This Day In Iraqi History - Dec 27

 

865 Ibn Tahir deposed Abbasid Caliph Mutasin Ordered people of Baghdad to pledge allegiance to Mutazz

as new caliph City rejected Mutazz Forced Ibn Tahir to back down Caliph Mutasin appeared saying he was still caliph

1945 Regent of Iraq gave speech promising political reform improved social security fighting employment

redistribution of wealth new Anglo-Iraq Treaty PM Pachachi opposed to any reforms

(Musings On Iraq review ‘Independent Iraq’ The Monarchy & British Influence, 1941-1958)

1986 Iraq counterattack recaptured Um al-Rassas island in Basra Ended Iran Op Karbala 4

            Iran lost 800 dead 200 prisoners Iraq lost 800 dead 2000 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 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)

1990 100 congressmen asked Bush to give Iraq sanctions chance to work

1993 State Dept accused Iraq of indiscriminate shelling/bombing burning villages and executions in

southern marshes

2001 Gen Franks briefed Rumsfeld on war planning

(Musings On Iraq review 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)

2003 Zarqawi attacks on govt buildings and foreign troop bases in Karbala killed 19 wounded 170

2004 Al Jazeera aired bin Laden tape calling Zarqawi the prince of Al Qaeda in Iraq Bin Laden said

focus of the Islamic world was war against US in Iraq

(Musings On Iraq interview with former CIA analyst Nada Bakos that tracked Zarqawi)

2004 Iraqi Islamic Party withdrew from January 2005 election saying violence made vote impossible

2005 Al Qaeda in Iraq fired 2 rockets from south Lebanon into Israel

2005 Kurdish Col in army’s 2^nd Div in Ninewa said unit would not allow Def Min to add Arab

soldiers to division

2006 Frederick Kagan and Ret Gen Jack Keane wrote OpEd in Wash Post arguing for troop Surge in

Iraq that they conceived

(Musings On Iraq interview with Prof Mansoor on the Surge)

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

2007 Report Islamists running many US prisons Camp Bucca indoctrinating prisoners into Islamism ISI

members went after Anbar tribal members in prison blaming them for Awakening

2008 3,000 marched in Basra city demanding province be turned into a federal region

(Musings On Iraq Basra Federal Region Update)

2009 Barzani held meeting to create Peshmerga Ministry in attempt to unify KDP and PUK’s forces Never

fully happened

2009 Dep US Cmdr in Iraq said govt integration of Sahwa would have to wait until after 2010

elections Maliki govt originally agreed to integrate them by end of 2009

(Musings On Iraq Integration Of Sons Of Iraq Delayed Until Mid-2010)

2011 Salahaddin council voted to turn province into a federal region Blocked by PM Maliki Was to

            protest Maliki govt

2012 Protest in Mosul called for Iraqi forces to withdraw from city after arbitrary arrests

2012 Tribal delegation from Basra joined Ramadi protest

2013 PM Maliki said would be last time Friday prayers held at Ramadi protest site Demanded tribes end

protest

2013 Iraqi forces tightened security around Ramadi protest site searching people coming and going

2013 Army vehicle attacked near Ramadi protest site Blamed on ISI

2013 Pro-Maliki Sheikh Hayes said Ramadi base for Al Qaeda Called on PM Maliki to burn down

Anbar protest camps Hayes met with delegations from Albu Diab Albu Jaber Albu Ali al-Jassim Albu Fahd Albu Shaban Albu Hamza tribes who all pledged support for govt

(Musings On Iraq Violence In Iraq’s Anbar Highlights Divided Tribes There)

2013 Several sheikhs warned govt about closing down Ramadi protest site

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s PM Maliki Goes From Offensive Against Al Qaeda To Crackdown On Anbar Protestors)

2013 Commander Anbar Rapid Reaction Force hit by IED Army base east of Ramadi hit by mortars Part

of new insurgent offensive in Anbar

(Musings On Iraq Security In Iraq’s Anbar Province December 2013)

2013 Ansar al Sunna claimed ISI killed 40 of its members in inter-insurgent fighting

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

2015 IS head Baghdadi released message US afraid to fight IS and Islam destined to rule world until

judgment day

2019 Kataib Hezbollah blamed for rocket attack on K1 Military Base Kirkuk that killed 2

Iraqi police 1 US contractor and wounded 2 Iraqi soldiers and 4 US soldiers

(Musings On Iraq Instrument Of Iran’s Power In Iraq And Syria Kataib Hezbollah)

View the Iraq History Timelines 

This Day In Iraqi History - Dec 26

 

1946 National Democratic Party minister resigned from PM Said govt over King Ghazi and PM interfering

in elections by pushing their candidates

1961 Iraq announced it would reconsider diplomatic relations with any country that recognized

Kuwait as independent country Withdrew diplomats from US Jordan Tunisia Lebanon and others as a result

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

1980 Saddam said frontline in war would be new border with Iran and demanded Tehran give self-

rule to Arabs in southwestern Iran

(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 Syria invited Iraqi opposition parties to Damascus

1998 Iraq said no fly zones were illegal and would oppose them

2006 Appeals court upheld Saddam’s death sentence

2007 Car bomb hit Sahwa-army checkpoint in Baiji killing 25 Suicide bomber hit funeral of Sahwa

fighters in Baquba Part of ISI campaign against Sahwa

(Musings On Iraq review Suicide Bombers In Iraq, The Strategy and Ideology of Martyrdom)

2007 Iraqi soldier shot 5 US soldiers, 2 died at military outpost in Mosul

2007 Kurds agreed to delay implementing Article 140 on referendum on Kirkuk for 6 months

Constitutional review committee would miss Dec 31 deadline to amend constitution 4^th time missed deadline

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

2008 Report Talk of no confidence vote against PM Maliki Major parties met start of Dec to discuss

removing him Complained he was becoming an autocrat

(Musings On Iraq Argument For Maliki Being Iraq’s Next Strongman)

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq After America, Strongmen, Sectarians, Resistance)

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

2009 Pilgrims to Karbala launched protest against PM Maliki over corruption and Iranians stealing oil

(Musings On Iraq Anti-Government Protests In Both Southern and Northern Iraq)

2009 Report Maliki govt was to integrate all sahwa by end of 2009 Delayed until after March 2010 election

Never happened

2012 Finance Min Issawi addressed Ramadi protest camp condemning actions of PM Maliki

(Musings On Iraq Prime Minister Maliki Targets Another Member Of The Iraqi National Movement In An Act Of Political Intimidation)

2013 2 Suicide bombers attacked 1^st Rapid Reaction Brigade HQ in Garma Anbar Ops Command HQ

mortared in new insurgent offensive in Anbar

(Musings On Iraq Security In Iraq’s Anbar Province December 2013)

(Musings On Iraq review Suicide Bombers In Iraq, The Strategy and Ideology of Martyrdom)

2019 Pres Salah offered to resign over Bina list nominating Basra Governor Eidani for premier

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s President Threatens To Resign Over Unpopular Nominations For Premier)

View the Iraq History Timelines 

This Day In Iraqi History - Dec 25

 

1920 Gertrude Bell wrote that Faisal was the only solution to Iraq and its first choice to be king

(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)

(Musings On Iraq review Desert Queen, The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell: Adventurer, Adviser to Kings, Ally of Lawrence of Arabia)

1938 Group of Seven pan-Arab officers appointed Nuri al-Said PM Moved to punish ex-PM Sulaiman for

killing his brother in law Jaafar al-Askari in 1936 coup

1943 PM Nuri al-Said formed his 3^rd cabinet Made Mullah Mustafa Barzani Minister of Kurdish

Affairs in failed attempt to co-opt him and end his revolt

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

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

(Musings On Iraq review ‘Independent Iraq’ The Monarchy & British Influence, 1941-1958)

(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)

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

1986 Iraqi counterattack pushed Iranians back into Shatt al-Arab Ended Iran’s Op Karbala 4 Iran lost

9,000-12,000 casualties vs 3,000 Iraqi casualties

(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)

2005 Report US mismanaged developing Iraq’s electricity network Installed 26 natural gas turbines

at 7 plants when Iraq didn’t have gas or infrastructure to support them

2006 British destroyed Jamiat police station in Basra HQ of Serious Crimes Unit run by Mahdi Army

infamous for arrests torture corruption Found 127 prisoners who’d been tortured Arrested policemen from Crime Unit for running death squads

(Musings On Iraq US Army History Iraq War Vol 1 – Chapter 22 – The Failed Transition)

2012 Iraqiya boycotted cabinet 2^nd time over arrest warrant for Fin Min Issawi

(Musings On Iraq Prime Minister Maliki Targets Another Member Of The Iraqi National Movement In An Act Of Political Intimidation)

2013 Acting Def Min Dulaimi said govt would not shut down Ramadi protest site

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s PM Maliki Goes From Offensive Against Al Qaeda To Crackdown On Anbar Protestors)

2020 Asaib Ahl Al-Haq posted videos of armed men on social media Then had men hit streets of

Baghdad Said waiting for leader Khazali to give word and they would attack Interior Min and free members arrested Dec 21 for rocket attacks on Green Zone

2020 PM Kazemi deployed Counter Terror Service to Baghdad to respond to Asaib Ahl Al-Haq

threats and put Federal Police on alert Tweeted that he was ready to take on outlaws threatening his govt

2020 National Sec Adv Araji held talks with Asaib Ahl Al-Haq and got it to back down from

threats vs PM Kazemi

2020 Asabi Ahl Al-Haq leader Khazali said that tensions with Kazemi govt had been resolved but

pro-Iran groups had right to attack Americans Kataib Hezbollah said it would cut off Kazemi’s ears

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s PM Kazemi Might Finally Be Standing Up To Pro-Iran Groups)

View the Iraq History Timelines 

This Day In Iraqi History - Dec 24

 

1915 Ottomans began 2^nd attack upon British at Kut Breached defense but attack faltered

because of bad coordination

1922 Anglo-Iraq declaration to League of Nations talked about giving Kurds rights and own

govt in their region

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

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

1938 Golden Square army colonels overthrew PM Jamil Midfai for trying to remove pan-Arab officers

Backed by Nuri al-Said Taha al-Hashemi Rashid al-Gaylani 1922-58 were 59 cabinets

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

(Musings On Iraq review The Role of the Military In Politics, A case study of Iraq to 1941)

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

(Musings On Iraq review The Modern History of Iraq)

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

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

1938 PM Said moved to punish ex-PM Sulaiman

1963 Arif govt promised to settle problems with foreign oil companies

1980 Iraq air force bombed Iran’s main oil terminal at Kharg Island for 1^st time Iran bombed Basra

refinery in retaliation

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

1980 Iraqi division moved into Iran in north Took control of Rashah and Rayat Passes to block any

Iranian move upon Sulaymaniya

(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)

2002 UK Foreign Sec Straw told Sec of State Powell a 2^nd UN resolution was needed to gain UK political

support and legal justification for war

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

2002 Niger Premier said that his country did not try to sell uranium to Iraq

2003 Report President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board found White House disregarded

warnings by CIA about Iraq-Africa uranium story

(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 Def Sec Rumsfeld told troops in Iraq insurgency could be defeated

2005 National Security Adv Rubaie met with Ayatollah Sistani Said Sistani rejected calls for revote

due to complaints and violations Rubaie said Iraq would re-arrest Baathist officials just released by US

2005 Iraq court barred 90 candidates from election for Baathist ties

2006 Acting upon warrants for 62 police officers UK forces raided Basra Serious Crime Unit HQ Found 127

prisoners 80% were tortured Some Basra councilman protested against raid Interior Min Bolani said he would disband Serious Crime Unit PM Maliki Basra Gov Waili and sheikhs all supported raid Crime Unit responsible for death squads Attacks on UK Criminal activity Ties to Mahdi Army

(Musings On Iraq US Army History Iraq War Vol 1 – Chapter 22 – The Failed Transition)

2006 Interior Min reported 12,000 police killed since 2003 Avg 10 per day

2007 Report US general in charge of northern Iraq said most people in Sahwa were there for $ Of

15,000 Sahwa in north only 20% wanted to join ISF In some areas more people were volunteering for Sahwa then needed Iraqi economy didn’t have enough jobs for Sahwa after US money for program ended

2007 US military said violence in Iraq down 60% from Jun to Dec 07

2008 Iraqi National Dialogue Council left the Iraqi Accordance Front (IAF) claiming that the Islamic

Party was attempting to monopolize power Ended IAF

(Musings On Iraq Iraqi Accordance Front Beaks Apart)

2009 2^nd day of protests in Pirmargrun Sulaymaniya over mayor and lack of services PUK guards

broke up demonstration using gunfire

(Musings On Iraq Anti-Government Protests In Both Southern and Northern Iraq)

2009 3 senior officials in Trade Min given short jail terms of 1-2 yrs for embezzling millions of

dollars from food ration system

(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)

2013 PM Maliki ordered ISF to surround Ramadi protest site

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s PM Maliki Goes From Offensive Against Al Qaeda To Crackdown On Anbar Protestors)

2013 Acting Def Min Dulaimi’s convoy hit by IED

(Musings On Iraq Security In Iraq’s Anbar Province December 2013)

2020 Report Iranian Rev Guard Quds Force Cmdr Qaani recently visited Baghdad to warn pro-Iran

Hashd factions to stop attacks on Americans in Iraq out of fear of Trump retaliation

(Musings On Iraq Iran Warns Its Allies About Attacking US Targets In Iraq)

View the Iraq History Timelines 

This Day In Iraqi History - Dec 23

 

1920 Iraq-Syria border set with Deir Azzor going to latter

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

1929 General Taha al-Hashemi made Chief of General Staff

1983 Jordan gave Iraq $125 mil line of credit to help Baghdad in Iran-Iraq War

1986 Iran Op Karbala 4 Crossed Shatt al-Arab to attack Fish Lake defensive line before Basra city

Iraq warned beforehand by intel

(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)

1990 Report 1980 Iraq began setting up network of front companies to buy equipment for nuclear bomb

program Main focus building centrifuges to produce uranium Program suffered setbacks

1998 Russia and China called for Chief UN inspector Butler to be removed for working with US

2004 UK intel did review of its 2002 reporting on Iraq’s WMD and said its assessments were all wrong

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

2004 Fallujah was reopened to displaced to return after 2^nd battle for city

2004 UK intel report 2005 elections would happen on time Assassinations and intimidation would likely

increase beforehand Hardline Sunnis would reject any new govt and continue with insurgency

2005 IMF approved $685 mil loan for Iraq

2005 Bush said 2 US brigades would be withdrawn from Iraq

(Musings On Iraq Did the US Ever Have A Strategy To Win In Iraq Before the Surge?)

(Musings On Iraq US Army History of Iraq War Vol 1- Chapter 18 – Defeated By Democracy, Winter 2005-2006)

(Musings On Iraq review The U.S. Army In The Iraq War: Volume 1, Invasion, Insurgency, Civil

War, 2003-2006)

2006 Report Baladiyat Zayun Ghadir Nariya neighborhoods in Baghdad almost all Shiite now 400

Shiite families fleeing Baquba settled in Nariya and New Baghdad Iraqi army helped Shiite families move into Adil Mahdi Army moved into Sabi al-Bour northern Baghdad to secure it Public Works Ministry proposed land grants to victims of Saddam and insurgents in 6 Sunni towns known for being insurgent bases Was believed to be move by Maliki govt to move Shiites into those areas

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

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

2007 Shootout in Baghdad’s Dora between Sahwa and Mahdi Army

2007 Dep Natl Sec Adv Hussein said that if Sahwa continued would lead to civil war with militias Said

half of Sahwa were insurgents and contacting Baathists

(Musings On Iraq review Surge, My Journey with General David Petraeus and the Remaking of the Iraq War)

2008 El Salvador announced it would withdraw its troops by end of 08 Had been deployed since 03

2008 Outgoing Speaker Mashadani praised reporter for throwing shoe at Pres Bush and PM Maliki

2008 Sadr said he would not support any party during 09 elections but back independent candidates

2008 Iraq signed $80 mil contracts to survey and improve Basra ports Wanted to increase oil production

to 6 mil/bar/day and oil exports to 5 mil/bar/day by 2018 By 2018 Iraq would only avg 3.4 mil/bar/day in exports

2008 Report With violence down Maliki govt was trying to get professionals to return 200,000 had left

Iraq since 03 30,000 medical professionals fled after 05 Less than 1,000 had come back

2008 Report VP Cheney threatened to destroy reputation of head UN weapons inspector Blix and head of

Intl Atomic Energy Agency El Baradei if they didn’t find WMD before 03 invasion

(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)

2009 Protest in Pirmargrun Sulaymaniya turned into a riot after mayor said population didn't

appreciate his improvements to the community People complained about corruption and lack of services Asayesh and riot police called out

(Musings On Iraq Anti-Government Protests In Both Southern and Northern Iraq)

2009 Protests in Karbala and Anbar against Iranian troops occupying Well No 4 in Fauqi oil field in Maysan

(Musings On Iraq More Questions Than Answers On Iran-Iraq Oil Field Dispute)

2009 Chilcot Inquiry Gen Viggers UK military representative in Baghdad said UK had no idea

what Iraq was like before invasion Said didn’t do much planning or research Sir Ricketts UK Foreign Office official said US thought Iraq would be fine after invasion Had no real postwar plan Led UK to create its own planning group but did little Dept of Intl Dev against war so didn’t do planning After invasion Blair govt didn’t hold any meetings on postwar Iraq Sir Sheinwald Blair’s foreign policy advisers said UK had no plans for Basra and didn’t want to control it 3 UK officials said CPA and Bush Admin didn’t listen to its suggestions

2009 Report 2008 Integrity Comm only made 97 convictions for corruption 135 cases were stopped by

senior officials with Oil Ministry stopping the most 1,552 cases dropped because of amnesty law

(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)

2011 PM Maliki adviser said that Fin Min Issawi suspected of connections to terrorism Sadrists would

not go along with his removal

(Musings On Iraq Is Iraq’s Finance Minister Next On Maliki’s Hit List?)

2013 Sheikh Sulaiman said tribes would protect Ramadi protest site against Maliki govt

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s PM Maliki Goes From Offensive Against Al Qaeda To Crackdown On Anbar Protestors)

2013 Anbar Ops Command outside Ramadi hit by mortars in new insurgent offensive

(Musings On Iraq Security In Iraq’s Anbar Province December 2013)

2017 PKK said it was creating its own region in Qadil northern Kurdistan

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Review Bad Days In Basra, My Turbulent Time as Britain’s Man in Southern Iraq

Synnott, Hilary, Bad Days In Basra, My Turbulent Time as Britain’s Man in Southern Iraq, London, New York: I.B. Tauris, 2008

 

Hilary Synnott was the head of the Coalition Provisional Authority South (CPA-South) from 2003-2004 responsible for southern Iraq. He thought the job would be daunting when he took it and found it almost impossible when he got there. He said that the CPA failed because the U.S. and England never adequately planned for the post-war situation and never provided the resources necessary to make it successful. On top of that, CPA head Paul Bremer told Synnott he only cared about Baghdad and neglected the rest of the country. Bad Days In Basra, My Turbulent Time as Britain’s Man in Southern Iraq is the tale of Synnott’s experiences with the Coalition.

This Day In Iraqi History Dec 22

 

1638 Ottoman Sultan Murad IV began siege of Baghdad Captured it by end of year

Massacred Shiites

1916 British forces began digging lines towards Ottomans defenses at Khadairi Bend

1922 British cabinet said it wanted an independent Iraq and that Anglo-Iraq treaty would be best

way to maintain relationship

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

1986 Iraqi intel reported Iranians preparing for major offensive in Basra Saddam ordered bombing of

assembly areas

(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)

1991 Chalabi appeared on 60 Minutes attacking King Hussein of Jordan for aligning with Saddam

Was actually meant as attack on Jordan for shutting Chalabi’s Petra Bank for corruption

(Musings On Iraq review The Man Who Pushed America To War, The Extraordinary Life, Adventures, and Obsessions of Ahmad Chalabi)

1998 US said it would use its veto at UN to block ending sanctions on Iraq China Russia France

all wanted them to end

(Musings On Iraq review Neighbors, Not Friends, Iraq And Iran After The Gulf Wars)

(Musings On Iraq review Invisible War, The United States And The Iraq Sanctions)

2002 Iraq invited CIA into country to find its WMD

2004 Kurdistan Referendum Movement presented petition with 1.7 mil signatures to UN calling for

            referendum on Kurdish independence

2005 Iraqi Islamic Party National Dialogue Front Iraqiya threatened to boycott new parliament

Called elections fraudulent Demanded new vote

(Musings On Iraq US Army History of Iraq War Vol 1 – Chapter 19 The Iraqi Civil War Comes Into The Open, January-June 2006)

2006 Ret Gen Keane told Natl Sec Adv Hadley US needed 5 brigade troop surge in Iraq not less

(Musings On Iraq interview with Prof Mansoor on the Surge)

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

2006 PM Maliki spokesman said that Dawa and SCIRI close to agreement to crackdown on militias Were

also going to send delegation to Najaf to get Sadr back in govt

(Musings On Iraq A Divided Sadr Trend)

2006 US Intel report Mahdi Army was planning to kidnap US soldiers in Baghdad to undermine PM

Maliki’s reconciliation program Were using Mahdi Army commander who had been trained in Iran by Hezbollah and IRGC

(Musings On Iraq Iran’s Policy Towards Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq Hezbollah’s Role In Iraq)

2007 ISI leader Baghdadi described the Awakening as agents of the cross and called on followers to

kill them

2007 Ghazilya Guardians sahwa group bombed Blamed militia and Iraqi army Said they wanted

retaliation

2007 Def Min Obeidi said that after fighting over Sahwa would be disbanded Govt told US it would

integrate 25% of Sahwa into ISF and rest given jobs Interior Min agreed to hire 10,000 Sahwa

(Musings On Iraq review Surge, My Journey with General David Petraeus and the Remaking of the Iraq War)

2007 Anbar Sheikh Suleimani claimed Islamic Party using Sahwa to regain popularity and claimed

            he would form Awakening group loyal to Baghdad

2007 Top State Dept official on Iraq said that Iran had decided to cut back support for militias Evidence

was reduction in EFP attacks upon US

(Musings On Iraq Iran’s Policy Towards Iraq)

2008 Oil Min Shahristani said only central govt had authority to sign deals to develop Iraq’s oil Was

criticism of KRG

(Musings On Iraq Baghdad-Kurdistan Rivalry Continues)

2008 Report ISF reported attacks down 86% from 07 to 08 Went from avg 180 per day in 07 to avg 10 per

day in 08

2009 Report Finance Min blocked govt from opening bank accounts with private banks Govt was

supposed to be supporting private banks but in practice wasn’t

2010 PM Maliki’s second administration approved

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

2011 Govt officials told press that Maliki govt would investigate Fin Min Issawi over allegations he

was connected to a militia in Fallujah that killed political opponents Some of Issawi’s bodyguards arrested as a result

(Musings On Iraq Is Iraq’s Finance Minister Next On Maliki’s Hit List?)

2012 Iraqiya boycotted cabinet over arrest warrant for Fin Min Issawi

(Musings On Iraq Prime Minister Maliki Targets Another Member Of The Iraqi National Movement In An Act Of Political Intimidation)

2013 PM Maliki announced major military campaign in western Anbar desert region after IS killed

leadership of 7^th Div

2013 Anbar council said it would work with govt to fight ISI

2013 PM Maliki said Ramadi protest site base for ISI and demanded it closed

(Musings On Iraq Crackdown On Protest Site In Iraq’s Anbar Province Seemingly Averted)

2013 Ramadi protest sheikhs said Ramadi would take up arms against any forces trying to stop

demonstrations

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s PM Maliki Goes From Offensive Against Al Qaeda To Crackdown On Anbar Protestors)

2014 Fmr Communications Minister Allawi acquitted of corruption charges for lack of evidence

View the Iraq History Timelines