There was no activity by the Islamic State in Iraq during the 4th week of September. Iraq’s Islamic Resistance however reached a new high in operations against Israel in response to its attacks upon Hezbollah in Lebanon.
1922 PM Naqib Gaylani named new cabinet Was to pass new Anglo-Iraq Treaty before
parliament formed so it wouldn’t be debated Ensured British control over Iraq
1914 Royal Naval dispatched ships to patrol Shatt al-Arab to protect Persian oil concessions
(Musings On Iraq review Iraq In World War I, From Ottoman Rule to British Conquest)
(Musings On Iraq review When God Made Hell, The British Invasion of Mesopotamia and the Creation of Iraq, 1914-1921)
1915 British attacked Ottomans at Es Sinn with frontal attack Ottomans held and then retreated at
night
1915 Battle of Es Sinn began 1st move by British to take Kut from Ottomans
(Musings On Iraq review When God Made Hell, The British Invasion of Mesopotamia and the Creation of Iraq, 1914-1921)
Haftland, Zahed & Aboud, Najah with Meredith May, I, Who Did Not Die, A Sweeping Story Of Loss, Redemption, And Fate, Regan Arts, 2017
I Who Did Not Die is a moving story about two soldiers on opposite sides during the Iran-Iraq War. Zahed Haftland was a 13 year old who joined the Basij because he didn’t get along with his father and wanted a direction in life. Najah Aboud was a businessman and ex-soldier who was drafted back into the army when the war began. By chance the two came across each other on the battlefield when Zahed helped Najah. They then had harrowing tales of being prisoners of war. The fact that the two not only survived their ordeals but were re-united decades later is why you should read this book.
1914 Gen Barrow at India Office said UK had to stop Turkish-Arab alliance and declaration
of jihad which could spread to Afghanistan and threaten India UK should make show of force in Shatt al-Arab to deter Arabs from backing Ottomans and if war started should seize Basra vilayet
(Musings On Iraq review Iraq In World War I, From Ottoman Rule to British Conquest)
(Musings On Iraq review When God Made Hell, The British Invasion of Mesopotamia and the Creation of Iraq, 1914-1921)
1913 US consul in Baghdad reported Basra Reform Society issued constitution Demanded autonomy
no foreign concessions recognition of Arabic language
1920 British took Fallujah during 1920 Revolt
(Musings On Iraq review Reclaiming Iraq, The 1920 Revolution and the Founding of the Modern State)
(Musings On Iraq review Enemy On The Euphrates, The Battle For Iraq 1914-1921)
1948 Shafiq Ades Jewish merchant in Basra hanged on accusation he smuggled weapons to
Palestine He sold scrap metal to Italy that re-sold it to Israel to make weapons Part of anti-Jewish feelings that spread after creation of Israel
(Musings On Iraq review Last Days in Babylon, The Exile of Iraq’s Jews, the Story of My Family)
1961 After Barzani’s forces overran army and police outposts and pushed back pro-govt Kurdish
tribes Qasim ordered counterattack Iraqi air force bombed 500 villages destroying 270 of them
(Musings On Iraq review Kurds of Iraq, Tragedy and Hope)
(Musings On Iraq review The Kurds, A Modern History)
(Musings On Iraq review The Kurdish Revolt 1961-1970)
(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)
Bluemel, James and Mansour, Dr Renad, Once Upon A Time In Iraq, History of a Modern Tragedy, BBC Books, 2020
In the introduction to Once Upon A Time In Iraq, History of a Modern Tragedy James Bluemel and Dr. Renad Mansour say they wanted to provide a voice to ordinary Iraqis so they could tell how their lives were impacted by the Iraq War. Few books include Iraqi voices so this seemed like just the type of book that is needed. In reality however the book is a mix of Iraqi and American personalities. Not only that but the first half covers 9/11 to the end of 2003. The middle is about the two battles of Fallujah and the capture, interrogation and execution of Saddam Hussein which diverges from the stated goal of the authors. The last third quickly goes from 2005 when the civil war broke out to 2017 when the Islamic State was defeated. There are definitely good moments but there could’ve been more Iraqis and the authors could’ve spent less time on the early years of the conflict.
1914 UK sent 3 gunboats to Shatt al-Arab to protect Persian oil fields
(Musings On Iraq review When God Made Hell, The British Invasion of Mesopotamia and the Creation of Iraq, 1914-1921)
1916 British leaders told troops to continue advance in Mesopotamia vs Ottomans after huge loss
at Kut One of biggest British defeats in WWI
1953 Mohammed al-Jamali became PM Was a Shiite Cabinet included Kurdish Interior Minister 7
Shiites most ever and ministers from opposition United Popular Front and Independence Party Presented land and civil service reform which parliament rejected Landowners blocked land reform MPs blocked civil service reform accusing Jamali of sectarianism
(Musings On Iraq review The Chatham House Version and other Middle-Eastern Studies)
(Musings On Iraq review Iraqi Statesman, A portrait of Mohammed Fadhel Jamali)
(Musings On Iraq review Relations Of The People to The Land In Southern Iraq)
1934 PM Ayubi Jawadat called for new elections Hoped to pack parliament with his followers
who were loyal to King Ghazi by fixing vote Parliament criticized for being overly Sunni
(Musings On Iraq review Iraq’s Democratic Moment)
(Musings On Iraq review Independent Iraq 1932-1958, A Study in Iraqi Politics)
1929 Acting Iraq High Commissioner Air Vice Marshal Brooke-Popham told King Faisal that UK
had not changed its position on new Anglo-Iraq Treaty or Iraqi independence
1929 Jews attended meeting of Arab nationalists in Baghdad against UK and Zionists in Palestine
Accused the Iraqi government of being under British influence
Benson, Colonel Kevin, Expectation of Valor, Planning For The Iraqi War, Casemate, 2024
Colonel Kevin Benson who was the chief planner for the 3rd Army wrote Expectation of Valor, Planning For The Iraqi War in response to the conventional wisdom that the U.S. military did not prepare for postwar Iraq in 2003. The author writes that the army did spend time coming up with ideas on how to secure and stabilize the country after the fall of Saddam. However he blames Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, General Tommy Franks and the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) for undermining the work that was done.
1915 British forces launched campaign to capture Baghdad starting in present day Wasit
(Musings On Iraq review Enemy On The Euphrates, The Battle For Iraq 1914-1921)
(Musings On Iraq review When God Made Hell, The British Invasion of Mesopotamia and the Creation of Iraq, 1914-1921)
The “Theft of the Century” where $2.5 billion was stolen from the government remains one of the biggest stories in Iraq. The main figure involved in the scandal Nour Zuhair was arrested, paid bail and then disappeared while the head of the country’s anti-corruption Integrity Commission claimed that one of the judges in the case colluded with Zuhair.
1921 1st Iraqi cabinet formed under newly coronated King Faisal Abd al-Rahman al-Gaylani became
Iraq’s 1st PM
(Musings On Iraq review The Role of the Military In Politics, A case study of Iraq to 1941)
(Musings On Iraq review The Chatham House Version and other Middle-Eastern Studies)
871 Zanj slave rebellion returned to Basra city Offered amnesty to residents and then
massacred them Survivors hid in city for weeks and turned to cannibalism for food
Musings On Iraq review The Revolt Of African Slaves In Iraq in the 3rd/9th Century
1922 Gertrude Bell wrote that while King Faisal was beloved he was also weak because he was
Oriental Was in relation to Faisal’s demand for Iraqi independence which Bell believed was due to Faisal’s nationalist advisers that she saw as troublemakers
(Musings On Iraq review Gertrude Bell And Iraq)
(Musings On Iraq review Gertrude Bell, Explorer of the Middle East)
(Musings On Iraq movie review Letters from Baghdad)
(Musings On Iraq review Desert Queen, The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell: Adventurer, Adviser to Kings, Ally of Lawrence of Arabia)
(Musings On Iraq review Inventing Iraq: The Failure of Nation Building and a History Denied)
871 Zanj slave rebellion seized Basra city Looted it Killed most of the population then left
fearing trap
Musings On Iraq review The Revolt Of African Slaves In Iraq in the 3rd/9th Century
1930 Riots in Sulaymaniya against parliamentary elections after some had called for boycott and
Baghdad replaced some local officials
Young, Gavin, Return to the Marshes, Life with the Marsh Arabs of Iraq, Collins, 1977
Return to the Marshes, Life with the Marsh Arabs of Iraq by Gavin Young is a huge disappointment. On the one hand it contains a large number of color photos of the Iraqi marshes which are very impressive. On the other hand the text adds little to the book as Young got caught up giving a history of Iraq starting from ancient times rather than just focusing upon the Marsh Arabs.
1920 Gertrude Bell wrote that Iraq was in the middle of a jihad during 1920 revolt
(Musings On Iraq review Enemy On The Euphrates, The Battle For Iraq 1914-1921)
(Musings On Iraq review Reclaiming Iraq, The 1920 Revolution and the Founding of the Modern State)
(Musings On Iraq review Gertrude Bell And Iraq)
(Musings On Iraq review Gertrude Bell, Explorer of the Middle East)
(Musings On Iraq movie review Letters from Baghdad)
(Musings On Iraq review Desert Queen, The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell: Adventurer, Adviser to Kings, Ally of Lawrence of Arabia)
1921 Colonial Secretary Churchill memo said he supported Iraqi govt and independence to
maintain British influence in Iraq
(Musings On Iraq Churchill In His Own Words On Mesopotamia/Iraq)
(Musings On Iraq review Britain In Iraq, Contriving King and Country)
(Musings On Iraq review Britain’s Informal Empire In The Middle East, A Case Study of Iraq 1929-1941)
(Musings On Iraq review Churchill’s Folly, How Winston Churchill Created Modern Iraq)
(Musings On Iraq review Supremacy And Oil, Iraq, Turkey, and the Anglo-American World Order, 1918-1930)
1920 UK army ordered two outer camps in Samawa be abandoned during siege of town Led to
heavy losses during 1920 Revolt
1919 Jews sent letter to two Iraqi papers declaring their support for Arabs against the Balfour
Declaration where UK said it supported creating a Jewish homeland in Palestine
Claire, Rodger, Raid On The Sun, Inside Israel’s Secret Campaign That Denied Saddam The Bomb , Broadway Books, 2004 Rodger Claire’s Ra...