This Day In Iraqi History - Aug 4 French deported Assyrians from Syria who then attacked Iraqi army believing they were sent to kill them Captured Assyrians executed

(Assyrian Policy Institute)

 

1914 US consulate report Ottomans ordered mobilization and draft in Baghdad

1933 French deported Assyrians who fled to Syria Iraqi troops sent to meet Assyrians and disarm

them Assyrians attacked army camp upon return to Iraq believing army was going to kill them 33 soldiers killed 40 wounded Over 500 Assyrians crossed back into Syria and were arrested by French Assyrians caught on Iraqi side were executed by army

(Musings On Iraq review The Tragedy of the Assyrian Minority in Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review State and Society in Iraq)

1935 Parliamentary elections finished Parliament expanded from 88 to 108 seats Used as patronage by

leading politicians Sheikhs given more seats along with some Baghdad editors

1954 PM Said sent letter to King Ghazi asking for parliament to be dissolved and new elections

held Dissolved all political parties Revoked press licenses

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq Under General Nuri, My Recollections of Nuri al-Said, 1954-1958)

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq’s Democratic Moment)

(Musings On Iraq review A History of Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review Independent Iraq 1932-1958, A Study in Iraqi Politics)

1958 Govt passed two laws to purge judiciary and bureaucracy of monarchists

1963 Army took Barzan during Barzani revolt

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

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

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

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

1968 Bakr govt said it would implement Jun 1966 deal for Kurdish language and culture to

be recognized

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq Since 1958, From Revolution To Dictatorship)

1970 Saddam visited Soviet Union and asked for debt relief Also for Moscow to stop aiding Kurds

Soviets agreed

(Musings On Iraq review Saddam His Rise and Fall)

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq Since 1958, From Revolution To Dictatorship)

1986 VP Bush used Egyptian Pres Mubarak to pass message to Iraq that it should expand air

campaign against Iran

(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)

1989 FBI raided Italian bank in Atlanta that made $4 bil in unauthorized loans to Iraq $500 mil was

guaranteed by Agriculture Dept Dept believed some of money used for Iraqi missile program

1989 Report As Iraq became credit risk because of inability to pay after Iran-Iraq War Italian bank

loaned money in secret Some money went to military spending Iraq demanded bribes from companies that wanted deals Traded goods for military equipment from USSR and Eastern Europe

1990 Bush met Kuwait emir Sabah and said US would free Kuwait and return emir to power

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

1990 European Community imposed sanctions on Iraq for invasion of Kuwait

1990 Iraq announced Provisional Government of Free Kuwait

1990 King Hussein said Saddam was a patriot and wanted good Jordan-Iraq relations

1990 White House went over military plans in response to Kuwait invasion Included 200,000-250,000

troops deploying to Saudi Arabia Offensive operations would be possible in 8-12 months Bush ordered offensive plans but only after Saudis asked for help

(Musings On Iraq review from storm to Freedom, America’s Long War with Iraq)

1990 Bush said goal of deploying US forces to Persian Gulf was to protect Saudi Arabia

1990 Mukhabarat agents flown into Kuwait to run internal security

1990 USSR Foreign Min Shevardnadze Sec State Baker joint statement condemned Iraq

aggression Called for global arms ban on Iraq

1990 NSC meeting Sec State Baker said goal was to make Saddam pariah and topple him

from power through sanctions and covert action

1991 Baath ordered property in Kirkuk to be given to Arabs and building over 2700 new homes for

them

1992 Iraqi army shelled Kurdish positions in Kirkuk province

1992 Report Pentagon wanted to set up military exchange in Iraq 3 months before invasion of Kuwait

Came after Saddam threatened to burn half of Israel and Iraq caught trying to smuggle in nuclear triggers State Dept blocked plan

1992 Consignment of children’s bicycles for Iraq blocked by US and UK in UN sanctions

committee

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

1995 Iraq presented another weapons declaration to UN that included biological weapons that it hid

before

1995 Aziz repeated deadline for security council to end sanctions

1998 Saddam ended cooperation with UN inspectors Kept monitoring system in tact Saddam

demanded inspectors reflect rotating membership of Security Council and offices be moved to Geneva or Vienna and out of NY to not be influenced by US

(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)

(Musings On Iraq Charles Duelfer’s Account Of The End Of The 1990s U.N. Inspections)

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

(Musings On Iraq review The Saddam Tapes)

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

2002 UnderSecDefArmsControl Bolton told BBC US didn’t care whether new UN inspections

happened because goal was regime change in Iraq

(Musings On Iraq review Wanting War: Why the Bush Administration Invaded Iraq)

2002 Head of President’s Foreign Intel Board and Frm Natl Sec Adv Scowcroft gave TV interview

saying US should not invade Iraq Said would undermine war on terror and throw Middle East into turmoil Said UN inspectors should deal with Iraq’s WMD

2003 US reopened Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad

(Musings On Iraq US Army History Of Iraq War Vol 1 – Chapter 9 Down The Spider Hole, October-December 2003)

2004 Mahdi Army shot down US helicopter in Sadr City Police chief there led celebration for its

downing

2004 Sec State Powell told UK Foreign Sec Straw that security in Sunni areas of Iraq was worse than

thought Said insurgency was an indigenous movement with good intel to adapt to situation on the ground

2005 Report large shipment of EFPs captured in northern Iraq coming from Iran

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

(Musings On Iraq A History Of Iranian Weapons Shipments To Iraq Interview With Arkenstone Blog’s Galen Wright)

(Musings On Iraq Iran’s Policy Towards Iraq)

2006 Sec State Rice said US making progress Iraq strategy not failing US had to stay the course

Privately Rice thought strategy failing

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

(Musings On Iraq review The War Within, A Secret White House History 2006-2008)

2006 Sadr organized protest in Baghdad against US occupation

2008 Flyers posted in Baghdad’s Dora warning Shiite families not to return to district Up to 50% of

Shiite families had been driven out during civil war

(Musings On Iraq Only Sunni Displaced Welcomed in Baghdad’s Dora District?)

(Musings On Iraq Columbia University Charts Sectarian Cleansing Of Baghdad)

2008 Report protests led parliament to suspend evicting squatters who were displaced during war

from govt buildings in Jun 08 but they continued Baghdad Ops Command said it offered up to $1200 for evicted Had plan to build 139,000 apartments/houses

2008 Parliament’s displacement comm said 11,400 out of 132,000 displaced families returned to

Baghdad Displacement Min claimed it was 92,000 families Exaggeration Govt wanted all displaced to return Never happened 1 mil remained displaced after civil war

2009 Report Iraq in 4^th yr of drought according to UN Rainfall expected to be down 50% Wheat

crop expected to be down 40% Would have to import 4 mil tons of wheat to meet 5 mil ton demand

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s 2009 Drought)

2012 Tuz Kharmato govt voted to expel 1000 Arab families that moved there after 2003 Was 2^nd time

council voted on issue Blamed Arabs for high prices joblessness violence Salahaddin govt opposed vote

2014 Report 2011 Sunnis tried to create autonomous regions Jun 2011 Speaker Nujafi supported idea

Oct 2011 Salahaddin govt voted to become autonomous region Happened after Higher Educ Min Adeeb removed 1200 govt workers from Salahaddin and Ninewa PM Maliki also arrested 650 over alleged Baathist coup Salahaddin accused Shiites of trying to change demographics of Samarra by moving in Shiites and building housing for them Maliki said Baathists and insurgents would take advantage of autonomy Dec 2011 Diyala voted for autonomy ISF and militias moved into Baquba Took over Diyala govt building Declared martial law in Diyala Governor and several councilmen fled to Kurdish run Khanaqin dist 2 Shiites districts threatened to secede from Diyala Maliki ignored legal process Salahaddin and Diyala followed Dec 2011 Maliki tried to arrest VP Hashemi on terrorism charge Led Sunnis to believe Shiite ran state and they had no power Helped revive insurgency

2014 Report Dec 2012 PM Maliki tried to arrest Finance Min Issawi Started Sunni protests in Anbar

Spread to Baghdad Diyala Kirkuk Salahaddin Ninewa Demanded release of prisoners end targeting of Sunnis reform deBaathification and terrorism law Mainstream protest sites aligned with Mutahidun like Ramadi and Mosul Some more radical sites connected to insurgents like Hawija Kirkuk Tikrit Some like Samarra refused talks with govt Jan-Apr 2013 Maliki pushed by Najaf to make concessions After Maliki lost seats in Apr 2013 provincial elections refused to make any reforms Maliki ordered raid on Hawija protest site Led some protesters to join insurgency Calls for popular armies Jul Maliki started arresting protest leaders Drove more protest sites to insurgency Dec Maliki closed Ramadi protest site Led insurgents to seize Fallujah and rebirth of insurgency

2014 PM Maliki replaced head of Babil Ops Command Was 4^th time in 5 months due to inability to

secure province Late Jul 400 IS attacked Jurf al-Sakhr and pushed ISF out

(Musings On Iraq Twelve Security Operations Later And Iraq’s Northern Babil Is No Less Safe)

2014 IS executed 320 Yazidis in Ninewa

(Musings On Iraq Islamic State’s Destruction Of Iraq’s Yazidi Community)

(Musings On Iraq Kurdish Government Tries to Create New Narrative Of What Happened To Iraq’s Yazidis)

2015 2 Protests in Sulaymaniya province over lack of services that led to clash with police Over 30

wounded Also demo in Maysan

2017 Thousands protested in Baghdad over corruption called for by Sadr

2017 UN study Most foreign fighters novices Didn’t know much about Islam Didn’t regularly pray

Most saw Islam in terms of justice/injustice Most from poor families Lacked education Jihad gave them direction and friends

2017 UN said nothing done to punish those responsible for Yazidi massacre in Sinjar 1000s still

missing 3000 women used as slaves in Syria Around 9900 Yazidis killed by IS when took Sinjar Aug 2014

2018 8^th day sit-in protest West Qurna 1 oil field 7^th day sit-in in Muthanna Protest ended in Husseiniya

Baghdad Demonstrations in Dhi Qar Qadisiya 2 others in Basra

2020 Activists house in Maysan hit by RPG as part of intimidation campaign against protests

(Musings On Iraq While PM Kazemi Visits Trump Pro-Iran Groups Target US And Kill Protesters To Embarrass Govt)

(Musings On Iraq Ebb And Flow Of Protests In Iraq)

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

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

2021 KRG economic adv said 115,000 govt workers taking 2 salaries 15,000 promoted illegally to

receive higher pay

2021 Report Spokesman for Kataib Hezbollah said goal of resistance factions pro-Iran Hashd was

to expel US from Iraq 4 pro-Najaf Hashd brigades demanded PM Kazemi allow them to leave Hashd unless pro-Iran groups halted attacks on US followed rule of law didn’t run in elections

2022 Coordination Framework said it was open to Sadr’s call for early elections but he needed to

respect govt institutions meaning ending occupation of Green Zone and blocking sessions of parliament

(Musings On Iraq Sadr Abandoned Politics Out Of Frustration Now Wants To Return)

View the Iraq History Timelines