This Day In Iraqi History - Apr 12

 

1915 Battle of Shaiba began in Basra Ottomans and tribesmen launched frontal assault upon fortress despite

German advisers warning against it British artillery decimated Ottoman forces

1923 In response to Turkish threat to Mosul Shiites clerics issued fatwa forbidding Iraqis to fight for British

against fellow Muslims the Turks

1923 Gertrude Bell wrote that Shiite clerics were all Persians and should be deported for issuing fatwa

against Iraq defending Mosul against Turks

(Musings On Iraq review Gertrude Bell And Iraq)

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

(Musings On Iraq movie review Letters from Baghdad)

(Musings On Iraq review Desert Queen, The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell: Adventurer, Adviser to Kings, Ally of Lawrence of Arabia)

1941 British convoy left India for Basra with infantry brigade Then told its arrival would be delayed

until PM Gaylani told troops arriving to test his will

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

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

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

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq And Syria 1941, The Politics and Strategy of the Second World War)

1968 Jalal Talabani’s forces launched attack upon army unit Wanted Baghdad to blame Barzani

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

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

1974 Iraqi planes bombed KDP bases during Kurdish rebellion

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

1975 Saddam interview with NYTimes Said Iraq not opposed to US or its people just its foreign policy

which was anti-Iraq

(Musings On Iraq How Saddam’s View Of the US As A Threat Led To Kuwait Invasion)

1981 US diplomat Draper went to Baghdad to set up informal contacts with Saddam

(Musings On Iraq review The Saddam Tapes)

1982 Iraq again offered to withdraw from Iranian territory if Iran agreed to end war Rejected by Iran

1986 King Hussein attempted to reconcile Iraq and Syria Went to both countries Was backed by Saudis

1987 Iraq used chemical weapons to turn back Iran’s Op Karbala 8 in Basra

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

1988 Since Mar 1 10,200 Iranian casualties in War of Cities

(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)

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

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

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

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

1990 5 US senators visited Baghdad to criticize Iraq over its WMD and nuclear programs that Congress

was investigating Privately US Senators told Saddam Pres Bush wanted better relations with Iraq US Ambassador to Iraq Glaspie added that was US policy Saddam told US senators America was plotting with Israel to attack Iraq Saddam wanted to determine Washington’s position before he decided to invade Kuwait

(Musings On Iraq How Saddam’s View Of the US As A Threat Led To Kuwait Invasion)

(Musings On Iraq review the Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait)

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

(Musings On Iraq Review The United States And Iraq Since 1990, A Brief History With Documents)

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

(Musings On Iraq review The Outlaw State, Saddam Hussein’s Quest for Power and the Gulf Crisis)

1991 Report Bush admin decided that Shiite and Kurdish uprisings after Gulf War strengthened Saddam

and ended hopes of coup

(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 After meeting with West European leaders Bush backed safe haven and humanitarian aid to

Kurds Led to Op Provide Comfort

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

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

2003 US forces advanced on Tikrit Faced sporadic fighting

2003 US forces captured Saddam’s half brother Watban al-Tikrit

2003 Turkmen in Kirkuk complained that Kurds were looting their homes

(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 Report experts didn’t think Iraq’s oil would earn enough money to pay for country’s reconstruction

which was Bush admin’s claim

2003 Chief UN Weapons Inspector Blix said inspections could’ve contained Iraq and US and UK never

believed in process Said US and UK fabricated evidence against Iraq to justify war

(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 Head CENTCOM postwar planning briefed Dep Cmdr US ground forces on revised plans Said would

be resistance by fmr regime elements after war sectarian violence revenge ethnic cleaning Said foreign jihadists would start coming to Iraq Predicted US occupation would last 3-5 years

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq’s Sunni Insurgency)

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

Tragedy)

(Musings On Iraq review The Terrorists of Iraq, Inside the Strategy and Tactics of the Iraqi Insurgency 2003-2014)

2003 ORHA head Garner proposed series of meetings across Iraq to form basis of new Iraqi govt

(Musings On Iraq US Army History of Iraq War Vol 1 – Chapter 5 We’re Here, Now What?)

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

2004 US military said it would kill or capture Sadr

2004 4 clerics met with Sadr to negotiate ceasefire to his uprising

2004 CENTCOM Cmdr Gen Abizaid said ISF were huge disappointment so far fighting insurgents and

Mahdi Army Requested 7000-10000 additional troops

2004 CPA adv warned that Badr was stealing money from Housing Min and hiring militiamen into

ministry

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

2005 Ayatollah Sistani said Sunnis were not the enemy

2006 Gen Batiste former commander 1^st Inf Div became fourth former general to call for Sec Def

Rumsfeld to resign over Iraq

(Musings On Iraq review Overreach, Delusions of Regime Change In Iraq)

2007 Sunni MPs led by Speaker Mashadani carried out bombing of parliament’s cafeteria in Baghdad

2007 Islamic Army announced it was no longer working with ISI Didn’t agree with declaration of Islamic

State and ISI attacking its men

(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)

2007 Pres Talabani announced govt in talks with 5 insurgent groups

2008 PM Maliki said 30,000 Peshmerga would be organized into 2 Army Divisions

2008 2^nd phase of Charge of Knights began with sweeps through 2 neighborhoods of Basra to

confiscate weapons

2008 Fighting between US and ISF vs Mahdi Army continued in Sadr City

2009 Al-Hadbaa party took all the leading positions in new Ninewa govt Nujafi became governor after

elections Kurds boycotted

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

(Musings On Iraq Tit For Tat In Ninewa)

(Musings On Iraq Arab-Kurdish Divide Over New Ninewa Provincial Council)

2009 Sheikh Abu Risha of Anbar said he was open to alliance with Maliki in 2010 national elections

(Musings On Iraq Anbar’s Forgotten Sheikh)

(Musings On Iraq Anbar Sheikhs Reach Out To Shiites)

2010 KRG said it had reached agreement with Oil Ministry over oil exports Baghdad would split

revenues with it

(Musings On Iraq Maliki Reaches Out To Kurds Before March 2010 Vote)

2010 PM Maliki said Sahwa had a role in helping with securing country

2010 CIA ranked Iraq 160^th in world in per capita income 2^nd lowest in Middle East

2011 KDP and PUK said they were ready for unconditional talks with opposition over demands of

Sulaymaniya protesters

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

2011 PJAK attacked Iranian police station along Iran-Iraq border Iran shelled PJAK camps in KRG

2012 Kurdish MP said that VP Hashemi should not come back to Kurdistan after his tour of Middle East

2012 Clash between followers of Mahmoud Sarkhi and police

2012 Kurdish Alliance wanted Dep PM Shahristani to appear before parliament over corruption

questions Shahristani filed lawsuit against them

2012 State of Law MP announced arrest warrant on corruption charges against Election

Commission chief Part of Maliki intimidation move Pres Barzani said Maliki was trying to kill democracy and horde power

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s Prime Minister Takes On Election Commission Once Again)

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

(Musings On Iraq interview with Inside Iraqi Politics’ Sowell on whether Maliki became a dictator)

(Musings On Iraq interview with Historian Phebe Marr comparing PM Maliki with MP Said)

2014 ISIS issued orders to infiltrate Baghdad

2014 ISIS posted pictures of over 80 police joining it from Albu Diab and Albu Shaban in Anbar

2015 US requested that Hashd withdraw from Ramadi before it would start air strikes

2015 Report KRG had $17 bil deficit Didn’t have money to pay civil servants Owed $1.25 bil for 2

months unpaid salaries $10 bil to private banks $1.1 bil to govt $17 bil to oil companies Borrowed $500 mil from Turkey

2016 Sit in demonstration began in parliament led by Sadrists over PM Abadi’s technocratic cabinet

(Musings On Iraq Complaints About Iraq PM Abadi Undermine His Cabinet Reshuffle)

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

2016 Report End of Feb PM Abadi announced he would change govt Created 8 committees to

pick new ministers None of them worked Sadr supported reforms When Abadi presented his new cabinet was criticized by ruling parties

2018 Saudi Foreign Min said Riyad would contributed $1.5 bil for rebuilding Iraq UN Human Settlement Program said it got $4 mil from Japan to rebuild

2018 Report Protests in KRG pushed regional govt towards Baghdad PM Barzani ended wage cuts for govt workers Meant had to get money from Baghdad KRG got $264 mil from Baghdad in Mar 1^st time received money since 2015 KRG earned $300 mil/mo from oil sales Govt wages cost $490 mil/mo 2014 KRG began financial split from Baghdad Led to financial crisis and $20 bil debt Made worse when govt took Kirkuk in Oct 2017 and lost oil fields KRG 1^st tried to suppress protests and media coverage of them

2019 Iran’s ambassador to Iraq said 100s of Hashd went to Iran to help with flooding

Hezbollah al-Nujaba one group that went Reportedly Quds Force cmdr Gen Suleimani asked Hashd to come

2020 Peshmerga Min Ismail said IS exploiting gaps between Peshmerga and ISF

2021 KRG Finance Min Janab told KRG parliament govt didn’t have money to pay govt salaries

even if KRG got its share of 2021 budget Said budget cuts needed KRG missed paying salaries 5 times Oct 2020 PM Barzani told parliament KRG had $28 bil debt $7.25 bil owed to foreign/domestic loans $8.96 bil owed in salaries $3.91 bil owed to Trade Bank of Iraq and Kurdistan Intl Bank

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