Friday, November 24, 2023

This Day In Iraqi History - Nov 24 Colonial Sec Churchill said when King Faisal could pay for his govt he could decide the future of Iraq Until then UK was in control


 

1915 UK decided to retreat from Ctesiphon/Salman Pak due to heavy casualties

 

1915 UK cabinet approved 2 more divisions from France and Egypt be sent to Mesopotamia after

defeat at Ctesiphon/Salman Pak

1921 Colonial Sec Churchill memo said when King Faisal could pay for his own govt he could

decide the future of Iraq Until then UK was footing the bill

(Musings On Iraq Churchill In His Own Words On Mesopotamia/Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review Churchill’s Folly, How Winston Churchill Created Modern Iraq)

1952 Soldiers opened fire on protests against Regent of Iraq killing 18 and wounding 84 during

Intifada Led to riots Mass arrests and raids Eventually 3,000 arrested including 220 opposition members Military ordered opposition parties to dissolve

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

1952 Protests in Baghdad Basra Najaf Karbala Hillah Diwaniya Kut Amara Called for PM Mahmoud

to resign and National Democratic Party leader Chadirchi to form govt

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq’s Democratic Moment)

1952 PM Mahmoud announced reform program and said he wanted direct elections

1967 Iraq signed joined venture with France’s ERAP and Iraqi National Oil Company to

develop North Rumaila oil field

1968 7th Baath Party Congress Izzat Mustafa ousted from Revolutionary Command Council One of

Saddam’s main rivals

1988 Iran and Iraq began prisoner exchange from Iran-Iraq War

1994 Barzani and Talabani signed ceasefire to end KDP-PUK civil war

1997 New PUK-KDP ceasefire announced negotiated by US and UK

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

1998 UN Res 1210 renewed Oil for Food program for another 6 months

2000 UK Foreign Office report Arab countries no longer supported sanctions on Iraq

(Musings On Iraq Review The Report of the Iraq Inquiry, Executive Summary)

(Musings On Iraq Chilcot Report Section 1.2 UK Iraq strategy September 2000 To September 2001)

2001 Weekly Standard’s William Kristol told Fox that debate within Bush White House was no

longer if the US would go after Saddam but how

2003 US jailers used dogs to intimidate Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib

2003 Prison riot at Abu Ghraib 9 prisoners killed 9 American guards injured

2003 Weekly Standard published UnderSecDef Feith’s Iraq-Al Qaeda briefing claiming two had

over 50 meetings since 1990s Report was false

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

Tragedy)

2003 Pentagon released statement that Under Sec Def Feith’s Iraq-Al Qaeda work was based upon

raw intel and not analysis of relationship between them

2003 CIA sent Under Sec Def Feith list of problems with his Iraq-Al Qaeda work Said claim Zarqawi     given

safehaven by Saddam was disputed

2003 Report Iran brought 90 Hezbollah operatives into Iraq to help it

(Musings On Iraq Hezbollah’s Role In Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq Iran’s Policy Towards Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq Analysis Of Iran’s Policy Towards Iraq Interview With RAND’s Alireza Nader)

2003 NSC meeting with Bremer US cmdr in Iraq Sanchez CENTCOM cmdr Gen Abizaid Said 5,000

Baathists were core of insurgency

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq’s Sunni Insurgency)

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

War, 2003-2006)

2004 Sec State Powell told Bush not enough US troops in Iraq to secure country

(Musings On Iraq review Overreach, Delusions of Regime Change In Iraq)

2004 Report US portrayed Zarqawi and foreigners leading Battle of Fallujah but leaders were local

Iraqis

(Musings On Iraq review Insurgent Iraq, Al Zarqawi and the New Generation)

2006 Militias carried out retaliatory attacks upon Sunnis in Hurriya Ghaziliya Baquba Kirkuk for 6

car bombs the day before in Sadr City that killed 215 5 mosques in Hurriya burned another shot at another declared a Shiite husseiniya by Mahdi Army Total 19 killed 29 wounded Militias expelled Sunni families from Hurriya Threatened 90 more families to leave

(Musings On Iraq review Voices From Iraq, A People’s History, 2003-2009)

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

2006 After funeral processions for those killed Nov 24 in 6 car bombs Sadrist imams blamed US for

insecurity Demanded US withdraw from Iraq Sadrists threatened to walk out of parliament and cabinet if PM Maliki met with Pres Bush in Jordan

2006 Sunni imams in Ghaziliya Amiriya Adhamiya called on followers to protect neighborhoods

and attack Mahdi Army and police if they entered

2007 Oil Min Shahristani said oil deals signed by KRG were illegal and companies would be

blacklisted Said made deals with neighboring countries not to export oil from KRG Aug 07 KRG passed its own oil law and signed 15 deals with 20 companies

(Musings On Iraq Iraqi Kurdistan’s Failed Independent Oil Strategy)

2007 Report more Iraqis returning to Iraq then leaving Oct 07 43,799 Iraqis returned from Syria

Was 5 times higher than Iraqis leaving Syria Jordan Lebanon Egypt put new restrictions on Iraqi refugees Govt said it would start bus convoys to bring Iraqi refugees back from Syria Only lasted 2 trips because govt unprepared for returns 60,000 displaced returned to Baghdad

(Musings On Iraq review Children of War, Voices Of Iraqi Refugees)

2007 Sadrists held march in Sadr City against US for crackdown on Mahdi Army in Karbala and

Qadisiya

2007 Special Groups bombed pet market in Baghdad Killed 15 Wounded 56

2008 Female suicide bomber set off bomb in front of Green Zone 5 killed 17 wounded

(Musings On Iraq The Rise of Female Suicide Bombers0

(Musings On Iraq Motivations Behind Female Suicide Bombers)

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

2008 Report PM Maliki set up provincial ops commands that answered directly to him Also picked ISF

officers and assignments Was involved in all security ops US official said Maliki knew about arrests of Diyala officials which PM denied US official said Maliki thought Sunnis were roadkill he could run over

2008 Baghdad mayor announced 10 yr $10 bil reconstruction plan for Sadr City

2008 After PM Maliki attacked KRG for oil deals Oil Min Shahristani met with PM Barzani Agreed

to Kurdish exports from Taq Taq and Tawke fields and partial development of Khurmalla dome field to try to get oil law passed Neither happened

2008 Report Sheikh Suleiman formed Tribal Support Council in Anbar to support PM Maliki

(Musings On Iraq Argument For Maliki Being Iraq’s Next Strongman)

(Musings On Iraq Disputes Over Tribal Support Councils)

2008 Reports some political parties discussing removing PM Maliki Hindered by Kurdish-Sunni

divisions

2008 Report Genel Energy and DNO that operated Taq Taq and Tawke oil fields in KRG said they would

be able to export soon

(Musings On Iraq Iraqi Kurdistan’s Failed Independent Oil Strategy)

2008 Report MP said Pres Talabani met to discuss removing PM Maliki Fadhila MP also said there was a

movement to get rid of Maliki

2009 UK started Chilcot Inquiry into causes of Iraq War Sir Patey head of Foreign Office’s

Middle East Dept said Feb 01 heard US officials pushing for regime change in Iraq Def Min Dir Gen of Ops Webb discussed regime change with US officials but didn’t think it was serious Head of Joint Intel Comm Ricketts said some US officials believed Al Qaeda and Iraq linked Rickets didn’t believe there was any Rickets believed Iraq was trying to revive its WMD and missile programs in early 2000s

(Musings On Iraq Review The Report of the Iraq Inquiry, Executive Summary)

2009 Report Govt workers in Baghdad created fake workers and pocketed $20 mil in salaries

2009 Report US and UK officers differed in tactics in Iraq 2004 US wanted British to confront

militias in Basra UK wanted talks UK ended up giving Basra to militias

2011 Report US sent Internet monitoring and surveillance devices to Iraq PM Maliki sent them to Syria

where Assad govt used them against protesters Baghdad denied story

2011 Oil Min signed Basra natural gas deal with Shell and Mitsubishi Started talks in 2008

2014 Report 2013 IS rebuilt networks in southern Baghdad-northern Babil Jurf al-Sakhr was

major base used to send car bombs into Baghdad and attack Anbar Jul 2013 Abu Ghraib prison break provided more men Apr 2014 IS attacked Amiriya Fallujah from Fallujah Jun Took Mosul and Tikrit as well as attacked north Babil Jurf al-Sakhr cleared of IS that reduced IS activity in Babil 

2014 IS blew up Christian monastery in Mosul

2014 2 towns in Diyala freed by Peshmerga and then completely destroyed

2015 Peshmerga Min said 1,288 Peshmerga killed 7,554 wounded fighting IS

2016 Report Some Sunnis might be permanently displaced from war vs IS Towns destroyed for being pro-

IS Went to town where Arabs had to get permission from Peshmerga to leave or come Surrounding towns were off limits to Arabs and displaced blocked from returning Town in Sinjar dist destroyed for being pro-IS Yazidi Peshmerga cpt said people would never be allowed to go back

2016 Report Abadi govt told civilians to stay in homes during Mosul campaign Led to high rate of

civilians casualties during fighting

2016 Pres Barzani said Peshmerga would not withdraw from any area it took before Mosul

campaign Areas taken during campaign would be negotiated

2016 Iraqi Turkmen Front said Hashd should not enter Tal Afar Ninewa

2019 Main roads in Basra city blocked by protests 7 killed as ISF cleared protest outside

Um Qasr port using live ammo Road to West Qurna 1 and Majnoon oil fields blocked Govt building and Shiite Endowment burned main roads and bridges blocked in Nasiriya Protesters tried to storm govt building in Karbala 4 protesters killed in Dhi Qar 1 in Najaf 1 in Qadisiya

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

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

2019 Students marched in 4 cities in Diyala to support protest movement

2019 Military spokesman for PM Abdul Mahdi said gangs infiltrated protests to destroy

state property

2019 Report ISF officers said they ignored orders to kidnap leaders in Baghdad protest

movement

2019 Report Dynasty Oil filed lawsuit vs KRG and Natural Resource Min Hawrami in UK

Claimed Hawrami demanded a bribe to finish deal already agreed upon Dynasty refused KRG then tried to end deal Dep PM Talabani called Dynasty CEO and threatened to cancel deal PUK intel intimidated company

(Musings On Iraq Iraqi Kurdistan’s Failed Independent Oil Strategy)

2020 Finance Min Allawi said Iraq remained in economic crisis due to low oil prices Said govt

needed to make more budget cuts Only got 1/10 of borders customs Said border crossings full of corruption Minor clerk positions at crossings sold for $50,000-$100,000 each

2021 Water Min said that Iran had completely stopped water flow to Iraq Said Turkey and Iran

both violated intl agreements on water

2021 PUK said KRG facing economic crisis and opponents were exploiting protests over unpaid

govt salaries for their own gain

2021 Student protests burned Gorran HQ in Sulaymaniya Demonstrating against unpaid govt

stipends

2021 Report KRG had budget deficits for yrs Rising debt Economic mismanagement

Dysfunctional relationship with Baghdad Despite oil selling for over $70/bar and KRG exporting over 400,000 bar/day of oil remained dependent upon budget payments from Baghdad to pay govt salaries KRG didn’t develop private sector Remained oil dependent Govt largest employer When govt ran into economic problems affects public leading to protests 2014 KRG began independent oil exports over objections of Baghdad PM Maliki cut budget payments which led to deep cuts in KRG spending

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