This Day In Iraqi History - Apr 29 Ottomans defeated British at Kut 2nd biggest loss for UK during WWI

(Daily Sabah)

1916 Ottomans defeated the British at Battle of Kut after 4 months captured 13,309 prisoners 7,000 of

which died in captivity British lost 33,000 casualties One of largest defeats for UK in WWI

1941 More British troops from 20^th Inf Brigade arrived in Basra Iraq protested

1941 UK Ambassador told British women and children to leave Baghdad because of expected war

with Iraq

1941 PM Gaylani sent Iraqi forces to UK air base at Habaniya Anbar 11^th Inf Brigade ordered to

Baghdad to later be deployed to Anbar UK Embassy in Baghdad informed UK forces in Habaniya Iraqi army heading their way

(Musings On Iraq interview with Prof Boich World War II In Iraq and Syria)

1941 Iraqis flooded Habaniya area limiting movement of UK troops there Occupied Kirkuk oil

fields Cut oil to Haifa and restarted flow to Lebanon for Vichy France that could be used by Axis

(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)

1948 Battle of Katamon began between Jewish forces attacking Iraqi volunteers and Arab Legion in 1^st

Arab-Israeli War

1954 Arshad al-Umari became PM for 2^nd time after Nuri al-Said turned down position 1922-58

were 59 cabinets

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

1959 Gen Qasim refused to recognize Communists as a political party

1959 Communist central committee demanded power sharing within Qasim govt

(Musings On Iraq review The Making of Iraq 1900-1963, Capital, Power and Ideology)

(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)

1962 Govt started spring offensive against Barzani

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

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

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

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

1969 Iraq condemned Shah of Iran for unilaterally ending 1937 border treaty over Shatt al-Arab

waterway

1981 Amnesty Intl report interviewed 15 Iraqis exiles detailing torture methods used by govt

1986 Iraq launched counterattack to stop Iran Al Fajr 9 outside Rawanduz Kurdistan

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

1986 Iran launched counterattack along 3 fronts in Basra Advanced up road to Um Qasr and north along

Faw Peninsula Basra Caused 4000 Iraqi 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 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)

1991 Report Bush and Joint Chiefs head Gen Powell both thought of Vietnam when Iraq revolt started

Didn’t want to get caught in civil war and quagmire

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

1994 Iraqi army launched new military campaign to drive out displaced and rebels from southern

marshes

1994 Sec State Christopher wrote NYTimes OpEd Said Iraq complying with UN Res 687 was not enough to

end sanctions Contradicted resolution

(Musings On Iraq review Invisible War, The United States And The Iraq Sanctions)

2002 Pentagon official said 9/11 hijacker met with Iraqi intel officer in Prague Didn’t happen

2003 2^nd anti-American protests in Fallujah demanding that they leave after killing people day before

Threw rocks at US troops who fired into crowd killing 3 wounding 16

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

2003 ORHA head Garner told White House flying frozen Iraqi assets to pay for salaries and pensions

helped stabilize Iraq

2004 US announced end of Battle of Fallujah Would withdraw turn over security to Fallujah Brigade

2004 Sheikh Jabani’s brother and 3 kids kidnapped in Fallujah for fighting insurgents

2004 50 former UK Ambassadors and officials wrote open letter to PM Blair Said UK had no postwar

plan for Iraq Said experts predicted that occupation of Iraq would garner resistance Said had to consider Iraqi history Concluded that Coalition strategy in Iraq was doomed to fail

2005 Gen Vines issued order for US troops to stop and report any cases of abuse by Iraqi forces

2007 US troops went to investigate torture cell run by Mahdi Army in Khadimiya Baghdad Got into gun

battle with Mahdi Army and Iraqi soldiers Afterward parliament voted to keep US forces 1 mile away from shrine

2007 Report Spec Insp Gen for Iraq Recon looked at 8 US projects 7 were not operating or had major

problems Power station for Baghdad airport had $11.8 mil spent on generators $8.6 mil worth not operating Hospital in Irbil had incinerator for waste locked and key lost Dumped waste into sewage system contaminating local water system Water purification system at hospital broke Oxygen system not used by staff that didn’t know how it worked Special Forces barracks in Baghdad had 4 generators broken due to no maintenance and supply pipes had been stolen Spec Insp Gen had warned that US was leaving projects for Iraqis that could not be maintained and were waste of money

2008 2^nd ISCI and Dawa delegation went to Iran to meet Sadr and Iran Rev Guards Quds Force’s Gen

Suleimani to negotiate ceasefire in Charge of Knights Iraqis provided evidence Iran supported militias including names of people locations of training camps and cells working with Tehran Iran denied everything Accused Iraqis of selling out to US and ignoring help Iran gave Shiite parties since 2003 Said it was wrong to go after Mahdi Army because they were Iran’s allies Said Mahdi Army needed to counter Sahwa created by US Sadr refused meeting

(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 Iran’s Policy Towards Iraq)

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

2008 Report Iran Rev Guard Quds Force Cmdr Gen Suleimani sent message to Gen Petraeus and Amb

Crocker that Iran not responsible for fighting between Maliki govt and Mahdi Army Iran gave weapons to Mahdi Army during fighting

2008 Accordance Front MPs found torture at Karbala prison overcrowding in Babil ones

2008 Turkey’s Foreign Minister said Ankara wanted better relations with KRG

2008 Former Dep Sec Def Wolfowitz said Bush admin never expected an insurgency in Iraq Said

there were enough US troops after invasion but US failed to create enough ISF Admitted Bush admin was clueless about counterinsurgency

2008 Female suicide bomber attacked bus stop in Muqtadiya Another female suicide

            bomber attacked Sahwa in Abu Saida both in Diyala

(Musings On Iraq The Rise of Female Suicide Bombers)

(Musings On Iraq Motivations Behind Female Suicide Bombers)

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

2009 Police sent by Integrity Commission to arrest Trade Min Sudani for corruption got

into shootout with guards in Baghdad $4-$8 bil missing from ministry Bought expired food and charged Ministry full price Bought food and kept it for themselves to sell on black market Bought goods for double the prices Sudani signed contract with company owned by his son for $50 mil of old tea that was only worth $20 mil Bought contaminated milk from China Found $8 mil in expired food in warehouse Sudani’s brother and nephew got $40 in kickbacks from every ton of sugar imported by ministry Sudani used some of money to fund PM Maliki’s State of Law in 2009-10 elections

(Musings On Iraq Half Of Corruption Cases Against Iraq’s Former Trade Minister Dropped)

(Musings On Iraq interview with Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart Bowen on Iraq’s fight with corruption) 

(Musings On Iraq interview with former anti-corruption official Vincent Foulk)

2009 Interior Ministry said ISI had successfully penetrated ISF and used agents to carry out attacks

2010 PM Maliki said that there were no secret prisons in Iraq after one at Muthanna Airport prison was

revealed Claimed that torture victims at Muthanna prison gave themselves scars to fake abuse

(Musings On Iraq Secret Baghdad Prison Discovered By Iraq’s Human Rights Ministry)

(Musings On Iraq Why Nothing Is Going To Be Done About Abuse In Iraq’s Prisons)

2010 US accused Iran of using Hezbollah to carry out attacks against its forces in Iraq

(Musings On Iraq Hezbollah’s Role In Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq Iran’s Policy Towards Iraq)

2010 Sadrists said PM Maliki could not get a second term as premier

2011 Obama’s National Security Adviser suggested 10,000 US troops stay in Iraq after withdrawal

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

(Musings On Iraq review Duty, Memoirs of a Secretary At War)

2011 Sadr threatened to bring back Mahdi Army if US forces stayed past end of year

(Musings On Iraq Iraq May See The Return of Sadr’s Mahdi Army)

2011 KRG security forces arrested one of top protest leaders in Sulaymaniya

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

2011 Report KRG saw longest sustained protests in Iraq since 03 KDP-PUK blamed opposition parties

Said they were trying to bring down govt Security forces went after activists More than 200 journalists harassed arrested tortured covering protests

(Musings On Iraq How Iraq’s Kurdistan Broke Up Two Months Of Protests)

2011 Anbar councilman Fallujah police chief and other officials arrested in Anbar Anbar Ops Command

and PM Maliki blamed

2011 Protest in Baghdad demanding end to corruption US withdrawal Release of prisoners

(Musings On Iraq Another Friday’s Protest In Iraq’s Tahrir Square, Baghdad, April 29, 2011)

2012 Pres Barzani told US he objected to selling F-16s to Baghdad Said didn’t trust PM Maliki with them

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s Premier And Kurdistan’s President Spar Over Weapons As Part Of Larger Political Dispute)

2012 Kurdish Coalition demanded Baghdad arm Peshmerga as part of country’s security forces Said in

2007 Irbil and Baghdad agreed on it

2012 Special Inspector Gen for Iraqi Reconstruction found 76% of Commander’s Emergency Response

funds were lost to fraud and corruption Money went to contracts with many groups from officials to insurgents taking their cut

2012 Pres Barzani Pres Talabani Sadr Speaker Nujafi Allawi gave PM Maliki 15 days to follow Irbil

Agreement over power sharing Didn’t happen

2012 Sadrists repeated that they would not support no confidence vote vs PM Maliki

2013 PM Maliki and Pres Barzani agreed on 7 point program to repair relations between Baghdad and

Irbil Only partially implemented

2013 ISIS set off 2 car bombs in central Karbala 2 car bombs in Amarah 1 car bomb in Diwaniya

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

2014 ISIS took credit for suicide bombing of PUK rally in Khanaqin, Diyala that killed 30 Wounded 64

2014 Report that US intel believed Maliki getting re-elected PM would divide Iraq more

2014 Report PM Maliki ordered army out of Ramadi and Fallujah Helped insurgent take overs Jan 2014

ISIS declared Fallujah Islamic emirate ISIS using money to buy support in Fallujah ISF not been able to hold areas it cleared in Anbar ISF and ISIS executing prisoners

2014 Report PM Maliki used Asaib Ahl Al-Haq and Kataib Hezbollah to secure Baghdad belts Told Shiite

politicians he was disappointed with ISF Publicly Maliki denied using militias 1 militiaman said he’d been deployed to Abu Ghraib since Jan 2014 and reported to Maliki Asaib Ahl Al-Haq member said given uniforms and weapons by govt and deployed to Latifiya

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

(Musings On Iraq Instrument Of Iran’s Power In Iraq And Syria Kataib Hezbollah)

2014 Report Up to 1000 ISF killed in fighting in Anbar More have deserted Soldiers complained not given

ammo or equipment Soldier in Ramadi said only 120 of 750 men in his battalion still on duty Rest had deserted Officers stole money for food fuel and supplies General said commissions were sold Officers extorted money from business Charged taxes at checkpoints

2014 Keys to PM Maliki’s power Was weak leader at 1^st Charge of Knights led to strong image Sought

support of Shiite middle class Included token Sunnis in govt Used Kurds against Sunni Arabs Broke up cross sectarian alliance like Iraqiya in 2010 Went after independent commissions Asserted control over ISF Refused to integrate sahwa Ignored parliament Issued warrants for rivals like VP Hashemi Attacked Kurds over oil policy Tried to deter foreign investment in KRG Gave positions to other Shiite parties to win support Promoted corruption Went after Sadr Used Asaib Ahl Al-Haq against Sadr Used Iran and Russia to balance US influence Blamed Saudis for violence Argued Sunnis hate Shiites

2015 Report Zarqawi attacked Shiites believing that would rally Sunnis to him 2004 created Omar

Brigade to assassinate militiamen Used indiscriminate violence with bombings to establish control By 2006 had control of many other insurgent groups Led to Sahwa turning against ISI 2008 began planning comeback Targeted sahwa Didn’t believe argument Baathists were behind much of ISIS’ success Baathists were not in Zarqawi or Abu Omar al-Baghdadi’s inner circle

2015 Diyala police chief claimed no insurgent strongholds in province Said all regions were under

ISF control Not true

2016 Protests in Baghdad Basra Najaf Qadisiya Maysan Karbala Dhi Qar Muthanna against corruption

and sectarian quotas in govt

2017 Report PUK leadership split over independence referendum Gorran refused to talk with KDP

over referendum Accused KDP of abusing power

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

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