This Day In Iraqi History - Apr 4

 

1927 UK official wrote Foreign Sec Chamberlain saying UK got Mosul by trick Promised 25 yr Iraq

Mandate Now pushing Iraq independence

1939 King Ghazi’s death publicly announced PM Said resigned Queen Aliya and Princess Ragiha issued

statement that it was Ghazi’s dying wish that Ilah be made regent

1939 Mob in Mosul attacked UK consulate claiming it was behind King Ghazi’s death

1941 UK called new Gaylani govt illegal and distributed copies of message by Regent to resist

1941 Ultra intel in UK intercepted message from Italian amb in Tehran that Rome and Berlin were

going to send arms to Iraq via Syria

1941 UK Chiefs of Staff asked Middle East cmdr Gen Wavell how many troops he could spare for Iraq

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s First Battle Of Fallujah 1941)

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

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

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

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

(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)

1948 Port of Basra strike against Anglo-Iraq Treaty Part of Wathba/Great Leap

1955 UK signed agreement to replace 1930 Anglo-Iraq Treaty Iraq got control of Habaniya and Shaiba air

bases UK would come to aid of Iraq in time of war and continue arming Iraqi army

1959 Qasim govt approved United Democratic Party of Kurdistan publishing a newspaper

1980 Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Sadr arrested in Najaf by Saddam

(Musings On Iraq review Muqtada, Muqtada Al-Sadr, The Shia Revival, And The Struggle For Iraq)

1981 Iran bombed Iraq’s H3 airbase near Syria Destroyed 23 planes and 4 helicopters 15 other planes

damaged 6 senior Iraqi officers were executed after raid 

1981 Iran said it wouldn’t negotiate a ceasefire with Saddam

1981 Head of US Interests Section in Iraq said that US and Iraq were growing closer

1983 Iraq offered 1 day ceasefire in order to clean up oil spill Iran rejected offer

(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)

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

(Musings On Iraq review The Iran-Iraq War Volume 2: Iran Strikes back, June 1982-December 1986)

(Musings On Iraq review The Iran-Iraq War Volume 3: Iraq’s Triumph)

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

1990 Report Iraq working on nuclear bomb Imported equipment from western companies 1984 ex-Italian

intel officers indicted for trying to sell plutonium and yellowcake to Iraq 1987 France offered to rebuild Osirak nuclear reactor 1985-88 Iraq might have built isotope plant Saudis said to be funding program

1991 Report Pres Bush gave CIA okay to support opposition in Iraq Led to creation of Voice of Free Iraq

radio station run by Saudis during Gulf War Didn’t allow support for 91 uprising

(Musings On Iraq When The US Helped Start A Rebellion In Iraq That It Didn’t Want)

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

1991 Britain offered $37 mil in humanitarian aid to Kurds

1991 Turkey said it couldn’t support Kurdish refugees flowing into country so shut border 10,000

crossed into Turkey 80,000 held at border

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

2002 UK intel officials claimed that PM Blair decided that WMD and Saddam were not good argument

for going to war in Iraq

2003 3^rd Inf Div captured Saddam International Airport in Baghdad Fedayeen counterattack turned

back Took 3 days to clear airport Saddam finally accepted US would attack Baghdad

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

2003 US forces sent to southern Baghdad to destroy Republican Guard units but they fled instead of

fighting

2003 British army started assault upon Basra city hitting Baath offices

2003 Saddam appeared on Iraqi TV touring Baghdad neighborhood

2003 Information Minister Sahaf finally admitted US forces were in Baghdad at airport

2003 US forces hit by female suicide car bomb at Haditha Dam Women had made video beforehand aired on Al Jazeera

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

2003 PM Blair sent letter to Iraqi people saying Saddam would fall and Coalition would not be in Iraq

longer than necessary

2003 Power surge knocked out most of the electricity in Baghdad Would be out for weeks after war over

2003 Natl Sec Adv Rice said US wanted a democratic Iraq with no WMD that would not be threat to

neighbors

(Musings On Iraq review America at the Crossroads, Democracy, Power, and the Neoconservative Legacy)

(Musings On Iraq review The Road to Iraq, The Making of a Neoconservative War)

(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 The Assassins’ Gate, America In Iraq)

2004 Sadrists rose up in Baghdad Najaf Kut Karbala Kufa Nasiriya against US Ambushed US patrol in

Sadr City Killed 8 Americans

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

(Musings On Iraq review Revolt On The Tigris, The Al-Sadr Uprising And The Governing Of Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq A Divided Sadr Trend)

(Musings On Iraq US Army History Of Iraq War Vol 1 – Chapter 12 Things Fall Apart Apr 2004)

2004 80% of one Iraqi National Guard battalion and 70% of another deserted in Baghdad in 1^st day of

fighting Mahdi Army

2004 40% of police in Najaf and Kut fled when Sadrists rose up in 2 cities

2004 Mahdi Army attacked Najaf Left 200 Iraqi casualties Spanish unit refused to fight and cmdr tried to

negotiate with Sadr

2004 Polish battalion held Karbala city hall but rest of city fell to Mahdi Army

2004 Italian governor of Dhi Qar made deal with Mahdi Army to stay in base while militia took Nasiriyah

2004 CPA created Ministerial Committee for National Security in Iraqi govt

2004 Operation Vigilant Resolve launched by Marines starting 1^st Battle of Fallujah

(Musings On Iraq US Army History Of Iraq War Vol 1 – Chapter 12 Things Fall Apart Apr 2004)

(Musings On Iraq review The Battle for Fallujah, Occupation, Resistance and Stalemate in the War in Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review No True Glory, A Frontline Account of the Battle for Fallujah)

2005 Outgoing Inter Min Naqib warned US if SCIRI got Inter Min would fill it with Badr militiamen

which it did

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

(Musings On Iraq interview with Jerry Burke police and Interior Min adviser on how Badr took over Interior Ministry)

2006 Report Inter Min refused to deploy any police trained by US-UK mission in last 3 months because

didn’t control recruits

2007 Report US arrested Sadrist Dep Health Min Zamili in Feb Accused of taking kickbacks for

orders with money funneled to Sadrists 15 warrants for ministers for corruption not served MP Jabouri in hiding accused of stealing $7 mil for pipeline security force he created Allawi Def Min Shaalan facing $1 bil in corruption charges

(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)

2008 PM Maliki said he would stop raids against Sadrists

2008 PM Maliki said he didn’t negotiate ceasefire with Sadr but Iran did

2008 PM Maliki said he would recruit 10,000 local tribesmen into security forces in Basra

            after Charge of Knights

2008 Report PM Maliki integrated 10,000 Dawa and Badr members into army

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

2008 Report 30% of soldiers went AWOL during Charge of Knights in Basra Mahdi Army was supplied

by Iran during fight

2008 Report National Intel Estimate said that Surge decreased violence but security fragile Insurgents

still capable of large attacks Slow progress towards reconciliation

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

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

(Musings On Iraq interview with New America Foundation’s Ollivant On Reassessing the Surge)

2008 Pres Talabani banned PUK members from criticizing govt in media or could be expelled Came after

PUK accused of corruption and power struggles

2009 PM Maliki said that Baathists and ISI had infiltrated Sahwa

2009 Sahwa leader in Baghdad said govt was out to destroy Sahwa Another leader in Muqdadiya

Diyala arrested 3^rd leader said 500 of his 1,000 men fired and no sign others would get govt jobs

(Musings On Iraq Sons of Iraq Integration Update)

2009 Sheikh Abu Risha said he would run with Maliki’s State of Law in provincial elections

(Musings On Iraq Anbar’s Forgotten Sheikh)

(Musings On Iraq Anbar Sheikhs Reach Out To Shiites)

2009 Report 2005-07 40% of development funds in Iraq given to insurgents as protection money

2010 3 car bombs on Iranian Egyptian and German Embassies in Baghdad killed 41

2010 Housing Ministry claimed housing crisis in Iraq would be solved by 2014 through foreign

investment Didn’t happen

2010 Transportation Min laid corner stone of Greater Faw Terminal Project Was supposed to be

finished in 4-5 yrs Only breakwater built Rest never completed

2011 Baghdad Operations Command accused Harith al-Dhari head of Muslim Scholars Association of

assassinations in Baghdad

2011 Day of Dignity protests in Baghdad

2011 Opposition parties walked out of KRG parliament when Peshmerga and Interior ministers refused

to appear for questioning over treatment of Sulaymaniya protests

2011 Sulaymaniya protesters called on KRG government to resign Accused KRG of injustice wasting

money lack of rule of law

(Musings On Iraq interview with journalist Wladimir Van Wilgenburg on 2011 KRG protests)

2012 Dep PM Shahristani told Kirkuk governor had to stop oil smuggling to KRG

2012 State of Law MP accused Kurds of trying to prevent army from buying new equipment

2012 PM Maliki sent envoy to try to improve ties with Turkey but failed

2012 Report KRG Natural Resource Min Hawrami admitted that KRG smuggling oil to Iran Said KRG

wanted to build its own oil pipeline to Turkey

2012 Report Saudi papers said there should be sanctions on Iraq to stop PM Maliki from becoming new

Saddam Said Maliki standing with Assad showed that he couldn’t be trusted Said Maliki was an Iranian puppet

2013 Turkey said it was willing to split payments of oil exports between Baghdad and Irbil Would mean

Turkey would handle finances for northern pipeline

2013 Report Protests for over 100 days PM Maliki didn’t trust protests Said they had legitimate demands

but were terrorists amongst them State of Law MP said ISI tried to manipulate protests to get them to join insurgency Different protest sites had different ideas Some called for Anbar to become region Others against

2015 Great Tikrit Mosque set on fire after city freed Tribes demanded Hashd withdraw from area

(Musings On Iraq Divisions Over Iraq War Exposed In Victory In Tikrit)

2015 ISF set up checkpoints to try to stop looting and burning of homes in Tikrit Hashd said to be

leaving city

2016 Kurdish Alliance said it would not vote on any ministers it didn’t nominate

(Musings On Iraq interview with Reidar Visser on PM Abadi’s reform program)

(Musings On Iraq Complaints About Iraq PM Abadi Undermine His Cabinet Reshuffle)

2016 Salah al-Mutlaq told PM Abadi changing ministers would not lead to real reforms Said other

grades of officials had to be included Parties controlled all the top officials in ministries meaning their control would not be changed if minister removed

2016 Allawi said if new govt was to be nonpartisan than PM Abadi had to resign too along with his

cabinet

2016 Iran cut off electricity supply to district in Sulaymaniya after KRG failed to pay $27 mil loan

to Tehran

2017 Kirkuk council called for referendum to integrate province into KRG

(Musings On Iraq review The Great Betrayal, How America Abandoned The Kurds And Lost The Middle East)

(Musings On Iraq review Quicksilver War, Syria, Iraq and the Spiral of Conflict)

2017 IS spokesman Abu Hussan released audio tape calling Trump an idiot who didn’t know what

Syria Iraq or Islam was

2018 Pres Masum filed lawsuit over 2018 budget saying it violated the constitution

2018 Report on IS Docs When took Mosul threatened govt workers to return to work Set up tax system that earned more than oil revenues Business and agriculture mostly taxed Seized land belonging to Shiites Christians Yazidis in conquered territories and sold it to farmers and followers Set up sharecropping for farmers who couldn’t pay for land

2018 Report Turkey building 8-12 new bases in Irbil to fight PKK

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

2019 Report State Dept said Iran killed 608 US troops in Iraq from 2003-11 Provided militias

with weapons and training Planned attacks upon US forces

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

(Musings On Iraq Iran’s Policy Towards Iraq)

2019 Saudis opened consulate in Baghdad 1^st in 30 yrs Talked about investing in Iraq

2020 Badr claimed that US anti-missile defense emplaced to counter pro-Iran group rocket

attacks might be used to shoot at Iraqi planes

2020 Report 8 pro-Iran Hashd said US not withdrawing just consolidating in Iraq Said Kataib

Hezbollah not only faction that opposes US Claimed they worked for the clergy the Iraqi people and protesters

2020 Continued clashes between protesters and police in Nasiriya Threw gas bombs at police

Police shot at protesters 3 killed 22 wounded Curfew afterward March was called for aid to poor during COVID

2021 Gunmen shot at home of activist in Babil

(Musings On Iraq UN Report On Violence Against Iraqi Protesters)

2021 Report provincial budgets KRG 10.9 tril dinars Dhi Qar 1.3 tril dinars Babil 1.1 tril dinars

Diyala 867 bil dinars Najaf 757 bil dinars Diwaniay 732 bil dinars Karbala 704 bil dinars Wasit 653 bil dinars Maysan 478 bil dinars Muthanna 376 bil dinars Ninewa 124 bil dinars Anbar 95 bil dinars Salahaddin 68 bil dinars Budgets used to be based upon populations now politics with Sunni provinces getting least amount of money

View the Iraq History Timelines 

This Day In Iraqi History - Apr 3

 

1929 Shah and King Faisal passed notes that legal barriers over Persian nationals In Iraq had been

lifted

1939 King Ghazi died in car accident King Faisal II took power but was only 3 His cousin Abd al-Ilah

chosen to rule in his place

1939 Ger Amb to Iraq Grobba spread rumors that England behind Ghazi’s death Led to riot in Mosul that

sacked British consulate and killed consular

1941 Golden Square officers picked Gaylani to become PM for 3^rd time Started arresting pro-British

politicians

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

(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)

1941 British War Office asked commander in Middle East what forces available for Iraq after Golden

Square military coup

1941 Nazi Germany sent letter saying it supported the Golden Square coup and would lend military aid

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s First Battle Of Fallujah 1941)

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

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

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

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

(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)

1965 PM Yahya told Egypt’s Gen Nasser Iraq was about to launch offensive against Kurds

Nasser objected believing it would weaken Arab front he was trying to create against Israel

1969 Communist militant Hajj who tried and failed at armed revolt in 1968 appeared on Baghdad TV

attacked his group and denounced the Communists Was appointed Iraq’s representative to UNESCO in Paris as reward

(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 Def Min Tikriti Inter Min Ammash named co-VPs under Pres Bakr to try to end rivalry between two

for power

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq Since 1958, From Revolution To Dictatorship)

1991 Army captured Sulaymaniya last major town held by Kurdish rebels after Gulf War

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

1991 Saddam told aides that Iraqi army was psychologically defeated by Gulf War and that was why

Shiites and Kurds rose up against govt

(Musings On Iraq Saddam’s View of Iraq’s 1991 Uprising)

2003 Baath officials began fleeing Baghdad

2003 Sadrists held march in east Baghdad

2003 US forces reached Baghdad international airport

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

2003 Information Minister Sahaf denied U.S. had taken Karbala or Um Qasr in Basra and said all those

stories were lies

2003 British forces made deep thrust into Basra City

2004 US arrested Sadr’s deputy Mustafa Yacoubi for murder of Sheikh Abdul Khoei

(Musings On Iraq A Divided Sadr Trend)

(Musings On Iraq US Army History Of Iraq War Vol 1 – Chapter 12 Things Fall Apart Apr 2004)

2004 Sadr said that he wanted to unite with Hezbollah and Hamas

2004 Sec State Powell said US intelligence gave him questionable intelligence about Iraq mobile WMD

labs

(Musings On Iraq How Iraqi Defector CURVEBALL Became Basis For US Claims That Iraq Had WMD)

(Musings On Iraq review The WMD Mirage, Iraq’s Decade of Deception and America’s False Premise for War)

2005 Hajim al-Hassani named speaker of parliament in first step in creating 1^st post-03 elected Iraqi govt

2007 Integrity Comm head Radhi said Iraq lost $8 bil since 2004 due to corruption $2 bil for electricity

disappeared Fmr Electricity Min Samarraie convicted of corruption but fled Iraq for US Radhi said ministers blocking investigations into $55 mil in missing funds

(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)

2007 Report 8 Mahdi Army commanders dismissed for insubordination and crimes

2008 PM Maliki officially extended Charge of Knights op against Mahdi Army to Sadr City

2008 Sadr said he would help govt clear ISF of militias

2008 Iraqi special forces arrested head of Thar Allah party claiming it was stealing govt property and

behind violence

2008 UK Cabinet officials reported PM Maliki had not told UK about Charge of Knights beforehand

Excluded UK military for command center Then blamed UK for not helping ISF when it ran into problems in Basra

2008 RAND’s Kelly told Senate Iraqis probably wouldn’t reconcile for a generation US couldn’t

achieve all of its goals in Iraq because didn’t have capabilities Questioned whether Iraq could become functioning democracy

2012 Kurds accused Shiite parties in Baghdad of smuggling oil to Israel via Jordan after Dep PM

Shahristani accused KRG of smuggling oil to Iran

(Musings On Iraq Kurds May Be Fighting Losing Battle With Iraq’s Central Government Over Oil Exports)

2012 Ayatollah Sistani rep in Hillah had house bombed in wave of attacks against Ayatollah’s

            followers in Baghadd Karbala Muthanna Babil Qadisiya Najaf Dhi Qar Basra

2012 Obama called PM Maliki about Iran flying weapons to Syria via Iraqi airspace Couldn’t get Maliki to

stop them

2014 Sadr said PM Maliki should not run for 3^rd term as premier

(Musings On Iraq Moqtada al-Sadr Ramps Up Campaign Against Maliki Before Iraq’s Elections While His Party is In Disarray)

2015 Salahaddin council called on Ayatollah Sistani to intervene to stop burning and looting in Tikrit

Sistani’s reps called for end of looting during Friday sermons

(Musings On Iraq Divisions Over Iraq War Exposed In Victory In Tikrit)

2015 Head of Salahaddin council said Hashd were looting and burning buildings in Tikrit

2015 VP Nujafi complained about looting and burning homes in Tikrit

2015 PM Abadi ordered ISF to arrest anyone breaking law in Tikrit

2015 Police said there had been clashes between soldiers and Hashd to stop them from looting in Tikrit

2017 Turkish PM Yildirim said Kurdish independence referendum was unacceptable

2017 IS shelling of 4 neighborhoods in east Mosul killed 32 IS mortar fire into Badush which it

recently lost killed 32 Bodies of 81 people found in Mosul

(Musings On Iraq Mosul Campaign Day 169, Apri 3, 2017)

2018 Report Govt paid compensation to tribes to get land for oil development Led them to ask for more money Tribes asked oil companies for additional money One tribe attacked oil workers at West Qurna 2 oil field to extort money 1 source said oil companies had paid tribes $25 mil for land use and $25 mil in gifts

2021 Iraq and Lebanon signed oil deal Iraq would send oil Lebanon would pay with medical

services Lebanese govt didn’t control those services and couldn’t use Iraq’s crude for its power plants Would use Iraqi oil to buy petroleum from companies

(Musings On Iraq Iraq-Lebanon Sign Trade Deal That Doesn’t Make Any Sense)

2021 Bomb went off at ceremony for killed protesters in Dhi Qar 3 injured

(Musings On Iraq UN Report On Violence Against Iraqi Protesters)

View the Iraq History Timelines 

This Day In Iraqi History - Apr 2

 

1941 Regent of Iraq arrived at UK airbase at Habaniya Anbar after Golden Square officers tried to

arrest him after coup Regent tried and failed to organize resistance to coup in Basra Then fled to Jordan

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s First Battle Of Fallujah 1941)

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

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

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

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

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

1946 National Democratic Party Independence Party Liberal Party National Unity Party People’s Party

licensed Became major opposition parties during monarchy Called for independence form UK End Anglo-Iraq Treaty Arab unity Democracy Individual liberties Some were socialist and Marxist

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq’s Democratic Moment)

1975 Iraq army sealed border with Iran and declared Kurdish revolt over Mustafa Barzani and 150,000

Kurds fled to Iran 1972-75 some 17,000 killed and 280,000 displaced during Kurdish rebellion

(Musings On Iraq review Killing Hope, U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II)

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

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

(Musings On Iraq review The Great Betrayal, How America Abandoned The Kurds And Lost The Middle East)

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

(Musings On Iraq When The Shah and Nixon Manipulated The Kurds)

1980 Saddam said those killed in attack on Mustansiriya Univ Baghdad bombing would not be forgotten

1982 Dep Cmdr of Iran’s armed forces claimed end of Iran-Iraq War was near

1986 Khomeini called for all able bodied men to join armed forces to overthrow Saddam

(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)

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

(Musings On Iraq review The Iran-Iraq War Volume 2: Iran Strikes back, June 1982-December 1986)

(Musings On Iraq review The Iran-Iraq War Volume 3: Iraq’s Triumph)

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

1990 Report Iraq wanted to double oil exports by end of yr to pay debts and rebuild after Iran-Iraq war

Analysts doubted capable because so oil dependent Lacked foreign exchange having spent most of it on war Paid little of its debt Inflation at 40% Imported most of its food Still spent large sums on military and nuclear bomb program

1990 Report personal typewriters were no longer illegal in Iraq but had to be registered with the govt

1990 Saddam threatened to use WMD against Israel if it was attacked 

(Musings On Iraq Why Did Saddam Threaten Israel Before The 1990 Invasion of Kuwait?)

(Musings On Iraq review The Saddam Tapes)

(Musings On Iraq review the Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait)

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq in Wartime, Soldiering, Martyrdom, and Remembrance)

1991 State Dept U.S. never said that it was for removing Saddam

(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)

(Musings On Iraq When The US Helped Start A Rebellion In Iraq That It Didn’t Want)

1991 Turkey said that 30,000 Kurds had entered country and 220,00 more coming as Saddam put down

Kurdish revolt Closed its border as a result

1991 Iran and Turkey went to UN about Iraq’s suppression of Kurd and Shiite revolts and refugee crisis

it was creating

1991 Kurds began fleeing Sulaymaniya in face of govt offensive to retake it from Peshmerga

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

1991 UN Resolution 687 said Iraq had to agree to border with Kuwait peacekeeping force along that

border Coalition forces would exit SIraq Iraq had to destroy its WMD and long range missiles Iraq had to make a declaration on its WMD and nuclear programs by 4/17/91 UN Sec Gen would create a weapons inspection commission by 5/17/19 Said Iraq had to return stolen property and pay reparations to Kuwait Until all of those were met sanctions would remain

(Musings On Iraq review The Saddam Tapes)

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

2002 UK Amb Meyer and PM Blair foreign policy advisor Manning met with Natl Sec Adv Rice

Reported Bush hadn’t worked out any details on Iraq yet and smarting from European rejecting pivot towards Iraq

(Musings On Iraq Chilcot Report Section 3.2 Development of UK Iraq Strategy and Options, January to April 2002 – “Axis of Evil” to Crawford)

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

2003 US forces took Karbala

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

2003 Emergency meeting of Iraqi cmdrs Gen Hamdani asked to move Nida and Medina Divs south

to protect routes to Baghdad Qusay Hussein and Def Min Gen Hashim told Hamdani Saddam wanted to keep current position protecting Baghdad from main US attack coming from Jordan Saddam got that idea from Russian intel

(Musings On Iraq Russia Provided Iraq With Details Of US Plans Right Before Invasion)

2003 1^st Marine Division crossed Tigris River at Numaniya and destroyed Baghdad Republican Guard Div and moved north to destroy Nida Republican Guard Div

2003 US raid freed US POW Jessica Lynch from an Iraqi hospital

2003 Talabani said Peshmerga would not attack Kirkuk city to stave off criticism from US and Turkey

Kurds ended up taking city

(Musings On Iraq How Did Kirkuk Become Such A Divisive Issue? A Portrait of The City In

2003)

2003 Sec Def Rumsfeld sent memo to military to cooperate with ORHA because wasn’t helping it

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq and Back, Inside The War To Win The Peace)

2003 State Dept leaked complaints to LA Times about Pentagon’s postwar plans to exclude UN and

support Chalabi and INC

2004 Marines ordered to go into Fallujah and arrest culprits behind killing Blackwater contractors

Became Op Vigilant Resolve

(Musings On Iraq US Army History Of Iraq War Vol 1 – Chapter 12 Things Fall Apart Apr 2004)

(Musings On Iraq review The Battle for Fallujah, Occupation, Resistance and Stalemate in the War in Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review No True Glory, A Frontline Account of the Battle for Fallujah)

2004 Sadr gave angry speech against US occupation after CPA closed his newspaper

(Musings On Iraq review The Triumph of the Martyrs, A Reporter’s Journey into Occupied Iraq)

2004 Sadrists protested outside Green Zone demanding movement paper be re-opened

2004 Mahdi Army began marching in Sadr City as tensions with US grew

2004 Some Friday prayers in Fallujah condemned attack on Blackwater contractors in city

2004 Sec State Powell criticized US intel for giving him faulty claims about Iraq’s WMD for his Feb 03

UN speech

(Musings On Iraq Iraq One Of The Worst Intelligence Failures In US History)

2004 Natl Sec Adv Rice told Bremer that Chalabi was working against US interests by siding with Shiite

bloc in Iraqi Governing Council Rice wanted him out

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

2005 Al Qaeda in Iraq launched suicide attack on Abu Ghraib prison starting battle for town

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

2006 Sec State Rice UK ForSec Straw told PM Jaafari he didnt have support and should step down

Jaafari said no

2006 US military reported 1313 Iraqi civilians killed in sectarian murders in March 2006 173 killed in

suicide bombings as civil war took off after Feb Samarra bombing

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

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

2006 US Amb Khalilzad said militias should be disarmed Iraqi officials said that would create more

violence

2006 PM Jaafari said he would integrate militias into security forces to control them

2006 Fmr CENTCOM cmdr Gen Zinni on Meet the Press said Iraq failure of strategic planning by US

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

(Musings On Iraq review Losing Iraq, Inside The Post War Reconstruction Fiasco)

(Musings On Iraq review Plan of Attack: The Definitive Account Of The Decision To Invade Iraq)

2007 Ayatollah Sistani said he opposed US plan to reform deBaathification and allow former Baathists

back into govt Came after Sistani met with deBaathification Comm head Chalabi

2008 Retired Gen McCaffrey said ISI’s urban insurgency was defeated but that the war was

unsustainable for US

2008 Council on Foreign Relations’ Biddle told Senate US would have to stay in Iraq for a very long time

            to maintain stability

2008 Revenue Watch’s Said told Senate Iraq wasn’t using improved security to carry out any political

reforms Said ruling parties consolidating power and incapable of providing for public

2008 Center for a New American Security’s Flournoy told Senate couldn’t have any more security gains

without political reforms Surge made Iraqis believe in US not Baghdad Iraqi govt unwilling to make any changes and US didn’t have strategy to get Baghdad to change

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

2009 Arab Jabour Baghdad Sahwa leader arrested for killing ISI fighters as part of PM Maliki’s

crackdown on Sahwa

(Musings On Iraq Problems With Integrating Sons of Iraq Continue)

2009 Report PM Maliki and Sadr agreed to shut out ISCI from most provincial govts after Jan vote

Agreed to joint rule in Babil Dhi Qar Muthanna Najaf Wasit

2010 PM Maliki said he was going to form alliance with Kurds and backed Talabani to remain as

president to form new govt

2010 Sadrists began referendum amongst followers to see who they wanted to be new premier

2010 PM Maliki’s talks with National Alliance failed as ISCI’s Hakim opposed Maliki’s 2^nd term

2011 56 wounded in clashes between police and protesters in Sulaymaniya

(Musings On Iraq interview with journalist Wladimir Van Wilgenburg on 2011 KRG protests)

2012 Over 300 followers of Mahmoud Sarkhi arrested in Nasiriya

2012 Oil Min Luaibi claimed Exxon was halting work in KRG so that it could continue

            working with Baghdad KRG Natural Resource Min Hawrami denied that

(Musings On Iraq Exxon Mobile Trying To Have It Both Ways In Iraq, Developing Oil Fields in The South And North)

2012 Report KRG stopped oil exports for Baghdad 2011 made budget deal for KRG to export oil for

Baghdad in return for monthly budget payments KRG said hadn’t gotten money since May 2011 KRG was exporting 50,000 bar/day for Baghdad below its quota March 2012 Finance Min Issawi said Baghdad would be paying KRG $560 mil but had to be audited first Dep PM Shahristnai accused Kurds of smuggling oil to Iran and Turkey

2012 Central Bank of Iraq tried to tighten rules on dollar auctions to stop money laundering Used by Iran

and Syria to get around sanctions Poor enforcement meant didn’t work

2013 Gunmen in army uniforms attacked 4 independent newspaper offices in Baghdad Mahmoud Sarkhi

blamed

2013 Election Commission said provincial vote in Anbar and Ninewa would be delayed until May

2013 Sadrists said they would end cabinet boycott Started over elections in Anbar and Ninewa being

postponed

2015 PM Abadi arrived in Tikrit after its liberation to make victory tour in city

2015 Sadr said brazen militias should be removed from Tikrit by ISF after stories of looting and burning

homes Were also his political rivals

2015 Hashd leader Muhandis said that any looting and abuses in Tikrit were done by locals not Hashd

2015 Guard in Tikrit said he counted more than 200 homes in Qadisiyah district destroyed after city’s

liberation

2015 Report Jalawla in Diyala empty of people even though freed from IS in Nov 2014 Some

displaced allowed to return but can’t stay Asayesh said 2 areas that supported IS would be destroyed and rebuilt

2016 Kurdish Alliance said it would not vote on Abadi’s new cabinet unless it got its quota of ministers

(Musings On Iraq interview with Reidar Visser on PM Abadi’s reform program)

2016 Report US counterterrorism official said IS facing financial crisis Reports of clashes between

IS cmdrs over corruption Reports of pay cuts for fighters IS oil production down 1/3 due to Coalition air strikes Revenue from oil down 50% due to drop in prices and drop in capacity IS Finance Min killed in US air strike Loss of territory meant less tax money

2016 PM Abadi announced investigation into Unaoil after report that it bribed Iraqi officials to get oil

contracts Nothing came of it

2016 Babil council said no one could return to Jurf al-Sakhr until IEDs removed Real reason was

along route used by Shiite pilgrims Civilians never allowed back

2017 PUK and KDP held meeting over independence referendum Agreed to create a committee and

hold vote soon

2017 Kirkuk Gov Karim said he would not follow parliamentary vote to remove KRG flag from

            govt buildings

2017 Kirkuk councilman moved to have province joined to KRG

2017 Kataib Hezbollah said US trying to stay in Iraq and resistance factions were ready to fight it

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

2018 Anbar councilman said not enough money to do reconstruction Blamed corrupt officials Said only getting money from aid groups and wasn’t enough 160 bridges 66 water purification plants 240 schools damaged in province during war

2018 300 PKK withdrew from Sinjar Ninewa to Syria Still controlled Sinjar area

2018 Pres Erdogan said Turkey would fight PKK without asking Baghdad Said if Baghdad didn’t deal with PKK Turkey would move into Iraq

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

2018 Report Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed wants to improve relations with Iraq to counter Iran 2017 Saudi Foreign Minister visited Iraq 1^st Saudi official to visit since 1990 Sadr went to Saudi Arabia Feb 2018 Saudi football team played in Basra

2018 Report Salahaddin councilman accused Hashd of smuggling oil from Tuz Kharmato to Iran Hashd denied story

2018 Accountability and Justice Commission banned 374 candidates for Baathist ties

2020 Iraq suspended Reuters’ license to operate in Iraq for 3 months and fined $21,000 for

article saying more COVID cases then govt reported Suspension was lifted in 3 wks

2020 Kataib Hezbollah said there would be no more attacks on US as long as it continued to

            withdraw from Iraq Attacks continued

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Review The Shi’is Of Iraq

Nakash, Yitzhak, The Shi’is Of Iraq, Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2003

 

The Shi’is Of Iraq by Yitzhak Nakash has a wealth of information about the development of the Shiite community in Iraq. It discusses how and why the Arab tribes were converted in the 1800s and how the lack of a strong leadership hurt the community once the Iraqi state was established in 1920. The author’s goal was to highlight the uniqueness of Iraq’s Shiites since most studies of the sect only focus upon Iran which had a much different experience. That’s not to mention that until the Iraq War Shiites were largely ignored and unknown in the West so this was a needed addition to the cannon.

This Day In Iraqi History - Apr 1

 

1922 Leading cleric Mahdi al-Khalisi invited Sunni and Shiite sheikhs to Karbala to come up with

response Wahabi Ikhwan threat to Iraq

1941 PM Hashemi deposed in Golden Square officers coup after he tried to remove them Regent escaped

to Anbar with help of US Nuri al-Said and other pro-UK politicians fled Iraq Golden Square officers immediately thought UK was plotting against them

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

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s First Battle Of Fallujah 1941)

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

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

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

(Musings On Iraq review The Modern History of Iraq)

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

1941 US and UK believed Iraq coup part of German plan in coordination with invasion of Balkans

and Libya It wasn’t

1955 PM Said announced 1930 Anglo-Iraq Treaty would be terminated Said new Anglo-Iraq treaty

would be signed Apr 4 Air bases would be turned over to Iraqi control

1962 Barzani ambushed govt forces disrupting Baghdad’s spring offensive

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

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

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

(Musings On Iraq review Journey Among Brave Men, Travels in Kurdistan)

1975 Iraqi amnesty offer to Kurdish rebels and army deserters expired

1975 Iran closed border to Kurds fleeing Iraqi government offensive against them

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

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

(Musings On Iraq review Killing Hope, U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II)

(Musings On Iraq review The Great Betrayal, How America Abandoned The Kurds And Lost The Middle East)

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

(Musings On Iraq When The Shah and Nixon Manipulated The Kurds)

1980 Mustansiriya Univ in Baghdad bombed by Islamic Action Organization in attempt on life of

Deputy PM Tariq Aziz Iraq blamed Iran

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

1981 General uprising in Iranian Kurdistan backed by Iraq started

1988 End of 2^nd Anfal campaign

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s Anfal Campaign And The Destruction Of The Kurdish Opposition)

1989 Saddam held elections for new parliament as part of political reform after Iran-Iraq War 160 of 250

seats went to Baathists

1990 Saddam speech said if US supported Israeli attack on Iraq he would burn Israel

(Musings On Iraq Why Did Saddam Threaten Israel Before The 1990 Invasion of Kuwait?)

(Musings On Iraq review The Saddam Tapes)

(Musings On Iraq review the Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait)

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq in Wartime, Soldiering, Martyrdom, and Remembrance)

1991 Peshmerga repelled govt attack to retake Sulaymaniya

1991 Saddam’s forces put down Kurdish revolt in Zakho

1991 Barzani said 3 mil Kurds had fled to northern mountains along Turkish border to escape govt attacks

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

(Musings On Iraq interview with National Univ of Singapore’s Fanar Haddad on the Impact of the 1991 Uprising)

(Musings On Iraq Remembering The 1991 Uprising In Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq Saddam’s View of Iraq’s 1991 Uprising)

(Musings On Iraq When The US Helped Start A Rebellion In Iraq That It Didn’t Want)

2002 UK ambassador to US Meyer warned Bush thinking of war with Iraq by autumn but no postwar

plans

(Musings On Iraq Chilcot Report Section 3.2 Development of UK Iraq Strategy and Options, January to April 2002 – “Axis of Evil” to Crawford)

(Musings On Iraq Chilcot Report 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 Iraqi commander in south Gen Hamdani recalled to Baghdad Saddam told him real invasion was

coming from Jordan through Anbar

2003 US attacked Najaf Kut Samawa Hindiya Headed towards Hillah in Babil

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

2003 3^rd Infantry Div moved through Karbala Gap and destroyed Medina Republican Guard Div

2003 British army took Zubayr, Basra

2003 ORHA head Garner made 1 day trip to Um Qasr port 1^st time in Iraq

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq and Back, Inside The War To Win The Peace)

2004 CPA adviser Larry Diamond told Bremer that there was a security vacuum in southern Iraq being

filled by militias

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

2004 Mahdi Army attacked CPA compound in Nasiriya

2004 Gen Kimmitt promised to pacify Fallujah after Blackwater contractors killed

(Musings On Iraq review The Battle for Fallujah, Occupation, Resistance and Stalemate in the War in Iraq)

2004 US intel officer told press regime change in Iraq could have been promoted as part of war on terror

but admin wanted to scare public using WMD

2004 CENTCOM Cmdr Gen Abizaid argued to White House killing of Blackwater contractors in Fallujah

insignificant

(Musings On Iraq US Army History Of Iraq War Vol 1 – Chapter 12 Things Fall Apart Apr 2004)

2005 Report White House and CIA leadership created environment where only threat of Iraq WMD

reports were acceptable

2007 PM Maliki told Integrity Commission head Radhi charges against ministers cabinet presidential

staffs had to be okayed by PM office as way to block investigations

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

(Musings On Iraq interview with anti-graft US official Vincent Foulk)

2007 Report VP Hashemi and Pres Talabani in talks with insurgents in Jordan Anbar Salahaddin Diyala

Talabani said insurgents came to govt for talks 1920 Revolution Brigades Islamic Army Jaish al-Rashideen Omar Brigades Rayat al-Sood talking about breaking with ISI

2007 Anbar Salvation Council in talks with tribes in Amiriya Fallujah to split from ISI

2007 Report Zoba tribes started fighting ISI Reports of clashes between Islamic Army and ISI in Dour

Samarra Tuz Kharmato and Dhuliya in Salahaddin 2 tribes fighting ISI in Diyala

(Musings On Iraq Diyala Province Backgrounder)

(Musings On Iraq The Demise But Not Death of Al Qaeda In Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq’s Sunni Insurgency)

2008 PM Maliki sent 1^st Quick Reaction Division from Anbar to Basra to restart Charge of Knights

offensive

2008 PM Maliki said 10,000 tribesmen in Basra would be organized into a Sons of Iraq program Would

become Tribal Support Council

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

(Musings On Iraq Disputes Over Tribal Support Councils)

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

2008 PM Maliki praised Badr and Dawa militia for helping to fight Mahdi Army in Basra

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

2008 PM Maliki promised jobs and better services after Charge of Knights in Basra

2009 National Reconciliation Committee said it began talks with Asaib Ahl Al-Haq

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

2009 Baghdad was supposed to take control of all Sahwa in Iraq from US forces

2009 Report Baathist Naqshibandi now one of largest insurgent groups Got money from

Iraqi exiles in Syria

2010 Iran said it would host Iraqi parties that wanted to talk about forming new govt

2010 Gorran head Mustafa taken to court for defamation against Pres Talabani

2010 Iraqiya announced regional tour of Egypt Qatar Turkey Syrian and Iran to drum up support for

forming new govt

(Musings On Iraq Turkey, Saudi Arabia, And Iran’s Role In Putting Together A New Iraqi Government)

2011 Day of Innocent Detainees Protest in Baghdad against corruption and demanded release of prisoners

Activist who helped organize Feb Day of Rage protests arrested and not seen since

2011 4 wounded in protests in Kalar Sulaymaniya calling for reforms in KRG 2 of them were from Gorran

list Gorran MP said party’s followers were being targeted by security forces

2012 PM Maliki said that if Pres Assad lost power there would be problems throughout the Middle East

Condemned Gulf States arming Syrian rebels

2012 KRG halted oil exports for Baghdad over budget dispute

2012 VP Hashemi went to Qatar violating his arrest warrant

2013 PUK said it would run independently of KDP in next KRG elections PUK said it wanted to focus

upon winning back votes from Gorran

2014 KRG said it would export 100,000 bar/day of oil for Baghdad again to help with negotiations over oil

and budget

2015 UN received reports that govt forces looting and burning homes in Tikrit after it was liberated

2015 Sadr complained about brazen militias and said any that broke law should be brought to

justice Response to Hashd looting and destroying homes in Tikrit area Hashd also his political rivals

(Musings On Iraq Hashd al-Shaabi’s Threat To Iraq’s Established Shiite Religious Parites)

2015 IS released video of Ninewa sheikhs giving it baya

2015 KRG was $17 bil in debt Couldn’t pay public workers Started large borrowing

2015 Kataib Hezbollah said it was involved in Shjariya op in Anbar Came after pro-Iran Hashd said

it would not take part in Anbar ops due to US involvement in freeing Tikrit

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

2016 PM Abadi’s nominee for Oil Minister in new technocratic cabinet withdrew name saying no

consensus on changes to govt

(Musings On Iraq interview with Reidar Visser on PM Abadi’s reform program)

2016 Maliki faction of State of Law said it would only support partial cabinet change

2016 Kurdish Alliance said if Fin Min Zebari was replaced they would not vote on new cabinet

2016 Higher Educ Min Shahristani and Foreign Min Jaafari refused to step down for Abadi’s cabinet

changes

2016 Report Asaib Ahl Al-Haq ran Al-Ahd network Major themes Sunnis killed Ali, Hassan

and Hussein and that was reason why Sunnis were killing Shiites today Portrayed most Sunnis as supporting IS Said world was pro-Shiite Said Iraqi state was corrupt and failing Rejected West Threatened those who criticized Hashd

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

2017 Ayad Jumaili aka Abu Yahiya IS war minister killed in Iraqi air force strike in Qaim Anbar

2017 IS seized control of neighborhood in west Mosul 1^st time it had taken any area since battle for

west Mosul began

(Musings On Iraq Mosul campaign Day 166-167 March 31-April 1, 2017)

2018 PM Abadi announced 5 yr economic plan Called for diversification away from oil Expanding agriculture Didn’t happen

2018 PM Abadi’s spokesman said that KRG had to pay govt workers full salaries and end austerity measures because of budget payments from Baghdad KRG Finance Min said govt would start new austerity plans

2018 1000s protested in Irbil Sulaymaniya Diyala against KRG austerity measures due to oil and budget arguments with Baghdad

2018 Report Turkey built 3 new military bases in Kurdistan to fight PKK Turkey had forces in Iraq since 1990s

2019 2^nd time PM Abdul Mahdi issued executive order telling Hashd to leave Mosul and

Ninewa Plains Was ignored again

2021 Muthanna activist kidnapped Hashd blamed

(Musings On Iraq UN Report On Violence Against Iraqi Protesters)

View the Iraq History Timelines