians

2003 Dep Sec of Def Wolfowtiz said Iraq war about WMD and that they would eventually be found

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

2003 PM Blair foreign policy adv Sir Manning worried that Baghdad when attacked could turn into

drawn out urban battle

2003 Pentagon memo on creating an Iraqi authority after war Said had to be friendly to the US Had to

end Sunni rule Wanted rule of law individual liberty representative govt private enterprise Didn’t say how that was to be achieved

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

(Musings On Iraq review State of Denial, Bush At War, Part III)

(Musings On Iraq review The Endgame, The Inside Story of the Struggle for Iraq, from

George W. Bush to Barack Obama)

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

2003 SCIRI head Ayatollah Hakim told followers in south Iraq that they shouldn’t support Coalition invasion Demanded foreign troops leave Iraq as soon as possible Warned of armed struggle if they turned into occupiers 

2004 New Iraq Survey Group head Duelfer testified to Congress Said most important work not done Said

still looking for critical Iraqis involved in WMD program Said found equipment to make biological and checmial agents Couldn’t rule out what aluminum tubes were for Contradicted much of what Survey Gorup discovered 3 top inspectors quit to protest Duelfer’s remarks

2006 Report Albu Mahal tribe went from insurgency to fighting Al Qaeda in Iraq after objected to Islamic

law being imposed Tribe entered into months of fighting with Salmani and Karabila tribes allied with Al Qaeda in Iraq in WAnbar Qaim dist Was expelled Albu Mahal went to US formed Desert Protectors Got help to have tribesmen join Iraqi army

(Musings On Iraq Anbar Before And After The Awakening Pt IX: Sheikh Sabah Aziz Of The Albu Mahal)

(Musings On Iraq The Demise But Not Death of Al Qaeda In Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq How A Change In Perceptions Led To The Anbar Awakening)

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

(Musings On Iraq review Confronting Al Qaeda, The Sunni Awakening and American Strategy In Al Anbar)

(Musings On Iraq review The Marines Take Anbar, The Four-Year Fight Against Al Qaeda)

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

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq’s Sunni Insurgency)

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

2007 Op Call to Freedom ended effectively clearing Ramadi of insurgents

2007 Report Ali Salah WBaghdad only had 3 Sunni families left after militias forced out rest in March

despite US and Iraqi units in area during Surge

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

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

2008 Sadr announced ceasefire in fight vs ISF Mahdi Army handed over weapons to ISF in 2 Baghdad

neighborhoods Deal worked out between Dawa ISCI Badr and Sadr with Iran Rev Guards Quds Force cmdr Gen Suleimani as moderator

(Musings On Iraq Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ Commander General Suleimani And His Role In Iraq, An Interview With The New Yorker’s Dexter Filkins)

(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)

2008 Fighting continued in Babil and Karbala between ISF and Mahdi Army Green Zone hit by

rockets

2008 UK report situation in Basra unchanged during Charge of Knights Said ISF had no coherent

            plan and morale low

2008 Report PM Maliki was shocked that his offensive in Basra caused fighting throughout south and

Baghdad Was actually warned by ISF that would happen beforehand but he ignored it

2008 Tribes in Dhi Qar and Dulaim in Wasit joined govt in crackdown against Mahdi Army

(Musings On Iraq Argument For Maliki Being Iraq’s Next Strongman)

(Musings On Iraq Disputes Over Tribal Support Councils)

2008 ISCI held pro-govt demonstration in Karbala against Sadr

2009 Report 200 Sadrists broke away from Moqtada PM Maliki giving amnesty to Sadrists and

Special Groups Supposed to be for reconciliation but was Maliki trying to split Sadrists

2009 PUK co-founder and media mogul Mustafa said his Change party would run in KRG

elections

2009 Report PM Maliki had sahwa leaders in Baghdad and Diyala arrested

2010 Allawi complained about Iran’s interference in forming new Iraqi government

2010 VP Hashemi said Iran trying to unite Shiite parties behind 2^nd Maliki term

2011 Accountability and Justice Comm ruled 2 nominees for Interior and Defense Ministers made by PM

Maliki were disqualified for Baathist past

2011 Turkey’s Erdogan went on tour of Iraq to Baghdad 1^st Sunni leader to go to Najaf shrine 1^st Turkish

leader to go to Irbil

2012 Pres Barzani said PM Maliki becoming authoritarian

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

2016 Kurdish Alliance said they would not give up any of their ministers

2016 Supreme Council MP complained that PM Abadi didn’t consult with others about his reforms

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Fitch Sees Economic Stability In Iraq With Rising Oil Prices

(Hurriyet Daily)

Fitch Ratings upgraded its economic prediction for Iraq from negative to stable thanks to rising oil prices. It found that the government didn’t raid its foreign reserves as much as it was feared during the collapse of the petroleum market. It then gave lip service to the hope for economic reform which is very unlikely.

This Day In Iraqi History - Mar 29

 

1946 Iraq-Turkey Friendship Treaty Would cooperate over Tigris and Euphrates security

education communication economies

1947 Sayid Salih Jabr became premier 1^st Shiite PM of Iraq 1922-58 were 59 cabinets

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

1970 New cabinet announced and 5 Kurds included as ministers

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

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

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

1982 Iraq set up new defensive line 6 miles from Maysan border Iran attacked towards Fakkeh breaking

through Iraqi lines Broken up by air strikes Lost 100 tanks and forced to retreat Ended Iranian Op Fath Iraq lost 8000 dead 12000 wounded 13000-20000 captured 400 tanks 3 divisions destroyed Iran lost 4,000 dead, 12,000 wounded, 200 tanks and APCs

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

1982 Saddam offered to withdraw to international border between Iran-Iraq Rejected by Iran

1984 US intel found Iraq buying equipment from West German company to make chemical weapons W.

Germany denied story

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

1984 US intel reported Iraq had 5 sites producing chemical weapons for 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)

1987 Ali Hassan al-Majid given special powers over all govt agencies in northern Iraq to deal with Kurds

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

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

1991 Iraqi troops recaptured Kirkuk from Kurdish rebels

1991 Iraqi troops captured Tanuma, Basra from rebels

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

(Musings On Iraq Remembering The 1991 Uprising In Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq Saddam’s View of Iraq’s 1991 Uprising)

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

1994 Saddam became prime minister of Iraq

2002 Gen Franks briefed military service chiefs on Iraq war planning

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

Tragedy)

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

2003 UK Embassy in Washington reported Bush mad at press reports invasion not going according to

plan

2003 1^st Suicide bomber in Iraq war hits US checkpoint in Najaf killing 4 soldiers

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

2003 Iraq VP Ramadan said suicide bombers would become routine in Iraq and threatened England and

US with them

2003 VP Ramadan said that foreign fighters had arrived in Iraq to help defend it against Americans

2003 Iraqi govt removed commander of Iraqi air defense in Baghdad after missiles misfired and hit the

capital

2003 Iraq fired 2 SCUDS at Kuwait but shot down by US Patriot missiles

2006 US intel report said 1707 Sunni and Shiite families moved in Baghdad after Samarra bombing

Mahdi Army kidnapping and executing people

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

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

2007 ISI began withdrawing from Ramadi leading to large drop in attacks

2007 2 suicide car bombs at Baghdad market killed 82 and wounded 100

(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 National Police kidnapped 5 British security guards from Eastern Baghdad

2007 New US Amb Ryan Crocker arrived in Iraq

2008 PM Maliki’s deadline for militias to turn over weapons ended with few complying Was extended

            until Apr 8

2008 Defense Min Obeidi said Charge of Knights had not gone as planned Was shocked by resistance

by Mahdi Army

2008 Sadr said he was talking with Ayatollah Sistani to negotiate ceasefire with PM Maliki Also called

for Qais Khazali and Asaib Ahl Al-Haq to rejoin his organization

(Musings On Iraq Asaib Ahl Al-Haq From A Breakaway Sadr Militia To Defenders Of Iraq)

2008 PM Maliki delegation met with Sadr in Iran to work out ceasefire in Basra

2008 At meeting Gen Petraeus said that Maliki govt had set goals in Basra it couldn’t achieve National

Security Adv Rubaie told UK official PM Maliki had been led by his advisers into starting Charge of Knights by telling him Basra in more desperate situation than it was in

2008 More police in Basra switched sides to Mahdi Army Reports more than 100 police fired in Basra

due to losing weapons and fleeing

2008 Nasiriya retaken from Mahdi Army Fighting between ISF and Mahdi Army in Karbala Babil

Baghdad

2008 UK started air strikes on Mahdi Army in Barsa US carried out air strikes in Basra and Sadr City

2008 Rockets fired at Green Zone by Mahdi Army

2008 Report Iraqi army had no artillery planning communications system logistics transportation

service hospitals

2009 Provincial election results announced State of Law won 126 of 440 seats 28% ISCI went from 200

to 50 seats

(Musings On Iraq Official Iraqi Election Results)

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s New Provincial Councils – Update)

(Musings On Iraq Governors, Heads of Councils, and Ruling Coalitions In Iraq’s Provinces)

2009 Maliki govt said in talks with Asaib Ahl Al-Haq to get 5 British hostages it kidnapped

released Iraq UK US Iran Hezbollah worked out deal to release Brits in return for AAH leaders Qais and Laith Khazali, 300 AHH members, Iranian operatives and Hezbollah’s Daqduq held by US

(Musings On Iraq Asaib Ahl Al-Haq From A Breakaway Sadr Militia To Defenders Of Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq Iranians Planned Kidnapping And Held British Captives Taken In Iraq) 

2009 PKK rejected call by Pres Talabani and Pres Barzani to disarm

2009 Sahwa in Dora Baghdad protested over not getting paid by govt

2009 US and ISF disarmed Sahwa in Fadhil Baghdad after fighting broke out day before when its

commander arrested

(Musings On Iraq Sons of Iraq Integration Update)

2010 Peshmerga withdrew from Jalawla Diyala after argument over control of disputed areas with

Baghdad

2011 PM Maliki presented nominees for security ministries never filled after 2010 elections

2011 ISI attacked Tikrit provincial council building leaving 150 casualties

2011 Parliament human rights committee found chronic abuses in Diyala prisons including torture

2011 Opposition parties boycotted KRG parliament because govt hadn’t responded to protest demands

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

2011 Turkish Premier Erdogan went to Kurdistan first Turkish leader to visit region

2015 Most Hashd pulled out of Tikrit op to protest US airstrikes PM Abadi met with Hashd leaders to

discuss their opposition

2015 Asaib Ahl Al-Haq said it would not join future ops in Anbar and Ninewa if US involved

(Musings On Iraq Asaib Ahl Al-Haq From A Breakaway Sadr Militia To Defenders Of Iraq)

2016 Deadline set by Sadr for PM Abadi to announce new technocratic cabinet

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

2016 State of Law said PM Abadi ready to present candidates for cabinet but ruling parties were not

cooperating

View the Iraq History Timelines

This Day In Iraqi History - Mar 28

 

1918 British took Ana

1940 Nuri al-Said convinced Golden Square officers to get Gaylani to form new govt Said would

become Foreign Minister

(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 Between the Two World Wars, The Militarist Origins of Tyranny)

1987 Saddam was told 24,952 soldiers had deserted from 12/1/86-3/20/87 in Basra

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

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

(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 US-UK officials seized equipment at Heathrow Airport meant for nuclear triggers heading to Iraq

1991 SCIRI head Hakim said Shiite rebels in south only fighting in rural areas after lost cities to Iraqi

army

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

1991 Iraqi intelligence memo said it had contacts with bin Laden

1997 Sec of State Albright said Iraq had lied and blocked UN inspections Said inspections and sanctions

had contained Iraq

(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 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)

(Musings On Iraq review Neighbors, Not Friends, Iraq And Iran After The Gulf Wars)

1998 UN Res 1154 okayed agreement between UN Sec Gen and Iraq to allow inspectors into presidential

palaces and other sites

(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)

2002 Arab League called on Iraq to comply with all UN resolutions and end sanctions Rejected military

action

2002 Gen Franks briefed Joint Chiefs on Iraq war plans Said he would be ready by 10/1/02

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

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

Tragedy)

2003 Gen Wallace Cmdr US V Corps told press war not going as planned due to resistance of Fedayeen

2003 Royal Marines attacked Abu al-Khasib Basra city suburb

(Musings On Iraq review Target Basra, The High Octane Story of the Royal Marine Commandos In Iraq)

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

2003 US 173^rd Airborne Brigade and Peshmerga took Irbil

(Musings On Iraq interview with Kevin Petit of 173^rd Airborne Brigade)

2003 PUK and 10^th Special Forces Group began main attack upon Ansar al-Islam camp in Halabja

(Musings On Iraq review Special Operations Forces in Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq Why Didn’t Bush Strike Zarqawi And Ansar al-Islam In 2002?)

2003 US and UK military meeting Surprised Iraqis weren’t rising up against Saddam

2003 UN Res 1472 extended Oil for Food program for 45 days after US invasion

2003 US forces received warning of imminent WMD attack

2003 Sec Def Rumsfeld accused Syria of sending military aid to Iraq British accused Syria of allowing

foreign fighters to use its territory to enter Iraq

2003 Chief weapons inspector Blix said US gave up on inspections in early 2003

(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 Aid ship arrived in Um Qasr Basra with 200 tons of food medicine and blankets for Iraqis

2003 Bush told group of veterans important to win the peace after the war

2004 CPA shut down Sadr’s al-Hawza paper for inciting violence Helped lead to Sadrist uprising

(Musings On Iraq A Divided Sadr Trend)

2006 Anbar Revenge Brigade claimed it killed 4 Al Qaeda in Iraq leaders and a member of Ansar al-

Sunna

(Musings On Iraq The Demise But Not Death of Al Qaeda In Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq How A Change In Perceptions Led To The Anbar Awakening)

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

(Musings On Iraq review Confronting Al Qaeda, The Sunni Awakening and American Strategy In Al Anbar)

(Musings On Iraq review The Marines Take Anbar, The Four-Year Fight Against Al Qaeda)

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

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq’s Sunni Insurgency)

2007 ISI set off chlorine bomb at Fallujah government center

2007 2 truck bombs hit market targeting Shiite Turkmen in Tal Afar leaving 152 dead 347 wounded

Militias and police went through Sunni district of town dragging people out of homes and executed up to 70 in the streets wounded 30 and kidnapped 40 Iraqi army arrived and got into shootout with police until revenge killings ended

(Musings On Iraq review The ISIS Reader, Milestone Texts of the Islamic State Movement)

2007 Report Iraqi observatory group said one prison in Mahmudiya held 705 Built to hold 75 Another

prison at Muthanna Air Base held 272 built for 50 Said ISF making mass arrests under Baghdad security plan but few released leading to overcrowding

2008 Report Govt invoking Sec 136B to avoid corruption cases Interior Min Bolani used it to stop case

against Gen Gharwari who ran secret prison in Baghdad Also used to stop 11 cases against ministers and Central Bank of Iraq

(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)

2008 Report ISF made little progress in Basra 100s of police in city switched sides and joined Mahdi

Army

2008 UK report Charge of Knights op in Basra stalemated and likely protracted fight

2008 PM Maliki extended deadline for militias to turn over weapons in Basra until Apr 8

2008 US carried out air strikes in support of Charge of Knights campaign in Basra for 1^st time

2008 Presidential Council KDP and PUK said they supported Charge of Knights campaign vs Sadr

2008 1000s marched in Sadr City calling for removal of PM Maliki

2008 Badr offices in Amarah Maysan attacked Sadrists arrested in Babil and Qadisiyah Mahdi Army

seized control of Nasiriya and Shatra in Dhi Qar Fighting in 13 parts of Baghdad

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

2008 Rockets fired at Green Zone by Mahdi Army

2008 Pres Talabani met with Iranian Rev Guards Quds Force Cmdr Gen Suleimani about stopping

fighting between govt and Mahdi Army

(Musings On Iraq Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ Commander General Suleimani And His Role In Iraq, An Interview With The New Yorker’s Dexter Filkins)

2009 Counterterrorism Unit arrested Fadhil Sahwa leader in Baghdad on terrorism charges leading to

firefight

(Musings On Iraq Sons of Iraq Integration Update)

2010 Supreme Court ruled that any coalition that gained a majority after elections could get 1^st

opportunity to form a new govt Changed meaning of constitution and made election victory meaningless Ruling undermined Allawi’s Iraqiya right to form a new govt and gave it to Maliki’s State of Law

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

2012 Baghdad said it would pay KRG $558 mil for Kurdish oil exports from budget

2013 Iran delivered bodies of Iraqi militiamen killed fighting for it in Syria

2014 Families from Qara Tapa, Diyala started fleeing militias

2016 PM Abadi said wanted 9 member cabinet with Electricity and Defense ministers staying

2017 Kirkuk council voted to fly the Kurdish flag over government buildings in province

View the Iraq History Timelines 

This Day In Iraqi History - Mar 27

 

1918 British took Haditha

1922 General Haldane commander of UK forces compared Iraqis to children

1979 Saddam told Baath meeting that Iraq was going to get a nuclear weapon with help of Soviets so he

could go to war with Israel 

1979 Saddam believed having a nuclear bomb would allow a conventional war of attrition with Israel

that could cost 50,000 Iraqi casualties

1979 Saddam discussed with advisers how to punish countries that backed Sadat’s peace treaty with

Israel

1981 Start of second attempt by Islamic Conference to negotiate ceasefire in Iran-Iraq War

1982 3^rd phase of Iranian Op Fath began to take Fakkeh strategic crossroads to Maysan Saddam ordered

4^th Corps to retreat from Shush in face of Iranian attack

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

1984 Iraq used French Super Etendard jets for 1^st time to attack Iranian shipping Hit a Greek ship in

Persian Gulf carrying Kuwaiti oil that was helping Iraq pay for the war

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

1988 Iran Op Bait al-Moqaddas 4 in Kurdistan started

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

(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)

1988 Iraq dropped chemical bombs for 2^nd day on Karadagh Kurdistan 64 killed 210 wounded total

during Anfal Campaign

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

1991 2^nd day fighting between Iraqi forces and peshmerga on Khanaqin-Jalawla road Diyala

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

1991 White House spokesman said that US had made no promises to Shiites or Kurds and US public not

interested in getting involved in an Iraqi civil war

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

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

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

(Musings On Iraq Remembering The 1991 Uprising In Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq Saddam’s View of Iraq’s 1991 Uprising)

1995 Fighting between KDP and PUK killed 100 in Irbil

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

1996 UN Resolution 1051 set up monitoring system for Iraqi imports-exports under Oil for Food

program

2003 Coalition ground forces commander Gen McKiernan ordered halt to operations to regroup forces

2003 U.S. forces entered Samawa, Muthanna and encountered fierce fighting by Fedayeen Saddam

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

2003 Iraqi forces began withdrawing in Kirkuk Looting started

(Musings On Iraq interview with Petit of 173^rd Airborne Bgd on operations in Kirkuk)

(Musings On Iraq How Did Kirkuk Become Such A Divisive Issue? A Portrait of The City In

2003)

2003 Iraq Def Min reviewed war Told US capturing transportation hubs attacking multiple targets at

same time Report ignored by Saddam

2003 ORHA had meeting of all 4 postwar planning groups to come up with unified plan for Iraq Didn’t

happen Groups had all been created separately within Bush admin with no coordination between them

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

(Musings On Iraq Special Inspector General For Iraq Reconstruction Hard Lessons Chapter 4 Staging in Kuwait)

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

Tragedy)

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

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq’s Dysfunctional Democracy)

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

2003 Dep Sec Def Wolfowitz told House of Reps committee Iraq oil would pay for reconstruction

(Musings On Iraq Irqi Oil Would Pay For Reconstruction)

2003 USAID disaster response team entered Um Qasr, Basra to assess humanitarian situation in city

2003 Pres Assad called on Arab countries to stand up against US invasion

2003 Iraqi govt claimed 350 civilians killed in Coalition air strikes during invasion

2004 Report sent to Washington that after examination 2 trailers found during invasion were not mobile

WMD labs as originally thought

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

2004 Marine patrol hit by IED leading to 36 hr gunfight in Fallujah Prelude to 1^st Battle of Fallujah

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

2007 Anbar council said no oversight of border crossings and 40% of tariffs stolen due to 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)

2007 1920 Revolution Brigade leader killed by ISI for refusing to join it and talking with govt

2007 ISI tried to assassinate nephew of Harith al-Dari head of Association of Muslim Scholars

2007 2 car bombs killed 152 wounded 200 in Tal Afar Ninewa

2007 Report fighting between Islamic Army and 1920 Revolution Brigades vs ISI in Anbar and Abu

Ghraib and Taji areas of Baghdad over tactics and ISI trying to dominate insurgency Also splits in Diyala

(Musings On Iraq The Demise But Not Death of Al Qaeda In Iraq)

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

2007 US Mil intel report that Iranian intelligence working with Badr and Mahdi Army to assassinate

Industry Ministry officials

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

2007 Report 1^st EFP attack Aug 2003 Aug 05 Natl Sec Adv Hadley said Iran probably behind EFP attacks

Oct 05 UK Amb to Iraq said Iran giving aid to militias to attack UK forces Apr 06 EFP attacks began increasing then dropped start of 07 Bush admin struggled over what to do about attacks Decided upon raids and media briefings EFPs supplied by Iran and Hezbollah

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

(Musings On Iraq on Iran training Iraqi militias)

(Musings On Iraq Overview of Iran’s Influence In Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq Hezbollah’s Role In Iraq)

2008 UK reported ISF suffered bad intelligence and bad planning and had to change Charge of Knights

op Also reported Iraqi Special Forces had failed to take any of their targets and had to withdraw Mahdi Army controlled most of Basra

2008 Fighting between ISF and Mahdi Army continued in Basra Kut Diwaniya Amara Spread to Dhi

Qar Mahdi Army fired mortars at 2 neighborhoods in Baghdad and Green Zone Fighting in 2 of Baghdad’s neighborhoods Basra police chief escaped suicide car bomb Mahdi Army kidnapped spokesman for Baghdad Ops Command

2008 Electricity Min said most power plants in south stopped working after attacked by mortars and

gunfire

2008 Report Basra Ops Commander Gen Mohan wanted to wait 3 months to build up forces and strategy

to take on Mahdi Army but PM Maliki started early Warnings about fighting spreading throughout south Iraq were ignored by Maliki

2008 Sadr called for talks to end Charge of Knights PM Maliki said no publicly but talks were going on

in Najaf Iran mediating

2008 US told that PM Maliki did not want US advisers in Charge of Knights just US firepower

2008 Pipeline in Basra blown up cutting exports by 1/3

2008 Presidential Council approved General Amnesty Law as part of reconciliation Allowed release of

thousands of prisoners

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s Amnesty Law)

2009 US Cmdr in Iraq Gen Austin said Iraqi would ask US forces to stay in Baquba, Mosul and

Basra to help with security after deadline for US troops to leave cities PM Maliki didn’t ask

2009 Study US occupation and insurgency destroyed education in Fallujah 35% of children were

illiterate and couldn’t write Only 20% passed school exams in 08

2010 Kurdish Alliance said wanted assurances on Kirkuk and Article 140 before it joined any new govt

2011 Iraq parliament cancelled deal with Chinese National Petroleum Corp for Ahdab field in Wasit

2012 Baghdad hosted Arab Summit marking major move back into Arab politics

2014 Islamic Party accused ISF of being involved in killing civilians in Buhriz, Diyala

2015 Tikrit operation re-started after US airstrikes requested by PM Abadi

2015 Asaib Ahl Al-Haq accused US of trying to save IS in Tikrit

(Musings On Iraq Asaib Ahl Al-Haq From A Breakaway Sadr Militia To Defenders Of Iraq)

2016 Supreme Council complained that PM Abadi not consulted with them over his reforms

2016 Sadr went into Green Zone to start his own sit in protests

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

View the Iraq History Timelines