This Day In Iraqi History – Jul 11 Saddam took over leadership of Iraq after Pres Bakr resigned as head of Revolutionary Command Council

(Vanity Fair)

 

869 Abbasid Caliph Mutazz confronted by Turkish soldiers who wanted to be paid Mutazz beaten and

forced to resign Muhtadi became new caliph

(Musings On Iraq review when baghdad ruled the muslim world, the rise and fall of islam’s greatest dynasty)

1917 1^st Battle of Ramadi started Ottomans forced British to retreat

1921 Iraq council of state declared Faisal monarch of Iraq

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

(Musings On Iraq review A History of Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review Empires of the Sand, The Struggle For Mastery In The Middle East 1789-1923)

1921 UK High Comm for Iraq Sir Cox invited Sayid al-Naqib one of main opponents to Faisal

becoming king to tea Then exiled him to Ceylon

1926 Gertrude Bell head of Iraqi antiquities committed suicide in Baghdad

(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)

1979 Pres Bakr resigned from the Revolutionary Command Council citing health Saddam took over

council

(Musings On Iraq review Saddam His Rise and Fall)

1991 Talabani met Saddam Talabani said an autonomy agreement was imminent

1991 Iran warned that Iraqi forces about to launch new military operation into southern marshes against

rebels and displaced

1991 UK intel report said Iraq tried 4 methods to enrich uranium for its nuclear program and might have

made enough for 1 bomb

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

1991 Pres Bush said that coup vs Saddam might be best way to assure that Iraq didn’t continue with its

nuclear weapons program

(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)

2003 New CENTCOM cmdr Gen Abizaid halted troop withdrawals from Iraq ordered by Gen Franks

2003 Natl Sec Adv Rice called CIA Dir Tenet telling him he was responsible for Iraq-Africa uranium

story being used in Bush’s State of the Union

(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 CIA Dir Tenet issued statement that he was responsible for Iraq-Africa uranium deal getting into

Bush’s State of Union Said CIA only had fragmentary intel on Iraq trying to buy uranium from Africa

2003 Dir Tenet also said that CIA had Iraq-Africa uranium story stricken from previous Bush speeches

2003 CIA officials quoted in Wash Post that they tried to dissuade British from using Iraq-Africa

uranium story

2003 Bush Chief of Staff Rove told Cheney Chief of Staff Libby he talked with columnist Novak and he

was going to write fmr Amb Wilson’s wife sent him to Niger Part of plan to discredit Wilson

2003 Bush Chief of Staff Rove told Time reporter Cooper fmr Amb Wilson not sent to Niger by CIA Dir

Tenet or Cheney but his wife who worked at CIA

2003 Columnist Novak called CIA to confirm that Valerie Wilson sent her husband to Niger CIA tried to

stop story and not mention her name

2003 White House spokesman Fleischer and Comm Dir Bartlett told reporter Fmr Amb Wilson found

little on his trip to Niger and wasn’t sent by Dir Tenet

2003 Natl Sec Adv Rice told reporters Natl Intel Estimate said aluminum tubes Iraq tried to buy were for

nuke program Were actually for rockets She blamed CIA Dir Tenet for Bush using fake Iraq-African uranium deal in State of the Union Said at time of speech didn’t know about any problems with uranium story Rice received Oct 02 CIA memo not to use Niger story

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

(Musings On Iraq review The WMD Mirage, Iraq’s Decade of Deception and America’s False Premise for War)

2003 After protests by Iraqi police US agreed to reduce its forces at police stations in Fallujah to try to

stop attacks on them

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

2006 Amb Khalizad said hadn’t seen security improvement from Baghdad security plan Op Together

Forward yet

(Musings On Iraq US Army History of Iraq War Vol 1 – Chapter 20 Baghdad Burns, Summer-Fall 2006)

2006 Brookings’ Pollack told House committee not enough US and Iraqi forces to secure Baghdad during

Op Together Forward

(Musings On Iraq Did the US Ever Have A Strategy To Win In Iraq Before the Surge?)

2006 Islamic Army claimed responsibility for suicide bombing in Green Zone as revenge for US soldiers

raping and killing Iraqi girl in Mar 06

2007 CIA Dep Dir Natl Intl Fingar testified to House Said PM Maliki only took small steps to unify

Iraq Said sectarian violence polarized politics Shiite parties not united Services below prewar levels Said Surge effective vs violence but not enough to lead to reconciliation

2007 Ret Gen Landry from Natl Intel Council said ISF infiltrated and lacked logistics

2008 PM Maliki promised to rebuild and invest in Basra after Charge of Knights Money unspent because

of red tape lack of govt capacity arguments between ruling parties

2009 Courts issued warrants for 2 Accordance Front members of Diyala council Part of PM Maliki’s

            on going campaign against party in province

2010 Al Arabiya TV filmed dozens of fuel tanker trucks driving from KRG into Turkey KRG

denied this was happening

(Musings On Iraq Kurds Try To Deny Their Oil Smuggling With Iran)

2010 Report After NY Times wrote about KRG smuggling oil to Iran KRG said it would crackdown

on practice Didn’t do anything

(Musings On Iraq Kurdistan Admits To Smuggling Oil To Iran)

2011 Pro-Iran group fired rockets at Green Zone wounded several people Came as Def Sec Panetta was

visiting Iraq Part of campaign by militias to claim responsibility for US withdrawal

2011 US military said Iran still sending weapons to militias such as rockets and EFPs Quds Force gave

rockets to Kataib Hezbollah

(Musings On Iraq How Iran Used Explosively Formed Projectiles (EFPs) To Influence events In Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq Iran’s Policy Towards Iraq)

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

2011 Report PM Maliki adv Askari said majority govt needed to be formed

2012 Shell said it would start producing natural gas in Basra by start of Aug Wanted to produce 60

mil/cub/ft/day Shell and Mitsubishi signed joint venture worth $17 bil in Nov to capture gas from Basra oil fields

2012 Fadhila MP accused Electricity Min of mishandling gas powered electricity plants Weren’t producing

enough power Couldn’t handle dust storms Shut down when temps rose Were installed by US without considering Iraq didn’t have natural gas to run them Used different fuel which caused breakdowns and produce below capacity

2012 Report Electricity Min started PR campaign using Catie Couric to claim power output increasing Dep

PM Shahristani claimed electricity problem would be solved by end of 2013 Wasn’t

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s Government Failing Again To Solve Country’s Power Outages)

2013 TV aired interview with Kataib Hezbollah’s Batat who said his Mukhtar Army carrying out attacks in

Baghdad TV staff arrested Batat formed Mukhtar Army in Feb to fight ISI and Baathists who he said worked for US and Zionists Warrant was out for Batat but nothing happened to him

2014 IS and Naqshibandi fought in Ramadi and Fallujah districts 

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s Resurgent Insurgency Interview With Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi)

(Musings On Iraq Update On Iraq’s Insurgency Interview With Aymenn Jawad al-Tamimi)

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

2014 Report After Mosul fell KRG took over Kirkuk Bai Hassan and other oil fields in Kirkuk Told North

Oil Company workers they would be paid if worked for KRG

2014 PM Maliki replaced Foreign Min Zebari with Sharistani Came after Maliki accused Kurds of

supporting insurgents

2014 Report Iraqi soldier said 400 were at Baiji refinery with 50 SWAT Jun insurgents attacked refinery

and got into facility Next day all the army officers fled Soldier said officers cut deal with tribes to leave SWAT main force fighting for refinery

2014 Human Rights Watch ISF and Hashd executed 255 prisoners in 6 cities since Jun 9 All but 1 incident

happened as Iraqis were fleeing insurgents 5 mass executions in Mosul Tal Afar Baquba Jumarkhe Rawa Believed prisoners killed so wouldn’t be freed 1^st incident guards killing 15 prisoners in Mosul Badr and Asaib Al Al-Haq executed prisoners in Diyala and Ninewa

2014 Babil council said 2 parts of Jurf al-Sakhr dist in Babil cleared by ISF backed by Abu al-Fadhl al-

Abbas and Asaib Ahl Al-Haq in 5^th offensive Govt claimed dist freed twice

2014 Friday prayers by IS in Mosul mosque called on Sunnis to kill Shabaks in city

2014 Amb Jeffrey wrote piece in response to article that claimed US split over backing PM Maliki after

2010 election Obama admin eventually supported Maliki Jeffrey claimed Maliki had largest bloc so he had right to form new govt Only happened after Supreme Court ruled Maliki could create coalition after vote not who won most seats which happened in previous elections Claimed he was skeptical of Maliki Said US tried alternatives to Maliki such as Abdul Mahdi but didn’t have support Said Allawi was more of a problem than Maliki

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

(Musings On Iraq How Did The United States Do In Iraq? An Interview With Emma Sky)

(Musings On Iraq Former Ambassador Robert Ford Reflects On U.S. Policy Towards Iraq And Syria)

2015 316 displaced fleeing Anbar Salahaddin Kirkuk stopped at checkpoint in Kirkuk and refused

entry Source said Kirkuk governor gave order to prevent any displaced from entering Kirkuk

2015 Report Def Sec Carter said 560 more US troops would deploy to Iraq Most would go to recently

captured Qayara air base which could handle heavy cargo planes and helicopters Raised total US forces to 6000

2016 Sadr said his followers would protest in Baghdad on Friday to demand reforms

(Musings On Iraq Rough Alliance Between Iraq’s Protest Movement And Sadrists)

2017 Report When PM Abadi arrived in Mosul was to give victory speech Got false info that city

freed when fighting continued ISF units were competing to declare victory and sent reports to Baghdad that combat over Abadi didn’t give his actual speech but still declared city freed

2017 Assoc of Muslim Scholars accused Kataib Hezbollah of kidnapping 16 people in Latifiya

Baghdad to try to change demographics of area

2017 2^nd video posted on Facebook Claimed it showed Iraqi Army’s 16h Div executing IS members

in Old Mosul

2018 4^th day of protests in different parts of Basra Blocked road to Rumaila and West Qurna oil fields

South Oil Company office occupied 1 killed by police shooting into crowd Protest in Dhi Qar for electricity and solidarity march in Baghdad

(Musings On Iraq Protests In Iraq Greatly Escalate And Spread Throughout South)

2018 PM Abadi ordered Transportation Min to truck water to Basra and give it out free Drought in

south due to dam in Turkey which govt did nothing about

2018 Report Many pro-Iran Hashd units including Kataib Hezbollah Khorasani Brigades

Harakat Nujaba rejected PM Abdul Mahdi’s executive order that Hashd follow his orders drop names not be involved in politics

2020 Pro-Iran groups began new tactic of attacking convoys carrying supplies to US with attack

upon trucks in Muthanna and Diwaniya

2020 Report PM Kazemi went to Mandali border crossing with Iran in Diyala to launch campaign

to end corruption at crossings Thought tariffs one way to boost non-oil revenue Didn’t work

2021 PUK media named Bafel Talabani new president of party Also new heads of PUK intelligence

and counter terror unit named replacing allies of Lahur Talabani Bafel trying to push Lahur out of leaders of party 2 co-led PUK

(Musings On Iraq Latest Dispute Over Control Of Patriotic Union of Kurdistan)

2021 Head of Qi Card company and other officials from banks given 3 yrs in prison for stealing

more than 13 bil dinars

2021 PM Kazemi visited journalist/activist kidnapped and tortured in Baghdad day before Meant to

show sympathy for activists while PM did nothing to stop attacks

(Musings On Iraq UN Report On Violence Against Iraqi Protesters)

(Musings On Iraq United Nations Faults Iraq For Failing To Protect Protesters)

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