This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 9 Al Qaeda’s Zawahiri told Zarqawi should include more Iraqis in his group and warned against killing Iraqi civilians which could cost him support

(Getty Images)

 

1920 UK forces withdrew from Najaf turning over city to rebels who set up their own govt

(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)

1948 1^st Arab-Israeli War restarted Iraqis took 7 Palestinian villages in Jenin area

1962 Iraqi planes bombed Turkish border post during operation against Mustafa Barzani rebels killing 2

Turkish soldiers

(Musings On Iraq Explaining Kurdish Nationalism Interview With Teen Tech Univ Prof Michael Gunter)

1963 Soviet Union accused Baath govt of genocide against Kurds

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

1973 Another 36 coup plotters tried including Baath Regional Command members Samarriea and Fadil

and given death sentences

1978 Former Prime Minister after 1968 Baath coup Naif shot in London by Iraqi agents on orders from

Saddam

1980 Former Shah generals launched failed coup vs Khomeini Iraq blamed

1982 Pres Rafsanjani said Iran would accept peace if 1975 border treaty retained $100 bil in reparations

Saddam tried as war criminal

1988 Iraq recaptured Penjwin 23 mountain peaks in Mawet area of Sulaymaniya Pushed towards Iranian

border

(Musings On Iraq Remembering The Iran-Iraq War Interview With Author Anthony Tucker-Jones)

(Musings On Iraq The Iran-Iraq War Interview with Author Tom Cooper)

(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 US Amb to Iraq Glaspie said that US working on releasing 2^nd half of $1 bil loan guarantees to

Baghdad

(Musings On Iraq review The Bush Administrations and Saddam Hussein, Deciding on Conflict)

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

(Musings On Iraq review The Outlaw State, Saddam Hussein’s Quest for Power and the Gulf Crisis)

1996 UN Sec Council asked US for info about Iraq smuggling to get around sanctions

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

1997 KDP accused PUK of breaking ceasefire attacking its positions with help of PKK

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

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

2003 CENTCOM Cmdr Gen Franks told Congress violence in Iraq meant no US troop withdrawal

anytime soon

2003 Sec Def Rumsfeld told Senate Iraq invasion showed overwhelming force with large ground forces no

longer necessary in war

(Musings On Iraq US Army History of Iraq War Vol 1 – Chapter The Invasion of Iraq)

2003 Def Sec Rumsfeld told Congress Iraq was costing US around $3.9 bil a month

2003 Def Sec Rumsfeld told Congress Iraq war wasn't because new evidence about Iraq’s WMD but

because saw Iraq differently after 9/11

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

2003 Fmr State Dept Military Intel officer Thielman told Congress US govt misrepresented intel

about Iraq threat

2004 Ex-INC member Zubaidi claimed INC embellished reports of defectors about Iraq’s WMD INC

denied story

2004 Bush said everyone believed Iraq had stocks of WMD and Saddam wanted those WMD

programs

2005 Al Qaeda’s 2^nd in command Zawahiri Iraq strategy letter to Zarqawi Wanted to expel US from Iraq

Declare an emirate that would develop into the caliphate Extend jihad to neighboring countries Attack Israel Zawahiri also wanted Zarqawi to include more Iraqis in Al Qaeda in Iraq to not alienate the population Zawahiri also told Zarqawi that continued attacks upon Muslim civilians could cost heart and minds and support

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

(Musings On Iraq The Rise And Rebirth Of The Islamic State Interview With Author Michael Weiss)

(Musings On Iraq U.S. Army History of Iraq War Vol 1 – Chapter 16 – Going West, April-August 2005)

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq’s Sunni Insurgency)

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

(Musings On Iraq review ISIS The State of Terror)

2006 PM Maliki announced Op Together Forward 2 to try to secure Baghdad again Failed in days ISF

actively involved in sectarian civil war attacking Sunnis and allowed militias to expel Sunnis

(Musings On Iraq US Army History of Iraq War Vol 1 – Chapter 20 Baghdad Burns, Summer-Fall 2006)

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

2006 Mahdi Army in Jihad Baghdad pulled Sunnis from cars attacked market invaded homes Killed at least

50 in retaliation for mosque being bombed day before

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

2006 Dep PM Zobai accused Defense and Interior Ministries of working with militias to carry out attacks

2006 Article on State Dept report on Interior Min Said corruption human rights abuses sectarian

violence connections to insurgents and militias undermined ministry

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

2006 US officials said Jadriya prison in Baghdad run by Mahmoud Waeli Badr’s intel head and

renegade faction of Interior Ministry Wasn’t renegade

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

2006 Federal court charged 4 soldiers from 101^st Airborne Div with rape and murder of 14 year old Iraqi

girl and killing 3 of her family members

2008 Interview with Sherman fmr US adv to Interior Min 04-06 Said effort to rebuild police disjointed

Excluded Interior Min which caused anger US pushed for as many police as possible Weren’t given adequate training or equipment High turnover amongst US advisers so no continuity in policy Allawi and Jaafari govts purged Interior Allawi and Interior Min Naqib formed Commandos from ex-Saddam era soldiers Had human rights abuses Under PM Jaafari ISCI took over Interior Purged commandos of fmr regime members ISCI tried to block Sadrists getting police jobs Sherman wanted Iraqis to come up with own training program Vetoed US military took over police turning it into paramilitary force Interior overwhelmed by number of personnel Found police stations arresting people torturing and killing them then dumping bodies Found many of the prisoners at secret Jadiriya prison in Baghdad run by Badr controlled unit were fmr soldiers who put down 1991 uprising Were arrested and tortured in revenge

2009 US released 5 Iranians captured in 2007 including head of Iranian Rev Guard Quds Force

Zafr Command Ali al-Lami frm deBaathification head 3 militia cmdrs also released Part of deal to get 5 Brits kidnapped by Asaib Ahl Al-Haq released

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

(Musings On Iraq 5 Revolutionary Guards Members Let Go By U.S.)

(Musings On Iraq Iranians Planned Kidnapping And Held British Captives Taken In Iraq) 

2011 Hundreds protested in Baghdad demanding reforms and services release of prisoners US withdrawal

7 arrested 5 taken to Muthanna airport beaten and tortured Told not to protest again

2012 KRG announced it was trucking oil to Turkey Said it got refined products in return Dep PM

Shahristani said it was illegal

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s Government Tries To Punish Kurdistan For Independent Energy Policy)

2014 Human Rights Watch recorded 61 Sunni civilians killed by Hashd in last month Found 48 killed from

Mar-Apr

2014 Report IS smuggling oil to KRG Made up to $1 mil/day Stole oil from pipelines storage tanks oil

fields Took over trade by pushing out competitors Peshmerga initially allowed trade then tried to stop it

2014 Report Naqshibandi carrying out assassination campaign vs IS in Diyala Last 2 weeks 2 IS leaders

killed Also gun battles between the two in Salahaddin Kirkuk Anbar Ninewa

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s Resurgent Insurgency Interview With Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi)

(Musings On Iraq Precarious Relationship Between The Islamic State of Iraq And The Baathist Naqshibandi)

(Musings On Iraq Rise Of The Islamic State And the Fading Away of the Rest of the Iraqi Insurgency Interview With Aymenn Jawad al-Tamimi)

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

2014 Ayatollah Sistani wrote not to PM Maliki saying Iraq needed a leader with popular support

2014 PM Maliki attacked Kurds accusing them of supporting insurgency

2014 Report 53 bodies found blindfolded and shot in Babil Asaib Ahl Al-Haq blamed

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

2014 IS kidnaped 60 ex-soldiers from three neighborhoods in Mosul IS took Ziwiya Salahaddin Killed 50

villagers Destroyed 25 homes IS took Azwip Salahaddin executed 15 civilians and started destroying houses

2015 Report KRG trying to control oil sales in Kirkuk Took oil production from North Oil Company

and shipped it to Turkey via KRG pipeline KRG reduced its exports for Baghdad at same time Oil Min Abdul Mahdi said KRG wouldn’t get its monthly budget payments until KRG fulfilled its oil export quota

(Musings On Iraq Iraq Reaches Another New High In Oil Exports As Budget Deal With Kurds Breaks Down)

2016 Report Hashd took part in Fallujah battle Weren’t supposed to Spokesman for Emergency

Response Brigades said they were first in city then Badr and Asaib Ahl Al-Haq followed

(Musings On Iraq Security In Iraq, Jun 22-28, 2016)

2016 Head of Anbar council said 6 mosques burned in Fallujah after city liberated Demanded

investigation

2017 State TV claimed Mosul liberated while PM Abadi visited city Fighting continued

(Musings On Iraq Mosul Campaign Day 266 Jul 9 2017)

2017 Asaib Ahl Al-Haq’s Khazali claimed Mosul would have ended sooner if Hashd involved Said

Anbar proved excluding Hashd made battles harder Hashd derailed govt liberation plan for Anbar

2017 Human Rights Watch KRG punishing Yazidis for joining Hashd in Sinjar dist Threatened

families Kicked some out

2017 Ninewa opened 1^st camp for IS families

2018 Protests in 3 parts of Basra and Muthanna demanding better services and jobs from

oil companies Also against water shortage and killing of protesters day before Blocked entrances to West Qurna 1 and Rumaila oil fields

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

2018 Report Gorran splintering Some complained founder’s sons monopolizing power

2020 Protests in 3 parts of Dhi Qar and Wasit over lack of electricity and delayed

salaries to govt workers

(Musings On Iraq Protests Return To Southern Iraq Over Electricity Shortages And Delayed Salaries)

2020 Cabinet passed austerity measures including cutting govt worker benefits cutting unessential

spending to deal with economic crisis

2021 Protests in Karbala Maysan Wasit over electricity shortages

2021 Baghdad activist kidnapped and tortured after wrote online about assassinations of protesters

2021 Report Quds Force head Gen Qaani met with Hashd in Jun Told them to stop attacks on US

while nuclear talks happening 1 leader refused to

2021 Journalist/activist kidnapped in Baghdad after receiving threats Was released later that day

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

(Musings On Iraq United Nations Faults Iraq For Failing To Protect Protesters)

 View the Iraq History Timelines

This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 8 Saddam survived assassination attmpet in Dujail Would destroy town 1500 people arrested 150 executed

(Getty Images)

 

1920 Rebels derailed 6 trains going from Diwaniya to Samawa to disrupt flow of British troops and

supplies

(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)

1937 Sadabad Pact between Iraq Iran Turkey Afghanistan agreed to borders non-interference regional

security PM Sulaiman hoped treaty would assure good relations with Iran and Turkey

1973 Police Chief Kazzar and 20 coup plotters executed Another 36 put on trial

1982 Saddam survived assassination attempt in Dujail Saddam ordered town destroyed 1500 residents

arrested 150 executed

1991 Iraq admitted to UN inspectors it had 3 secret programs to enrich uranium to build a nuclear bomb

Before Iraq denied it had any nuclear weapons program

(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 review The Saddam Tapes)

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

1991 Report During Gulf War Coalition said it was only bombing military targets but destroyed Iraq’s

infrastructure as well During war said hits on infrastructure were accidents or collateral damage Late in war bombed facilities knew Iraq couldn’t rebuild on its own to put pressure on military to overthrow Saddam Bombing led to cholera and typhoid outbreak

1995 Ceasefire in Kurdish civil war ended as PUK and KDP went back to fighting over control of Irbil

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

2003 PM Blair told Parliament he believed intelligence that Iraq had WMD

2003 PM Blair said evidence of Iraq-Niger uranium deal was not based upon fake docs but

            separate intel Story still false

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

2003 White House spokesman said intelligence on Iraq-Niger uranium deal turned out to be inaccurate

(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)

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

2003 Wash Post article quoted admin officials saying Iraq-Africa uranium claim shouldn’t have been

used in State of Union and story could be wrong

2003 VP Cheney’s chief of staff Libby met NYTimes’ Miller Said Fmr Amb Wilson’s NYTimes OpEd part

of CIA campaign to absolve itself of bad intel on Iraq Libby said Wilson’s report on his trip to Niger never made it out of CIA and found evidence Iraq did try to buy uranium Said Natl Intel Est had stronger evidence that Iraq tried to buy uranium from Africa Said Wilson’s wife’s name was Valerie Plame and she worked at CIA Miller would later denied she got her name from Libby

2003 Columnist Novak asked DepSecState Armitage why fmr Amb Wilson sent to Niger to look into Iraq

uranium deal Armitage said because his wife worked at CIA

2003 Bush Chief of Staff Rove confirmed to columnist Novak that fmr Amb Wilson’s wife sent him to

Niger

2004 Al Qaeda in Iraq beheaded Bulgarian civilians Georgi Lazov and Ivaylo Kepov

2004 US and Iraqi officials said decision to stop 1st Fallujah battle was wrong and city now controlled

by insurgents

2004 US and Iraqi intel reports said Zarqawi using Fallujah as a base

(Musings On Iraq US Army History of Iraq War Vol 1 – Chapter 14 Fighting To The Elections, August-December 2004)

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

2005 Iraq constitutional committee started its work

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

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

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

(Musings On Iraq review The Struggle For Iraq’s Future, How Corruption, Incompetence and Sectarianism Have Undermined Democracy)

2007 Report Sadr had gone back to Iran after short stay in Iraq in May Sadr fled to Iran in February

believing that US would target him during Surge

2008 Report Al Qaeda sent foreign fighters to Sudan and Somalia rather than Iraq due to downturn in

insurgency

(Musings On Iraq Demise of Al Qaeda In Iraq Update)

2008 Head of Kurdish bloc in parliament Othman said KRG oil deals were illegal 1st Kurdish official

            to criticize deals Said Iraq needed oil law Never passed

2008 Iraq had highest electricity production since 2003 Only met 55% of demand

2009 US unit hit by IED in Najaf planted by police Previous Najaf police chiefs fired for connections

to militias

2009 MP on farming committee said farmland decreased by 60% Main reason decline of water from

            neighboring countries

2010 Report 1000s of oil tankers went from KRG to Iran each day Smuggling started in 90s Profits

went to PUK KDP oil companies and politicians and officials in Baghdad Kurds also sent oil to unlicensed refineries in KRG Ninewa Kirkuk KRG denied smuggling for years Talked with media to pressure Baghdad to let it export oil

(Musings On Iraq Kurdistan Admits To Smuggling Oil To Iran)

2011 Higher Educ Min Adeeb said universities would be deBaathified Up to 700 professors threatened

with dismissal

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s Prime Minister Tries To Appease Sunni Provinces By Reinstating Saddam Era Soldiers)

2011 100s protested in Baghdad against corruption Iranian influence federalism 7 protesters arrested and

beaten by ISF Activist’s house raided

(Musings On Iraq Protests In Iraq Continue Into July)

2011 PM Maliki gave speech to sheikhs in Baghdad claiming Iraq was immune to Arab Spring

2013 Report Awakening said insurgents moving from western desert into cities of Anbar Attacking

Awakening members

2014 Tuz Kharmato mayor said IS smuggling 100 tankers/day of oil from Ajeel and other fields in

Salahaddin Doing same in Ninewa

2014 Report Insurgents leaving Fallujah after refusing to swear allegiance to IS Included Mujahdeen Army

(Musings On Iraq Update On Iraq’s Insurgency Interview With Aymenn Jawad al-Tamimi)

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

2014 Babil governor denied that insurgents controlled Jurf al-Sakhr Said were only small pockets of

militants Security op started to free dist 

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s Southern Front Babil Province Where The Islamic State Has Free Reign)

2015 Report ISF and US wanted to take Ramadi Hashd wanted to free Fallujah Hashd started its own

op to free Ramadi then stopped and started one for Fallujah Hashd wanted to lead war

(Musings On Iraq Heavy Fighting In Four Of Iraq’s Provinces During Start Of July 2015)

2018 2 killed 2 wounded by police firing into protesters demanding jobs electricity water in Imam

Sadiq Basra ISF claimed armed men fired at them first Protests in Basra City Maysan Dhi Qar Muthanna and Wasit over electricity jobs services

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

2020 European Comm put Iraq on list of high risk countries for money laundering and terrorist

financing Was because of Central Bank of Iraq dollar auctions that had been abused by political parties Iran Syria and insurgents for yrs

(Musings On Iraq EU Puts Iraq On List of Money Laundering-Terrorist Financing Countries)

2020 Report Defense Min transferred general charged with killing protesters in Nasiriya in Nov 2019

Ordered Rapid Response Forces to shoot at demonstrators Killed 60 PM Kazemi promised to bring murderers of protesters to justice General never prosecuted

2021 Bafel Talabani sought to replace Asayesh and Zenyari leaders loyal to his cousin Lahur

Talabani Bafel and Lahur deployed rival security forces to Sulaymaniya leading to stand off Bafel and Lahur co-head PUK

(Musings On Iraq Latest Dispute Over Control Of Patriotic Union of Kurdistan)

2021 Warrants issued for killers of journalist and govt adv Hisham al-Hashemi Joint Ops command

said it arrested people involved with rocket attacks on Ain al-Asad base Nothing happened afterward

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Review The Foreigner’s Gift, The Americans, the Arabs, and the Iraqis in Iraq

Ajami, Fouad, The Foreigner’s Gift, The Americans, the Arabs, and the Iraqis in Iraq, New York, London, Toronto, Sydney: Free Press, 2006

 

The Foreigner’s Gift reads like a journal of Fouad Ajami’s trips to Iraq but it’s really an argument for the war. Ajami acknowledges the great difficulties the Americans faced in the country but thought they would prevail for two reasons. First he believed in the universalism of democracy and thus with time Iraqis would take up the new political system. Second he brings up individuals he met as a panacea for all of Iraq’s problems. Thus almost everyone he met justified his belief in the invasion. There are some serious faults with this point of view.

This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 7 US consul in Baghdad said Faisal would become king of Iraq even though he was unpopular

(Wikipedia)

 

1921 American consul in Baghdad wrote that Faisal would become King of Iraq even though he was

unpopular in the country

1921 Naqib of Baghdad gave dinner where pledged support for Faisal as king

1921 Gertrude Bell noted that Iraqi notables couldn’t wait for election to appoint Faisal King because

would take 2 months and that was too long

(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)

1965 Kurds claimed they were using artillery for first time against govt forces

(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 Journey Among Brave Men, Travels in Kurdistan)

1973 Police Chief Kazzar and 20 other coup plotters found guilty and given death sentence

1973 Baath Regional Congress expanded membership to accommodate Saddam supporters

1984 Iraqi govt uncovered plot to assassinate Saddam Executed some 50 army officers as a result

1987 UN Resolution 598 called for ceasefire in Iran-Iraq War

(Musings On Iraq Remembering The Iran-Iraq War Interview With Author Anthony Tucker-Jones)

(Musings On Iraq The Iran-Iraq War Interview with Author Tom Cooper)

(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)

1991 UN inspectors found several kilograms of enriched uranium and large stocks of natural uranium from

Iraq’s nuclear weapons program

1991 Iraq Foreign Min Hussein told UN that it would make a declaration of its nuclear program Said Iraq

had not violated Non-Proliferation Treaty or IAEA safeguards

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

1991 Iraq’s concealment committee decided to reveal nuke program after inspectors found site Decided to

secretly destroy WMD programs and materials to hide them from inspectors Would prove long term problem because Iraq could never fully prove what it destroyed and what it was hiding 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 The Saddam Tapes)

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

1997 Turkey withdrew its forces from Kurdistan after killing over 2,000 PKK fighters

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

2003 CPA suspended Iraq’s old banking laws as part of reform program Signed order to exchange old

dinars for new ones to stabilize currency

2003 Def Sec Rumsfeld told Senate US didn't go to war with Iraq because it had dramatic new

            evidence of its WMD programs

2003 White House admitted Bush’s State of Union claim Iraq tried to buy uranium from Africa shouldn't

have been used

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

2003 State Dept intel agency sent memo to DepSec State Armitage originally from June that said Iraq-

Niger docs were fakes

2003 VP Cheney’s chief of staff Libby told White House spokesman Fleischer fmr Amb Wilson’s wife

sent him to Niger to investigate Iraq-Niger uranium deal Was attempt to discredit Wilson

(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)

2003 SCIRI dropped objection to joining Iraqi Governing Council after lobbying by UN

2003 UK parliament’s Foreign Affairs committee report on UK WMD dossier said was not sexed

up by Blair govt Said Blair govt didn’t mislead parliament but misstated some of the intel on Iraq’s WMD Said claim Iraq could use WMD in 45 min should not have been so prominent in dossier Said UK dossier should’ve been more qualified on story Iraq tried to buy uranium from Africa

(Musings On Iraq Chilcot Inquiry Section 4.4 The Search For WMD)

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

2004 US Iraq cmdr Gen Casey told Bush 70% of Fallujah Brigade had joined insurgency

2004 Sen Intel Comm found major judgements in Oct 02 Natl Intel Est on Iraq’s WMD and nuke program

were overstated and generally not supported US intel claims Iraq had WMD and programs larger than before Gulf War were overstated US had evidence Iraq buying dual use equipment Uncertain Iraq had destroyed its WMD stocks after Gulf War US intel didn’t have good info on Iraq’s WMD and nuke programs after UN inspectors left in 1998 US intel suffered from group think Assumed Iraq had WMD Assumed everything it did was to expand those programs CIA’s claims that Iraq renewed nuke program were wrong and weak to begin with

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

(Musings On Iraq How US Intelligence Created An Iraqi Nuclear Threat In 2002)

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

2004 Sen Intel Comm found CIA justified to claim Iraq-Al Qaeda might have cooperated based upon pre-

war intel

2005 Iraq and Iran’s Defense Ministries signed military cooperation agreement

(Musings On Iraq Iran’s Policy Towards Iraq)

2005 Report Human Rights Min said ISF carried out random arrests not using warrants torturing

and abusing prisoners Conducting extrajudicial killings and govt doing nothing about it

2005 Report $8.8 bil went missing in Iraqi ministries during CPA period 03-04

(Musings On Iraq Corruption In Iraq An Interview With Stuart Bowen Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction)

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s Trouble Fighting Corruption Interview With Vincent Foulk Former US Anti-Graft Official)

2006 Bush said Americans were wondering if US could win Iraq war Said US was winning

(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)

(Musings On Iraq review The Gamble, General David Petraeus And The American Military Adventure In Iraq, 2006-2008)

2006 US Iraq cmdr Gen Casey given investigative report on Marines killing Iraqi civilians in Haditha

2006 Integrity Commission head Radi said weak institutions and lack of punishment led

            to uncontrolled corruption

2008 PM Maliki said he wanted a memo of understanding on withdrawal of US forces instead of a Status of

Forces Agreement which was stalled

(Musings On Iraq Iraq Asks US To Draw Up Withdrawal Plans: Move Towards Autonomy, Electioneering, Or Brinkmanship by the Maliki Government?)

2008 Female suicide bomber hit market in Baquba 23rd female suicide bombing of the year

(Musings On Iraq The Rise of Female Suicide Bombers)

(Musings On Iraq Motivations Behind Female Suicide Bombers)

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

2008 Report 94% decline in attacks by ISI 25 in Nov 07 vs 334 Nov 06

2009 ISI head Abu Omar al-Baghdadi called other insurgent groups phonies who were trying to overlook ISI

Said period of nationalism patriotism Baathism had ended which was what other groups were calling for Said PM Maliki formed a rejectionist Shiite govt that embraced Khomeini and was aggressive towards anything Sunni Arab Said Shiites were using all the tricks Persians were famous for throughout history including democracy to establish Shiite state Said Awakening were collaborators with Shiite project

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

2010 Report Member of Irbil Chamber of Commerce said of 1710 factories in Irbil 60% closed Some

closed because old Some because of cheap imports 80% of people in chamber involved in imports

2010 Report UK Amb to Iran Dalton said PM Blair mischaracterized Iran’s role in Iraq Blair said Iran

opposed to democracy in Iraq to supported Al Qaeda in Iraq Dalton said exaggeration Said Iran wanted stable Iraq because instability would mean US would stay Said Iran allowed Al Qaeda in Iraq fighters to pass through country but otherwise didn’t support it

(Musings On Iraq Iran’s Policy Towards Iraq)

2011 Report Dawa thanked Karbala Tribal Support Councils for suppressing protests in Baghdad Officials

said Dawa threatened tribes if didn’t participate

(Musings On Iraq Protests In Iraq Continue Into July)

2012 MP from Diyala said PM Maliki agreed to reinstate former army officers into Defense Min MP from

Ninewa said 1,040 fmr soldiers from Saddam era allowed back into army Response to no confidence vote

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s Prime Minister Tries To Appease Sunni Provinces By Reinstating Saddam Era Soldiers)

2012 MP on integrity comm said 80% of provincial budgets in Arab provinces stolen 30% of KRG budget

stolen

2012 KRG official said it was trucking oil to Turkey It would get refined products in return KRG had

denied it for years

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s Government Tries To Punish Kurdistan For Independent Energy Policy)

2012 Parliament’s oil comm said Maliki govt’s claim to solve electricity shortages by end of year impossible

Said infrastructure too old Said even if production up transmission lines wouldn’t be able to carry added load

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s Government Failing Again To Solve Country’s Power Outages)

2013 KRG Pres Barzani visited Baghdad to try to resolve problems with PM Maliki Said they were brothers

2013 South Korean energy CEO investigated for allegedly embezzling $30 mil Got money from Nokan

Group owned by PUK Supposedly got money to build power station in KRG in 2007 Also accused of paying KRG Health Min $22 mil after failing to build a hospital in Sulaymaniya

2013 Iraq made new agreement to increase electricity imports from Iran Electricity Min said imports from

Iran would end during the summer Didn’t happen

(Musings On Iraq More Hollow Promises By Iraq’s Electricity Ministry)

2014 Report of gun battle between IS and Army of the Mujahdeen when the latter refused to give IS

allegiance in Fallujah

(Musings On Iraq Update On Iraq’s Insurgency Interview With Aymenn Jawad al-Tamimi)

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

2014 IS took two small towns and blew up Shiite mosques in both Kidnapped 40 Turkmen in Mosul

2016 Human Rights Watch Jun PM Abadi said investigating abuses in Fallujah op Abuses continued

afterward Person said Hashd burning houses and shops in central Fallujah Had photos 2 Anbar officials said Hashd and Federal Police killed more than a dozen Jumail tribesmen that fled Sjar Kataib Hezbollah took over 600 men Killed 3 Beat rest and let them go Took another 643 men from Saqlawiya not seen again

(Musings On Iraq Missing 600 From Anbar’s Saqlawiya Finally Found Dead?)

(Musings On Iraq Crimes And Misdemeanors Of Kataib Hezbollah During War Vs ISIS Interview With Free Lance Journalist Jonathan Lee Krohn)

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

2017 Protesters seized power plant in Babil due to electricity shortages

2017 Report Hashd accused of kidnapping people for ransom in Tuz Kharmato

2017 Report Abadi govt was supposed to form committee with KRG and US led Coalition for

rebuilding Mosul Never happened

2018 Protests in Irbil and Basra blocked main roads over power shortages

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

2018 Report Iran cut electricity exports to Iraq over unpaid bills Iraq said to owe $1 bil

2018 Report Vote recount in Daquq dist Kirkuk showed fraud by PUK at expense of Arab Alliance

and Turkmen Front

2019 Report Bureau of Financial Supervision and Integrity Comm said currency smuggling

and violation of dollar auctions since 2014 by private banks and companies Up to $45 bil sent out of Iraq a year

2019 Basra activist kidnapped

2020 Report Journalist analyst givt adv Hisham al-Hashemi got death threats from Kataib Hezbollah before he was killed

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Violence Hits A New Low In Iraq In June 2022

Violence in Iraq hit a new low in June 2022. The number of incidents by the Islamic State were the lowest for any month since 2003. The militants show no sign of starting their annual summer offensive either. Pro-Iran groups did slightly increase their operations.

 

This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 6 Saddam Hussein told Baath leadership he was going to invade Iran

(Getty Images)

 

1915 UK took Suq al-Shuyuk, Dhi Qar after defeating Turk-Arab forces outside town day

before

(Musings On Iraq review When God Made Hell, The British Invasion of Mesopotamia and the Creation of Iraq, 1914-1921)

1920 British reinforcements sent to Rumaitha from north ran into rebel force and withdrew

(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)

1948 Iraqi air force attacked Israeli military base during armistice

1965 Iraqi pilot killed by Mossad after refusing to defect to Israel with a MiG-21 Was 2^nd pilot

killed by Israelis

1968 3^rd Kurdish minister resigned over PM Yahya’s Kurdish policy

1980 Saddam told Baath Party leadership he was going to invade Iran

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

1991 Baghdad demanded Peshmerga disband Close Kurdish radio stations End contacts with foreign

govts Kurds demanded democracy talks over Kirkuk Offered to give up heavy weapons close radio stations end contacts with foreign govts

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

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

1992 UN Security Council demanded Iraq allow inspectors into Agricultural Ministry

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s Rejection of UN Inspectors Led To Mistrust Over WMD and 2003 Invasion)

2003 Fmr Amb Wilson NY Times OpEd said Bush exaggerated about Iraq-Niger uranium story in State of

Union Said CIA sent him to Niger to investigate uranium story and found no evidence

2003 Fmr Amb Wilson said he never saw fake Iraq-Niger docs but VP Cheney’s office should’ve been

sent report on his trip Wilson overestimated impact of his visit to discredit Iraq-Niger uranium story Actually increased questions

2003 Fmr Amb Wilson on Meet The Press said VP Cheney should’ve gotten report on his trip to Niger

2003 VP Cheney questioned Wilson’s OpEd and asked why he was sent to Niger

(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)

2003 US said it would release Turkish Special Forces it arrested in Sulaymaniya

2004 Cabinet gave PM Allawi emergency powers to declare state of emergency national curfew restrict

movement appoint military governors seize assets Allawi only declared a few curfews

2004 PM Blair told Parliament that he didn’t know what happened to Iraq’s WMD Said they could have

been hidden or destroyed

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

2004 Report 2000 CIA started program to contact relatives of Iraqi WMD scientists that lived in west to

try to collect intel Relatives said Iraq had no WMD programs Intel not included in reports or passed to White House

(Musings On Iraq Overview of America’s Policy Towards Iraq: From The Clinton Years To The

Sectarian War of 2006)

2004 Car bomb at US-Iraqi National Guard post in Samarra Led to 450 of 500 Iraqi guardsmen to quit

2005 Al Qaeda in Iraq claimed it executed Egyptian ambassador to Iraq Ihab al-Sharif Egypt would not

send another ambassador until 2009

2006 In coordinated attacks across central Iraq insurgents took down every power line to Baghdad Part

of campaign to deprive capital of electricity

2008 Fmr Undersec Def Feith claimed WMD was not one of core arguments for Iraq invasion Claimed

CIA pushed Iraq being a WMD threat

2008 UAE cancelled $7 bil in Iraqi debt Announced would be sending ambassador to Baghdad

2011 Report Obama admin wanted 10,000 US troops to stay in Iraq past 2011 Hoped that proposal would

lead PM Maliki to make formal request for US forces KDP-PUK only parties that wanted US troops

(Musings On Iraq review The Endgame, The Inside Story of the Struggle for Iraq, from

George W. Bush to Barack Obama)

2012 VP Shahristani’s office said KRG could not sign any oil or gas deals without Baghdad’s permission

2013 Electricity Min Aftan opened new powerplant in Wasit Said electricity shortages would be solved by

end of 2013 Didn’t happen

(Musings On Iraq More Hollow Promises By Iraq’s Electricity Ministry)

2014 Report Ayatollah Shahroudi in Iran said that KRG Pres Barzani part of Sunni conspiracy along with

Turkey that supported IS Claimed Kurds Turkey IS wanted to break up Iraq

2014 Report KRG didn’t make enough to pay govt workers KRG dependent upon oil and export route to

Turkey Report didn’t say also dependent upon Baghdad budget payments which it jeopardized through its oil policy

2014 Iran’s Amb to Iraq went to Sulaymaniya Met with Gorran and PUK Told them to support 3^rd term for

PM Maliki

2014 Sadr said State of Law needed to pick new candidate for PM besides Maliki Blamed him for political

and security crisis

2015 Report Differences between communities hindering fight vs IS Kurds took disputed areas

Pushed for independence Many Sunnis claim they’re majority in Iraq Make huge demands of govt Some Sunnis believed they could overthrow govt Learned nothing from civil war Sunnis fighting IS usually have strong ties with govt or feel threatened by IS Shiites questioned why should free Sunni areas when many didn’t appear willing to fight Both Sunnis and Shiites driven by victimhood and ignore each other PM Maliki revived insurgency by closing Ramadi protest camp Dec 2013 Groups later cooperated with IS Believed they could use IS to bring down govt and then achieve own goals Instead Sunnis suffered greatest losses during war

2015 IS launched major attack upon 8 towns taking 3 of them before being turned back by Coalition

air strikes and Peshmerga

(Musings On Iraq Heavy Fighting In Four Of Iraq’s Provinces During Start Of July 2015)

2017 UN rep in Iraq said out of 44 neighborhoods in west Mosul 6 completely destroyed 22

moderately damaged 16 lightly damaged

(Musings On Iraq Mosul Campaign Day 263 Jul 6 2017)

2018 Protests in Madina over services Abu Khasib cutting road over electricity Basra City cut roads over

unfinished projects Shatt al-Arab over salinity Dhi Qar for recount in election

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

2020 Hisham al-Hashemi journalist analyst govt advisor killed in front of his house in Baghdad by

pro-Iran group

2021 MP said candidates trying to buy votes through brokers

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Iraq Reaches New High In Oil Revenue In June 2022

Iraq continues to benefit from the disruption in the energy market caused by the war in Ukraine. That led to record profits in June. As the most oil dependent country in the world this should be good news but the country is hamstrung by the lack of a new government and budget.