1909 Riot in Mosul after Kirkuk soldier insulted a woman Organized by elites opposed to
Ottoman reforms 60 killed
1918 UK PM George said Ottoman provinces including Mesopotamia should have “separate
national conditions”
1957 Iraq backed Eisenhower Doctrine to oppose communism in Middle East
1981 Iranian Pres Bani Sadr announced counter attack against Iraq using Basij militia and army
1981 Clergy convinced Ayatollah Khomeini to launch early campaign to try to win back all the
lost territory from Iraq Started with Op Hoveyzeh 3 pronged attack 1 front in Hamdiya to break siege of Abadan in south Started bad 2nd front was to reach Susangard next to Maysan 3rd front attacked towards Qasr e-Shirin in central front
1981 Iranian brigade infiltrated Iraqi lines around Geilan Zarb near Qasr e-Shirin in central front
(Musings On Iraq review Iran-Iraq War Volume 1: The Battle for Khuzestan, September 1980-May 1982)
(Musings On Iraq review Iran-Iraq War Volume 4: The Forgotten Fronts)
1982 Iran retook Gilan e Gharb but failed to take Naft Shah in central front
(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 Volume 4: The Forgotten Fronts)
(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)
1993 US England and France demanded that Iraq remove anti-aircraft missiles from No Fly Zone
Iraq complied
1999 UN weapons inspector report said Iraq had not accounted for 550 mustard gas artillery rounds
These unaccounted for stocks would become a major argument by the Bush White House that Iraq was hiding its WMD
(Musings On Iraq UN Inspectors Were Right Iraq Was Not A Threat)
(Musings On Iraq 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 review The Saddam Tapes)
2000 Saddam said sanctions would erode by themselves and that already started
2004 White House presented CPA’s reconstruction plan to Congress
2004 3 US soldiers discharged after found guilty of abusing prisoners at Camp Bucca Basra
2004 Zarqawi called on Muslims to join his jihad in Iraq
2005 State Dept report said Iraqi security forces were ineffective in most of country due to
insurgent attacks
2006 Al Qaeda in Iraq suicide car bomb in Ramadi killed 80 tribal recruits for police
(Musings On Iraq review Suicide Bombers In Iraq, The Strategy and Ideology of Martyrdom)
2007 American kidnapped by Mahdi Army at checkpoint in Basra Iraqis that were with American were
found dead
2008 PM Maliki said Sahwa infiltrated by ISI and Baathists and attacked ISF
(Musings On Iraq review Surge, My Journey with General David Petraeus and the Remaking of the Iraq War)
2009 Female suicide bomber hit Shiite pilgrims outside Imam Kadhim shrine in Baghdad 40 killed
72 wounded
(Musings On Iraq The Rise of Female Suicide Bombers0
(Musings On Iraq Motivations Behind Female Suicide Bombers)
(Musings On Iraq review Suicide Bombers In Iraq, The Strategy and Ideology of Martyrdom)
2010 Report that US was in talks with Baathists in Iraq to try to get them to reconcile Maliki govt
criticized talks
(Musings On Iraq Is The U.S. Negotiating With Baathists?)
2011 Sadr returned to Iraq after four years in Iran Fled to escape Surge
(Musings On Iraq Sadr’s Return To Public View)
(Musings On Iraq Why Sadr Left Iraq)
(Musings On Iraq Moqtada al-Sadr’s Religious Training)
2012 Bombings of Shiite pilgrims during Arbayeen left over 120 casualties
(Musings On Iraq review The ISIS Reader, Milestone Texts of the Islamic State Movement)
2014 Sec of State Kerry said US would assist Iraqi govt with renewed insurgency
2020 Parliament voted on non-binding resulting to have US forces leave Iraq
(Musings On Iraq Iran’s Political Plan Unfolding In Iraq)
2020 Before parliament session on US withdrawal Kataib Hezbollah threatened to expose any
MP that voted against resolution Made personal threats as well
(Musings On Iraq Instrument Of Iran’s Power In Iraq And Syria Kataib Hezbollah)
2020 Trump threatened sanctions on Iraq if US forces expelled Said US not leaving until Iraq
paid for air base US used
2020 Funeral procession for Iran Rev Guards Quds Force Cmdr Gen Suleimani tried to enter
sit-in protest sites in Basra and Nasiriya In Basra attacked protesters and burned tents Nasiriya fired into crowd killing 2 Protesters then burned Hashd office in retaliation
(Musings On Iraq Funeral for Iran’s Gen Suleimani And Hashd Leader Muhandis Used To Attack Protesters)
View the Iraq History Timelines
1920 Cpt Mann UK political officer in Shamiya said that Iraqis were angry that British had
not kept WWI promises of independence
1948 Students in Baghdad protested against 1930 Anglo-Iraq Treaty Broken up by police
1963 Qasim govt announced it recognized the independence of Kuwait
(Musings On Iraq review Unholy Babylon, The Secret History of Saddam’s War)
1981 Iran claimed it destroyed Iraq’s oil industry in Iran-Iraq War Was just damaged
1981 Iran launched diversionary attack in Mehran Iran central front before main operation in south
(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 Iran-Iraq War Volume 4: The Forgotten Fronts)
(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)
1983 Tariq Aziz went to Paris to renegotiate $5 bil debt Said wanted to buy 20 Super Etendard jets
and Exocet missiles Dassault pressured Pres Mitterand to rent the Etendards to Iraq Iraq also made deal to buy 24 Mirage fighters to be built in 2 years
(Musings On Iraq review Iraqi Mirages, The Dassault Mirage Family In Service With The Iraqi Air Force, 1981-1988)
1993 Iraq deployed 20 anti-aircraft missiles batteries within the No Fly Zone to challenge the West
1999 Iraqi opposition claimed Baghdad executed 100 dissidents in Nov 1998 who were arrested
during 91 uprising
2003 UK For Pol Adv Manning told PM Blair US almost given up on inspections because wanted
immediate action against Iraq Manning warned that US was pushing for war as soon as possible
(Musings On Iraq Review The Report of the Iraq Inquiry, Executive Summary)
(Musings On Iraq UN Inspectors Were Right Iraq Was Not A Threat)
(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s Rejection of UN Inspectors Led To Mistrust Over WMD and 2003 Invasion)
(Musings On Iraq Chilcot Inquiry Section 3.6 Development of UK Strategy and Options, November 2002 to January 2003)
2003 US Natl Intel Council report said building democracy in Iraq would be long and difficult
(Musings On Iraq review Iraq’s Future The aftermath of regime change)
(Musings On Iraq review Leap of Faith, Hubris Negligence, and America’s Greatest Foreign Policy
Tragedy)
2004 Bin Laden said US war in Iraq attempt to control region’s oil and start of holy war in Middle
East
2004 Report Kirkuk councilman and member of Turkmen Front said Turkmen wanted to work out
differences with Kurds politically but if that didn’t work would use violence
2005 Report US considered embedding US advisors within Iraqi units to speed their development
2007 Bush told PM Maliki Surge happening and he had to publicly back it and could not stop US ops
PM Maliki wanted US to only go after insurgents while he continued to protect Sadr and Mahdi Army
(Musings On Iraq interview with Prof Mansoor on the Surge)
(Musings On Iraq interview with New America Foundation’s Ollivant On Reassessing the Surge)
(Musings On Iraq review The War Within, A Secret White House History 2006-2008)
2007 Baathist leader Izzat al-Dhuri declared war on Sadr and Hakim
2007 Report New Pentagon program opened one closed state owned enterprise factory in Dec Had
plans to reopen 9 more by end of Jan Hoping they would create 11,000 jobs
2007 Report Intl Org for Migration recorded 40,000 Sunnis fled Baghdad to Anbar in 2006 to escape
civil war
(Musings On Iraq review Voices From Iraq, A People’s History, 2003-2009)
(Musings On Iraq Columbia University Charts Sectarian Cleansing Of Baghdad)
2008 Iraqi Red Crescent reported 45,913 refugees returned from Syria from Sep-Dec 07 Govt claimed
60,000 had returned because inflating numbers 38,736 went to Baghdad Around 10,000 displaced returned home from Nov-Dec 07 Returnees finding it hard to find housing school health care
(Musings On Iraq review Children of War, Voices Of Iraqi Refugees)
(Musings On Iraq Refugees International Report On Iraq’s Refugees and Displaced)
(Musings On Iraq January 2009 U.N. Report On Iraq Refugee Returns)
2009 Report found discrepancy with Lancet report that est 601,027 deaths in Iraq from 2003-06 Lancent
report said it had 22 missing or lost death certificates out of 629 recorded deaths All 22 were in Ninewa out of 16 provinces surveyed
(Musings On Iraq Major Flaws With The Lancet Reports On Iraqi Deaths Part I)
(Musings On Iraq Major Flaws With The Lancet Reports On Iraqi Deaths Part II)
(Musings On Iraq New Survey On Estimated Deaths In Iraq Refutes Lancet Reports)
(Musings On Iraq interview with Prof Mark Van Der Laan on Lancet Reports)
(Musings On Iraq interview with Prof Michael Spagat on Lancet reports)
2009 Maliki govt took control of Diyala Sahwa Promised 33% jobs in ISF Higher than 20%
promised to Sahwa in Baghdad 2 Sahwa leaders had warrants out for them Maliki had used carrot and stick approach with them to break them up and then co-opt them before provincial vote
(Musings On Iraq Here Comes The Carrot For Diyala’s Sons Of Iraq)
(Musings On Iraq Sons of Iraq Integration Update)
2014 Indiscriminate govt shelling of Fallujah caused hundreds to be displaced
(Musings On Iraq Counterproductive Tactics Of The Iraqi Security Forces)
2020 US led Coalition said that it would limit operations in Iraq and suspend training to
protect its forces from threats after the deaths of Gen Suleimani and Abu Muhandis
(Musings On Iraq Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ Commander General Suleimani And His Role In Iraq, An Interview With The New Yorker’s Dexter Filkins)
View the Iraq History Timelines
1923 Administrative Inspectors Law reduced number of British advisers to Iraqi govt and
limited their power
1948 Iraq’s Foreign Min Jamali said that Iraq was sensitive about the 1930 Anglo-Iraq Treaty
1948 Independence Party held meeting Decided to protest against govt and 1930 Anglo-Iraq Treaty
1963 Communists warned Gen Qasim to purge military to stop Baathist coup but ignored
(Musings On Iraq 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)
(Musings On Iraq interview with Western Kentucky’s Prof Romero on the Qasim govt)
(Musings On Iraq review Socialist Iraq, A Study in Iraqi Politics Since 1968)
1969 Pres Bakr launched new offensive against Barzani Talabani also attacked Barzani
(Musings On Iraq review The Kurds, A Modern History)
(Musings On Iraq review Kurds of Iraq, Tragedy and Hope)
(Musings On Iraq review The Kurdish Revolt 1961-1970)
1984 Formal ceasefire formed between Iraqi govt and PUK PUK agreed to fight Iran in return for
being left alone Only lasted 1 year
(Musings On Iraq review The Iran-Iraq War Volume 4: The Forgotten Fronts)
1987 Iraq counterattack east of Basra city turned back
(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 Iran-Iraq War Volume 3: Iraq’s Triumph)
(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)
2002 CIA Dir Tenet told VP Cheney coup wouldn’t work in Iraq only invasion would Tenet then
gave same briefing to Bush
(Musings On Iraq review Leap of Faith, Hubris Negligence, and America’s Greatest Foreign Policy
Tragedy)
2002 CIA argued overtly containing Iraq via UN sanctions while secretly working to overthrow
govt wouldn’t work Bush told CIA Dir Tenet dual Iraq policy would stand
2002 CIA paper said Iraq could hit neighbors with WMD missiles
(Musings On Iraq Iraq One Of The Worst Intelligence Failures In US History)
2004 US and Iraqi forces raided KDP and PUK offices in Kirkuk after Arab Turkmen Kurd clashes
in city
2007 Report Attacks doubled in Diyala since 05 US 4th Inf Div had largely withdrawn to bases Allowed
ISF to run province ISF accused of abuses Army and police generals both backed by Badr Diyala council dismissed police chief Accused of supporting death squads Sunnis boycotted Diyala govt until Iraqi army general replaced Insurgents held parade in Baquba neighborhood end of Dec Insurgents executed and expelled Shiites from Baquba
(Musings On Iraq interview with Jerry Burke police and Interior Min adviser on how Badr took over Interior Ministry)
(Musings On Iraq review The ISIS Reader, Milestone Texts of the Islamic State Movement)
(Musings On Iraq Badr Organization A View Into Iraq’s Violent Past And Present)
2008 Representatives of Sadr and ISCI met for second time to try to reconcile after a half year of fighting
across the south Signed pact in October but didn't stop violence
2009 PM Maliki went to Iran Met with Asaib Ahl Al-Haq and renewed ceasefire with it
(Musings On Iraq Asaib Ahl Al-Haq From A Breakaway Sadr Militia To Defenders Of Iraq)
2009 Oil Min Shahristani said KRG exaggerating how much oil it was producing and claimed most
of it was smuggled
(Musings On Iraq Baghdad-Kurdistan Rivalry Continues)
2009 Iraq opened up 2nd round of auctions for 11 oil and gas fields
2010 PM Maliki said Baghdad and Irbil should talk about oil contracts Said talked about issue with
KRG PM Salah
(Musings On Iraq Talk Of Renewed Kurdish Oil Exports)
2014 Insurgents declared Fallujah an Islamic state ISIS held parade and public prayers in city
2020 Iranian Revolutionary Guards Quds Force Cmdr Gen Suleimani and Kataib Hezbollah
cmdr-Dep Head of Hashd Commission Abu Muhandis killed in US strike in Baghdad
(Musings On Iraq Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ Commander General Suleimani And His
(Musings On Iraq How Will The Deaths Of General Suleimani and Abu Muhandis Affect Iraq? Comments by the Washington Institute’s Mike Knights)
(Musings On Iraq Instrument Of Iran’s Power In Iraq And Syria Kataib Hezbollah)
2020 Citing the deaths of Gen Suleimani and Abu Muhandis resigned PM Abdul Mahdi
called for a special session of parliament to discuss the U.S. military present in Iraq
(Musings On Iraq Iran’s Political Plan Unfolding In Iraq)
View the Iraq History Timelines
1915 Suleiman Bey took over Iraq Command for Ottomans Called on Arab sheikhs to join
war against British and planned on retaking Basra
1960 Gen Qasim passed Association Law legalizing political parties
1980 Iranian Op Mohammed Rasoolallah attacked Iraqi forces in Zagros Mtns Kurdistan Pushed
back by Iraqi counterattacks
(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 Iran-Iraq War Volume 4: The Forgotten Fronts)
(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)
2003 UN inspector told Irish Times no active WMD or nuclear programs found in Iraq
(Musings On Iraq UN Inspectors Were Right Iraq Was Not A Threat)
(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s Rejection of UN Inspectors Led To Mistrust Over WMD and 2003 Invasion)
(Musings On Iraq How US Intelligence Created An Iraqi Nuclear Threat In 2002)
(Musings On Iraq Chilcot Inquiry Section 3.6 Development of UK Strategy and Options, November 2002 to January 2003)
2004 Bremer met with Barzani and Talabani in Irbil to discuss Kurdish demands in new
constitution
2004 Bremer asked Kurds to disband Peshmerga abandon claims to Kirkuk oil accept authority of
central govt Kurds said no
2006 Iraq’s Dec 2005 export average of 1.1 million barrels a day was lowest since 2003 invasion
2006 USAID report on development projects outlined civil war Said tribes were turning in rivals as
insurgents to govt Report said south Iraq controlled by militias and religious groups curtailing people’s freedoms imposing dress codes bombing liquor stores etc Said Iraqi govt had no real control of country Police ineffective Criminals had free reign and working with militias and insurgents
2007 Iraqi govt reported 16,273 deaths in 2006 14,298 civilians, 1,348 police, 627 soldiers
2007 Report US pre-Surge Iraq strategy failed US planned to withdraw and have Iraqis take over security
Problem was violence increased ISF was not up to task of securing country and many units were full of militiamen making situation worse Bush still talked about victory when plan was a withdrawal As early as 2005 State Dept and NSC officials wanted to review Iraq strategy but went nowhere Wasn’t until fall 06 Bush finally agreed that things were not working
(Musings On Iraq Did the US Ever Have A Strategy To Win In Iraq Before the Surge?)
(Musings On Iraq review The War Within, A Secret White House History 2006-2008)
2008 Female suicide bomber killed Sahwa leader in Baquba
(Musings On Iraq The Rise of Female Suicide Bombers0
(Musings On Iraq Motivations Behind Female Suicide Bombers)
(Musings On Iraq review Suicide Bombers In Iraq, The Strategy and Ideology of Martyrdom)
2009 UN condemned assassination of two candidates in Ninewa and raids and attacks upon al-
Hadbaa Party before provincial election
2009 Dawa’s Askari accused ISCI of attempting no confidence vote against PM Maliki Said there was
a meeting in Kurdistan between Kurds, Islamic Party and ISCI that discussed removing Maliki
2014 ISIS fighters attacked Ramadi and helped take Fallujah with other insurgents
(Musings On Iraq review The Rise of Islamic State, ISIS and the New Sunni Revolution)
2014 Meeting of sheikhs clerics and notables to work out plan to retake Fallujah
2014 Mutihadun said wanted govt to release MP Alwani and police to restore security in Anbar
(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s PM Maliki Goes From Offensive Against Al Qaeda To Crackdown On Anbar Protestors)
2019 PM Abdul Mahdi announced new Supreme Anti-Corruption Council to combat the problem
(Musings On Iraq interview with Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart Bowen on Iraq’s fight with corruption)
(Musings On Iraq interview with former anti-corruption official Vincent Foulk)
2020 Iranian Revolutionary Guards Quds Force Cmdr Gen Suleimani and Kataib Hezbollah
cmdr-Dep Head of Hashd Commission Abu Muhandis killed in US strike in Baghdad
(Musings On Iraq Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ Commander General Suleimani And His
(Musings On Iraq How Will The Deaths Of General Suleimani and Abu Muhandis Affect Iraq? Comments by the Washington Institute’s Mike Knights)
(Musings On Iraq Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ Commander General Suleimani And His Role In Iraq, An Interview With The New Yorker’s Dexter Filkins)
(Musings On Iraq Instrument Of Iran’s Power In Iraq And Syria Kataib Hezbollah)
View the Iraq History Timelines
1960 Gen Qasim issued new law of association promising parties would be legalized and more
political freedom Banned any student organizing and activism on campuses to control student protests
(Musings On Iraq interview with Western Kentucky’s Prof Romero on the Qasim govt)
1982 Peshmerga bombed Iraq-Turkey oil pipeline
1984 Report US told Persian Gulf allies that it supported Iraq in Iran-Iraq War
(Musings On Iraq review The Saddam Tapes)
1988 Iran Launched Bait al-Moqaddas 2 in Mawet Kurdistan
(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 Iran-Iraq War Volume 4: The Forgotten Fronts)
(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)
1995 Civil war between PUK and KDP killed more than 500 over control of Irbil
(Musings On Iraq review The Kurds, A Modern History)
1997 US and UK launched Operation Northern Watch to maintain no fly zone over northern Iraq
after France withdrew
(Musings On Iraq Chilcot Report Sec 1.1 UK Iraq Strategy 1990 To 2000)
1999 French paper claimed in 1998 bin Laden talked about safe haven in Iraq
2001 Break-in at Niger embassy in Rome to provide cover for how Italian intel broker Martino got
fake Iraq-Niger uranium papers
(Musings On Iraq How US Intelligence Failed The Iraq-Niger Uranium Story)
(Musings On Iraq Review Hubris, The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, And The Selling Of The Iraq War)
2006 UK Gen Houghton said that US Iraq Cmdr Gen Casey wanted to emphasize fighting insurgency
while withdrawing US troops Houghton didn’t think that was plan to defeat insurgents
2007 ISF raided Al-Sharqiya TV station office in Baghdad after newscaster wore black day after
Saddam executed Govt claimed station promoted violence Owned by Bazzaz who ran TV and radio for Saddam
2008 Migration Minister said that govt plan was to return refugees to their homes and neighborhoods
Gen Petraeus didn’t think that possible because demographics had changed during civil war Said it would lead to violence Said many refugees would never return to their homes
(Musings On Iraq review Children of War, Voices Of Iraqi Refugees)
(Musings On Iraq Refugees International Report On Iraq’s Refugees and Displaced)
(Musings On Iraq January 2009 U.N. Report On Iraq Refugee Returns)
2009 US military handed over control of Green Zone to Iraqi govt
2009 British transferred control of Basra Airport to Iraqi forces
(Musings On Iraq Review The Report of the Iraq Inquiry, Executive Summary)
2014 ISI fighters moved into Ramadi and looted police stations Reports police in Fallujah deserted
and joined insurgents Fighting spread to Garma
(Musings On Iraq Aftermath of Shutting Down Ramadi Protest Site In Iraq)
2014 Sheikh Abu Risha called on Anbar to fight ISI
2014 ISI began pushing families out of Jurf al-Sakhr, Babil
View the Iraq History Timelines
1831 Ottoman governor of Aleppo entered Baghdad under orders of Sultan Mahmoud Brought province under direct control o...
