Saturday, April 15, 2023

This Day In Iraqi History - Apr 16 Shah of Iran started giving military aid to Barzani to pressure Iraq to give him control over Shatt al-Arab

(Wikimedia Commons)

 

1914 US consul in Baghdad reported rumors spread that all Christians and Jews in city

would be massacred due to start of 2nd Balkans War Rumors started after newspaper asked Mufti and Shiite clergy what was duty of Muslims in war They said to protect Islam and raise money Said Christians were defiling Muslim women in Balkans

1921 Sayid Talib al-Naqib arrested by UK for threatening revolt against British if Faisal made king

of Iraq Talib wanted to be king

1941 UK told Iraq that troops would be landing in Basra under Anglo-Iraq Treaty UK Amb

Cornwallis said if troops allowed to land London would enter into relations with Gaylani’s govt

1941 PM Gaylani agreed to allow British troops to land in Basra but demanded that they immediately

set out for Palestine or Egypt

1941 German letter arrived saying it would support Iraq revolt against British

(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)

1945 Bagdhad railway strike for wage increase spread to Samawa

1959 850 Mustafa Barzani supporters returned from USSR Arrived in Basra

(Musings On Iraq Explaining Kurdish Nationalism Interview With Teen Tech Univ Prof Michael Gunter)

1959 Peace day saw thousands of Communists march Demanded role in 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 A History Of The Iraqi Communist Party Interview With Univ of East Anglia’s Johan Franzen)

(Musings On Iraq Revolutionary Times, Gen. Qasim And Iraq’s 1958 Coup, Interview With Western Kentucky’s Prof. Juan Romero)

1968 Baath Nasserites and other army officials called for coalition govt return of parliament and

dismiss PM Yahya

1969 Shah unilaterally voided 1937 treaty over Shatt al-Arab Iraq took issue to UN Iran refused to go

to court over matter probably knowing it would lose

1969 Shah decided to give military support to Kurds to put political pressure on Pres Bakr over Shatt

al-Arab

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

1972 Bakr offered limited cultural rights to Assyrians under Law 251 in continued outreach program

to community considered important counter to Kurds and trying to split them away from KDP Govt didn't fully implement law

1987 Iraqi planes dropped poison gas on Sheikh Wasan and Balisan villages killing over 100 civilians

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

1988 Iraq offensive to recapture Faw Peninsula Basra from Iran began Largest Iraq land offensive

since 1986 Used nerve and mustard gas

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s Use Of Chemical Weapons In Iran-Iraq War And Their Western Origin)

(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 NSC discussed changing Iraq policy Commerce Dept wanted to limit tech sales to Iraq

NSC and State objected Decided to maintain policy of keeping good relations

1991 Bush said that US would not have normal relations with Iraq until Saddam removed and

sanctions would continue

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

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

1991 Bush denied US responsible for telling Iraqis to revolt and then not supporting them

(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 Report CIA and Saudis set up Voice of Free Iraq after Iraq invasion of Kuwait Used Iraqi exiles

to run station Called on Iraqi military to overthrow Saddam

1991 Pres Bush said that US would send troops to set up relief camps in Kurdistan to help

refugees after Saddam put down revolt

1991 State Dept met with Iraqi opposition including Ahmed Chalabi for first time

(Musings On Iraq review The Man Who Pushed America To War, The Extraordinary Life, Adventures, and Obsessions of Ahmad Chalabi)

(Musings On Iraq review Arrows of the Night: Ahmad Chalabi and the Selling of the Iraq War)

1991 Baghdad and Kurds announced ceasefire and start of talks

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

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

1998 UN inspectors biannual report Said Iraq failed to comply with inspections and no progress made

which appeared to be Iraq’s goal

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s Rejection Of UN Inspectors Led To Mistrust Over WMD And 2003 Invasion)

(Musings On Iraq review The Greatest Threat, Iraq, Weapons of Mass Destruction, And The Growing Crisis Of Global Security)

2002 NSC meeting talked about training Iraqi exiles for help with invasion

2003 Genk Franks issued declaration to Iraqi people saying US would only be there temporarily

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

Tragedy)

(Musings On Iraq Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Hard Lessons Ch 5 ORHA In Baghdad)

(Musings On Iraq US Army History Of Iraq War Vol 1 – Ch 6 Lost In Transition May-July 2003)

2003 U.S. military got some Iraqi police to do joint patrols in Baghdad in attempt to end looting

2003 Gen Franks announced that Baath Party was no more in Iraq

(Musings On Iraq The Baathist Purge In Post-Saddam Iraq, A Short History Of DeBaathification)

2003 Gen Franks issued withdrawal order for 60-120 days for US troops to drop from 175,000 to

30,000 by Aug 03

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

(Musings On Iraq review The U.S. Army In The Iraq War: Volume 1, Invasion, Insurgency, Civil

War, 2003-2006)

2003 Gen Franks told his staff that an interim Iraqi govt would be created in 30-60 days

2003 Gen Franks called Bush President asked about intl stabilization force for Iraq Franks said

he Sec Def Powell Def Sec Rumsfeld would all talk to allies Said Arabs would provide forces for Iraq

2003 Gen Franks later said his withdrawal plan was meant to show war over and get other

countries to send troops to Iraq

2003 Gen Franks sent memo to Def Sec Rumsfeld Said time to start Phase IV postwar ops Said

international forces and police would arrive to allow US to withdraw Didn’t say where foreign forces were coming from

2003 Ground forces cmdr Gen McKiernan’s chief of staff Gen Blackman suspicious of Gen

Frank’s withdrawal plan Were large parts of Iraq with no US presence McKiernan planned on running Iraq for up to 6 months not withdrawing

2003 US CENTCOM made official announcement that America was the authority in Iraq

2003 Congress appropriated $2.475 bil for rebuilding Iraq as part of Iraq Relief and Reconstruction

Fund

(Musings On Iraq interview with Prof Savage on US reconstruction effort in Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review Reconstructing Iraq’s Budgetary Institutions)

2003 Report Kurds were forcing Arabs out of Kirkuk city

(Musings On Iraq interview with Petit of 173rd 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 INC’s Chalabi arrived in Baghdad and set up office in Hunting Club

(Musings On Iraq Overview of America’s Policy Towards Iraq: From The Clinton Years To The

Sectarian War of 2006)

2003 Dep head of SCIRI Ayatollah Abdul Aziz al-Hakim returned to Iraq from Iran with 4,000-5,000

Badr militiamen

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

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

2004 2 weeks 12,000 members of the Iraq Civil Defense Corps quit during insurgent offensive and

Sadrist uprising

2004 PM Blair met Bush at White House Discussed Battle of Fallujah which British opposed

2005 Report 150 Shiites taken hostage by insurgents in Madain Baghdad Threatened to kill them

if Shiites didn’t leave Army sent but found nothing Sunnis said it was hoax to create sectarian tensions Shiites said killings happened and bodies dumped in Tigris

2006 Report Iranian Revolutionary Guard set up camp in Diyala to train militias

(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)

(Musings On Iraq Iran’s Policy Towards Iraq)

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

2006 CIA report Karbala police chief made deals with Sadr to attack US forces Gave them police IDs

to get through checkpoints

2006 GAO report US worried Iraq didn’t have money or know how to run 8,000 reconstruction

projects

2006 GAO report As of June 2005 $52 mil of $200 mil completed large scale water projects not

working or below capacity due to looting lack of power no trained Iraqi staff

2006 GAO report $13.5 mil Karkh sewage treatment plant in Baghdad not operating $32 mil garbage

landfill in south Baghdad not operating after manager killed

2006 GAO report 40-60% of purified water never used in Baghdad because of leaks in system

2006 SAS raid in Baghdad arrested insurgent that would help lead to death of Al Qaeda in Iraq head

            Abu Musab al-Zarqawi

(Musings On Iraq review Task Force Black, The Explosive True Story Of The SAS And the Secret War In Iraq)

2007 Sadrist ministers boycotted cabinet to protest US occupation

2007 3,000 protested in Basra over lack of services Demanded governor resign

2007 Report Mahdi Army moved into southwest Diyala Thousands of Shiites killed and displaced

from Baquba Sunnis kicked out of Baghdad by militias moved into Baquba US repeatedly reported ISF attacking Sunnis in Diyala

(Musings On Iraq Diyala Province Backgrounder)

2007 Ret Gen Sheehan Wash Post OpEd on why he turned down Iraq-Afghan manager in Bush

White House Said after talking with officials found no Iraq strategy Said 3 separate views going on at once One was making incremental improvements over long period Another was focusing upon security with time constraint Third was placing Iraq within overall Middle East strategy

2007 Lavin Magzine editor arrested for writing about Pres Talabani being sick and who might replace

            him Ordered by Talabani’s office

2008 Accordance Front announced that it would end its boycott of cabinet Wouldn’t happen until

July

2008 National Dialogue Council left Iraqi Accordance Front Said it might form alliance with Shiite

            parties

2008 Integrity Committee said it was investigating corruption in arms deal with Serbia made by PM

Maliki

2008 PM Maliki said $100 mil would be spent to rebuild Basra after Charge of Knights offensive

Money was mostly stolen by Dawa members or given out in patronage networks to win Maliki support

2008 PM Maliki removed Basra Ops commander Gen Furaiji and Basra police commander Gen Khalaf

2008 Dep Foreign Min accused Iran of supporting Mahdi Amy and other militias during Charge of

Knights

(Musings On Iraq Iran’s Policy Towards Iraq)

2008 PM Maliki offered major concessions to Kurds Agreed to change oil law Legalize independent

Kurdish oil deals Pay for 190,000 Peshmerga Never happened

2008 Gen Petraeus told Congress that Charge of Knights was not well planned

            op by Iraqis

2009 US military told NYTimes Maliki govt not going after sahwa Said got late pay fixed in

all provinces but Diyala Said only 9 out of 323 sahwa leaders in Baghdad and 7 out of 275 leaders in Salahaddin had been arrested Did say up to 200 fighters had been arrested Maliki was playing divide and conquer with sahwa and never integrated them as promised

2010 PM Maliki said new government would include Allawi’s Iraqiya Iraqiya said it won so it should

be only party trying to put together new government

2011 Finance Min investigated charges of $17 bil dinars being embezzled from Central Bank of Iraq

Nothing came of inquiry

(Musings On Iraq Controversial Case Against Central Bank Of Iraq Officials Continues)

2011 Police broke up protest in Baghdad’s Tahrir Sq calling for PM Maliki to resign Over 100 arrested

2011 Iraqiya accused Baghdad Operations Command of trying to limit protests Threatened no

confidence vote against PM Maliki claiming his govt was a failure

2011 Anbar council announced deal to end arbitrary arrests in province after negotiations with PM

Maliki

2011 Allawi said Iraqiya would withdraw from govt if power sharing agreement wasn’t implemented

by PM Maliki

2011 Kurdish security forces started arresting over 300 protesters in Sulaymaniya

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

2011 Report Trade Min bought $57 mil worth of cooking oil in 2008 Ordered it to be left until

prices negotiated Ended up sitting there until 2011 when no longer good for cooking

2011 Report Jan head of Baghdad council wrote law banning sale of alcohol under Islamic law ISF

started raiding bars and clubs including Iraqi Writers Union Feb protests started over law ending raids

(Musings On Iraq Is Iraq’s Dawa Party Returning To Their Islamic Roots Or Just Trying To Shore Up Their Base? Attempts To Ban Alcohol, Set Public Dress Codes, And Attack Emos And Gays Raise The Question)

2012 Report PM Maliki had shut out his adviser for Kurdish Affairs Adel Barwari

2012 Report Iraqiya in talks with Kurdish Alliance and members of National Coalition to remove PM

Maliki

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

2012 State of Law said it would run on its own and not with other Shiite parties in 2013 provincial

vote

2012 Integrity committee said it voted on dismissing Baghdad’s mayor Issawi for wasting money on

fake contracts

2012 Dep PM Mutlaq worried that Maliki govt interfering in Central Bank of Iraq and value of dinar

which was dropping against the dollar Reports that PM Maliki told Bank not to revalue dinar Oct Maliki would arrest head of bank

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

(Musings On Iraq Is Iraq’s Prime Minister Becoming A Dictator? An Interview With Kirk Sowell Of Inside Iraqi Politics)

(Musings On Iraq Is Iraq’s Prime Minister Maliki More Like Premier Nuri al-Sa’id Than Saddam? An Interview With Historian Phebe Marr)

2012 Report PM Maliki thought Election Comm helped Allawi win 2010 election 2011 Supreme

Court ruled Election comm under control of cabinet State of Law MP Fatlawi began investigation of commission claiming it was corrupt Led to PM Maliki arresting Election comm head

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

2012 Report Smugglers stealing $5 mil in fuel/mo from floating power boats in Basra Fuel trucked to

Kurdistan and then out of Iraq

2013 500 protested at West Qurna 2 oil field demanding jobs and benefits from Lukoil that ran site

2013 Dep PM Mutlaq announced that 1100 prisoners would be released as concession by PM Maliki

to protesters

(Musings On Iraq Understanding Iraq’s Protest Movements, An Interview With Kirk Sowell, Editor of Inside Iraqi Politics)

2015 PM Abadi said all the pictures of Iranian Gen Suleimani in Iraq sent the wrong message that Iran

was saving Iraq instead of Iraqis

(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 Propaganda Work In Iraq Interview With Tel Aviv Univ’s Dr Raz Zimmt)

(Musings On Iraq What Was Behind Iran’s Social Media Campaign Promoting Gen Suleimani In Iraq?)

2015 Anbar Governor Rawi called on Hashd to be sent to province to help fight IS 3000 Hashd sent

to Ramadi to help Some Hashd units already in Anbar

2015 IS said to be in control of 70% of Ramadi

2018 Report Candidates in Anbar being offered to buy voter cards by brokers Half of registered voters in Anbar didn’t have cards yet so many unissued cards to buy

2020 Iraq cabinet ordered halt to monthly payments to KRG for not following 2019 budget to export

oil in return for money

(Musings On Iraq Iraq Cuts Off Budget Payments To Kurdistan Once More)

2021 Over $1 mil found in IS hideout in Ninewa Used by IS’s Finance Office

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