This Day In Iraqi History - Apr 29 Ottomans defeated British at Kut 2nd biggest loss for UK during WWI

 

1916 Ottomans defeated the British at Battle of Kut after 4 months Captured 13,309 prisoners 7,000

of which died in captivity British lost 33,000 casualties One of largest defeats for UK in WWI

 

1939 PM Said speech Accused ex-PM Sulaiman of being in Turkish Union and Progress Party Said

he tried to destroy Iraq as revenge for fall of Ottomans

1941 More British troops from 20^th Inf Brigade arrived in Basra Iraq protested

1941 UK Ambassador told British women and children to leave Baghdad because of expected war

with Iraq

1941 PM Gaylani sent Iraqi forces to UK air base at Habaniya Anbar 11^th Inf Brigade ordered to

Baghdad to later be deployed to Anbar UK Embassy in Baghdad informed UK forces in Habaniya Iraqi army heading their way

(Musings On Iraq interview World War II In Iraq and Syria Interview With Case Western’s Prof Broich)

1941 Iraqis flooded Habaniya area limiting movement of UK troops there Occupied Kirkuk oil

fields Cut oil to Haifa and restarted flow to Lebanon for Vichy France that could be used by Axis

(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)

1948 Battle of Katamon began between Jewish forces attacking Iraqi volunteers and Arab Legion in

1^st Arab-Israeli War

1954 Arshad al-Umari became PM for 2^nd time after Nuri al-Said turned down position 1922-58

were 59 cabinets

(Musings On Iraq review The Chatham House Version and other Middle-Eastern Studies)

1959 Gen Qasim refused to recognize Communists as a political party

1959 Communist central committee demanded power sharing within Qasim 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)

1962 Govt started spring offensive against Mustafa Barzani

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

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

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

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

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

1969 Iraq condemned Shah of Iran for unilaterally ending 1937 border treaty over Shatt al-Arab

waterway

1981 Amnesty Intl report interviewed 15 Iraqis exiles detailing torture methods used by govt

1982 Iran launched Op Bait al-Moqaddas in Ahvaz Khafajiya Taheri Aimed to liberate

Khorramshahr Iran used 12 divisions 200,000 soldiers vs 5 Iraqi divisions and 65,000 men Iran gained 300 sq mi Iranian paratroopers dropped on Karun River near Darkhovin while engineers built bridge over river

1986 Iraq launched counterattack to stop Iran Al Fajr 9 outside Rawanduz Irbil

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

1986 Iran launched counterattack along 3 fronts in Basra Advanced up road to Um Qasr and north

along Faw Peninsula Basra Caused 4000 Iraqi casualties

1987 UN team went to Iraq to investigate its claims Iran used chemical weapons Looked at patients

in Baghdad who’d been exposed to mustard gas Visited 5 sites in Basra Iraq said were hit by Iranian chemical weapons Said Iraq used chemical weapons 3 times in April 1987 Gave UN artillery shells which they claimed were captured Iranian munitions UN found no mustard gas or chemical resistant coating in shells Final report said no conclusive evidence Iran used chemical weapons

(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 Report Bush and Joint Chiefs head Gen Powell both thought of Vietnam when Iraq revolt

started Didn’t want to get caught in civil war and quagmire

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

1994 Iraqi army launched new military campaign to drive out displaced and rebels from southern

marshes

1994 Sec State Christopher wrote NYTimes OpEd Said Iraq complying with UN Res 687 was not

enough to end sanctions Contradicted resolution

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

(Musings On Iraq review The Regime Change Consensus, Iraq In American Politics 1990-2003)

(Musings On Iraq How Did America Move From Containing Saddam To Removing Him? Interview With Joseph Stieb Asst Prof at the US Naval War College)

2002 Pentagon official said 9/11 hijacker met with Iraqi intel officer in Prague Didn’t happen

2003 2^nd anti-American protests in Fallujah demanding that they leave after killing people day before

Threw rocks at US troops who fired into crowd killing 3 wounding 16

(Musings On Iraq review The Battle for Fallujah, Occupation, Resistance and Stalemate in the War in Iraq)

2003 ORHA head Garner told White House flying frozen Iraqi assets to pay for salaries and pensions

helped stabilize Iraq

2004 US announced end of Battle of Fallujah Would withdraw turn over security to Fallujah Brigade

2004 Sheikh Jabani’s brother and 3 kids kidnapped in Fallujah for fighting insurgents

2004 50 former UK Ambassadors and officials wrote open letter to PM Blair Said UK had no

postwar plan for Iraq Said experts predicted that occupation of Iraq would garner resistance Said had to consider Iraqi history Concluded that Coalition strategy in Iraq was doomed to fail

2005 Gen Vines issued order for US troops to stop and report any cases of abuse by Iraqi forces

2007 US troops went to investigate torture cell run by Mahdi Army in Khadimiya Baghdad Got into

gun battle with Mahdi Army and Iraqi soldiers Afterward parliament voted to keep US forces 1 mile away from shrine

2007 Report Spec Insp Gen for Iraq Recon looked at 8 US projects 7 were not operating or had

major problems Power station for Baghdad airport had $11.8 mil spent on generators $8.6 mil worth not operating Hospital in Irbil had incinerator for waste locked and key lost Dumped waste into sewage system contaminating local water system Water purification system at hospital broke Oxygen system not used by staff that didn’t know how it worked Special Forces barracks in Baghdad had 4 generators broken due to no maintenance and supply pipes had been stolen Spec Insp Gen had warned that US was leaving projects for Iraqis that could not be maintained and were waste of money

2008 2^nd ISCI and Dawa delegation went to Iran to meet Sadr and Iran Rev Guards Quds Force’s

Gen Suleimani to negotiate ceasefire in Charge of Knights Iraqis provided evidence Iran supported militias including names of people locations of training camps and cells working with Tehran Iran denied everything Accused Iraqis of selling out to US and ignoring help Iran gave Shiite parties since 2003 Said it was wrong to go after Mahdi Army because they were Iran’s allies Said Mahdi Army needed to counter Sahwa created by US Sadr refused meeting

(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 Policy Towards Iraq)

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

2008 Report Iran Rev Guard Quds Force Cmdr Gen Suleimani sent message to Gen Petraeus and

Amb Crocker that Iran not responsible for fighting between Maliki govt and Mahdi Army Iran gave weapons to Mahdi Army during fighting

2008 Accordance Front MPs found torture at Karbala prison overcrowding in Babil ones

2008 Turkey’s Foreign Minister said Ankara wanted better relations with KRG

2008 Former Dep Sec Def Wolfowitz said Bush admin never expected an insurgency in Iraq Said

there were enough US troops after invasion but US failed to create enough ISF Admitted Bush admin was clueless about counterinsurgency

2008 Female suicide bomber attacked bus stop in Muqdadiya Another female suicide

            bomber attacked Sahwa in Abu Saida both in Diyala

(Musings On Iraq The Rise of Female Suicide Bombers)

(Musings On Iraq Motivations Behind Female Suicide Bombers)

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

2009 Police sent by Integrity Commission to arrest Trade Min Sudani for corruption got

into shootout with guards in Baghdad $4-$8 bil missing from ministry Bought expired food and charged Ministry full price Bought food and kept it for themselves to sell on black market Bought goods for double the prices Sudani signed contract with company owned by his son for $50 mil for old tea that was only worth $20 mil Bought contaminated milk from China Found $8 mil in expired food in warehouse Sudani’s brother and nephew got $40 in kickbacks from every ton of sugar imported by ministry Sudani used some of money to fund PM Maliki’s State of Law in 2009-10 elections

(Musings On Iraq Half Of Corruption Cases Against Iraq’s Former Trade Minister Dropped)

(Musings On Iraq Corruption In Iraq An Interview With Stuart Bowen Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction)

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s Trouble Fighting Corruption Interview With Vincent Foulk Former US Anti-Graft Official)

2009 Interior Ministry said ISI had successfully penetrated ISF and used agents to carry out attacks

2010 PM Maliki said that there were no secret prisons in Iraq after one at Muthanna Airport prison

was revealed Claimed that torture victims at Muthanna prison gave themselves scars to fake abuse

(Musings On Iraq Secret Baghdad Prison Discovered By Iraq’s Human Rights Ministry)

(Musings On Iraq Why Nothing Is Going To Be Done About Abuse In Iraq’s Prisons)

2010 US accused Iran of using Hezbollah to carry out attacks against its forces in Iraq

(Musings On Iraq Hezbollah’s Role In Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq Iran’s Policy Towards Iraq)

2010 Sadrists said PM Maliki could not get a second term as premier

2011 Obama’s National Security Adviser suggested 10,000 US troops stay in Iraq after withdrawal

(Musings On Iraq review Duty, Memoirs of a Secretary At War)

(Musings On Iraq review The Endgame, The Inside Story of the Struggle for Iraq, from

George W. Bush to Barack Obama)

2011 Sadr threatened to bring back Mahdi Army if US forces stayed past end of year

(Musings On Iraq Iraq May See The Return of Sadr’s Mahdi Army)

2011 KRG security forces arrested one of top protest leaders in Sulaymaniya

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

2011 Report KRG saw longest sustained protests in Iraq since 03 KDP-PUK blamed opposition

parties Said they were trying to bring down govt Security forces went after activists More than 200 journalists harassed arrested tortured covering protests

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

2011 Anbar councilman Fallujah police chief and other officials arrested in Anbar Anbar Ops

Command and PM Maliki blamed

2011 Protest in Baghdad demanding end to corruption US withdrawal Release of prisoners

(Musings On Iraq Another Friday’s Protest In Iraq’s Tahrir Square, Baghdad, April 29, 2011)

2012 Pres Barzani told US he objected to selling F-16s to Baghdad Said didn’t trust PM Maliki with

them

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s Premier And Kurdistan’s President Spar Over Weapons As Part Of Larger Political Dispute)

2012 Kurdish Coalition demanded Baghdad arm Peshmerga as part of country’s security forces Said

in 2007 Irbil and Baghdad agreed on it

2012 Special Inspector Gen for Iraqi Reconstruction found 76% of Commander’s Emergency

Response funds were lost to fraud and corruption Money went to contracts with many groups from officials to insurgents taking their cut

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

2012 Pres Barzani Pres Talabani Sadr Speaker Nujafi Allawi gave PM Maliki 15 days to follow Irbil

Agreement over power sharing Didn’t happen

(Musings On Iraq What Does Iraq’s Sadr Want?)

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s Sadrist Back Off Attacks Upon Prime Minister Maliki For Now)

(Musings On Iraq How The No Confidence Move Against Iraq’s Premier Split The Kurdish Parties)

2012 Sadrists repeated that they would not support no confidence vote vs PM Maliki

2013 PM Maliki and Pres Barzani agreed on 7 point program to repair relations between Baghdad

and Irbil Only partially implemented

2013 ISIS set off 2 car bombs in central Karbala 2 car bombs in Amarah 1 car bomb in Diwaniya

2014 ISIS took credit for suicide bombing of PUK rally in Khanaqin, Diyala that killed 30 Wounded

64

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

2014 Report that US intel believed Maliki getting re-elected PM would divide Iraq more

2014 Report PM Maliki ordered army out of Ramadi and Fallujah Helped insurgent take over Jan

2014 ISIS declared Fallujah Islamic emirate ISIS used money to buy support in Fallujah ISF not been able to hold areas it cleared in Anbar ISF and ISIS executing prisoners

2014 Report PM Maliki used Asaib Ahl Al-Haq and Kataib Hezbollah to secure Baghdad belts Told

Shiite politicians he was disappointed with ISF Publicly Maliki denied using militias 1 militiaman said he’d been deployed to Abu Ghraib since Jan 2014 and reported to Maliki Asaib Ahl Al-Haq member said given uniforms and weapons by govt and deployed to Latifiya

(Musings On Iraq Asaib Ahl Al-Haq From A Breakaway Sadr Militia To Defenders Of Iraq)

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

2014 Report Up to 1000 ISF killed in fighting in Anbar More deserted Soldiers complained not given

ammo or equipment Soldier in Ramadi said only 120 of 750 men in his battalion still on duty Rest had deserted Officers stole money for food fuel and supplies General said commissions were sold Officers extorted money from business Charged taxes at checkpoints

2014 Report Keys to PM Maliki’s power Was weak leader at 1^st Charge of Knights led to strong image

Sought support of Shiite middle class Included token Sunnis in govt Used Kurds against Sunni Arabs Broke up cross sectarian alliance like Iraqiya in 2010 Went after independent commissions Asserted control over ISF Refused to integrate sahwa Ignored parliament Issued warrants for rivals like VP Hashemi Attacked Kurds over oil policy Tried to deter foreign investment in KRG Gave positions to other Shiite parties to win support Promoted corruption Went after Sadr Used Asaib Ahl Al-Haq against Sadr Used Iran and Russia to balance US influence Blamed Saudis for violence Argued Sunnis hated Shiites

2015 Report Zarqawi attacked Shiites believing that would rally Sunnis to him 2004 created Omar

Brigade to assassinate militiamen Used indiscriminate violence with bombings to establish control By 2006 had control of many other insurgent groups Led to Sahwa turning against ISI 2008 began planning comeback Targeted sahwa Didn’t believe argument Baathists were behind much of ISIS’ success Baathists were not in Zarqawi or Abu Omar al-Baghdadi’s inner circle

(Musings On Iraq Behind The Revival Of The Islamic State in Iraq, Interview With Naval War College Prof Craig Whiteside)

2015 Diyala police chief claimed no insurgent strongholds in province Said all regions were under

ISF control Not true

2016 Protests in Baghdad Basra Najaf Qadisiya Maysan Karbala Dhi Qar Muthanna against

corruption and sectarian quotas in govt

2017 Report PUK leadership split over independence referendum Gorran refused to talk with KDP

over referendum Accused KDP of abusing power

(Musings On Iraq What’s Next For Kurdistan After The Referendum?)

(Musings On Iraq review The Great Betrayal, How America Abandoned The Kurds And Lost The Middle East)

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