This Day In Iraqi History Dec 4 Siege of Kut began Would become UK’s 2nd largest defeat in WWI

 

1534 Ottoman Sultan Suleiman entered Baghdad and visited Sunni and Shiite shrines trying to

win over city

 

1914 UK forced landed at Muzaira, Basra to seize Qurna Didn’t have troops to take town Retreated

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

1915 Gen Townshend said he would stay at Kut and fortify it until relief arrived

1920 Faisal met with King George V in London Got no support for being king of Iraq

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

1920 Churchill wrote PM George that his desire to hold Mosul and Mesopotamia was compromised by

his anti-Turk policy that was threatening Mosul

(Musings On Iraq How The Ottoman Province Of Mosul Became Part Of Iraq)

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

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

1921 UK High Commission for Iraq Sir Cox wrote Colonial Sec Churchill that more power King

Faisal got easier it would be for UK to influence country

1924 Sir Henry Dobbs wrote Colonial Secretary Said King Faisal was a foreigner who didn’t have any

support Said authority of Iraqi govt depended upon UK backing and its military might

1958 Arif returned to Iraq Qasim begged him to leave Iraq again to be ambassador to Germany Arif

refused

1959 Communists marched in Baghdad to celebrate Qasim’s release from hospital after Baath

assassination attempt Also push to get positions in govt

(Musings On Iraq review A People’s History Of Iraq, The Iraqi Communist Party, Workers’ Movements, and the Left 1924-2004)

(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)

1968 Israeli air raid on Iraqi forces in Jordan killed 17 soldiers Wounded 30

1997 UN Res 1143 extended Oil for Food Program for 3^rd time

1998 Iraq blocked biological weapons inspection

(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)

1998 Under pressure from Russia France China UN inspectors began weekly reports They wanted

inspections done by end of year

(Musings On Iraq review The Saddam Tapes)

2001 CENTCOM Cmdr Gen Franks briefed Def Sec Rumsfeld Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen Meyers on

revised Iraq invasion plan Franks revised 1990s Op Plan 1003 Cut troops from 500,000 to 400,000 to be deployed in 6 instead of 7 months Franks said couldn't scrap Op Plan 1003 because never knew what would be needed Said would take a long time to revise Iraq war plan Rumsfeld said Afghanistan showed US didn’t need such a large and long invasion plan for Iraq Rumsfeld wanted a battle plan that could be executed in a very short time not months Franks agreed with Rumsfeld but said Op Plan 1003 only thing they had at moment Rumsfeld told Gen Franks goal of any military action against Iraq would be removing Saddam Franks given one week to revise plan Angry that Rumsfeld went from plan not important to it being urgent

(Musings On Iraq review Shaping the Plan for Operation Iraqi Freedom, The Role of Military Intelligence Assessment)

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

Tragedy)

(Musings On Iraq review Plan of Attack: The Definitive Account Of The Decision To Invade Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review Liberate And Leave, Fatal Flaws In The Early Strategy For Postwar Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq US Army History Of Iraq Vol 1 – Chapter 2 Regime Change)

2001 PM Blair told Bush Iraq was a threat because it had WMD could export it and violated UN

resolutions

2001 PM Blair paper to Bush said that they had to consider regime change in Iraq Blair said had to

build steady case vs Iraq and gain international support

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

(Musings On Iraq Chilcot Report Sec 3.1 Development of UK Strategy and Options on Iraq, 9/11 to Early January 2002)

2002 UN Res 1447 extended Oil for Food program

2004 PM Allawi attacked while visiting Imam Ali shrine in Najaf

2005 Report 1500 suspects arrested around Ramadi in last five months all Iraqis not foreigners like

White House claimed

2006 UN Sec Gen Annan said violence in Iraq worse than Lebanese civil war Said worse than life

under Saddam Said Iraqi govt unable to provide security

2006 Paul Bremer said Pentagon ignored calls for more troops to maintain order in Iraq after

invasion Said military slow to develop counterinsurgency strategy Said military thought ISF could take over security in Iraq quickly US and Iraqi govts failed to counter rise of Sadr and Mahdi Army Not providing security biggest failure of US in Iraq

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

(Musings On Iraq review Days Of Fire, Bush and Cheney in the White House)

2006 New ops cmdr Gen Odierno briefed on US strategy in Iraq Consisted of moving out of Iraqi

cities Deploying to border Transition to Iraqi control Let ISF fight in cities

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

War, 2003-2006)

(Musings On Iraq US Army History of Iraq War Vol 1 – Chapter 22 – The Failed Transition)

2008 Bush said that Iraq intelligence failure was his biggest regret

(Musings On Iraq Iraq One Of The Worst Intelligence Failures In US History)

2008 Czech Republic ended its mission in Iraq

2008 PM Maliki claimed his Tribal Support Councils created as part of patronage network for 2009

elections were a sign of successful reconciliation

(Musings On Iraq Disputes Over Tribal Support Councils)

2009 Activist shot and wounded in Sulaymaniya Gorran claimed incident was start of attacks upon

followers by PUK

2011 Journalistic Freedoms Observatory said ISF biggest threat to media in Iraq Reporters Without Borders

made similar statements

2011 PM Maliki said he stood behind Assad in Syria Said removing him would lead to civil war in Syria            and incite sectarian tensions

2013 IS attacked intel HQ in Kirkuk city Led to heavy fighting and Peshmerga reinforcements sent

2014 Report Iran flying air missions into Iraq vs IS Nov 18-23 and Nov 29-30 Dec 1-2 flew sorties

into Diyala

2015 UN reports of abuse of Sunnis in areas freed of IS Done by ISF Hashd Peshmerga Included

looting Destroying homes Evictions Kidnappings Illegal Arrests Extra judicial killings

(Musings On Iraq review A Stranger in Your Own City, Travels in the Middle East’s Long War)

2016 Human Rights Watch KRG restricted food water and business in Sinjar dist to hurt PKK 90%

of Yazidis displaced in district Only a few returned Some tried to return and stopped by KRG forces

2016 Parliament accepted Baghdad-KRG deal KRG would export 550,000 bar/day of oil in return

for paying KRG salaries

2017 Report 33% of markets in Irbil closed over 4 months due to financial crisis Started over dispute

with Baghdad over oil and budget

2018 Protesters clashed with police outside govt building in Basra

2019 Report US officials said Iran still sending short range ballistic missiles to Iraq

(Musings On Iraq News Of Iran Moving Missiles Into Iraq Continue)

2019 Human Rights Watch ISF used lethal force vs protesters PM Abdul Mahdi ordered not

to use live ammo but not followed Nov Human Rights Comm reported 354 protesters killed 8104 injured Actual numbers likely higher Nov 28 16 protesters killed outside Ayatollah Hakim shrine when guards opened fire on crowd Guards at Iranian consulate in Najaf also fired on protesters Najaf govt called on Baghdad to stop killings and punish those responsible ISCI Hashd blamed for killings Nov 28 Emergency Response Div fired on protesters in Nasiriya Killed 25 Wounded 160 PM Abdul Mahdi removed head of Dhi Qar security afterward Dec 1 policeman sentenced to death for killing protester in Wasit Another officer got 7 yrs Only people punished

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

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

2019 Activist assassinated in Baghdad Another kidnapped 1 protester killed in Basra from

gun shot

2020 Protests in Dhi Qar that included Sadrists Demonstrations in Basra Wasit Diwaniya Baghdad

2020 Report 1000s protested in Sulaymaniya over KRG not paying salaries Part of KRG financial

crisis due to mismanaged economy Low oil prices Dispute with Baghdad over oil and budget since 2014 PM Maliki stopped monthly budget payments as a result KRG didn’t pay govt salaries for 2 months Wanted to borrow more to cover salaries Oil prices collapsed putting KRG into billions in debt to oil traders and lenders PM Kazemi made deal with KRG where it was to turn over half its customs revenues in exchange for $271 mil/mo payments Baghdad made 2 payments to KRG but it didn’t send anything in return

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

2021 Investigator looking into Hashd cmdr accused of killing activist was killed himself

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