This Day In Iraqi History - Aug 5 Pres Bush said Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait would not stand

 

1933 Iraqi army swept through Jebel Behkair executed any Assyrians found

(Musings On Iraq review The Tragedy of the Assyrian Minority in Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review State and Society in Iraq)

This Day In Iraqi History - Aug 4 French deported Assyrians from Syria who then attacked Iraqi army believing they were sent to kill them Captured Assyrians executed

 

1914 US consulate report Ottomans ordered mobilization and draft in Baghdad

This Day In Iraqi History - Aug 3 IS took Sinjar starting Yazidi genocide

 

1922 New cabinet formed under PM Abd al-Rahman al-Gaylani

This Day In Iraqi History - Aug 2 Iraq invaded Kuwait

 

1914 Ottomans signed alliance with Germany that would bring Mesopotamia into WW1

This Day In Iraqi History - Aug 1 Iraq walked out on talks with Kuwait which would lead to invasion

 

883 Mohammed leader of Zanj slave rebellion killed by Abbasid army led by Caliph

Muwafaq

(Musings On Iraq review The Revolt Of African Slaves In Iraq in the 3^rd/9^th Century)

Review Orit Bashkin, Impossible Exodus, Iraqi Jews In Israel, Stanford University Press, 2017

  

In 2015 an Israeli was looking for an Arab to kill in revenge for the deaths of Jews. He stabbed an Iraqi Jew because he looked like an Arab. Even after the Iraqi yelled that he was Jewish the man continued his attack. Luckily the Iraqi was able to run away. This is a metaphor for author Orit Bashkin on how Iraqis were treated in Israel. Even though they were Jewish they were treated as an Other because they came from an Arab country.

This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 31 Foreign companies divided up Iraq’s petroleum concession

 

1918 UK oil expert Adm Slade wrote 1^st Lord of the Admiralty Sir Geddes that UK should seize as

much oil as possible which included fields in Iraq

(Musings On Iraq review Enemy On The Euphrates, The Battle For Iraq 1914-1921)

Iraq’s PM Zaidi Threatened By US-Saudi Strike On Pro-Iran Resistance

  

On July 29 the United States and Saudi Arabia launched a series of strikes against the Hashd throughout Iraq. Bases were hit in Baghdad, Basra, Diyala, Karbala, Kirkuk, Ninewa and Wasit leading to the deaths of 20 Hashd members, the wounding of 32 along with 5 Iranian advisers being killed.  

This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 30 Pres Bakr accused PM Naif and Defense Minister of trying to overthrow govt PM arrested Allowed Bakr to consolidate power Saddam appointed Dep Sec Gen of Baath Party

 

762 Construction of Round City of Baghdad began by Abbasid Empire

This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 29 Assyrian leader Mar Shimun said he was being detained by govt and would go to League of Nations if Baghdad did nothing about Assyrian demands

 

1933 Assyrian leader Mar Shimun wrote letter to Interior Min Said he was being detained He would

help settle Assyrians If govt did nothing he would go to League of Nations and advocate for Assyrians to leave Iraq Letter sent to ambassadors in Iraq embarrassing govt

(Musings On Iraq review The Tragedy of the Assyrian Minority in Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review State and Society in Iraq)

This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 28 Iranian Revolutionary Guard invaded Kurdistan to fight KDPI Left behind weapons and equipment for PUK to use against KDP

 

1823 Ottomans and Safavids signed peace treaty that set border between two empires after

Persian invasion of Iraq failed

This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 27 VP Abdul Mahdi’s bodyguards robbed bank in Baghdad Executed 8 guards

 

1912 Work began building railway through Mesopotamia financed by Germany

Musings On Iraq In The News

I was quoted in this article by Wladimir Van Wilgenburg "What's Behind Iraq's New Anti-Corruption Campaign" in Khayrion 

 

This Day In Iraqi History Jul 26 Report Iraqi officer said order given to kill all Islamic State prisoners in Battle of Mosul

 

1920 Gertrude Bell wrote that Baghdad started the 1920 Revolt but lost control of it when tribes

rose up and they listened to no one Baghdad did not start 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)

(Musings On Iraq review A Quest in the Middle East, Gertrude Bell and the Making of Modern Iraq)

This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 25 Saddam told Amb Glaspie US plotting against him and that he would act against Kuwait if it didn’t give into his demands Glaspie warned him not to use force

 

1915 British attack on Nasiriya restarted and took city

This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 24 Treaty of Lusanne said League of Nations would decide whether Mosul vilayet went to Iraq or Turkey

 

1920 France occupied Syria Defeated King Faisal’s forces leading him to flee Would set sites on

Mesopotamia afterward

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

This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 23 Tamerlane took Baghdad Massacred population Destroyed the city

 

1401 Tamerlane and Tartars took Baghdad for 2^nd time Ordered his men to bring him the heads of 2

Baghdadis Were said to be 120 towers of skulls afterwards Ordered city to be flattened Was in revenge for city standing up to him

This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 22 After assuming power Saddam claimed there was a Syrian coup against him and purged the Baath Party of his opponents by having them executed

 

1920 Albu Hassan took Kifil from British 1920 Revolt All of Mid-Euphrates under tribal control

except for Hillah Babil

(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)

Iraq’s Oil Exports Surge In June While US-Iran Ceasefire Lasted

  

In June it appeared that the US-Iran War had subsided and the Strait of Hormuz was once again open. In turn, Iraq began loading tanker ships with its oil. The next month however hostilities were renewed and Baghdad was right back to where it started being unsure of its economic future.

This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 21 Natl Sec Adv Hadley began review of US Iraq strategy Would take 6 months and lead to Surge

 

1920 Kufa was surrounded by rebels 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)

Could Iraq’s Move Towards The US Actually Help Iran?

New Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi has decided to thrown in his lot with the United States and the Trump administration. That means disarming the pro-Iran Resistance and fighting corruption. Some of this might actually help Tehran though.

This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 20 Ayatollah Khomeini endorsed ceasefire in Iran-Iraq War

 

1920 Pro-Independence delegation of Iraqis met UK High Commissioner Wilson who invited 20

pro-British Iraqis Meeting went nowhere British later tried to arrest pro-independence delegates

(Musings On Iraq review Enemy On The Euphrates, The Battle For Iraq 1914-1921)

This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 19 Qasim started crackdown on Communists hoping to limit their power

 

1733 Safavid siege of Baghdad ended by Ottoman relief force

This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 18 Iran and Iraq agreed to ceasefire to end Iran-Iraq War

 

1921 Christian Jewish Muslim notables had meeting at Grad Rabbi’s house in Baghdad Gave

support for Faisal to be king after much lobbying by Gertrude Bell

(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 A Quest in the Middle East, Gertrude Bell and the Making of Modern Iraq)

Review Nikolas Gardner, The Siege of Kut-al-Amara, At War In Mesopotamia 1915-1916, Indiana University of Press, 2014

  

The British defeat at Kut during the Mesopotamia campaign was England’s second worse during World War I. Around 12,000 troops were taken prisoner almost half of which died in captivity. Nikolas Gardner in The Siege of Kut-al-Amara, At War In Mesopotamia 1915-1916 attempts to challenge the conventional wisdom about Kut. He makes a convincing argument that the commander General Sir Charles Townshend was responsible for the surrender.

This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 17 Gen Bakr led Baathist coup overthrowing Arif govt

 

869 Deposed Abbasid Caliph Mutazz executed by Turkish soldiers

(Musings On Iraq review when baghdad ruled the muslim world, the rise and fall of islam’s greatest dynasty)

Iraq Could Amnesty Those Arrested In New Anti-Corruption Campaign

Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council said it may give amnesty to those recently arrested for corruption

In January 2025 Iraq’s parliament passed a new amnesty law which allowed those accused of corruption to go free if they promised to return the money they stole. It was a way for the state to recover some of its missing funds while not prosecuting officials which could lead to political problems since they were often working for the elite. Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi may apply that same law to those he recently arrested in his anti-graft campaign.

This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 16 Saddam told chiefs of staff he was going to invade Iran

 

1919 UK India Office official Sir Hirtzel told chief political officer in Iraq Wilson there was

going to be an Arab state in Iraq or there would be a revolt

(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)

New Reports On Corruption In Iraq’s Govt Contracting

  

Iraq’s government dominates the country. It gives out huge contracts every year which are manipulated by the ruling elite.

This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 15 PM Nuri al-Said killed in aftermath of 1958 coup

 

1914 US consulate in Baghdad reported Sayid Talib and Ottoman forces attacked Sheikh

Ajaimi of Montafiq Confederation in Zubayr Basra vilayet Talib won battle and took town Gave Talib de facto control of all of Basra Led to dismissal of Ottoman governor of vilayet