This Day In Iraqi History - Jun 25 Gen Qasim claimed Kuwait as part of Iraq

(Wikipedia)

1915 British troops took Nasiriya Ottomans had 200 casualties British 500

1915 UK cmdr Gen Nixon wrote India Said Kut had to be seized Would be gateway to Baghdad but more

importantly could control Bani Lam tribe by separating it from Ottomans

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

1920 Tribe in Rumaitha called for revolt against British

(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)

1922 Iraqi cabinet accepted draft of Anglo-Iraq Treaty and passed it on to parliament to pass

1923 Leading cleric Khalisi arrested for opposing parliamentary elections Some Shiite clergy

were calling for boycott

(Musings On Iraq review The Shi’is Of Iraq)

1933 Iraqi army sent to Dohuk in show of force against armed followers of Assyrian leader Mar Shimun

(Musings On Iraq review The Tragedy of the Assyrian Minority in Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review State and Society in Iraq)

1961 Qasim said Kuwait part of Iraq and he would protect it from imperialists and deploy troops to

liberate it Egypt said it was opposed because Nasser against Qasim

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

1961 Qasim ordered military to come up with Kuwait invasion plan Was going to stage coup in

            Kuwait that would call in Iraqi forces

1961 London believed that Qasim’s comments about Kuwait being part of Iraq could lead to an invasion

1968 2 Kurdish ministers resigned over PM Yahya’s Kurdish policy

1988 2^nd Op Tawakal ala Allah using chemical weapons Iraq attacked and retook Majnoon Islands in

Basra

(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)

1991 Iraqis fired on UN weapons inspectors at suspected nuke site

(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)

1993 White House announced FBI investigation found Iraq tried to assassinate fmr Pres

            Bush in Kuwait

2003 Report Captured Zarqawi operative in Germany said Zarqawi independent terrorist not part of Al

Qaeda

(Musings On Iraq review Insurgent Iraq, Al Zarqawi and the New Generation)

2003 Report State Dept WMD analyst told Congressional hearing he felt pressured to tailor intel to fit

Bush admin agenda on Iraq

2003 UN Sec Gen Annan met with PM Blair Annan said UN pushing Bremer to transition to Iraqi control

as quickly as possible Said Bremer good at making fast decisions but that meant he didn’t talk to others Complained deBaathification had gone too far

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

2004 INC turned over captured Iraqi doc Iraq intel and bin Laden met in 90s Iraq agreed to air anti-Saudi

tapes but request for joints ops unanswered by Iraq

2006 PM Maliki announced national reconciliation program Included Reconciliation Council National

Dialogue Plan fighting terrorism Reviewing Debaathification Commission Amnesty for prisoners not involved in terrorism Compensation for terrorism and Saddam victims and IDPs Improving services Dealing with militias Fighting poverty and joblessness Nothing came of it

2006 Health Ministry recorded over 50,000 Iraqi deaths since 2003 from terrorism and military clashes

2006 Report CIA officer Drumheller warned CIA before Bush’s Jan 03 State of the Union and Sec

State Powell’s Feb 03 UN speech not to use story Iraq had mobile WMD labs Didn’t exist

2006 Report CIA officer warned that source of mobile labs story Iraqi named CURVEBALL held by

Germans was unstable and story not verified Labs didn’t exist Germans warned CIA CURVEBALL unreliable and refused to allow CIA access to him

2006 Report CIA Dir Tenet told Sec State Powell it had multiple sources confirming Iraq mobile lab story

while preparing Powell’s UN speech CURVEBALL was only real source Labs didn’t exist

2006 Report Right before Sec State Powell’s UN speech CIA Dir called CIA officer Drumheller to fact

check speech Told Tenet not to use mobile labs claim They didn’t exist

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

(Musings On Iraq Look Who The LA Times Dug Up – CURVEBALL)

(Musings On Iraq Story of CURVEBALL And Iraq’s Mobile Biological Weapons Labs)

(Musings On Iraq review Curveball, Spies, Lies, And The Con Man Who Caused A War)

2007 ISI suicide bomber killed Sheikh Gaood of Albu Nimr tribe Sheikh Rifai al-Fahdawai of Albu

Fahad Sheikh Azziz al-Fahadawi Sheikh al-Assafir head of the Albu Assaf tribe in Baghdad hotel before meeting with US officials Were all Awakening members

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2007 US cmdr Op Arrowhead Ripper in Baquba said ISF not capable of holding areas cleared by US

General in southern Baghdad said same thing

2008 KRG signed oil deals with 2 Canadian firms to work in disputed areas of Kirkuk

2008 Spokesman for Baghdad security plan said 9,000 Sahwa had joined city’s police and more would

be integrated in future

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

2009 Report PM Maliki used ISF against his opponents Arrested Diyala councilman in May

Arrested 6 candidates right before Jan 09 election US cmdr in Iraq Gen Odierno tried to get Maliki to stop After Jan vote Sadrists complained 70 of their members arrested  

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

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

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

(Musings On Iraq interview with Inside Iraqi Politics’ Sowell on whether Maliki became a dictator)

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

2010 Interior Min issued new rules to limit protests during demonstrations against electricity

shortages

2010 Ammar Hakim blamed PM Maliki for lack of electricity and said he should resign

(Musings On Iraq Supreme Islamic Iraqi Party Comes Out Against Maliki)

2010 Report Pres Obama focused on Afghanistan Ignored Iraq Iraqi officials and US military

officers said White House only cared about 2011 withdrawal VP Biden in charge of Iraq policy Had monthly meetings Obama only had 1 meeting since 09

2010 Report PM Maliki’s son head of govt procurement office Used it to enrich himself Invested

in real estate in foreign countries

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

(Musings On Iraq interview with former anti-corruption official Vincent Foulk)

2012 Upon request of US Hezbollah operative Daqduq tried again and found innocent for lack of

evidence

(Musings On Iraq Hezbollah’s Role In Iraq)

2014 Al-Nusra commander on Syrian-Iraq border gave allegiance to ISIS

2014 Ishaqi Salahaddin declared freed from insurgents for 3^rd time in just a few days

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s Northern Front Stalemate In Salahaddin)

2014 2 teams of US Special Forces arrived in Baghdad to set up ops center to help with war vs IS 

Worked with Golden Div PM Maliki later denied this

2014 3 ISIS killed by IED laid by Naqshibandi in Riyad Kirkuk ISIS fought Naqshibandi in Sadiya Diyala

Pushed Ansar al-Sunna out of Ajeel Salahaddin

2014 Report After Mosul fell Hezbollah’s Nasrallah offered to send fighters Jun Nasrallah talked about

defending Shiite shrines in Iraq Hezbollah sent fighters to Iraq in 03 to support Iranian Rev Guard and militias

2014 Report Iran flew drones out of Baghdad Airport Set up control center at air base in Baghdad Helped

intercept ISIS communications Supplied military equipment Iranian planes landed twice a day in Baghdad with equipment Advised and planned military ops Supported Hashd Mobilized up to 10 divisions along Iraqi border

2014 Report Sunnis afraid Hashd acting like death squads People disappeared at checkpoints UN said 3^rd

wk of Jun 21 bodies found dumped in Baghdad Said number of bodies going up

2014 Allawi called on PM Maliki to step down for national salvation govt Maliki said that was

unconstitutional

2014 ISIS began destroying 7 Shiite shrines in Tal Afar

2015 Member of Kataib Hezbollah leadership said group should enter politics Said politicians had

failed Said Hashd success on battlefield would translate to victory in politics

2015 Report 13,000 registered for Ninewa Hashd Dep Governor said only 2,000 really existed

Rest ghost Hashd used to steal salaries

2016 Sadr’s Saraya al-Salam accused Badr of following Iran to control Samarra Salahaddin

2016 PUK politburo said it supported KRG independence referendum but needed consensus of

            all Kurdish parties

2016 Hashd said it and Federal Police attacking north Fallujah neighborhood Deputy head of

Anbar council accused Hashd of looting homes and destroying mosques in Fallujah Hashd not supposed to enter city PM Abadi called in Hashd help

2017 ISF claimed it would liberate all of Mosul by this day but didn’t

(Musings On Iraq Mosul Campaign Day 252 Jun 25 2017)

2017 IS attacked three neighborhoods of Mosul that had been freed Set cars and buildings on fire

Civilians fled Army withdrew Golden Div stopped attack

2019 Mosul residents sent letter to Ayatollah Sistani calling on him to limit Shiite

Endowment’s moves in city Was buying up property Taking over mosques

2020 Counter Terror Service raided Kataib Hezbollah HQ in Baghdad and arrested members for rocket

attacks in Baghdad Dep head of Hashd Comm Abu Fadak organized protest into Green Zone to demand their release

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s PM Gives Warning to Kataib Hezbollah To Stop Rocket Attacks In Baghdad)

2020 Iraqi politician told Green Zone security chief Khiqani not to stop Hashd march into zone

‘           PM Kazemi fired Khiqani afterward

2020 Diyala official warned new wave of displacement from Abu Said subdist in central Diyala

due to IS attacks

2021 PM Kazemi said he would not send budget payments to KRG Then said he was sending

advance to KRG to pay for govt workers Made deal for Kurdish support

View the Iraq History Timelines 

This Day In Iraqi History - Jun 24 Dozens killed 3000 arrested over house arrest of Ayatollah Sadiq al-Sadr

(Jihad Intel)

 

1933 Interior Minister would not let Assyrian leader Mar Shimun leave Baghdad after being in

capital for nearly a month

(Musings On Iraq review The Tragedy of the Assyrian Minority in Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review State and Society in Iraq)

1940 Iraqi delegation of Foreign Min Said and Justice Min Naji Shawkat went to Turkey to discuss how to

deal with Axis and Syria controlled by Vichy France

1979 After army killed scores and arrested 3,000 protesting house arrest of Ayatollah Sadiq

al-Sadr Iran’s Arabic radio service called Sadr the Khomeini of Iraq and called on Shiites to replace the tyrants in Baghdad

1981 UK signed trade pact with Baghdad that would expand trade to more than $2 bil/yr

1982 9^th Regional Baath Party Congress Saddam said party infiltrated by enemies and made bad decisions

to get rid of dissenters Health Min Hussein who said Saddam might step down was executed Saddam changed party leadership to ensure his control

1984 Iraq air raids resumed on Iranian oil infrastructure with attack on Kharg Island Iran’s main oil

terminal Destroyed docking bay but operating again in 5 days

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

(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 CIA Dir Webster told US defense and national security officials Iraq’s WMD had to

be taken seriously

1991 Inspectors tried to enter Abu Ghraib base but were turned back by Iraqis

(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)

1994 SCIRI claimed govt building new canal to drain southern marshes and drive out displaced and

rebels

1998 Chief UN inspector Butler briefed Security Council Said Iraq had put anthrax into missile

warheads Iraq said that was a lie

1998 Iraq Dep Prime Minister Aziz said if US maintained sanctions there might be another crisis

2003 Def Sec Rumsfeld said Iraq had chemical weapons but not nuclear weapons

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

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

2003 UN head inspector Blix said inspectors were not impressed with Sec State Powell’s Feb 03 speech

to UN on Iraq’s WMD

2003 Weapons search in Maysan led to shootout and death of 6 British soldiers UK intel report believed

Iran backed Mujahedeen for Islamic Revolution in Iraq responsible

2003 Fallujah’s mayor’s office hit by RPG for working with US

2004 Al Qaeda in Iraq carried out multiple car bombs and attacks on police in Baghdad Baquba Fallujah

Ramadi and Mosul killing 92 wounding 285 Took over police station and city hall in Baquba and held city center for 6 hours

2004 Sadr announced unilateral ceasefire with US in Sadr City

2006 US military noted Sunni citizens feared Interior Min Mahdi Army Badr death squads

2008 PM Maliki promised $100 mil for reconstruction in Maysan after Op Promise of Peace went after

Sadrists there

2008 Interior Min declared Amarah Maysan free of militias after Op Promise of Peace went after Sadrists

2008 Special Groups bombed Sadr City council building killing 2 councilmen 10 wounded because

meeting with Americans

2009 KRG passed draft constitution Said disputed areas of Kirkuk Ninewa and Diyala were part of

Kurdistan and peshmerga had right to operate in districts UN US and Iraqi parliament all objected to constitution

2010 Report Resigned Electricity Minister Hassan claimed demonstrations over power shortages

had been politicized PM Maliki thought his opponents were behind the protests to remove him

2011 100s protested in Baghdad demanding officials be fired technocratic govt end to sectarianism

better services release of prisoners Met by 100s of tribesmen and Dawa counter-protesters organized by PM Maliki Also protest in Nasiriya for services

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s Protest Movement Sputters)

2011 Report Diesel fuel used for power stations regularly stolen by contractors and Electricity Min

officials 120 tankers left Baiji refinery and never showed up 250 tankers went missing in Baghdad No way to stop because corrupt officials

2012 Report Dep PM Shahristani visited foreign diplomats warning them not to have their oil companies

sign deals with KRG Said any company that worked in KRG would be blacklisted

2012 Sadr accused PM Maliki of backing Asaib Ahl Al-Haq and increasing its power

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

2012 Sadr said Maliki govt failing Said he would support no confidence vote against PM

2013 Report Disagreements within PUK High officials complained Pres Talabani controlled everything

Barham Salah threatened to resign with 4 others if reforms not started

2014 Operation to try to free Tal Afar of insurgents launched and failed

2015 RAND report Iraqi army had 14 divisions US est only ½ that strength Iraqi units sent for US

training were 40-70% below strength Many officers didn’t show up Many officers bad More than 40% of ISF units in Baghdad fearing IS attack on capital Counter Terror Unit best but suffered heavy casualties

2015 Report KRG est of reaching 1 mil/bar/day in oil exports not realized KRG independent

pipeline to Turkey opened year ago KRG not making enough to pay oil companies Also had large bills for govt workers and war vs IS Oil companies turned to selling oil to KRG domestic market but didn’t make enough Companies stopped plans for new investment Cut staff

2015 Report Jurf al-Sakhr in Babil Jalawla and Sadiya in Diyala Albu Ajeel in Salahaddin empty

of people Babil govt said IEDs reason why no returns to Jurf al-Sakhr Sheikh said was lie Said govt didn’t trust people

2016 Report 85,000 fled Fallujah Overwhelmed govt and aid agencies Blocked from entering Baghdad out

of fear of IS infiltration Hashd detained men for up to 3 weeks to interrogate them ISF blocked aid from going from Baghdad to Anbar

2017 Parliament’s integrity comm said courts suffered blackmail threats political pressure to stop

corruption cases

2017 Report Oil Min filing lawsuits against KRG independent oil exports

2018 Protest in Diyala over electricity cuts Province had not received 35% of its power

2018 Human Rights Watch accused army of collective punishment Tribe accused of helping IS got military permission to return to homes freed in Feb 2015 Stopped at checkpoints and put into camps

2019 Najah al-Shammari approved as Defense Min Yassin Taha al-Yassri as Interior Min Farouq Amin al-

Shawani as Justice Min 9 months after govt formed Still no Education Min Abdul Mahdi govt formed Oct 2018

(Musings On Iraq Iraq Finally Has Defense Interior Justice Ministers)

2021 Report More than 70 power towers blown up in last 18 mo by IS across 5 provinces

2021 Nasiriya court issued warrants against families who protested about their relatives killed in

protests

 View the Iraq History Timelines

Review Curveball, Spies, Lies, And The Con Man Who Caused A War

Drogin, Bob, Curveball, Spies, Lies, And The Con Man Who Caused A War, New York: Random House, 2007

 

Author Bob Drogin believes that the story of Curveball a defector who claimed that Saddam Hussein had mobile weapons of mass destruction (WMD) labs showed the ultimate failure of U.S. intelligence on Iraq. He writes that American agencies weren’t conned by the Iraqi, but that they conned themselves. They took a single source whose story was never verified and made it the centerpiece of the Bush administration’s argument that Iraq was producing WMD. Curveball, Spies, Lies, And The Con Man Who Caused A War is a striking example of incompetence that helped lead to the invasion of Iraq.

This Day In Iraqi History - Jun 23 Faisal arrived in Iraq to become its first king

(Wikimedia)

 

1921 Faisal arrived in Basra and then went to Najaf and Karbala as gesture towards Shiite clergy as

preparation to be crowned king Clerics opposed him

(Musings On Iraq review Empires of the Sand, The Struggle For Mastery In The Middle East 1789-1923)

1961 Qasim said Kuwait was a district of Basra province

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

1965 Monarchist coup plot announced foiled by Arif govt

1991 US Gen said in opening day of bombing during Gulf War US tried to kill Saddam

1991 2^nd International Atomic Energy Agency inspection team arrived in Iraq

1996 Iyad Allawi interviewed in WashPost Said Iraqi National Accord supported a military uprising in

Iraq

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

1998 Jim Hoagland OpEd in Wash Post said Iraq lying about its WMD to UN inspectors Was based upon

inspector report by Scott Ritter that he gave to Ahmed Chalabi who gave it to Hoagland Hoagland was a Chalabi ally Ritter’s report was false Convinced Iraq US would make up stories about WMD to maintain sanctions and therefore Iraq should stop cooperating with inspections

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

(Musings On Iraq review Arrows of the Night: Ahmad Chalabi and the Selling of the Iraq War)

2003 Ayatollah Sistani issued fatwa saying Iraqis should elect council to draft new constitution vs CPA

plan 

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

(Musings On Iraq review Patriotic Ayatollahs, Nationalism In Post-Saddam Iraq)

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

2003 Oil Ministry made first foreign oil sale to Turkish company since invasion

(Musings On Iraq Review Iraq and the Politics of Oil, An Insider’s Perspective)

2003 Official claimed US found more evidence since Iraq invasion to prove Iraq-Al Qaeda ties

2003 US defense official complained to press Iraq-Al Qaeda ties were based on politics before war not

based on intelligence

2003 Bush at NSC meeting asked why US wasn’t pushing elections in Iraq and maybe they should come

before writing constitution

2003 Cheney chief of staff Libby told NYTimes reporter Miller Fmr Amb Wilson’s wife worked at CIA

in retaliation against Wilson Implied Wilson’s wife set up her husband’s trip 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 Cheney chief of staff Libby complained that CIA was selectively leaking info to press to lesson its

role in claims about Iraq’s WMD

2003 Sadr returned from Iran where he met Ayatollah Haeri and commemorated death of Ayatollah

Khomeini Sadr went to Baghdad for 1^st time since his father’s death Met by 1000s of followers

2004 Pentagon report said only 6% of Iraqi police had finished training Said ISF lacked equipment

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

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

(Musings On Iraq US Army History Of Iraq War Vol 1- Chapter 11 The Gathering Storm)

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

War, 2003-2006)

2004 Report were two waves of foreign fighters to Iraq one before and one after 2003 invasion

2004 Report cooperation between Baathist and jihadist insurgents in Iraq and international terror

networks including Al Qaeda

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

War, 2003-2006)

2004 DepDefSec Wolfowitz said what was going on in Iraq was not an insurgency Said it was former

regime elements who didn't want to give up

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq’s Sunni Insurgency)

2004 US delivered $1.4 bil in cash to KRG for administration Went unaccounted for

2005 15 Sunnis and 1 Sabean added to constitutional drafting committee and 10 more Sunnis as advisers

(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)

2005 US Iraq cmdr Gen Casey told Def Sec Rumsfeld insurgency hadn’t changed It had Said still

had support but it wouldn’t increase Said support for Iraqi govt growing

(Musings On Iraq U.S. Army History of Iraq War Vol 1 – Chapter 15 – Transformation IN A Time Of War, January-April 2005)

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

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

George W. Bush to Barack Obama)

2006 US Iraq Cmdr Gen Casey briefed Bush on withdrawal plan Bush approved

(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?)

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

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

War, 2003-2006)

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

2008 Report govt came up with new displaced program to force squatters out of homes and make them

return to their original areas Were 2.7 mil displaced and 2.5 mil refugees

(Musings On Iraq Government’s Displaced Plan?)

(Musings On Iraq January 2009 U.N. Report On Iraq Refugee Returns)

(Musings On Iraq review Children of War, Voices Of Iraqi Refugees)

2008 Report Interior Min complained Haswa Babil police chief was arresting too many Shiites and had to

arrest more Sunnis When he didn’t he was investigated and relieved of duty

2008 Report Iran cut power supply to Basra after Charge of Knights op cutting electricity to only 6 hrs

            a day

2008 Report Amiriya Baghdad Sahwa leader said Maliki govt had arrest warrant out for him Part of

intimidation campaign vs Sahwa

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

2008 PM Maliki announced 17 Tribal Support Councils would be formed in Maysan after Op Promise of

Peace Councils became part of Maliki’s patronage network to create support for Dawa/State of Law

(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)

2009 Report UK urgently tried to get US to release Asaib Ahl Al-Haq members from prison to get

3 remaining UK hostages released by group PM Brown said he would do anything to get them back 2 hostages released Both dead 5 Brits kidnapped in Iranian planned op

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

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

2010 Protests in Ramadi Basra Karbala Baquba Nasiriya over lack of electricity PM Maliki claimed it

would take 2 yrs to solve Iraq’s electricity problems Didn’t happen Maliki accepted resignation of Electricity Min Hassan

(Musings On Iraq Maliki Forced To Respond To Public Protests Over Lack Of Electricity In Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq Basra Protest Over Lack Of Electricity Reflects Twenty Years Of Problems)

2011 Report Scientists believed southern pipeline completely disintegrated and only concrete tube Oil

Min didn’t test pipeline out of fear it would burst Signed contract with Australian company to build new pipeline by end of 2012 Almost all oil deals with intl energy companies had to be renegotiated because production goals weren’t possible due to poor infrastructure Oil Min Luaibi changed prediction from 7-8 mil/bar/day in production by 2017 to 2025 

2011 Report Baghdad threatened to cut KRG’s budget over control of Khurmala Dome oil field in Kirkuk

KRG claims control of field 2008 KRG drove Oil Min workers away from field KRG Natural Resource Min Hawrami claimed field not in disputed area but KRG

2011 Report Eni and Saipem oil companies investigated in Rome for allegedly giving bribes to win oil

contracts in Iraq

2011 Iraq signed 1 yr deal to buy 1.5 mil liters of diesel fuel/day from Iran for power station in Baghdad

2012 Report 2012 KRG budget added 17,000 govt workers 2011 budget added 25,000

2012 Report KDP and PUK agreed to no confidence vote vs PM Maliki but didn’t include Pres Talabani

Maliki countered by calling for no confidence vote vs Speaker Nujafi Sadr said withdrawing no confidence would please God

2013 Parliament amended 2008 Provincial Powers Law to decentralize authority but not implemented Was

changed to appease protests

2013 Report Interior Min officials in Najaf Karbala Diwaniya Muthanna Dhi Qar Babil Basra handed out

pistols and money to sheikhs for Dawa in return for votes

2014 ISIS held large military parade in Mosul after city fell

2014 Fighting between ISIS and Hawija Brigades in Hawija, Kirkuk for control

2014 Jihad and Reform Front agreed to work with ISIS in summer offensive Said tribal revolutionaries

would sweep over Anbar

2014 ISIS launched attack upon Baiji refinery Army officers worked out truce with ISIS Then left without

telling troops More than 400 soldiers fled afterward

2014 Babil Governor said police executed 69 prisoners they were moving to Baghdad after convoy

attacked Police sources said prisoners killed in prison

2015 Report Went over captured IS docs from 2010 US raid 1 said IS should set up relationship

with Sunni politicians to help with extortion rackets in Mosul 1 talked about extorting and skimming money from contracts in Mosul Got $4 mil from construction work Several Sunni politicians agreed to allow IS into govt contracts 1 said Communications Mnister Qadir and Dep head of Ninewa council Zebari resisted IS at 1^st but then gave in and helped IS Qadir put 2 IS operatives in his ministry

2015 Intl Org for Migration found displaced passed 3 mil mark from Jan 2014-Jun 2015

2015 Op to retake Ramadi still on hold Now waiting for tribal Hashd to finish US training Anbar

councilman and Dulaim sheikh went to Iran to ask for weapons

2015 Anbar Council asked ISF to stop shelling civilians in Fallujah Said city shelled everyday

causing civilian casualties

2016 Report KDP had 2 month blockade of Sinjar dist because it was controlled by PKK Stopped

aid from NGOs and Baghdad

2017 IS suicide bomber amongst displaced in west Mosul killed 12 wounded 20 3 suicide bombers

at Muthanna Market in east Mosul killed 15 wounded 30 5^th suicide bomber killed

(Musings On Iraq Mosul Campaign Day 250 Jun 23 2017)

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

2020 PM Kazemi spokesman said 18,000 workers in Education Min getting double salaries

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Chilcot Inquiry Section 6.2 Military Planning For the Invasion, January to March 2003

In 2003 the U.K. had to completely change its war plans. Previously it was thinking of invading from Turkey but that had to be scrapped. The Americans suggested that the British deploy in southern Iraq instead. Prime Minister Tony Blair largely kept this from his cabinet which had done from the start. Finally, London ignored its responsibilities by not strategizing for how to administer Iraq after the war.

This Day In Iraqi History - Jun 22 Gertrude Bell said that Shiites were under the pay of leading cleric Khalisi who was a Persian

(Getty Images)

 

1915 British troops began attack upon Nasiriya

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

1920 Grand Ayatollah Shirazi’s son and 11 others arrested and exiled by British for calling for revolt in

Karbala

(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)

1922 Standard Oil told State Dept that it and other US companies were interested in exploring in Iraq

1922 Gertrude Bell wrote that Shiites were all under the pay of leading cleric Sheikh Mahdi al-Khalisi who

she said wasn’t an Arab but a Persian

(Musings On Iraq review The Shi’is Of Iraq)

(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)

1932 Ahmed and Mullah Mustafa Barzani surrendered to Turks after being forced out of Iraq by

RAF bombing for opposing the settling of Assyrians in their area and refusing to pay taxes

1940 Iraq approved UK landing troops in Basra

1963 Baath govt forces captured Saqsaq and Tobzawa from Barzanis Kurds raided military camp

in Kirkuk city Bombed Rasheed Camp in Baghdad

(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)

1982 Commander in chief of Iranian army said Iran-Iraq War would continue until Saddam

overthrown

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

1982 Saddam complained that Iran was defeated in 1980 but didn’t give up

1983 Iraqi govt ordered all Kurds born from 1963-64 to be drafted into army

(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)

1996 UN and Iraq agreed on terms for allowing UN inspectors into Republican Guard Special Republican

Guard Special Security Organization Mukhabarat sites

(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)

2001 US decided to provide new aid to Iraqi opposition against Saddam

2003 Bush blamed former regime elements for attacks in Iraq

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq’s Sunni Insurgency)

2003 Bush claimed other intel services said Iraq had WMD and Iraq never proved it destroyed its WMD

arsenal

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

(Musings On Iraq How The Administration Reversed Itself On Finding Iraq’s WMD)

(Musings On Iraq review Hoodwinked, The Documents That Reveal How Bush Sold Us a War)

2003 Head weapons inspector Blix thought Iraq only had “debris” of WMD program since none found

since invasion

2003 Blix said pre-war reports by Iraqis that WMD were destroyed might prove true Cited Hussein

Kamil in 94 who said no WMD left

(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)

2003 Report 2002 National Intelligence Estimate questioned Iraq-Al Qaeda ties

2003 2000 Ayatollah Sistani supporters protested outside Green Zone demanding elections and

            new Iraqi govt

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

(Musings On Iraq review Patriotic Ayatollahs, Nationalism In Post-Saddam Iraq)

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

2003 British searches in Maja al-Kabir, Maysan led to shooting with locals 8 wounded

2004 Al Qaeda in Iraq beheaded S Korean civilian Kim Sun-il

2004 UN audit on reconstruction in Iraq found spending and contracts full of errors and open to fraud

2004 UN audit found State Organization for Marketing Oil had no records on tenders contracts who won

bids etc

2004 Report White House claimed Saddam Fedayeen members were in Al Qaeda based upon confusion

over their names

2005 US Cmdr in Iraq Gen Casey got report of prisoner abuse by ISF Ordered US forces to stop any

abuses they saw

2006 US Cmdr in Iraq General Casey told press that Iran giving weapons and training to militias

(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)

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

2008 Iraqi offensive against Sadrists in Maysan expanded to Dhi Qar and Wasit

2008 Report Pentagon said IEDs down 90% from 2007

2008 Female suicide bomber in Baquba killed 15 wounded 45

(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 US reconstruction projects in Hit halted due to corruption of mayor and police chief

2008 Baghdad Ops Command said PM Maliki issued order to integrate all Sahwa in province

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

2009 US commander in Diyala said govt had not paid 1000 Sahwa in province nor integrated them into

govt

(Musings On Iraq Sons of Iraq Integration Update)

2009 US turned over security in Anbar to Iraqi forces

2009 Report MPs got $125,000/yr salary almost 20 times more than avg Iraqi

2010 Army arrested sons of protest organizer in Basra demanding leader turn himself in Basra council

condemned Army’s move

(Musings On Iraq Basra Protest Over Lack Of Electricity Reflects Twenty Years Of Problems)

2010 PM Maliki said at least 2 yrs to solve electricity crisis Protests in Ramadi and Nasiriya over power

shortages

2011 Report Asaib Ahl Al-Haq carried out recruiting program to get people to attack US forces

before they withdrew from Iraq

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

2011 Report Sulaymaniya had 249,000 govt workers 77,000 on pensions 60,000 on govt benefits Govt

relied on oil and gas revenue Dependent on oil that crippled private enterprise Most goods and services imported by KRG Most big companies associated or owned by KDP-PUK

2011 PM Maliki ordered Election Comm to suspend work so it could be reformed Commission refused

saying it was under authority of parliament Claimed Maliki wanted to take it over

2012 Def Sec Panetta asked Iraq to hold Hezbollah operative Daqduq in prison Captured

            by US and turned over to Iraqis

(Musings On Iraq Hezbollah’s Role In Iraq)

2012 Iraq’s national grid ran out of fuel shutting down electricity across entire country for 24 hrs

2012 Sadr criticized Ayatollah Haeri and Iran for trying to interfere with his followers during no

confidence move vs PM Maliki

(Musings On Iraq What Does Iraq’s Sadr Want?)

(Musings On Iraq Iran Tries To Mediate Iraq’s Political Crisis, But Can They Overcome The Deep Divisions In The Country?)

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

2012 Report KRG Health Min said medicine mostly fake being smuggled into Kurdistan Mar 7000 boxes

of bad medicine from China and India seized May 10 tons of fake medicine destroyed in Irbil Investigative committee found 90% of medicine brought into KRG done so illegally Thought govt too lenient only fining companies $100 for smuggling

2013 Anbar governor claimed Iraqi Islamic Party cheated in provincial elections paying off voters

Governor came in 2^nd

2013 Mar 2012-Mar 2013 $6.35 bil in trade between Iran and Iraq Iran accounted for 98% of trade Iraq

only exported $84 mil to Iran

2014 ISF withdrew from Tal Afar, Ninewa turning it over to ISIS

2014 Fighting between ISIS and pro-Naqshibandi tribes in Hawija, Kirkuk for control

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

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

(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)

2014 Human Rights Ministry report 480 Shiite prisoners were executed by ISIS in Badush prison after

Mosul captured

(Musings On Iraq review The ISIS Reader, Milestone Texts of the Islamic State Movement)

2014 Iraqi forces again claimed Jurf al-Sakhr, Babil freed of insurgents Wasn’t

2014 Report Iraq lost 60 of 243 Army battalions with all of their equipment 5 of Iraq’s 14 Divisions

combat ineffective

2014 Ayatollah Khamenei objected to US sending military advisers to help Iraq against insurgency

Claimed US supported Baathists and ISIS

2014 Report 450-500 Iranian Special Forces landed in Kirkuk

2016 Sadrists threatened no confidence vote against PM Abadi and Speaker Jabouri unless

reforms passed

2017 Member of KDP leadership council said KRG independence referendum was going to

happen whether Iran liked it or not Said Ayatollah Khamenei should not interfere after he said he opposed vote

2018 Police told villagers in Baiji dist Salahaddin to leave Then confiscated IDs of more than 50

families to pressure them to leave Part of forced evictions

2019 Sunni Endowment accused Shiite Endowment of trying to seize mosques in Mosul

2020 Rockets fired at Baghdad Intl Airport by pro-Iran groups

(Musings On Iraq Iraq’s PM Gives Warning to Kataib Hezbollah To Stop Rocket Attacks In Baghdad)

2020 Report Finance Min Allawi said Iraq’s economy facing existential threat Had to cut senior

salaries Halt double salaries Get IMF and World Bank loans Diversify economy

2021 Report Oct 2019 Men threw Molotov cocktails at ISF in Baghdad Killed 2 ISF Security

forces then fired into protesters Included snipers 32 protesters might have been killed Govt claimed didn’t know who fired by PM Abdul Mahdi found out Gunmen were admonished and then sent to Kirkuk by Dep Cmdr Joint Ops Command Health Min blocked autopsies of dead Govt offered compensation to dead protesters Govt blocked investigations Govt announced investigation into violence vs protesters Found 149 activists and 8 ISF killed in 8 provinces 107 activists killed in Baghdad mostly from head wounds due to snipers Govt covered up who snipers were Came from ISF 87 ISF officers removed for attacks on protests Baghdad Ops Command head Cmdr 11^th Div Cmdr 1^st Federal Police Div Cmdr 45^th Inf Brigade Cmdr 2^nd Rgt Cmdr Federal Police Command Rgt all removed

 View the Iraq History Timelines 

Sadr Still Wants To Be Kingmaker In Forming Next Iraqi Govt

(Britannica)

On June 12, 2022 Moqtada al-Sadr shocked Iraqi politics when he had his 73 parliamentarians resign. This came just after his followers were able to get the Emergency Food Security bill passed which authorized government spending while there was no budget. That was held up as a great victory because Sadr could claim he was governing despite no new government being formed eight months after elections were held. Why then would he seemingly step away from politics? It appears that this is just another negotiating tactic and that Sadr believes that he will still be the kingmaker.