This Day In Iraqi Histor - May 10

1923 Sir Henry Dobbs wrote US Consul in Iraq that King Faisal was not a strong leader and he

expected trouble from his rule

1941 New German ambassador to Iraq arrived in Mosul with 2 He 111 bombers

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

1941 Iraqis abandoned Fort Rutba in Anbar allowing British to capture it

1941 UK India cmdr Gen Auchinlek advocated occupying Baghdad Mosul Kirkuk to preclude German

intervention Mideast cmdr Gen Wavell told Auchinlek that Iraq not as important as other fronts and he had limited resources

1941 UK Mideast cmdr Gen Wavell told Churchill attack on Baghdad could start Arab revolt Wavell told

Churchill some Jordanian forces already refused to go to Iraq Wavell finally gave order for forces in Jordan to head for Habaniya Anbar Wavell ordered that Baghdad was not to be occupied

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

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq 1941, The Battles for Basra, Habbaniya, Fallujah and Baghdad)

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

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

(Musings On Iraq review Blood, Oil and the Axis: The Allied Resistance Against A Fascist State In Iraq and the Levant, 1941)

1950 Grenade thrown at car company owned by Jews in Baghdad 4 injured 2^nd of 7 such attacks on Jews

1950-51

1950 Iraq prosecuted Jews for grenade attacks claiming Zionist plot to get Jews to move to Israel

Opponents argued most Jews already leaving Iraq so no need to scare them

1967 PM Naji Talib forced to resign by military Pres Abdul Rahman Arif became premier

1976 New Kurdish rebellion led by PUK started Kurds backed by Soviet Union, Syria, Iran, Libya

1991 Iraq rejected US French UK proposal for international police force to deploy to Kurdistan

2002 Gen Franks discussed war plans with Sec Def Rumsfeld who was afraid Iraq might take initiative and

launch a pre-emptive attack

2002 Gen Franks briefed NSC on Middle Eastern countries and their role in invasion plans

(Musings On Iraq review of Shaping the Plan for Operation Iraqi Freedom, The Role of Military Intelligence Assessment)

(Musings On Iraq review Leap of Faith, Hubris Negligence, and America’s Greatest Foreign Policy Tragedy)

2002 CIA briefing book on Iraq’s WMD mentioned Iraq-Niger uranium deal

(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)

2003 Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim head of SCIRI returned to Iraq from Iran

2003 Outgoing ORHA head Garner flew to Qatar to brief incoming CPA head Bremer on situation in Iraq

(Musings On Iraq review Leap of Faith, Hubris Negligence, and America’s Greatest Foreign Policy Tragedy)

2003 US forces surrounded Iranian opposition group Mujahadeen e-Khalq camp and demanded they

disarm

2004 Bush told Sec Def Rumsfeld he was doing a super job and US owed him a debt in middle of Abu

Ghraib scandal

2004 Human Rights Min Turki told Guardian Bremer warned in 2003 about prisoner abuse by US soldiers

2004 PM Blair denied he knew about British forces abusing Iraqi prisoners

2004 US and ISF began returning to Fallujah

2005 Parliament created 55 member constitution drafting committee but with no Sunni members

(Musings On Iraq interview with constitutional scholar Zaid al-Ali on Iraq’s constitution)

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq From War To A New Authoritarianism)

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

2008 Sadr announced ceasefire ending most fighting in Baghdad Led to many Special Groups and

Asaib Ahl Al-Haq to flee to Iran

(Musings On Iraq article on history of Asaib Ahl Al-Haq)

2008 Op Mother of Two Rivers started in Mosul after Charge of Knights ended Mosul main insurgent base

after Surge Offensive announced publicly before started so many insurgents left

(Musings On Iraq article on Op Lion’s Roar)

2010 Kurdish list in Ninewa said open to deal with Hadbaa to join provincial council which Kurds had

boycotted since 09

(Musings On Iraq article on Kurd-Al Hadbaa dispute in Ninewa)

2010 ISI carried out coordinated car bombings in Baghdad Hillah Iskandiriya Basra

2010 Iranian helicopters attacked Kurdish villages and got into shootout with Peshmerga trying to target

PJAK

2011 Analyst est Iraq lost $493 bil 03-11 due to bad administration planning and project delays

2011 Army chief of staff Gen Zebari said US withdrawal would be bad for security in Iraq because ISF not

ready to defend country until 2020

2011 Allawi released insulting letter to PM Maliki in response to letter from premier

2011 Protest in Mosul demanding US withdrawal release of prisoners govt reform

2012 KRG complained about PM Maliki holding cabinet meeting in Kirkuk Listed all grievances with

Baghdad over oil Article 140 etc

2012 KRG Natural Resource Min said if Baghdad didn’t deliver regions’ share of budget it would truck oil

for exports independently

View the Iraq History Timelines 

This Day In Iraqi History - May 9

1935 Iraqi air force dropped flyers telling tribes to end revolt in Diwaniya or govt would punish

them Tribes refused Govt started bombing area Martial law declared Rumaitha Gen Sidqi put in command of putting down revolt

1941 Germany announced aid package for Iraq

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

1941 German diplomat arrived in Syria to organize arms shipments to Iraq

1941 Start of 100 German and 20 Italian airplanes landing in Syrian bases to fight British in Iraq British

intel found out about planes being flown from Greece to Syria and that Vichy France sending trains full of military aid to Iraq

1941 British planes bombed Iraqi police holding Fort Rutba, Anbar while Iraqi reinforcements arrived

1941 British cmdr in India Gen Auchinleck told Chiefs of Staff British had to deal with Iraq

1941 PM Churchill told Mid-East commander Gen Wavell he had to take bold military action against Iraq

and wouldn’t negotiation with PM Gaylani

1941 Jordanian soldiers mutinied and refused to cross over into Iraq 240 men left unit

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

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq 1941, The Battles for Basra, Habbaniya, Fallujah and Baghdad)

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

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

(Musings On Iraq review Blood, Oil and the Axis: The Allied Resistance Against A Fascist State In Iraq and the Levant, 1941)

1982 Iran cut off 2 Iraqi divisions and regained 116 sq mi in Khuzistan province in south

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

1984 State Dept memo said that new pro-Iraq policy could lead to export of dual use equipment for

Baghdad’s nuclear program

(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 review The Longest War, The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict)

1991 US forces withdrew from southern Iraq after Gulf War

1991 Iraq rejected proposal to have intl police force to divide Iraqi forces from Kurds in north

1992 Saddam discussed assassinating Mubarak and King Fahd because they backed US in Gulf War

2001 US Energy Dept said aluminum tubes Iraq tried to buy fit specifications for rocket launchers IAEA

found similar tubes during inspections in Baghdad

(Musings On Iraq article on the aluminum tubes story)

2002 Gen Franks ordered commanders to plan for including Turkey in Iraq invasion plans Franks didn’t

believe Ankara would agree to allow US troops to use country for invasion but needed to plan for it

(Musings On Iraq review of Shaping the Plan for Operation Iraqi Freedom, The Role of Military Intelligence Assessment)

2002 Pentagon memo to Rumsfeld said that US had to pick who would fill vacuum after Saddam Said

Iraqi opposition would help

(Musings On Iraq review Leap of Faith, Hubris Negligence, and America’s Greatest Foreign Policy Tragedy)

2003 US and UK draft resolution to UN to make them occupying powers in Iraq

2003 Sec Def Rumsfeld US would keep as many troops as necessary in Iraq and would take more than

year to build Iraqi govt

2003 1^st joint US-Iraqi patrols started in Baghdad

2003 Sadrist cleric called for revenge attacks upon Baathists

2003 US general met with Iraqi officers about getting Iraqi soldiers back to their units and to stop looting

and impose order

(Musings On Iraq review Voices From Iraq, A People’s History, 2003-2009)

(Musings On Iraq Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Hard Lessons Ch 5 ORHA In Baghdad)

2003 Bush signed memo officially making Bremer presidential envoy to Iraq

(Musings On Iraq review State of Denial, Bush At War, Part III)

2003 Bremer met Bush and mentioned RAND study that said US needed 500,000 troops to occupy Iraq

Bush asked Rumsfeld who said there were enough troops

2003 Bremer cancelled Khalilzad Zalimay’s return trip to Iraq to work on an interim Iraqi authority

2003 UnderSecDef Feith gave Bremer draft of deBaathification and disbanding Iraqi military orders Feith

would later deny he drafted orders

(Musings On Iraq Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Hard Lessons Chapter 6 Charting A New Course)

2003 CPA sent draft order to disband Iraqi military and build a new one to Sec Def Rumsfeld

(Musings On Iraq Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Hard Lessons Chapter 6 Charting A New Course)

2003 DepDefSec Wolfowitz in Vanity Fair Bush admin all agreed on WMD as way to justify Iraq war

2003 US announced it found mobile WMD labs Story proved false

(Musings On Iraq article on mobile labs story)

2004 Think tank estimated that Iraq would could cost $300 bil in ten years when Bush admin was pushing

low numbers

2004 Report some US officers worried winning militarily in Iraq but losing support of Iraqi public

2008 Government and Sadr signed ceasefire to end Charge of Knights Allowed ISF to conduct arrests and

raids in Sadr City

2008 Baghdad Operations Command said they found Iranian weapons with Mahdi Army in capital

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

2009 US said Iran continued to train Iraqi militias but at lower levels than before

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

2010 Protests in front of KRG parliament over murder of journalist Zardasht Osman

2011 PM Maliki released insulting letter to Allawi

2011 Former Health Minister warned that Iraq had become part of drug trafficking networks between

Middle East and Europe

2011 ISI was said to give allegiance to Al Qaeda’s Zawahiri and promised revenge for bin Laden’s death

2012 Report that $5 mil being stolen a month from contract for Turkish ships to provide electricity to

Basra

2012 PM Maliki said Peshmerga should leave Kirkuk while Kurds criticized PMs visit to city

2012 Turkey said it would not arrest former VP Hashemi who was residing there after Interpol notice for

him

2013 Pres Barzani said KRG was training Kurds to fight in Syrian war

2014 Govt claimed 90% of Ramadi cleared of ISIS when insurgents still occupied large areas of city

2015 Tribal fighters began training in Anbar with approval by PM Abadi

2018 Board of Supreme Audit warned Iraq Election Comm that Korean voting machines had problems and

Commission had not responded to its concerns earlier

View the Iraq History Timelines 

This Day In Iraqi History - May 8

1927 Iraqi cabinet resolution said Assyrians would be settled in the country

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

(Musings On Iraq review State and Society in Iraq)

1941 British Arab Legion left Palestine to take back Fort Rutba, Anbar from Iraqi police

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

1941 Arab Legion attacked by German aircraft and one regiment refused to cross Transjordan border into

Iraq

1941 British Royal Air Force reported Iraqi air force combat ineffective Lost 25 planes Another 20-30

heavily damaged

1941 Vichy France agreed to transfer weapons from Syria to Iraq to use its air fields and okayed

landing of German planes

1941 Iraq Def Min Shawkat went to Turkey for talks Ankara offered end of fighting permission for UK to

use bases in Iraq In return UK would recognize Gayalani’s govt

1941 Iraq Finance Min Suwaidi went to Saudi Arabia to explain conflict with UK and ask for

mediation Ibn Saud said Iraq should end war

1941 UK Mideast Cmdr Gen Wavell said not enough troops to take Baghdad and fight Iraqi and Axis forces

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

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq 1941, The Battles for Basra, Habbaniya, Fallujah and Baghdad)

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

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

(Musings On Iraq review Blood, Oil and the Axis: The Allied Resistance Against A Fascist State In Iraq and the Levant, 1941)

1982 Iran announced it had reached pre-war border with Iraq Iran-Iraq War

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

1982 Saddam ordered retreating Iraqi forces to rally in Khorramshahr in south dubbing it a Stalingrad

(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 review The Longest War, The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict)

1988 138 Kurdish villages in southern and central Sulaymaniya abandoned due to Anfal campaign

(Musings On Iraq article on Anfal campaign)

1990 Saddam claimed Iraq could build high tech capacitors for use in nuclear triggers

2002 UK Foreign Sec Straw told Sec State Powell if Bush decided on military action against Iraq PM Blair

would back him

(Musings On Iraq article Chilcot Report Volume 2 Sec 3.3 Development of UK Iraq Strategy and Options April to July 2002)

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

2003 Sec State Powell said US and UK would go to UN to authorize occupation of Iraq

2003 Sec Def Rumsfeld told staff rebuilding Iraq would not be fast or easy and needed time

(Musings On Iraq review Leap of Faith, Hubris Negligence, and America’s Greatest Foreign Policy

Tragedy)

2003 UK parliament announced review of pre-war intelligence on Iraq

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

2003 ORHA met with ex-Iraqi army officers 2^nd time Said they could bring back 137,000 soldiers

2003 Def Min memo called for Iraqi soldiers to return to duty and cooperate with ORHA

2003 Sec Def Rumsfeld gave Bremer memo on DeBaathification

(Musings On Iraq Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Hard Lessons Chapter 6 Charting A New Course)

(Musings On Iraq review State of Denial, Bush At War, Part III)

2004 Bush said US goal was to build a free and peaceful Iraq that was not a threat to its neighbors

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

(Musings On Iraq review The War Within, A Secret White House History 2006-2008)

2004 Sec Def Rumsfeld told Congress that Iraqi victims of Abu Ghraib prison abuse should be

compensated

2004 Pentagon est by end of 2005 Iraq war would cost US $150 bil 3 times higher than White House

prediction before war

2004 Mahdi Army fought with British troops in downtown Basra

2004 US forces moved into Karbala and Amarah setting off clashes with Mahdi Army US forces seized a

govt complex in Najaf fighting Mahdi Army

2005 Battle of Qaim began

2009 Ninewa Gov Nujafi stopped by Peshmerga from going to hot air balloon festival in Bashiqa Part of

Kurd-Hadbaa List dispute

(Musings On Iraq article on Kurd-Al Hadbaa dispute in Ninewa)

(Musings On Iraq article on Al-Hadbaa taking over Ninewa council)

2009 KRG said they would start exporting oil from Taq Taq and Tawke fields after Oil Min okayed

connecting them to Turkish pipeline Oil Min said it wouldn’t pay oil companies however

(Musings On Iraq article on Oil Ministry offer to KRG over oil exports)

(Musings On Iraq Companies Exporting Oil From Kurdistan Without Getting Paid)

2010 Pres Barzani set up investigation into murder of journalist Zardasht Osman KDP was accused of

involvement

2011 Anbar councilman complained that ISF continued arrest of former ISF members after PM Maliki

promised to end them

2011 ISI members staged a prison revolt in Baghdad killing 6 police and 11 prisoners

2012 PM Maliki held cabinet meeting in Kirkuk to highlight problems between Arabs and Kurds

2012 Allawi said PM Maliki was becoming an autocrat

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq From War To A New Authoritarianism)

(Musings On Iraq interview with Inside Iraqi Politics’ Sowell on whether Maliki became a dictator)

(Musings On Iraq interview with Historian Phebe Marr comparing PM Maliki with MP Said)

2013 Iraqiya said PM Maliki was allowing militias to operate in country

2014 US restarted training for Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service in Jordan

2014 Anbar council again denied stories that ISF launched operation to free Fallujah

2015 IS broke out 30 prisoners from facility in Diyala posing as inspectors

View the Iraq History Timelines

This Day In Iraqi History - May 7

1935 Sheikh Ahmad Asadullah follower of leading cleric Shiite cleric Ghita called for his followers

in Rumaitha to revolt against govt 3 other tribes revolted in Diwaniya

1941 British troops took Ashar, Basra

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

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq 1941, The Battles for Basra, Habbaniya, Fallujah and Baghdad)

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

(Musings On Iraq 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)

(Musings On Iraq review Blood, Oil and the Axis: The Allied Resistance Against A Fascist State In Iraq and the Levant, 1941)

1982 Iran launched 2^nd phase of Op Bait al-Moqaddas in Khuzistan province Attacked between Susangard

and Muran in north pushing Iraqis back to border Destroyed 1 Iraqi division

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

1985 Iraq shelled Khormashahr

(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 review The Longest War, The Iran-Iraq Military Conflict)

1991 Dep Natl Sec Adv Gates said Iraqis would have to suffer sanctions as long as Saddam remained in

power

(Musings On Iraq review The United States And Iraq Since 1990: A Brief History with Documents)

(Musings On Iraq review Out Of The Ashes, The Resurrection of Saddam Hussein)

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

(Musings On Iraq article on mobile labs story)

(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)

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 video taped it

2004 Sec Def Rumsfeld testified to House and Senate about Abu Ghraib prison scandal Apologized for

abuse Claimed he and Pentagon knew nothing about it and no one in his office and Pentagon had seen the photos despite being briefed, receiving emails and getting the photos

2004 New York Times called for Sec Def Rumsfeld to resign over Abu Ghraib prison scandal

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

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 unifying KDP and PUK administrations after they split during 90s civil

war Massoud Barzani president Nechirvan Barzani premier

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

Badr commander

(Musings On Iraq article on the history of Badr Organization)

2008 Report US officer in Baghdad’s Adhamiya frustrated with Iraqi govt Said application to integrate

local Sahwa into ISF rejected because form was in wrong ink

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

(Musings On Iraq article on Hezbollah presence in Iraq)

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 PM 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 Was first city to fall to renewed insurgency

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

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Review State of Denial, Bush At War, Part III

Woodward, Bob, State of Denial, Bush At War, Part III, New York, London, Toronto, Sydney: Simon & Schuster, 2006

State of Denial, Bush At War, Part III as the title suggests was Bod Woodward’s third book on President Bush’s wars. This one covered how the occupation of Iraq went wrong. It is a longwinded affair starting with George Bush’s deciding to run for president. It takes 152 pages just to get to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Like his other releases it focuses upon top officials in the White House and their debates and decision making on the war based upon extensive interviews. Woodward’s main argument was that President Bush and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld were never honest with themselves and the American public about Iraq and that trickled down throughout the administration where no one ever admitted they made any mistakes.

This Day In Iraqi History - May 6

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

concessions from govt 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

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

1941 Iraq launched largest air attack on Habaniya air base Iraqis then began to withdraw from outside

base due to lack of water and rations 409 Iraqi soldiers captured Iraqis suffered 1,000 casualties

1941 Iraq launched 2^nd air raid on Habaniya later that day 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

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

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq 1941, The Battles for Basra, Habbaniya, Fallujah and Baghdad)

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

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

(Musings On Iraq review Blood, Oil and the Axis: The Allied Resistance Against A Fascist State In Iraq and the Levant, 1941)

1963 Soviet Union said it supported Mustafa Barzani and his KDP

1991 Saddam held rally with crowds chanting “Bush listen carefully We all love Saddam Hussein”

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

(Musings On Iraq review of The Kurds, A Modern History)

(Musings On Iraq review Kurds of Iraq, Tragedy and Hope)

1998 100 US peace activists led by former Attn Gen Ramsey Clark arrived in Iraq with $4 mil in

medicine to protest sanctions

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

and Japan

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

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

(Musings On Iraq review Leap of Faith, Hubris Negligence, and America’s Greatest Foreign Policy

Tragedy)

(Musings On Iraq review Fiasco: The American Military Adventure In Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq’s Dysfunctional Democracy)

(Musings On Iraq review The War Within, A Secret White House History 2006-2008)

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

(Musings On Iraq Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Hard Lessons Ch 5 ORHA In Baghdad)

(Musings On Iraq Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Hard Lessons Chapter 6 Charting A New Course)

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 Said

Wilson went to Niger in 2002 and told CIA and State Dept that uranium story based upon fake docs Wilson accused US intel of covering up his findings and decieving world Said White House and State Dept kept using story despite denial Wilson never saw docs and went to Niger 8 months before US got them

(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 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

(Musings On Iraq review Battle For The City Of The Dead)

2004 Wash Post published new pictures of Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse

2004 Gen Taguba who investigated Abu Ghraib abuse briefed Def Sec Rumsfeld Dep Sec Def Wolfowitz

others after scandal broke in press All said they knew nothing of case Taguba said torture took place Rumsfeld denied he knew anything even though Taguba had briefed Pentagon and military Rumsfeld’s office and Pentagon had received pictures of abuse in January 04 Appeared to have ignored them

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

were attacked by 300 Mahdi Army militiamen

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

(Musings On Iraq Sons of Iraq Integration Update)

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

(Musings On Iraq article on Op Promise of Good II)

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

(Musings On Iraq interview with Special Inspector Gen for Iraq Reconstruction Bowen on corruption in Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq interview with fmr anti-graft official Vincent Foulk on corruption in Iraq)

2013 Report said politicians manipulating Central Bank of Iraq dollar auctions

2015 Barzani met with Obama in Washington Asked for heavy weapons Said Kurds would help in Battle

of Mosul Said wouldn’t fight in Arab areas and didn’t covet territory

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Iraq Cuts Off Budget Payments To Kurdistan Once More

With Iraq’s oil dependent economy falling apart during the coronavirus global shut down Baghdad has decided to cut off monthly budget payments to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). This is a means to save money as the central government is not earning enough to pay its most basic bills and will have a huge impact upon the Kurds.