This Day In Iraqi History - Feb 26 Saddam announced Iraq’s withdrawal from Kuwait Said it was a victory because Iraq stood up to the multi-national Coalition

 

1917 3 British gunboats fired upon by 4 Ottoman ships at Nahr-al-Kalek, Wasit 3 Turkish

ships sunk and 4^th captured Turned Ottoman retreat from Kut into a route Losses convinced Turks couldn’t hold Baghdad

 

1973 Army raided Sinjar to force Yazidis to flee

1983 Iran’s Op Fajr al-Nasr in Maysan to seize Basra-Baghdad road ended

(Musings On Iraq review Iran-Iraq War Volume 4: The Forgotten Fronts)

1984 Iraq counterattack pushed back Iran’s Op Kheibar in Basra marshes

(Musings On Iraq review Iran-Iraq War Volume 2: Iran Strikes back, June 1982-December 1986)

1987 Iran officially ended Op Karbala 5 in Basra Suffered 52,000-62,000 casualties vs

40,000 Iraqis casualties

(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)

1991 Saddam said Iraq withdrawing from Kuwait Said was victory because Iraq stood up to

30 countries and Kuwait legally became part of Iraq

(Musings On Iraq review Desert Storm, Volume 2: Operation Desert Storm and the Coalition Liberation of Kuwait 1991)

(Musings On Iraq Review The Weight of a Mustard Seed, The Intimiate Story of an Iraqi General and His Family During Thirty Years of Tyranny)

1991 Iraq’s Republican Guard Tawakalna Medina Hammurabi Divs set up blocking line to

Coalition forces coming from left flank US 3^rd inf Div attacked 52^nd Armored Div 17 Div Adnan and Tawakalna Divs which were overrun Medina Div and battalion from 14^th Mechanized Div tried to protect retreating Iraqis but were wiped out

1991 Battle of 73 Easting US 2^nd Arm Cav Rgt fought Iraq’s Tawakalna Div By end of day

Tawakalna destroyed

(Musings On Iraq review Bradley vs BMP, Desert Storm 1991)

(Musings On Iraq review M1 Abrams vs T-72 Ural, Operation Desert Storm 1991)

1991 Battle of Norfolk US 1^st Arm Div UK 1^st Arm Div destroyed Iraq’s  25^th, 31^st, 48^th

divisions

1991 1 Al-Hussein missile fired at Qatar

1991 US aircraft began attacking retreating Iraqi forces from Kuwait on Highway of Death

1991 Joint Chiefs head Gen Powell told Gen Schwarzkopf political mood shifting on war

Schwarzkopf said he needed more time to achieve his goals which was destroyed Republican Guard

(Musings On Iraq review Crusade, The Untold Story Of The Persian Gulf War)

1991 Iraq said it was willing to end annexation of Kuwait and pay reparations for a ceasefire

in Gulf War and end of sanctions

1991 Bush admin officials said they wanted to keep sanctions on Iraq to provoke a coup

(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)

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

1998 UN Secretary Gen Annan rejected Foreign Min Aziz’s letter asking to change terms of

new agreement for weapons inspections

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

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

1998 Dep chief inspector Duelfer and Ritter briefed White House on new plan for

inspections that would include Def Min

1998 Dep chief inspector Duelfer and Ritter briefed White House on new plan for

inspections that would include Def Min

1998 Clinton Adm told Chief UN inspector Butler US planned air strike on Iraq in Mar if

didn’t cooperate with inspectors

2002 Fmr Amb Wilson arrived in Niger to investigate Iraq trying to buy uranium Story fake

(Musings On Iraq How US Intelligence Failed The Iraq-Niger Uranium Story)

(Musings On Iraq Review Hubris, The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, And The Selling Of The Iraq War)

2002 MI6 Chief Dearlove said US would demand weapons inspectors under conditions

Saddam wouldn’t accept to justify military action

2003 Bush speech at Amer Enterprise Inst Said Iraq was direct threat to US due to WMD

and links to terrorists Said US had experience in stability operations and putting reformers in power Said other nations would help rebuild Iraq and US would stay in Iraq as long as necessary but “not a day more” Said spreading democracy to Iraq would be an inspiration to Middle East

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

(Musings On Iraq review Hard Lessons, The Iraq Reconstruction Experience)

(Musings On Iraq review What Happened, Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception)

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

Policy Tragedy)

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq’s Future The aftermath of regime change)

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

(Musings On Iraq review Fiasco: The American Military Adventure In Iraq)

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

The Sectarian War of 2006)

2003 Opposition Follow Up and Coordination Committee met in Kurdistan Mohammed

Bakir al-Hakim wrote letter to meeting Said concerned US would exclude Iraqi people from running Iraq Meant the opposition Meeting elected leadership committee of Talabani Barzani Hakim Allawi Chalabi Adnan Pachachi added later He refused to join because of disagreements with Chalabi Later on Jaafari of Dawa and Chadiricy of Iraqi National Movement included

2004 Gen Taguba handed in his report on Abu Ghraib prison abuse case

2004 Ayatollah Sistani dropped demand for elections to be held by June 04 but said they had to happen by

end of year

(Musings On Iraq review Squandered Victory, The American Occupation And the Bungled Effort to Bring Democracy to Iraq)

2006 Al Qaeda in Iraq assassinated Gen Saab Manfi Mohammed al-Rawi of Albu Rawi

Member of Anbar Security Council

(Musings On Iraq review Illusions of Victory, The Anbar Awakening And The Rise Of The Islamic State)

2007 Cabinet approved draft oil bill Unions Sunnis and Sadr all attacked bill Never passed

2007 Report EFP cache found in Hillah and another in Diyala US military said proof that

Iran was providing weapons to Iraqi militias

(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)

2008 Health Min Hasnawi blamed corrupt officials for importing expired and counterfeit

medicines

2008 Fmr Defense Min Allawi said right after 03 invasion Badr Brigade sent in 10,000

fighters into Iraq and took control of Baquba Kut and other southern cities along Iranian border

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

2008 Report Tehran received files on Iraqi intel officers under Saddam that worked on Iran

            and carried out campaign to assassinate them

2008 Report Badr provided intel on Sadrists to Americans to eliminate their rivals

2008 Report Turkey said latest op vs PKK in KRG was new era in US-Turkish relations Turkey told US

and Baghdad before attack KRG Pres Barzani approved op

2009 Iraqi Federation of Industries said 90% of factories closed since 1986

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s Closed Factories)

2009 Report Maliki govt put development projects on hold because pay raises on public workers expansion of

security forces and decline in oil revenues

2010 Report 61 Christian families fled Mosul for Kurdistan due to threats and attacks

(Musings On Iraq review Christianity in Iraq)

2010 Report 7 of 29 Diyala councilmen had warrants for them Didn’t attend sessions because afraid

of arrest Leading Sunni candidate in 2010 election arrested on terrorism charges Was a sahwa leader His list won 9 seats in Diyala in 2009 Escaped assassination attempts 23 members of his family killed Supporter accused PM Maliki of trying to eliminate opposition US said ISF had been carrying out large number of arrests in Diyala since Dec for political reasons

2011 Riot police broke up demonstration in Sulaymaniya city 1 protester killed

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

(Musings On Iraq How Iraq’s Kurdistan Broke Up Two Months Of Protests)

2011 Gorran issued 17 point reform program in response to protests Included new elections

2011 Report ISF arrested hundreds including journalists artists and intellectuals after Feb 25

Day of Rage protests Detainees blamed Army intel of threats and torture

(Musings On Iraq Government Moves To Suppress Protests In Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq Iraq Is The Most Dangerous Place In The World For Journalists)

2011 Report Finance Min said it would add 170,000 new govt jobs Said many govt workers were

underemployed Would be used for patronage

2012 Interview with Dep PM Mutlaq wouldn’t apologize for calling PM Maliki a dictator Maliki claimed

Mutlaq was Saudi agent Mutlaq said Iran was what Iraq should worry about Said Maliki’s govt put together by Iran Said govt was sectarian and partisan Said Irbil agreement that was about power sharing not working Still no Defense Interior National Security ministers Said Dawa took biggest % of govt positions

2012 Report Salahaddin handed over signatures to Election Comm to turn province into region Process

started in Oct Said PM Maliki repressing Sunnis

2013 US govt report Oil exports larger % of Iraq’s exports than Kuwait Iran Saudi Arabia Qatar Iraq’s

other products uncompetitive with imports Iraq had large trade deficit in every field except oil 2004-2010 value of Iraq’s non-oil exports declined 73% Oil increased corruption Made govt independent of population and unresponsive to their demands Agriculture employed 23% of work force but less than 3% of GDP Oil and gas employed 1% of workers but 59% of GDP Industry employed 4% of workers but 2% of GDP Construction employed 11% of workers 3% of GDP More than 300,000 people entered workforce each yr and was going up State owned enterprises pushed out private companies Govt increased subsidies Economy dominated by statist laws and rules Economic laws confusing New laws strengthened state Impeded development of private sector

2014 Report PUK official said Nechrivan Barzani made secret deal with Turkey over KRG oil

exports Claimed agreed to allow exports if deal with PM Maliki not made

2014 KRG Pres Barzani said Baghdad cutting off budget payments was a declaration of war Said it was

illegal PM Maliki cut off budget payments to protest KRG’s independent oil policy

2015 Human Rights Watch on Kurdish abuses in Ninewa Limited movement of Arabs

Blocked displaced returning to freed areas while allowing Kurds in Cordoned off around 40 villages with 20,000 residents and didn’t allow them to leave Destroyed homes in Zummar and Makhmour dists

(Musings On Iraq Human Rights Watch Report On Kurdish Abuses In Northern Iraq)

2015 Coalition air strike in Anbar killed Shishani aka Turkmani deputy leader of IS

2016 Sadrists joined Friday protests in Baghdad saying they would end support for Abadi if

cabinet wasn’t reformed Said would storm Green Zone

(Musings On Iraq interview with Cambridge’s Michael Clark on Sadr’s protests and demands on PM Abadi)

(Musings On Iraq Sadr Trying To Play Kingmaker In Iraq)

2016 Kurdish Alliance said they would not give up their ministries to go along with Abadi’s

reforms

2018 Report Adv to Ayatollah Khemenei went to Iraq in Feb Said Iran wouldn’t allow liberals or

communists to take power in Baghdad Was referring to Sadr’s alliance with Communists over protests Claimed US tried to build NATO base in Iraq to break up Muslim unity Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba said it was trying to get US out of Iraq

2019 Report Oil Min Ghadban said KRG unlikely to meet its quota of 250,000 bar/day of oil

exports for Baghdad in return for monthly budget payments Said because KRG sold its future sales to companies like Rosneft for $3 bil loan

2020 2 protesters killed by ISF in Baghdad

2021 Police fired into crowd in Nasiriya killing 6 Total 12 killed Were demanding governor

resign Iraq Human Rights Comm said situation was out of control and govt doing nothing

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

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

2021 Dhi Qar governor resigned over deadly protests that wanted him out PM Kazemi

assigned National Security Agency head Asadi as interim governor

(Musings On Iraq After 6 More Protesters Killed PM Kazemi Seeks To Control Explosive Situation In Dhi Qar)

2021 US hit Kataib Hezbollah camp along Iraq-Syria border in retaliation for attacks upon

US targets in Iraq 1 KH member killed

(Musings On Iraq Instrument Of Iran’s Power In Iraq And Syria Kataib Hezbollah)

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