This Day In Iraqi Hisory - Nov 7

1914 British troops started march from the port of Fao to the city of Basra

1940 British cabinet decided to send emissary to Iraq to demand Regent remove PM Gaylani from

power for his overtures to Axis

(Musings On Iraq book review of Persian Gulf Command, A History of the Second World War In Iran and Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq book review of Rashid Ali al-Gailani, The National Movement in Iraq 1939-1941)

(Musings On Iraq book review Iraq And Syria 1941, The Politics and Strategy of the Second World War)

(Musings On Iraq interview with Prof Boich World War II In Iraq and Syria)

1968 Baath National Guard fired on Communist march killing 3

(Musings On Iraq book review Red Star Over Iraq, Iraqi Communism Before Saddam)

(Musings On Iraq Interview with Prof Johan Franzen on the history of the Iraqi Communist Party)

1978 Iraq and Syria announced they were working to unify their two states

1980 Iranian commandos attacked Iraqi oil export terminals at Mina al-Bakr and Fao

1987 Iraqis attacked Kurds in Mawat Kurdistan clearing 200 sq km

(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 book review The Iran-Iraq War 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq book review Iran-Iraq War, The Lion of Babylon, 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq book review The Iran-Iraq War)

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

2002 UK Embassy in US said hawks in Washington thought UN Res 1441 authorizing new weapons

inspections was a defeat

(Musings On Iraq article UN Inspectors Were Right Iraq Was Not A Threat)

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

(Musings On Iraq Book Review The Report of the Iraq Inquiry, Executive Summary)

2003 CENTCOM Cmdr Gen Abizaid told Bremer US should bring back ex-Iraq officers into new

army Bremer said no

2004 2^nd Battle of Fallujah started

2004 PM Allawi declared martial law for 2 months Ordered curfew in Fallujah and closed Baghdad

international airport

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

(Musings On Iraq book review The Occupation of Iraq, Winning The War, Losing The Peace)

2006 Interior Ministry charged almost 100 police including 18 officers and a general for torturing

prisoners at east Baghdad Site 4 detention facility Held 1,431 people

2007 ISCI controlled police arrested Sadrists in Diwaniya Sadrist dep governor of Karbala fled after

clashes between ISCI police and Mahdi Army despite Sadr freeze on militia PM Maliki appointed police chief in Karbala survived assassination attempt in Basra

2007 US cmdr in Baghdad said reduction in violence in capital sustainable Said ISI no longer had foothold

in city IEDs down 70% Death squad killings down 80%

2010 Turkey’s Foreign Min Davutoglu travelled to Iraq to try to help form new govt

2015 Maliki said Abadi’s reforms were unconstitutional

2015 PM Abadi went to Najaf to gain more support for reforms but Sistani would not meet with him

(Musings On Iraq interview with Reidar Visser on PM Abadi’s reform program)

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Protest At Um Qasr Port Broken Up And Mass Arrests In Baghdad

Protesters stormed a marine base after sit in site at Um Qasr Port in Basra was broken up (Al Hurra)

The government’s crackdown continued as protesters found new avenues to carry out actions against the regime. That included breaking up the sit in in front of the Um Qasr port in Basra, and an arrest campaign in Baghdad. On the other hand, government offices were shut down and politicians had their homes burned. There appears no end in sight to the unrest as the political class refuses to carry out major changes.

This Day In Iraqi History - Nov 6

1914 British troops landed at Fao, Basra starting war against Ottomans in Mesopotamia

1979 Iraq’s consulates in Iran’s Kermanshah and Khorramshahr were occupied

1982 Iranian Op Muharram Iran seized several border crossings Abu Shirib and Bayat oil fields in

Maysan Iraq counterattacked to try to take back oil fields but failed Rain ended Iranian offensive Iran lost 4,000 dead Iraq lost 3,000 dead 3,500 prisoners

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

1983 Iranian Op Wa al-Farj 4 Made 2^nd major attack Seized Penjwin KDPI HQ and moved towards

Sulaymaniya Was stopped by Iraqi counterattack using mustard gas 1^st use of chemical weapons in war

(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 book review The Iran-Iraq War 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq book review Iran-Iraq War, The Lion of Babylon, 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq book review The Iran-Iraq War)

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

1990 SecState Baker convinced China to abstain on UN resolution to allow use of force against

Iraq for Kuwait invasion

1994 Iran fired SCUD missiles at Mujahadeen e-Khalq camp in Iraq

1998 Clinton admin sent letter to Congress saying US would support Kurds as long as they

remained united

2002 UN told that Iraq cut back on oil smuggling but still continuing in violation of UN sanctions

2002 Sec State Powell got ok from Natl Sec Adv Rice to make deal with France on UN resolution

to allow UN inspections in Iraq

(Musings On Iraq article UN Inspectors Were Right Iraq Was Not A Threat)

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

2003 Congress authorized $18.4 bil for Iraq reconstruction

2003 Bush speech If democracy failed in Iraq would be win for terrorism and bad for Middle East

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

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

2003 Report Saddam offered to allow US troops to search country for WMD before invasion

2003 UK Foreign Sec Straw told cabinet that CPA’s political plan needed changes and that British

should talk with US about it

(Musings On Iraq Book Review The Report of the Iraq Inquiry, Executive Summary)

2003 Bremer said that after meeting with Iraqi Governing Council he realized that his long

            term political plan was dead Was actually due to White House

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

2004 Fallujah police collapsed after night attack by insurgents

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

2005 Report Feb 2002 DIA said Al Qaeda captive Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi was misleading in

statements about Iraq-Al Qaeda cooperation Libi continued to be source of Bush admin statements about Iraq-Al Qaeda ties after it was believed he was making things up

2005 Report Italian intel SISMI appeared to be source for both US and UK claim that Iraq tried to

buy uranium from Niger/Africa SISMI got fake docs from informer Rocco Martino on alleged Iraq-Niger uranium deal and then passed intel to other countries

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

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

2006 Def Sec Rumsfeld memo to White House Iraq not working and needed change Said US should set

benchmarks for Iraqi govt Increases trainers Imbed US forces with ISF Start closing US bases and slow US withdrawal Only help Iraqi provinces that cooperate with US Stop rewarding Iraqis for bad behavior Position US forces along Syrian and Iranian borders to stop infiltrations

(Musings On Iraq article on pre-Surge US Iraq strategy)

2006 Report insurgent intimidation campaign against ISF and officials in Fallujah U.S. officers

said not enough forces to secure city

2007 US said it would release 9 Iranian Rev guard members it captured in Iraq Said number of Iranian

weapons flowing to Iraq were down due to US raids

(Musings On Iraq article on Iran’s Iraq policy)

(Musings On Iraq interview with Galen Wright of Arkenstone blog on Iranian arms shipments to Iraqi militias) 

(Musings On Iraq interview with Naval Postgraduate School’s Ostovar on history of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard)

(Musings On Iraq book review Vanguard of the Imam, Religion, Politics, and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard)

2007 100,000 more Iraqis became displaced 16% increase according to Iraq Red Crescent Displacement

            up since Surge Dep head of Red Crescent said PM Maliki had not given aid to displaced as promised

(Musings On Iraq Columbia University Charts Sectarian Cleansing Of Baghdad)

2012 Pres Barzani called on Democratic Union Party and Kurdish National Council to stop

fighting each other in Syria

2015 Friday sermon Ayatollah Sistani rep said Abadi’s reforms should not be blocked

(Musings On Iraq interview with Reidar Visser on PM Abadi’s reform program)

2016 Iraqi forces freed Hamam al-Alil Ninewa

2017 Iraq Federal Court ruled no province could secede in lawsuit against Kurdish independence

referendum

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

View the Iraq History Timelines 

New Confrontations Between Protesters And Iraqi Security Forces

Iranian Consulate in Karbala (AFP)

Iraq’s protests continue to try new tactics. On November 3 they called for a general strike which led to streets, highways, and bridges in several cities to be blocked off. November 4 they entered new areas of Baghdad, continued the assault on the Iranian consulate in Karbala, stopped workers going to two oil fields, and carried on with other acts of civil disobedience.

This Day In Iraqi History - Nov 5

1914 England and France declared war on Ottoman Empire Would lead Mesopotamia into

WWI

1914 British Gen Delamain head of Indian Expeditionary Force told to protect oil infrastructure

and only take Basra if Ottomans joined WWI

1917 Battle of Tikrit between British and Ottoman forces

1956 Encouraged by Egypt and Syria along with Communists and opposition parties protests

strikes and riots broke out in Baghdad Mosul Najaf over Suez crisis

(Musings On Iraq book review Red Star Over Iraq, Iraqi Communism Before Saddam)

(Musings On Iraq Interview with Prof Johan Franzen on the history of the Iraqi Communist Party)

1958 Arif arrested on charges of attempting to assassinate Gen Qasim in coup

1968 Baath militia fired on Communist strikers at factory outside Baghdad killing 2 Govt

assassinated some Communist organizers

(Musings On Iraq book review Red Star Over Iraq, Iraqi Communism Before Saddam)

(Musings On Iraq Interview with Prof Johan Franzen on the history of the Iraqi Communist Party)

1978 Arab League condemned Camp David peace agreement between Egypt and Israel at Baghdad

summit

1981 Iraq offered Muharram ceasefire Iran rejected it

(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 book review The Iran-Iraq War 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq book review Iran-Iraq War, The Lion of Babylon, 1980-1988)

(Musings On Iraq book review The Iran-Iraq War)

1997 Iraq blocked US weapons inspectors into facilities in last two days

1998 UN Resolution 1205 condemned Iraq suspending work with weapons inspectors

(Musings On Iraq book review The Saddam Tapes)

(Musings On Iraq article UN Inspectors Were Right Iraq Was Not A Threat)

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

(Musings On Iraq Chilcot Report Sec 1.1 UK Iraq Strategy 1990 To 2000)

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

2000 Syria announced it would re-open pipeline with Iraq once sanctions ended Sign of improved

relations between two

2001 Badr leadership of Abu Muhandis Amiri Safi Basra and commanders working in Iraq met Talked

about transition after US invasion Talked about replacing Iraqi leadership while maintaining Baathist state Talked about US backing a coup in Iraq

2001 Time magazine OpEd said U.S. should go to war with Iraq because connected to 9/11

2001 State Dept intel agency said looked like Iraq renewed production of chemical weapons

2005 US-Iraqi Op Steel Curtain started to clear Qaim Started in Karabila that was cleared in Oct 05

but insurgents moved back in right afterward

2006 Saddam convicted on charges of killing 148 people in Dujail 1982 and sentenced to death

2007 Sadrists accused PM Maliki Dawa and ISCI of going after its followers in Karbala and Diwaniya using

            militias Were clashes between Mahdi Army and Badr in Oct

2007 Report British Army report from 06 said Iraq invasion and occupation badly planned Didn’t think of

options or implications Said lack of postwar plans meant Iraq fell into chaos 3 months after invasion

2009 Oil Min signed deal with Exxon and Shell to develop West Qurna 1 field in Basra Won auction in Jun

09

(Musings On Iraq Iraq Moves Ahead With Oil Deals)

2015 Maliki said people shouldn’t support Abadi’s reforms anymore

(Musings On Iraq interview with Reidar Visser on PM Abadi’s reform program) 

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Nov 3 Civil Disobedience Across Iraq

Protesters under the bridge heading to the Green Zone (Rudaw)

November 3 activists called for a general strike. In Baghdad, people shut off major roads and highways in nine neighborhoods. Two more people were killed in Tahrir Square by the security forces. The Human Rights Commission also asked the government to explain where activist Siba al-Mahdawi is. She was abducted on November 2 on her way home from Tahrir. Students did not go to class at two universities in Babil. Roads were also blocked in Zubayr, and the ones leading to Um Qasr port, Faiha and Majnoon oil fields. Government workers walked out in Nasiriya, and there were protests at the Kattia oil field, and the house of the secretary general of the cabinet was attacked once more in Dhi Qar. The Iranian consulate in Karbala was assaulted and the crowd tried to light it ablaze. The Al-Shaib border crossing with Iran was blocked, most students went on strike, and a road to an oil company was cut in Maysan. Two bridges were blocked in Muthanna, students and government workers walked off the job or out of school in Najaf, people filled the streets in Kut in Wasit, and there were work and school stoppages in Baquba, Khalis and Muqtadiya in Diyala. The government condemned the action, but it turned out to be wildly successful. While it didn’t turn into a real general strike, there were plenty of stoppages across the country. This was another sign that the demonstrations have reached a new level, which Baghdad cannot ignore.

This Day In Iraqi History - Nov 4

1913 Constantinople Protocol set new border between Ottomans and Persia Ottomans kept

Shatt al-Arab waterway

1958 When rumors spread of a coup against Qasim Col Arif returned to Iraq from Germany

1980 Saddam told parliament he knew war was bad but he had no other choice

(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 book review Iran-Iraq War Volume 1: The Battle for Khuzestan, September 1980-May 1982)

1991 Iraqi army blocked all roads into Kurdistan starting economic blockade

1992 Saddam told top Baath officials that election of Pres Clinton might usher in better Iraq-US

relations

1998 NY indictment claimed Al Qaeda-Iraq had agreement not to work vs Saddamand to cooperate

on weapons Indictment based on intel that Al Qaeda and Iraq were working on weapons together in Sudan Charges of Al Qaeda-Iraq cooperation were later dropped in indictment

1998 NSC counterterror dir Clarke sent memo to NalSecAdv Berger saying Iraq WMD experts

were at Sudan factory probably working with Al Qaeda

2001 Badr met with Shiite tribes loyal to SIIC Talked about taking over government in southern Iraq after

a US invasion

2003 CPA meeting US military said unhappy with deBaathification because driving Iraqis away

from US and free market reforms that were laying off Iraqis that could be recruited into insurgency

(Musings On Iraq book review The Occupation of Iraq, Winning The War, Losing The Peace)

2003 CPA officials suggested Transitional Admin Law as interim constitution to bridge differences

between Bremer and Ayatollah Sistani Sistani wanted Iraqis to elect body to write constitution Bremer wanted indirect method

(Musings On Iraq book review The Occupation of Iraq, Winning The War, Losing The Peace)

(Musings On Iraq book review Patriotic Ayatollahs, Nationalism In Post-Saddam Iraq)

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

2003 Iraqi prisoner was hooded placed on box wires attached to him and told he would be

electrocuted by US jailers Abu Ghraib

2003 Report Saddam made various overtures to US before war but ignored by US as fakes or to

stall for time

2003 CENTCOM Cmdr Gen Abizaid told Blair’s foreign policy adv Sir Sheinwald that insurgency

was growing in Sunni areas based around former regime members backed by foreign fighters Said insurgency still at low level and lacked support amongst Sunnis Abizaid said solution was to increase Iraqi security forces reconciliation and passing sovereignty to Iraqis

2007 Court issued arrest warrants for Sadrist leaders in Karbala blaming them for clash with Badr controlled

            police in city in Aug 07 Sadrists blamed SIIC saying they controlled the provincial govt

2007 Report 3100 families returned to Baghdad in 3 months due to decreasing violence Some were

displaced, some came from Syria Numbers were being inflated by govt

(Musings On Iraq book review Children of War, Voices Of Iraqi Refugees)

2007 60 Minutes found identity of CURVEBALL who claimed pre-03 that Iraq had mobile WMD labs Was

Rafid Ahmed Alwan who sought asylum in Germany in 1998

(Musings On Iraq article on how CURVEBALL influenced US intel on Iraq’s WMD)

(Musings On Iraq articles on the CURVEBALL story)

(Musings On Iraq article on mobile labs story)

2009 2 Hezbollah members captured in Baghdad Hezbollah used by Iran to support militias

(Musings On Iraq Iranian Parliamentary Speaker’s Visit Raises Questions About Tehran’s Influence In Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq article on Hezbollah presence in Iraq)

2009 BP and CNPC singed deal to develop Rumaila oil field in Basra

(Musings On Iraq Iraq Moves Ahead With Oil Deals)

2017 Rawa in west Anbar freed

View the Iraq History Timelines