1920 War Min Churchill wrote there were far too many British
troops in Iraq than could be sustained
and therefore a new Iraq policy
should be created
(Musings
On Iraq article on Churchill’s ideas on Mesopotamia/Iraq)
(Musings
On Iraq book review Churchill’s
Folly, How Winston Churchill Created Modern Iraq)
(Musings
On Iraq book review Inventing Iraq:
The Failure of Nation Building and a History Denied)
(Musings
On Iraq book review Supremacy And
Oil, Iraq, Turkey, and the Anglo-American World Order, 1918-1930)
1921 Gertrude Bell wrote that Shiites were mad that they
were not in govt and govt wanted to remain all
Sunni
(Musings
On Iraq book review of Gertrude Bell
And Iraq)
(Musings
On Iraq book review Gertrude Bell,
Explorer of the Middle East)
1924 UK Colonial Sec Thomas wrote British air power was
effective way to control rebellions tribes in Iraq
1941 Germany told Italy it was thinking of arming Iraq and
was going to give money to Mufti of Jerusalem
who was living in Baghdad
(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 1941, The
Battles for Basra, Habbaniya, Fallujah and Baghdad)
(Musings
On Iraq book review Iraq And Syria
1941, The Politics and Strategy of the Second World War)
1959 Former Dep PM Arif sentenced to death after being sent
away as Amb to Germany and secretly
returned to Iraq
1968 General de Gaulle met President Arif in Paris and
signed arms agreement
1983 Iranian Op Fajr al-Nasr Launched main attack upon
Fakkeh with 30,000 troops in central front Got to
outskirts of Fakkeh but forced to
withdraw
(Musings
On Iraq book review Iran-Iraq War
Volume 4: The Forgotten Fronts)
1987 Iraqi counterattacks vs Iran Op Karbala 5 recaptured
20sqkm in Basra
(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)
1998 Fmr Bush Nat Sec Adv Scowcroft said he wished the 91
uprising never happened because he wanted a
military coup to remove Saddam
2001 CIA report to Congress no evidence Iraq reconstituted
WMD program since 1990s
(Musings
On Iraq article on the origins of Iraq’s WMD programs)
2002 Gen Franks presented revised Iraq invasion plans to
Bush at White House
(Musings
On Iraq book review of Shaping the
Plan for Operation Iraqi Freedom, The Role of Military Intelligence Assessment)
(Musings
On Iraq book review Leap of Faith,
Hubris Negligence, and America’s Greatest Foreign Policy
Tragedy)
2003 Pres Chirac called Bush saying there were alternatives
to war with Iraq Said if war happened France
would help with reconstruction
2003 US officials pushed back against Sec State Powell’s UN
speech Told Wash Post Zarqawi connected to
Al Qaeda but not part of group
2003 UK admitted paper on Iraq deception campaign over its
WMD was plagiarized from journal article
2003 State Dept memo warned of serious problems in postwar
Iraq and possible security vacuum after war
Were told military couldn't spare
troops to ensure security
(Musings
On Iraq book review Leap of Faith,
Hubris Negligence, and America’s Greatest Foreign Policy
Tragedy)
2003 Pres Mubarak’s son Gamal visited Bush saying Saddam
might want to go into exile in Egypt
2003 State Dept gave translated copies of Iraq-Niger uranium
deal to CIA Were not considered important to
case Iraq restarted nuke program so
docs not analyzed
(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)
2004 Sec Def Rumsfeld said Iraq war Saddam’s fault for his
deception and defiance
2004 Bush and Cheney said Iraq war justified because Saddam
could have made WMD Gave up argument
he had them
(Musings
On Iraq article Iraq, One Of The Worst Intelligence Failures In US History)
(Musings
On Iraq How The Administration Reversed Itself On Finding Iraq’s WMD)
(Musings
On Iraq review Hoodwinked, The Documents That Reveal How Bush Sold Us a
War)
2005 Insurgents complained to Newsweek that Zarqawi was
trying to hijack insurgency and opposed his
attacks upon Iraqi civilians
(Musings
On Iraq book review Iraq’s Sunni
Insurgency)
(Musings
On Iraq book review The Caliphate At
War, Operational Realities and Innovations of the Islamic State)
2007 Report Jan 07 Sec State Rice said her dept was ready
for civilian surge in Iraq Feb told Sec Def Gates
would need 6 months to find
personnel and train them Asked military to fill 1/3 of 350 civilian spots on
Provincial Recon Teams Infuriated Pentagon
2008 UN reported surge in refugees returning to Syria over
Said most returned to Iraq not because Iraq safer
but because couldn’t afford to live
in Syria anymore Now more Iraqis leaving Iraq then returning Intl Org for
Migration said only 20-30% of returnees able to return to homes 50% unemployed
and no govt aid Some become displaced
(Musings
On Iraq book review Children of War,
Voices Of Iraqi Refugees)
2008 Report Mahdi Army had systematic strategy for taking
over Sunni areas of Baghdad Started with
assassination of businessmen and
community leaders Tried to co-opt Shiite residents before launching full attack
upon area
2008 Islamic Party head Samarrai said the Anbar Salvation
Council had no support and backed insurgency
in 2007 Part of dispute for control
of Anbar govt between Islamic Party and Awakening
(Musings
On Iraq book review Illusions of
Victory, The Anbar Awakening And The Rise Of The Islamic State)
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