This Day In Iraqi History – May 7

1941 British troops took Ashar, Basra

1985 Iraq shelled Kharmashahr

1992 Dep Natl Sec Adv Gates said Iraqis would have to suffer sanctions as long as

            Saddam remained in power

2003 US military found trailers that could be mobile WMD labs Proved false

2003 Undersec of Def Cambone said US would eventually find Iraq’s WMD and

            that mobile WMD labs had been found already

2003 ORHA decided to allow Baath members to return to jobs in ministries Said

            only 55 most wanted were banned

2004 Zarqawi beheaded American Nick Berg and videotaped it

2004 Rumsfeld testified to House and Senate about Abu Ghraib prison scandal

            apologizing for abuse

2004 Bin Laden tape offered reward for killing US and UN officials or citizens of any

            country that has troops in Iraq

2005 Jaafari filled 5 empty ministry spots and 1 Dep PM but Human Rights Minister

            turned down job saying appointed only because he was a Sunni

2006 New KRG government formed

2008 Fighting broke out between Mahdi Army and Badr in Baghdad’s Abu Dishr after

            Sadrists tried to kill Badr commander

2009 Trade Min Sudani’s brother arrested on corruption charges

2009 KDP and PUK announced would run together in next election as Kurdish list

2011 Failed ISI attack upon a Baghdad prison

2012 Iraqi court ruled that Hezbollah’s Ali Mussa Daqduq would be released for lack

evidence Daqduq was liaison with militias

2012 At meeting with Turkish businesses and reporters KRG Premier Barzani said

            Ankara saw Kurdistan as strategic partner

2013 Hakim and Sadr met in Najaf to discuss how to deal with Maliki Decided on

            forming alliance to take power in new prov govts in south

2014 Meetings in Irbil and Amman with sheikhs failed to end fighting in Anbar

2014 Iraqi forces assault on Fallujah failed

2015 Salahaddin council said would not let displaced associated with IS return to

            homes

2015 Peshmerga demanded that Hashd withdraw from Sadiya, Diyala as two vied

            for control of area

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This Day In Iraqi History - May 6

1935 Govt arrested cleric Asadallah follower of Ayatollah Ghita who had been

            demanding concessions from govt

1935 Arrest of cleric Asadallah led to revolt by Abu Hassan, Bani Zurayij and Zawalim

            tribes against monarchy

1941 UK Foreign Min Eden told parliament if Iraq withdrew forces from Habaniya and

            fighting stopped London willing to talk Policy was to remove PM Gaylani

1941 British and Assyrian forces attacked and drove off Iraqi forces surrounding

            Habaniya 409 Iraqi soldiers captured Iraqis suffered 1,000 casualties

1941 Iraqis lost initiative in Anglo-Iraq War when gave up in Habaniya Had

            no plan or leadership to do more than lay siege to base

1941 British and Assyrian forces took Sin al-Dhiban, Anbar captured 300 Iraqi soldiers

1941 British planes destroyed Iraqi column heading for Habaniya inflicting over 1,000

            casualties and prisoners taken

1941 PM Gaylani told Mufti of Jerusalem to contact Germans and ask them for

            immediate aid

1941 German deal with Vichy France allowed military equipment to be moved from

            Syria to Iraq to fight British

1941 German air unit sent to Syria bound for Mosul to confront British

1941 More British troops landed in Basra

1941 Churchill dismissed UK Mid-East cmdr Gen Wavell for his objections to military

            action in Iraq

1963 Soviet Union said it supported Mustafa Barzani and his KDP

1991 Iraq letter to UN accused US of sending in counterfeit dinars to undermine

            economy

1991 2^nd round of Baghdad-Kurd talks started Barzani led delegation

1998 100 US peace activists led by former Attn Gen Ramsey Clark arrived in Iraq with

            $4 mil in medicine

2003 Bush speech said building democracy in Iraq would be like what US did in post

            WWII Germany and Japan

2003 Bush announced Paul Bremer as head of new CPA to run postwar Iraq

2003 Bush told Bremer he had whatever time he needed to put Iraq back together

2003 ORHA agreed to allow Baath members to return to government jobs and police

2003 NY Times Kristof OpEd used Fmr Amb Wilson as unnamed source on Iraq-Niger

            uranium deal Accused US intel of covering up differences over story

2003 NY Times OpEd said US intel “deceived” world on Iraq-Niger Deal Said

            White House and State Dept kept using story despite denial

2003 NY Times OpEd said that Fmr Amb Wilson knew that Iraq-Niger docs were

            fakes Wilson never saw docs and went to Niger 8 months before US got them

(Musings On Iraq article on Iraq-Niger uranium story)

2004 NSC meeting on how to frame and publicize the coming return of sovereignty to

Iraq

2004 First large scale fight broke out between US forces and Mahdi Army in Najaf

2004 Wash Post published new pictures of Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse

2006 British helicopter shot down over Basra killing 5 soldiers When British moved to

            secure wreckage were attacked by 300 from Mahdi Army

2008 ISF raided hospital and police stations in Baghdad accusing officers and staff

            of being Mahdi Army members

2008 ISF raided Sadr offices in Kut

2009 Sahwa in Ghaziliya Baghdad complained about his men leaving because

            not getting paid by govt

2009 Dawa MP said new offensive in Diyala would fail because insurgents had

            fled to Kurdistan

2010 Maliki govt announced start of 5 year anti-corruption plan

2013 Report said politicians manipulating Central Bank of Iraq dollar auctions

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Musings On Iraq In The News

I was quoted by Rabiya Jaffery in "Can Iraq Balance Relations With Both Saudi Arabia and its Arch-Rival Iran" in Globe Post.

Review ‘Independent Iraq’ The Monarchy & British Influence, 1941-1958

Review Elliot, Matthew, ‘Independent Iraq’ The Monarchy & British Influence, 1941-1958, London, New York: Tauris Academic Studies, 1996

Independent Iraq The Monarchy & British Influence, 1941-58 is a dense and detailed historic tome on the Iraqi government from 1941 until the 1958 coup. The author Matthew Elliot focuses upon the interplay between the monarchy, the Iraqi parliament and premiers, and the British embassy. Elliot argues that after the 1941 government of Rashid Ali al-Gaylani was removed by a British invasion during World War II for its ties to the Axis a new period of Iraqi politics emerged. The Pan-Arab military was removed, there was less political and tribal violence and instability, and London took a firmer stance trying to shape the future of the country. The two major problems the country and the British faced were reforming the government and economy.

This Day in Iraqi History - May 5

1920 British mandate announced in Baghdad

1941 UK Mideast Cmdr Gen Wavell didn’t think force from Palestine could relieve

Habaniya base in Anbar and their departure would undermine security in Palestine

1941 Gen Wavell told to think up air strike plan against Kirkuk oil fields Idea was later

            dropped

1941 Iraqi troops began withdrawing from Habaniya air base ending siege 300 captured

            by British

1973 Kuwait agreed to Iraqi offer to discuss border dispute

1981 Press report that Soviets sent military aid to Iraq through Eastern European

            allies

1985 Iraq bombed Ahvaz and Bushahr starting 2^nd War of the Cities Iran fired

            missiles at Baghdad and shelled Iraqi border towns

2003 US held provincial elections in Ninewa

2003 ORHA announced 9 man leadership group that would put together an interim

            Iraqi govt later in May

2003 ORHA official met with ex-soldiers promising them one time $20 payment if

            came back to work

2003 US forces announced captured Huda Ammash “Mrs Anthrax” that worked on

            WMD program

2003 CIA did new test with aluminum tubes Iraq tried to buy Found could not take

            speed of centrifuges

2004 Gen Abizaid told Bush that security was getting under control after insurgent

            and Sadr uprisings

2004 Bush promised investigation into Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal Appeared

            on 2 Arab TV channels condemning abuse

2004 Rumsfeld told reporter Geneva Conventions didn’t exactly apply to prisoners

            in Iraq but were more like basic rules

2009 Iraq Central Bank turned down Maliki asking to use surplus to cover budget

            deficit

2009 Farmers tried to sabotage work of CNPC at Ahdab oil field fearing company

            would take their land

2011 ISI suicide car bomb attacked Hillah police station killing 25 to mark bin

Laden’s death

2012 Anbar council said it finished preparation to hold referendum on making province a

            region

2012 Pres Talabani Pres Barzani Sadr Speaker Nujafi and Allawi issued ultimatum

            to Maliki follow power sharing Irbil agreement

2013 KRG said unless Baghdad paid them money owed they would start exporting

            oil independently

2013 Sheikh Abu Risha rejected making Anbar a region

2013 Maliki claimed Iraq took care of fake bomb detectors even though still used

2014 Heavy fighting reported between Ansar al-Sunna and ISIS in Riyad, Kirkuk

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Iraq’s Parties Complain About New Electronic Voting Machines

In May Iraq’s Election Commission will be using new electronic machines to record people’s votes and collate the results. Citizens will use a stamp to make their selection, and then the results will be sent electronically to the Commission. The devices were introduced to increase the speed of determining the totals and to avoid fraud.

This Day In Iraqi History - May 4

1941 British bombed Iraqi air bases in Baghdad and Baquba

1941 British bombers arrived at Habaniya airbase from Egypt while Iraqis continued

            to shell base

1941 British dropped leaflets on Baghdad saying war was with Gaylani govt not

            Iraqi people

1941 Regent broadcast radio message asking people not to follow Gaylani govt

1941 PM Gaylani sent diplomat to Tehran to contact Germans and ask for military aid

1941 UK Chiefs of Staff told Mid-East commander Gen Wavell he had to take action

            against the Gaylani govt

1966 Iraqi troops started military campaign against KDP

1981 Iraq began shelling Iran’s oil refinery at Abadan

1989 Saddam’s cousin and Def Min Adnan Kairallah died in mysterious helicopter

            crash

1991 2^nd round of peace talks between Kurds and Baghdad postponed due to differences

            between KDP and PUK over need for international help and oil

1995 Turkey withdrew 15,000 troops after KDP said it would crackdown on PKK

            in Kurdistan

2003 Powell said sure US would find Iraq’s WMD Rumsfeld said US never claimed

finding WMD would be easy Powell denied stories that Iraq sent its WMD to Syria

2003 US official said unlikely to find any large MWD or nuke stocks in Iraq Said

            sanctions had led Iraq to get rid of most of its WMD

2003 Iraqi scientists told US investigators Iraq had no WMD for years

2003 ORHA memo said security was still top priority in Iraq

2004 Shiite leaders called on Sadr to withdraw his Mahdi Army from Najaf and Karbala

2004 US announced it would not be withdrawing forces from Iraq as planned

2004 CIA started investigation into whether it kept undocumented prisoners in Iraq

            It did

2005 Sadrist cleric in Basra talked about imposing Islamic Law on city Bombed liquor

            stores imposed Islamic dress attacked mixed picknickers

2005 Sadrist cleric in Basra said movement didn’t want to be like Iran because most

            Iranians were corrupt

2005 Doctors in Basra said Mahdi Army had tried to stop male doctors from serving

            female patients Posted pictures of Sadr in hospitals

2006 Zarqawi gave presentation saying Al Qaeda in Iraq needed to expand its base

from Anbar into Salahaddin and Diyala Said Ramadi was to be named capital of emirate

2006 Fmr CIA National Intelligence Officer Pillar said that Bush admin manipulated

evidence to tie Iraq to Al Qaeda before invasion Part of CIA vs White House blamed gave for prewar intel

2008 ISF raided Thar Allah prayer ground in Basra

2008 Iraqi delegation in Iran to try to end Charge of Knights were refused meeting

            with Sadr

2008 Iraq backed down on charges that Iran was supporting militias fighting govt

2008 Iraq general in Karbala said Iran giving weapons to militias in city and

            undermining security

2008 Maliki said special committee created to look into Iranian interference in Iraq

2009 Sadr said he had given up on armed struggle against US and wanted to

            focus upon politics

2010 Baathist leader apologized for mistakes of party Said wanted to join politics

            Public needed to remember achievements of party

2010 State of Law and National Alliance announced joining to form National Coalition

            after national elections

2011 Speaker of US House Boehner said US forces should stay in Iraq past

            end of 2011 deadline

2011 Maliki submitted new list of nominees for security ministries empty since 2010

            elections

2012 Maliki’s media advisor Ghabban said he thought dispute between Baghdad and

            KRG would be over by end of 2012

2012 Pres Barzani gave speech saying Kurds would never live under a dictatorship

            meaning Maliki

2012 KRG called for Baghdad to pay oil companies operating in Kurdistan

2012 KRG said in talks with Turkey to build an oil and gas pipeline between two

2013 Election Commission announced final results for provincial elections State of Law

            lost 30% of its seats from 09 vote

2013 Asaib Ahl Al-Haq rally in Baghdad announced it was fighting in Syria

            as part of Abu al-Fadhl al-Abbas Brigade

2014 Al Qaeda’s Zawahiri said that ISIS fighting in Syria was a disaster

2014 Fighting between Ansar al-Sunna and ISIS in Kirkuk

2014 Sadrists said talks with SIIC, Kurds and Allawi to block Maliki from 3^rd

            term as PM

2017 Iraqi forces attacked Mosul from northwest opening new front in city

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