This Day In Iraqi History - Aug 25 British invaded Iran from Iraq after Shah refused to expel Germans

 

1914 British admiralty ordered 2 ships to be sent to Shatt al-Arab to block Ottoman

supplies and ground forces and to protect oil interests in Persia

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq In World War I, From Ottoman Rule to British Conquest)

(Musings On Iraq review When God Made Hell, The British Invasion of Mesopotamia and the Creation of Iraq, 1914-1921)

1920 British gave limited self-rule in Najaf to try to stop 1920 Revolt there

1920 UK Cmdr Gen Haldane wrote that almost all the tribes north of Diyala had joined the 1920 revolt

and was afraid it was spreading to Kirkuk and Irbil

(Musings On Iraq review Reclaiming Iraq, The 1920 Revolution and the Founding of the Modern State)

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

1922 British High Commissioner for Iraq Cox demanded apology from King Faisal for anti-Mandate

comment at his party

1934 PM Midfai resigned again after King Ghazi lost confidence in him 

1941 British forces in Basra and Diyala invaded Iran where Shah refused to expel Germans spreading Axis

propaganda

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

1945 Army moved against Kurdish Baradosti tribe Was attacked by tribe and suffered heavy losses

            Another army column ambushed in Zebari tribal area

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

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

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

1969 Bakr govt executed opponents in central Baghdad Meant to rally support for regime

1981 Saddam met with military command Said strategy was to bleed Iranian army and destroy Iran’s oil

and electricity industry

1983 Turkey conducted 2^nd raid into Iraqi Kurdistan attacking PKK and KDP bases under Iraq-Turkey

security agreement

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

(Musings On Iraq review Turkey, the US and Iraq)

1988 Villages in Dohuk hit by chemical weapons in 6^th Anfal campaign

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

1990 UN Resolution 665 strengthened economic sanctions on Iraq for Kuwait invasion

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

2002 James Baker OpEd in New York Times said US needed UN resolution that Iraq submit to

inspections anytime Said US needed to be explicit that if Iraq avoided the inspections US would invade and change the govt

2003 Funeral in Najaf turned into anti-American demonstration

2003 CPA had no representatives in provinces 1^st provincial team for south sent to Muthanna Leader from

State Dept only lasted 3 months

2004 US army investigation blamed morally corrupt soldiers and contractors poor leadership for Abu

Ghraib prison abuse scandal Found intelligence officers played leading role in Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal

2004 Ayatollah Sistani said he would return from medical treatment in England to Iraq to try to end

2^nd Battle of Najaf

(Musings On Iraq A Divided Sadr Trend)

(Musings On Iraq review Battle For The City Of The Dead)

(Musings On Iraq review US Marines in Battle An-Najaf August 20014)

2005 Constitutional committee given 3^rd extension to finish work

(Musings On Iraq How Faults With Iraq’s Constitution Undermines The Country, Interview with Constitutional Scholar Zaid Al-Ali)

(Musings On Iraq review The Struggle For Iraq’s Future, How Corruption, Incompetence and Sectarianism Have Undermined Democracy)

2005 Dir of Ops Iraq and Afghanistan Gen Lute said militias were not under Baghdad’s command

Were an obstacle to peace and govt had to eventually deal with them 

2006 US Iraq cmdr Gen Casey told Def Sec Rumsfeld Baghdad would quickly be under ISF

control Said Leahy Amend might be invoked to stop US support for National Police due to widespread human rights abuses

2006 Iraqis looted base exited by British in Maysan before Iraqi forces could take it over

2006 Head of Association of Muslim Scholars Sheikh Dhari said he was willing to meet with Ayatollah

Sistani to talk about ending national crisis

(Musings On Iraq Spiritual Leader To Iraq’s Insurgency Harith Dhari Dies In Exile)

2008 Electricity Min announced power production reached 2002 level Only 50% of demand was being met

though due to huge increase in usage after 2003 Later turned out Ministry included power provided from Iran and Turkey

(Musings On Iraq Iraqi Power Expert Questions Government’s Figures)

2008 After PM Maliki broke deal with Kurds over KRG withdrawal from some disputed areas of Diyala

Peshmerga commander threatened retaliation if ISF entered Kurdish towns in province

(Musings On Iraq Cold War Between Baghdad and Kurds Turn Hot)

2009 Iraqi govt demanded Syria turn over 2 Baathists accused of involvement in Aug 19 Baghdad

bombings and expel all terrorists Iraq and Syria ended up withdrawing their ambassadors Ended PM Maliki’s reconciliation with Syria

2009 ISI claimed responsibility for Aug 19 Baghdad bombings

(Musings On Iraq Baghdad Can’t Get Its Story Straight On Aug 18 Bombings)

(Musings On Iraq Fall 09 When Maliki Blamed Islamic State Bombings In Baghdad On Baathists)

(Musings On Iraq Syria-Iraq Dispute Could Be Ending)

(Musings On Iraq Request For UN Investigation Into August Baghdad Bombings Said To Be Turned Down)

2010 ISI coordinated attacks in Mosul Kirkuk Tikrit Dujail Baquba Muqtadiya Ramadi Fallujah Karbala

Kut Basra Baghdad

2011 Report US Hunt Oil signed deal with KRG in disputed area in Ninewa in 07 Was largest oil

company to sign deal with KRG at that time KRG thought important because was US company Bush admin told company deal questionable and could increase tension between Irbil and Baghdad Hunt manager said oil more important than legal troubles Hunt website called KRG independent country Kurds used Hunt oil in talks with Maliki govt to get approval for oil exports

2012 Natural Resource Min Hawrami said KRG took responsibility for all outstanding liabilities of oil

companies operating in region Said Baghdad owed companies $1.5 bil and KRG wasn’t responsible for that debt

2013 Supreme Court overturned Jan law that limited president PM speaker to 2 terms Law passed by

Iraqiya Kurds Sadrists State of Law said law unconstitutional because wanted 3^rd term for PM Maliki Court under Maliki’s influence Maliki saved chief justice of Supreme Court from being removed by deBaathification

2014 Pres Barzani ordered peshmerga reformed Wanted PUK and KDP brigades united and under 1

command Peshmerga committee reported on divisions within peshmerga with different chains of command Never united

2014 Report Retired peshmerga commander said forces split between KDP and PUK brigades Said

officers got huge salaries compared to regular fighters Many peshmerga had 2^nd jobs because paid so little Defeats by IS led to calls for reforming peshmerga

2014 UN reported IS killed up to 670 prisoners at Badush prison Ninewa in Jun Took 3000 prisoners

after fall of Mosul Divided them by sect Took 670 Shiite prisoners and killed them Locals in Mosul said IS raiding houses of Christians and other minorities

2015 PM Abadi said all Hashd and tribal fighters had to be under control of state Didn’t happen

2015 Pentagon’s inspector general investigating whether intelligence assessments exaggerated

about war vs IS 1 DIA analyst said CENTCOM was changing conclusions of intel assessments when talked with White House Early statements said IS losing when it wasn’t

2015 Report KRG pipeline off line 2 days in Aug Posed financial threat

to KRG Outages cost KRG avg $246 mil Natural Resource Min signed deals with oil traders to get $850 mil/mo advance payments on exports KRG fallen behind schedule in those deals Contracts also said KRG would sell oil for $50/bar Prices are now below $50 Oil prices dropped since 2014 Meant KRG would have to export more oil to fulfill contracts but didn’t KRG pipeline hit by smugglers and bombings Natural Resource Min blamed PKK KRG thought deals with oil traders would be better than working with Baghdad Didn’t work out Lost monthly budget payments from Baghdad as a result KRG owed $1.6 bil to traders but wouldn’t have to start paying it until 2016 Gorran accused Natural Resource Min of mismanagement

2015 PUK said Pres Barzani should step down Said Barzani acted like a dictator and KDP

control of KRG should end

(Musings On Iraq Crisis Over Iraq’s Kurdish Presidency Favors Barzani)

2015 Report Quds Force Cmdr Gen Suleimani showed up at meeting of National Alliance Told it

that Maliki should not be prosecuted for fall of Mosul Suleimani criticized PM Abadi’s reform program because it threatened Maliki Abadi got mad and kicked Suleimani out of meeting

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

2015 Study of Iranian reports found 26 Iranians killed in Iraq since Jul 2014 All Iranian

Revolutionary Guards 4 were Basij militia 1 general killed 3 killed in Anbar 18 in Salahaddin 5 in unknown locations

(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)

2015 Fmr head of Interior Min’s explosive dept General Jabri got 1 yr in prison for buying fake

bomb detectors

2016 Basra police chief said drug use skyrocketed in Iraq

2016 Parliament voted to dismiss Defense Min Obeidi Done by Sunni rivals Speaker Jabouri and

MP Mohammed al-Halbusi and Maliki’s State of Law

(Musings On Iraq Iraq Fires Its Defense Minister)

2018 Report Activists started online campaign to draw attention to water crisis in Basra Videos

and pictures posted on social media of people suffering from contaminated water Health Min denied any problems Basra Health Dept said 70% of drinking water polluted and couldn’t be used Friday sermon by Sistani rep criticized govt for not solving problem Caused by Turkish dam

(Musings On Iraq Iraq Failed To Prepare For Water Crisis)

2018 Report Head of Iranian Rev Guard air operations said holy cities and Baghdad were redline

for Tehran Said Iran sent Su-25s to help Iraq vs IS Iraq didn’t have pilots so Iran set up training program Said Revolutionary Guard not flying in Iraq It was

2018 Report People fleeing villages in Daquq dist of Kirkuk due to IS Some homes burned People

kidnapped

2019 MP on parliament’s integrity committee said Supreme Council on Corruption

worthless Said held no one accountable

2019 Dep Speaker of parliament said villages in Kirkuk needed to be protected Met

delegation from Daquq dist that talked about IS attacks

2019 3 months after Hawija Kirkuk declared freed IS returned Set up fake checkpoints

Killed dozens Separate group White Flags also operated in district

2019 6 Hashd killed 1 wounded in drone strike on 45h Brigade in Qaim Dist Anbar

2021 Report PUK decided to force Lahur Talabani to leave Iraq Could come back in 2 weeks Part

of dispute with cousin Bafel Talabani for control of party

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

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