This Day In Iraqi History - Aug 31 Upon invitation of Barzani Saddam invaded Irbil to attack the PUK

 

1922 Gertrude Bell wrote King Faisal telling him he was vain and weak

(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)

This Day In Iraqi History - Aug 30 US govt report PM Maliki govt full of corruption and human rights abuses

 

1919 War Min Churchill wrote that half the British forces in Mesopotamia should be sent home

(Musings On Iraq Churchill In His Own Words On Mesopotamia/Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review Churchill’s Folly, How Winston Churchill Created Modern Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review U.S. Policy In Post-Saddam Iraq)

Review A Reed Shaken by the Wind, Travels among the Marsh Arabs of Iraq

Maxwell, Gavin, A Reed Shaken by the Wind, Travels among the Marsh Arabs of Iraq, Eland, 1957

 

Gavin Maxwell wrote one of the earliest Western accounts of life in Iraq’s southern marshes. In the 1950s he went along with a man named Wilfred Thesiger who acted as a traveling doctor to visit the Madan people of the region. Together they experienced the environment, the wildlife and the culture of the people there. Maxwell was taken with what he saw which translate into his book A Reed Shaken by the Wind, Travels among the Marsh Arabs of Iraq.

This Day In Iraqi History – Aug 29 SCIRI head Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim killed by Zarqawi in Najaf bombing 125 dead 500 wounded

 

1922 Turkish troops testing border with Iraq attacked Rania in Sulaymaniya

News Of Iraq’s Environmental Degradation Continues

Iraq continues to face the dire consequences of climate change. Each week new stories appear about environmental degradation.

This Day In Iraqi History - Aug 28 Iraq annexed Kuwait as 19th province

 

1915 British started attack on Kut starting in Suqada Marsh Took Turkish trenches

            forcing them to retreat to Kut

US Withdrawal Date From Iraq Postponed

On August 15 the Sudani government announced that a date for an American withdrawal from Iraq would not be made because of recent attacks by pro-Iran groups. This was a convenient excuse to delay talks which the administration has not been enthusiastic about.