This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 5

 

1920 Revolt leaders in Shamiya passed demands to British Wanted full independence End to

fighting Withdrawal of British administrators from Mid-Euphrates Release of leading cleric Shirazi

(Musings On Iraq review Reclaiming Iraq, The 1920 Revolution and the Founding of the Modern State)

(Musings On Iraq review Enemy On The Euphrates, The Battle For Iraq 1914-1921)

1923 UK report Shiites wanted weak Mandate to set up theocracy Hoped King Faisal would win

loyalty of people and undermine Shiite clerics Shiites also mistrusted elections and believed all power would go to Sunnis Also didn’t seem to like Faisal

1926 Turkey and Britain signed treaty setting Turkey-Iraq border UK agreed to give Turkey 10% of

Mosul oil revenues in return

(Musings On Iraq How The Ottoman Province Of Mosul Became Part Of Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq interview with Princeton’s Sara Pursley on Sykes-Picot and creation of Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review The Creation of Iraq 1914-1921)

(Musings On Iraq review Supremacy And Oil, Iraq, Turkey, and the Anglo-American World Order, 1918-1930)

(Musings On Iraq review Turkey, the US and Iraq)

1940 PM Gaylani made overture to Germany with Justice Min Shawkat meeting German ambassador to

Turkey von Papen Shawkat told von Papen Iraq wanted Germany to stop Italian imperialism from spreading in Middle East and to support pan-Arabism instead Papen said Iraq should contribute to war vs England and Shawkat said that would happen

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

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

(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)

1959 Popular Resistance Force put under army control to curtail Communist influence within

militia 

(Musings On Iraq interview with Western Kentucky’s Prof Romero on the Qasim govt)

1959 Communists plotted a coup to overthrow Qasim Abandoned at last minute

1960 Islamic Party issued statement warning against Communist activities in Iraq

(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)

1983 Tariq Aziz returned from trip to Egypt to improve relations and ensure Cairo would continue to

supply Iraq with ammunition for the 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 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)

1992 Iraq refused to allow UN inspectors into Agriculture Min causing a crisis

(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)

2002 Talks between Iraq and UN in Vienna brokedown over new weapons inspections

2002 Supporters of Def Sec Rumsfeld leaked CENTCOM doc to NYTimes on invasion plans to use air

strikes Special Forces CIA operatives for covert ops

(Musings On Iraq How Arguments Over Iraq Invasion Plan Were Fought Through Press Leaks)

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

2003 US police training center in Ramadi bombed 7 police killed 40 wounded

2003 CIA Dir Tenet complained to NSC about Iraq-Africa uranium deal getting into Bush’s State of the

Union speech

2003 NSC said DepNatSecAdv Hadley forgot CIA had pulled Iraq-Africa story from previous Bush

speech Tenet didnt read State of Union

2003 CIA Dir Tenet said he and NSC responsible for Iraq-Africa uranium story getting into Bush’s State

of Union

(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)

2004 Allawi govt announced amnesty for insurgents

2004 Report Zarqawi’s bombing moved him from margins of insurgency to the center

(Musings On Iraq review The Caliphate At War, Operational Realities and Innovations of the Islamic State)

2005 Zarqawi announced Umar Brigades Would assassinate Badr members and Shiite

civilians in Baghdad and Anbar

2005 Insurgents attacked diplomatic convoys of Bahrain and Pakistan Led Pakistan to withdraw

ambassador

2007 Al Qaeda’s Zawahiri released video Called for people to rally around ISI Same time ISI had to find

unity with Iraqis Was acknowledgement insurgent groups were splitting with ISI

2008 PM Maliki claimed terrorists in Iraq were defeated

2008 Head of Islamic Party in Fallujah escaped assassination attempt in campaign against the party

2009 China National Petroleum Corp signed deal for Ahdab oil field in Wasit 1^st foreign oil company

to sign deal with Iraq since 2003

2018 Hundreds protested at Basra provincial council building demanding jobs

(Musings On Iraq Summer Protests In Iraq Turn Deadly In Basra)

View the Iraq History Timelines 

This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 4

 

1917 Al-Arab paper established Said it was for Arabs but was actually run by British eventually

under Gertrude Bell

(Musings On Iraq review Gertrude Bell And Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review Gertrude Bell, Explorer of the Middle East)

(Musings On Iraq movie review Letters from Baghdad)

1920 British troops stopped raid into Rumaitha’s bazaar by rebels Then went to neighboring town

and ambushed on way back and wiped out

(Musings On Iraq review of Reclaiming Iraq, The 1920 Revolution and the Founding of the Modern State)

(Musings On Iraq review Enemy On The Euphrates, The Battle For Iraq 1914-1921)

1937 Iraq-Iran Frontier Treaty signed Meant to resolve border dispute Accepted demarcation process

done by Ottomans and Persians Set up commission to finish border Created a body to work out navigation of Shatt al-Arab most of which was given to Iraq Political instability in Baghdad and outbreak of WW2 meant treaty never implemented Treaty angered pan-Arabists and led to 1938 coup by Golden Square officers

(Musings On Iraq review The Creation of Iraq 1914-1921)

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

(Musings On Iraq review The Modern History of Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq Between the Two World Wars, The Militarist Origins of Tyranny)

1940 Regent of Iraq asked England to occupy Syria that had joined Vichy France so that pan-Arab union

could be formed of Iraq Syria and other Arab countries

1969 Iraq signed technical agreement with Soviets to help with oil

1986 Iraqis launched counterattack but failed to retake Mehran, Iran central front Iran’s Op Karbala 1

entered second phase to invade Iraq

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

1988 Iraq 5^th Corps attacked Haj Umran Rawandiz and Lake Dukan in 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 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 Parliament passed law allowing opposition parties but with restrictions on their activities

1992 Kurdistan Regional Government formed in safe zone

1994 Barzani and Talabani announced they were still unified against Iraqi govt while PUK and KDP were

in middle of civil war

1995 Turkey launched new operation to attack PKK in northern Kurdistan

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

1998 IAEA report to UN Iraq did not have nuclear weapons Iraqi scientists had not given complete

access IAEA would focus upon long term monitoring

(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)

2003 Marines in control of Najaf set provincial elections for this date but were cancelled by CPA

2003 US arrested 32 Turkish special forces in Sulaymaniya Accused them of plotting to assassinate

Kurdish officials

(Musings On Iraq interview with Kevin Petit of the 173^rd Airborne Bgd On Kirkuk In The Aftermath Of The 2003 Invasion)

2003 Arrest of Turkish Special forces in Sulaymaniya led to protests in Turkey and bombing of US

consulate in Istanbul

2003 Saddam tape aired on Al Jazeera Blamed US and UK for destroying Iraq looking for WMD that

didn’t exist Saddam said he would lead resistance to occupation of Iraq

2003 Bremer sent CPA political plan Vision to Empower Iraqis to Def Sec Rumsfeld Called for democracy

Rebuilding Stability

2004 Report Gen Eaton in charge of training ISF said no progress in almost a year of developing Iraqi

forces

2005 US found 170 prisoners at secret prison in Baghdad run by Interior Min Were told to leave it alone

by commanders

2006 Abu Risha tribe in Ramadi district made first police recruiting drive as part of Awakening

(Musings On Iraq How A Change In Perceptions Led To The Anbar Awakening)

(Musings On Iraq interview with author Carter Malkasian on Anbar Awakening)

(Musings On Iraq review Confronting Al Qaeda, The Sunni Awakening and American Strategy In Al Anbar)

(Musings On Iraq review The Marines Take Anbar, The Four-Year Fight Against Al Qaeda)

(Musings On Iraq review Illusions of Victory, The Anbar Awakening And The Rise Of The Islamic State)

(Musings On Iraq review The Sheriff of Ramadi, Navy SEALS and the Winning of Anbar)

2006 Bush told US troops they were winning war in Iraq

(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)

(Musings On Iraq review What Happened, Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception)

2006 Gunmen kidnapped and released Electricity Minister

2007 US forces captured ISI’s media emir Mashadani Fed them disinformation that Abu Omar al-

Baghdadi was fake and ISI was still under Al Qaeda Helped contribute to Americans to continue to call the group Al Qaeda in Iraq

(Musings On Iraq interview with Naval War College’s Prof Whiteside on ISI leader Abu Omar al-Baghdadi)

2007 Bush speech Said Al Qaeda in Iraq was same group that attacked US on 9/11 Said US withdrawal

wrong Would be terrorist victory and would attack US next Said insurgents could take over Iraq and use its oil to blackmail the US Part of PR campaign to gain support for Surge

2007 US accused Iran of using Hezbollah to train Iraqi militias based upon arrest of Ali Musa Daqduq

Daqduq sent to Iraq in 2006 by Iran Rev Guard Quds Force Said Hezbollah trainers worked with Iraqi militias in 3 camps near Tehran Said Quds Force gave up to $3 mil/mo to militias Daqduq also said Iran planned Jan 07 attack upon US base in Karbala

(Musings On Iraq Hezbollah’s Role In Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq Iran’s Policy Towards Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq Overview of Iran’s Influence In Iraq)

2008 Report Anbar council dismissed Anbar police chief from Awakening but refused to step down Said

police would only follow him Sheikh Abu Risha from Awakening said it was now running Anbar and Islamic Party that ran provincial council couldn’t stop it

(Musings On Iraq interview with author Carter Malkasian on Anbar Awakening)

2009 PM Maliki told VP Biden reconciliation was domestic affair and rejected US role Biden warned

Maliki if he didn’t work on reconciliation US wouldn’t support his govt

2014 Baghdadi declared caliphate from Nouri Mosque Mosul ISIS would now be Islamic State He was

Caliph Ibrahim

(Musings On Iraq review The Caliphate At War, Operational Realities and Innovations of the Islamic State)

2014 1^st issue of IS’s English language Dabiq magazine came out saying caliphate was a de facto state

View the Iraq History Timelines 

This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 3

 

1923 35 clerics and religious students left Iraq for Persia to protest deportation of Mujtahid Khalisi for opposition activities

1946 Oil workers in Kirkuk led by Communists held meetings about their work conditions Led to strike

(Musings On Iraq review The Modern History of Iraq)

1963 Communist uprising at Rasheed military camp in Baghdad against Baathists

(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)

1970 Kurdish meeting chose Habid Karim as Vice President under Autonomy Agreement

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

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

(Musings On Iraq review The Kurdish Revolt 1961-1970)

1977 Iraq signed deal to buy 34 Mirage fighters from France Iraq believed Mirages were key to defeating Israel in next war

(Musings On Iraq review Iraqi Mirages, The Dassault Mirage Family In Service With The Iraqi Air Force, 1981-1988)

1981 Saddam offered another truce in war rejected by Iran

1986 Iranian forces recaptured Mehran Iran central front Iraq lost 1000 dead 1200 prisoners 3000 wounded Iran lost 3000 dead 9000 wounded

(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)

2001 UN Res 1360 renewed Oil for Food program

2003 38,000 police came back to duty after Bremer threatened to fire them for not working after invasion

(Musings On Iraq interview with Col Ted Spain on how US struggled to establish law and order in post

invasion Iraq)  

(Musings On Iraq interview with Jerry Burke police and Interior Min adviser on how US failed to

develop the Iraqi police)

2003 Ex CIA official said White House pushed hard on CIA to find Iraq-Al Qaeda connections but didn't

            find any

2004 3 US military reviews of 2003 invasion found that logistics were lacking and military intelligence was largely useless

2005 Al Qaeda in Iraq kidnapped Egyptian ambassador to Iraq Egypt would not send another

ambassador until 2009 

2007 Cabinet passed new draft oil and gas bill Cabinet approved another oil and gas bill in February

Neither made it through parliament

2010 VP Biden made surprise visit to Iraq to try to help form new govt after elections

(Musings On Iraq review The Endgame, The Inside Story of the Struggle for Iraq, from George W. Bush

to Barack Obama)

2011 MP said $1 mil fraud case for ISF buying dogs that couldn’t detect bombs used at checkpoints Nothing happened

2011 ISF launched op in Maysan to block Iranian weapons flowing into Iraq as result of increased militia attacks on US forces

(Musings On Iraq Iran’s Policy Towards Iraq)

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

militias) 

2011 Protest in Nasiriya for turning Dhi Qar into autonomous region

2012 Parliament passed $9 bil supplemental budget fueled by high oil prices

2012 Iranian delegation arrived in Iraq to try to improve relations between PM Maliki and Sadr

2014 ISF claimed parts of Jurf al-Sakhr, Babil cleared Was still under IS control

2014 Khalidiya, Anbar cleared by ISF of insurgents

2014 Report over 2,500 IS cells operating in Baghdad province

2014 Pres Barzani called on KRG parliament to create commission to create referendum on KRG independence

2016 Karrada Baghdad car bomb set off fire in mall killing 324 wounding 200

2016 PM Abadi ordered withdrawal of fake bomb detectors at checkpoints in Baghdad

2017 Protest in Baghdad and Najaf over lack of electricity Night march in Karbala demanding services

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Review The Triumph of the Martyrs, A Reporter’s Journey into Occupied Iraq

Rosen, Nir, The Triumph of the Martyrs, A Reporter’s Journey into Occupied Iraq, Washington DC: Potomac Books, Inc, 2008

 

The Triumph of the Martyrs, A Reporter’s Journey into Occupied Iraq by Nir Rosen tries to explain the fracturing of Iraq during the first two years of the U.S. occupation. Journalist Rosen spent most of his time in the country talking with Iraqis from all different groups from Sunni and Shiite clerics to members of the Kurdish parties to Turkmen to insurgent groups. He found during the first few months after the invasion Arab Iraqis were united in their opposition to the Americans but this quickly came apart. That was replaced by communal demands for power and violence by insurgents and militias. Rosen’s argument is that the Bush administration came to Iraq claiming it was going to bring democracy but instead it spit the nation.

This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 2

 

1975 Iraq and Saudi Arabia agreed to divide neutral zone set up between two countries by British

after WWI to set new border

1982 Iran attacked Penjwin Kurdistan Was stopped

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

1983 Iran began Op Wa al-Fajr 2 towards Rawanduz Valley in Kurdistan KDP Dawa Badr Brigade

took part Goal was to seize Haj Omran which was KDPI HQ

(Musings On Iraq Interview with Lowy Institution’s Shanahan on history of the Dawa Party)

(Musings On Iraq review The Shi’ite Movement in Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq Badr Organization A View Into Iraq’s Violent Past And Present)

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

1986 Iran Op Karbala 1 pushed Iraqi forces almost back to Iraqi border 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 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)

1992 Govt began draining southern marshes to force out rebels and displaced

2001 US intel report on confiscated aluminum tubes Iraq tried to buy Said did not fit rocket launchers

Did match 1950s German centrifuge design Was untrue

(Musings On Iraq How A Contested Aluminum Tubes Story Became The Basis For War With Iraq)

2002 UK Def Min secretary told PM Blair’s foreign policy adviser Manning US working on military

plans to remove Saddam with no post-war plan and no overall strategy behind it

(Musings On Iraq Chilcot Report Section 3.4 Development of UK Iraq Strategy and Options, Late July to 14 September 2002)

2002 UK Def Min Hoon told PM Blair he had to push US to think about postwar Iraq planning

(Musings On Iraq 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 Bush said “Bring em on” when talking about insurgency in Iraq

2003 UK ForSec Straw said political and security situation in Iraq was improving

2003 Baroness Amos wrote report on her Jun 03 trip to Iraq Baghdad on edge Daily attacks on US

Things getting worse UN was going to cut 1/3 of its staff over lack of security CPA didn’t have staff experienced in nation building in post-conflict societies Said Iraqis needed to be convinced that sovereignty would be returned soon Bremer said he had no set timetable for his political plan

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

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq’s Dysfunctional Democracy)

2003 UK intel report on Iraq Various groups competing for power Some using violence Security and

living conditions top priorities for Iraqis Differences could escalate

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

2006 US Iraq Cmdr Gen Casey extended tour of 172^nd Stryker Brigade because violence too high in

Baghdad Casey’s plan was to withdraw US forces

2007 US general accused Iranian leadership through Quds Force and Hezbollah of instigating attacks in

Iraq Said that Iran behind Jan 07 attack on Karbala operations center that killed 4 US soldiers Ran training camps in Iran for militiamen supplied weapons and up to $3 mil a month

(Musings On Iraq Iran’s Policy Towards Iraq)

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

2007 Mahdi Army fired more than 70 rockets at Coalition Base Echo in Diwaniya

2008 ISF arrested Maysan Governor Muhoder head of the provincial council and two other council

members for their connection to Mahdi Army A police chief was detained for being a Special Groups leader

2009 State Dept listed Abu Muhandis as a global terrorist

2009 Report FBI interview with Saddam from 06 released Saddam said Al Qaeda were zealots he

would never work with Said Iran number one threat Reason why he never fully cooperated with UN inspectors because had to maintain image Iraq had WMD to deter Iran

2009 Baghdad Ops Command issued order restricting US movement in Baghdad Said no joint

patrols with US

2014 IS head Baghdadi said the caliphate had been established after the humiliation of Muslims

(Musings On Iraq review The Caliphate At War, Operational Realities and Innovations of the Islamic State)

2017 Protest in Karbala Demanded Electricity Min Fahadawi be dismissed for shortages

2018 Protest outside West Qurna 2 oil field demanding jobs from oil companies

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Security In Iraq, Jun 22-28, 2021

Violence slightly dipped in Iraq during the fourth week of June. Both the Islamic State and pro-Iran groups reduced their attacks.

This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 1

1920 British army facing revolt in Rumaitha told no reinforcements coming because railways

destroyed Railway fixed and reinforcements arrived later that day

(Musings On Iraq review of Reclaiming Iraq, The 1920 Revolution and the Founding of the Modern State)

(Musings On Iraq review Enemy On The Euphrates, The Battle For Iraq 1914-1921)

1920 Gertrude Bell wrote Cmdr in Iraq Gen Haldane that support for Iraqi independence had fallen

Off She didn’t know 1920 Revolt had started

1940 UK Cabinet decided to send division from India to Basra to pressure PM Gaylani who refused

to break relations with Italy and demanded changes to Anglo-Iraq Treaty UK Mideast Cmdr Gen Wavell opposed idea saying it would make situation worse Cabinet cancelled deployment

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

1943 Mustafa Barzani led rebellion against govt Iraqi troops backed by British airplanes suppressed

revolt by Oct 1945

(Musings On Iraq review The Chatham House Version and other Middle-Eastern Studies)

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

(Musings On Iraq review The Kurdish Revolt 1961-1970)

1961 UK sent troops to newly independent Kuwait to protect it from Gen. Qasim’s call that it be annexed

(Musings On Iraq review Unholy Babylon, The Secret History of Saddam’s War)

1962 National Democratic Party suspended activities to protest govt repression of Communists and

            political freedoms Had originally been behind crackdown on Communists

1964 KDP congress called by Barzani and excluded Ibrahim Ahmad and Jalal Talabani faction

Ahmad-Talabani sent delegates who were arrested Solidified Barzani’s control of KPD and Kurdish movement

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

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq & the Kurdish Question, 1958-70)

1965 National Guidance Minister Farham removed and other Nasserite ministers resigned

from Arif govt

1985 Def Dept official said that US should watch technology exports to Iraq because they could be used

for its nuclear weapons program

1986 Iraq escalated air strikes on Iran’s economic infrastructure

(Musings On Iraq review Iraqi Mirages, The Dassault Mirage Family In Service With The Iraqi Air Force, 1981-1988)

1988 Iraq Foreign Min Aziz admitted that Baghdad used chemical weapons in the Iran-Iraq War but said

Iran started using them first

(Musings On Iraq Origins Of Iraq’s WMD Programs)

(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)

1995 Iraq told UN inspectors it had a biological weapons program and made anthrax and botulinum

1989-90 Denied it weaponized agents Seemed like Iraq had finally come clean about all its weapons programs to inspectors

(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 Out Of The Ashes, The Resurrection of Saddam Hussein)

(Musings On Iraq review The Saddam Tapes)

1996 Richard Butler became head UN weapons inspector replacing Rolf Ekeus Butler was more

confrontational with Iraqis

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq In The Eye of the Storm)

2002 Pentagon memo said US should organize Iraqi opposition to help with regime change and fill

vacuum after Saddam Said exiles would help ensure no chaos after invasion Said if US tried to run Iraq without opposition leaders would backfire

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

2003 Mosque in Fallujah bombed killing 5 wounding 4

2004 CIA official said agency was constantly told to re-do assessments that said no Iraq-Al Qaeda

connection by White House 

2004 Saddam and 11 senior Baathists appeared in court for first time

2006 Truck bomb Sadr City killed 62 wounded 120

2006 Sunni female parliamentarian and 8 bodyguards kidnapped in Baghdad

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

2007 Iraqi govt announced 1,227 civilian deaths in June lowest monthly total in 2007

2008 Report US didn’t have people or plans for postwar Iraq Chaos that ensued set conditions for

insurgency Were many groups working on postwar plans but few made it into the war plans Top officials had best case scenario for postwar Iraq which overrode plans for bad situations Almost all planning went to war as a result Gen Franks only cared about war which made accomplishing postwar goals harder NSC provided no strategy despite multiple requests Left each agency to carry out individual plans Meant no coordination of planning NSC never mediated between Defense and State Pentagon given control of postwar plans but cared about war more Created ORHA to run Iraq only 8 weeks before invasion but didn’t have expertise or personnel to run it Problems lasted postwar State Dept’s Future of Iraq Project was not a postwar plan

(Musings On Iraq review Hard Lessons, The Iraq Reconstruction Experience)

2008 KRG released report that its oil deals were far superior and Baghdad’s oil plan would be disastrous

for the country

2008 2 Sadrist politicians and Iraqi army officers said Hezbollah ran two training camps in Basra

since 2006 Up to 10 Hezbollah operatives trained Special Groups there Closed during Charge of Knights Said Hezbollah involved in Jan 07 Asaib Ahl Al-Haq raid on Karbala that killed US soldiers and involved in AAH kidnapping of 5 Britons from Finance Min in Baghdad May 07

(Musings On Iraq Overview of Iran’s Influence In Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq Hezbollah’s Role In Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq Asaib Ahl Al-Haq From A Breakaway Sadr Militia To Defenders Of Iraq)

2014 IS released recording of its leader Baghdadi declaring a new caliphate

(Musings On Iraq review The Caliphate At War, Operational Realities and Innovations of the Islamic State)

2018 Protests in Waraka and Rumaitha Muthanna over water services and privatization of electricity

Protest at West Qurna 2 oil field in Basra demanding more pay Hundreds protested outside Basra council building for jobs Threatened to close down foreign companies Protest in Amara Maysan cutting off roads over power 

2019 PM Abdul Mahdi executive order Hashd part of the security forces Had to follow its rules and

orders of the commander in chief Individual names of brigades could no longer be used Could not be linked to political parties Those that did not comply by Jul 31 could no longer carry weapons Came after 7 attacks by pro-Iran groups due to US-Iran tensions and Hashd drone attack upon Saudi Arabia Was ignored

(Musings On Iraq PM Abdul Mahdi Orders Fuller Integration Of Hashd In Response To Attacks By Iranian Backed Groups In June)

View the Iraq History Timelines