1916 British attempt to re-supply besieged garrison at Kutfailed
1920 UK gave France 25% of Turkish Petroleum Company inreturn for agreeing to British mandate
in Iraq
(Musings On Iraq reviewThe Creation of Iraq 1914-1921)
1941 PM Gaylani and Mufti of Jerusalem met with Italian ambTold him they were angry Axis had
done nothing to help Iraq vsBritish
1941 UK began airlifting some of its troops from Basra toHabaniya base in Anbar greatly angering
Iraq
(Musings On Iraq reviewRashid Ali al-Gailani, The National Movement in Iraq 1939-1941)
(Musings On Iraq reviewPersian Gulf Command, A History of the Second World War In Iran and Iraq)
(Musings On Iraq reviewIraq 1941, The Battles for Basra, Habbaniya, Fallujah and Baghdad)
(Musings On Iraq reviewIraq And Syria 1941, The Politics and Strategy of the Second World War)
1963 Kurdish delegation headed by Talabani met with govt PMBakr talked about national
decentralization instead ofKurdish rights
(Musings On Iraq reviewThe Kurdish Revolt 1961-1970)
(Musings On Iraq reviewJourney Among Brave Men, Travels in Kurdistan)
1970 Mar Eshai Shimun religious leader of Assyrians invitedback to Baghdad by Bakr Given back
citizenship Bakr promisedcultural rights to Assyrians but talks failed Bakr tried to create buffer withKurds using Assyrians and move them away from KDP
1974 Iraqi planes bombed Qala Diza during Kurdish rebellionkilling 130 wounded 400
(Musings On Iraq reviewThe Kurds, A Modern History)
(Musings On Iraq reviewKurds of Iraq, Tragedy and Hope)
1991 Saudi Arabia under US and UK pressure agreed to allow30,000 Iraqi refugees and 15,000
POWs into country
1991 Kurdish leaders announced tentative deal with Saddamover autonomy and returning refugees
who fled during revolt
1999 Were clashes between Iraqi forces and Iraqi oppositionin south
2002 Gen Franks met with commanders in Qatar Said theyneeded to start war preparations
(Musings On Iraq reviewShaping the Plan for Operation Iraqi Freedom, The Role of MilitaryIntelligence Assessment)
(Musings On Iraq reviewLeap of Faith, Hubris Negligence, and America’s Greatest Foreign Policy
Tragedy)
2003 Bush said Iraq might have destroyed its WMD beforeinvasion but US would find them
(Musings On Iraq HowThe Administration Reversed Itself On Finding Iraq’s WMD)
(Musings On Iraq reviewHoodwinked, The Documents That Reveal How Bush Sold Us a War)
(Musings On Iraq reviewWhat Happened, Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture ofDeception)
2003 NY Times article Iraqi scientists said Saddam expandedWMD programs and secret facilities
but destroyed stocks Wasn’t true
2003 US seized warehouse in Baghdad thought to contain WMDagents Proved false
2003 Trailer found near Mosul was suspected of being mobileWMD labs Wasn’t
(Musings On Iraq HowIraqi Defector CURVEBALL Became Basis For US Claims That Iraq Had WMD)
(Musings On Iraq reviewThe WMD Mirage, Iraq’s Decade of Deception and America’s False Premise forWar)
2003 Dep PM Tariq Aziz surrendered to US Said Iraq had noWMD
2003 INC’s Zubeidi declared himself mayor of Baghdad
2003 ORHA head Garner met with 60 Iraqis in Kut to talkabout security and how city should pick
city council
(Musings On Iraq reviewHard Lessons, The Iraq Reconstruction Experience)
2003 ORHA head Garner said INC’s Chalabi was not US’schoice to run Iraq and Iraqis could pick
their own leaders
2003 Gen McKiernan ground commander in Iraq told ORHA’sGarner security #1 priority for
postwar Iraq
(Musings On Iraq reviewIraq and Back, Inside The War To Win The Peace)
2003 Sec Def Rumsfeld called Sec State Powell to proposePaul Bremer as new presidential envoy to
Iraq
(Musings On Iraq reviewMy Year in Iraq, The Struggle to Build a Future of Hope)
(Musings On Iraq reviewLeap of Faith, Hubris Negligence, and America’s Greatest Foreign Policy
Tragedy)
(Musings On Iraq reviewState of Denial, Bush At War, Part III)
(Musings On IraqSpecial Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Hard Lessons Chapter 6Charting A New Course)
(Musings On Iraq USArmy History Of Iraq War Vol 1 – Ch 6 Lost In Transition May-July 2003)
2003 Sec Def Rumsfeld called Garner and told him he wouldbe replaced by Bremer Garner said he
would quit Rumsfeld asked him tostay
(Musings On Iraq reviewIraq’s Dysfunctional Democracy)
2003 Sec Def Rumsfeld said that Iraqis could form any govtthey wanted as long as it wasn’t a
theocracy like Iran’s
2003 UN Res 1476 extended Oil For Food Program past USinvasion
2003 Was anti-American march and 2 drive by shootings on USbase in Kut ORHA head Garner
blamed Iran for demonstration
(Musings On IraqEarly Report On Iran’s Activities In Iraq)
2003 UK cabinet agreed to expand control from Basra andMaysan to Dhi Qar and Muthanna despite
warnings might not havecapabilities to deal with them
(Musings On Iraq ReviewThe Report of the Iraq Inquiry, Executive Summary)
2003 UN SecGen Annan said US Coalition had to follow intllaw as occupying power in Iraq US
rejected occupier title
2004 US reported that 40% of Iraqi police deserted duringSadrist uprising in Najaf and Kut
2004 Insurgents launched boat attack upon Basra oilterminal killing 2 US sailors
2004 US agreed to joint Marine-Iraqi National Guard patrolsin and around Fallujah National Guard
refused
2006 Sunni politicians accused ISCI of taking over InteriorMin and staffing it with Badr militiamen
and killing civilians
(Musings On Iraq BadrOrganization A View Into Iraq’s Violent Past And Present)
(MusingsOn Iraq From Bad To Worse How Military Moved IntoThe Iraqi Police Force And The United States Failed At Nation Building Part TwoOf An Interview With Jerry Burke Former Advisor To The Baghdad Police AndInterior Ministry)
2006 Zarqawi released video portraying himself as militarycommander in Iraq
2006 Fmr CIA officer Drumheller said Iraq war was a policyfailure by White House not intel
agencies Said Bush committed towar no matter what the intel Part of White House and CIA blaming each other forwar
2006 Iraqiya MP said new Maliki govt wasn't national unityone but just Shiite Kurdish and Sunni
parties dividing up ministries
2006 US Iraq cmdr Gen Casey said fighting in Iraq aboutcompetition for political and economic
power instead of fighting US
(Musings On Iraq USArmy History of Iraq War Vol 1 – Chapter 19 The Iraqi Civil War Comes Into TheOpen, January-June 2006)
(Musings On Iraq USArmy History of Iraq War Vol 1 – Chapter 20 Baghdad Burns, Summer-Fall 2006)
2007 Report Anbar Salvation Front expanded from Ramadi toAmiriya Fallujah with alliance with
Albu Issa tribe
(Musings On IraqDemise, But Not Death of Al Qaeda In Iraq)
(Musings On Iraq HowA Change In Perceptions Led To The Anbar Awakening)
(Musings On Iraq interview with author Carter Malkasian on Anbar Awakening)
(Musings On Iraq reviewConfronting Al Qaeda, The Sunni Awakening and American Strategy In Al Anbar)
(Musings On Iraq reviewThe Marines Take Anbar, The Four-Year Fight Against Al Qaeda)
(Musings On Iraq reviewIllusions of Victory, The Anbar Awakening And The Rise Of The Islamic State)
(Musings On Iraq reviewSurge, My Journey with General David Petraeus and the Remaking of the IraqWar)
2008 ISF gained full control of central Basra Phase 4 ofCharge of Knights began with sweeps
through 5 Mile Market
2008 Captured ISI letters showed complaints about War MinMasri not consulting with others and
didn't take criticism Said ISIwas passing off old Zarqawi videos as new operations
2008 US report Most Iraqi ministries under control ofmilitias Acquittal of Sadrist Dep Health Min
Zamili on charges of corruptionand running death squads and senior officials tendency to protect theirsubordinates made officials believe they were above the law 11 of 32 ministrieseither had acting ministers or no top officials PM Maliki kept many ministriesleaderless so he could directly run them Said US attempts at better governancewere fragmented and incoherent US agencies and military did not cooperateRecommended removing Chief Justice Medhat for screwing up Dep Health Min caseand lackluster approach to prosecuting govt officials
2009 2 suicide bombers targeted Baghdad’s Khadmiya shrine60 killed 125 wounded
(Musings On Iraq reviewSuicide Bombers In Iraq, The Strategy and Ideology of Martyrdom)
2009 Report PM Maliki trying to gain control of ISF Putthem under direct control of his office
even though not part of chain ofcommand Personally ordered arrests and security operations
(Musings On Iraq reviewIraq After America, Strongmen, Sectarians, Resistance)
(Musings On Iraq reviewIraq From War To A New Authoritarianism)
2009 Report 06 insurgent leaders told reporter they weredefeated Were pushed by Al Qaeda in
Iraq militias and US They saidmilitias would win because had backing of ISF Led to Sunnis to try to makedeals with US forming sahwa PM Maliki now playing divide and conquer withSunnis to enhance his power
2009 Report Since 08 Foreign Affairs Min passed names ofIranian diplomats to US for vetting
Around 20% possible QudsForce/intelligence agents
2010 Report Finance Min auditor warned pay and pensions ofIraqi politicians could eventually
wreck budget 2008 avg pay inIraq $266/mo MP earned $7,700/mo Got 30 bodyguards Free accommodations thatcost up to $10,000/mo Fmr MPs and officials got 80% of their salary Eligiblefor low interest loans worth up to $70,000 Auditor warned paying govt workersdiverting money from investment
(Musings On IraqIraq’s Officials Becoming Drain On Budget)
2011 Ayatollah Haeri in Iran issued fatwa against extendingUS troop presence in Iraq past 2011
2011 Sadrists said they opposed any troop extension for USpast end of year
2011 Kurd opposition parties said KRG could eithernegotiate with protesters or suppress them
(Musings On Iraq interview with journalist Wladimir Van Wilgenburg on 2011 KRGprotests)
2011 Press freedom group said 226 violations by KRG againstmedia trying to cover Sulaymaniya
protests
2011 Bomb at Sacred Heart church in Baghdad
2011 6,000 protested in Mosul demanding reform releasingprisoners end of US presence
2011 Report Oil companies boosted production but Iraq didn’thave capacity to export more Led
some companies to cut back onoutput Iraq had contracts to build 16 new storage facilities 3 new pipelines 4new floating terminals in Basra New pipeline and terminals contracts givenafter bribes
2012 Sound bomb at offices of Ayatollah Najafi in wave ofattacks upon leading ayatollahs
2012 Pres Barzani said that Exxon would follow through withits contracts to work with KRG
despite threats from Baghdad
(MusingsOn Iraq How the New Chevron Deal Affects OilDispute Between Iraq’s Central Government And Kurdistan)
(Musings On Iraq TheState Of The Kurdish Regional Government In Iraq, An Interview With NationalDefense Univ’s Dr Denise Natali)
2012 Parliament’s energy comm said electricity productionand imports down Rejected Electricity
Min claim that production was at9,000 megawatts Said it was only at 4,000 Predicted massive power shortagesduring summer
(Musings On IraqIraq’s Parliament And Cabinet Argue Over Future Electricity Output)
(Musings On IraqIraq’s Government Failing Again To Solve Country’s Power Outages)
2012 Report Nov 2011 car bombing of parliament buildinginvolved adviser to MP and 2 bodyguards
2012 Sadrists said some parties talked about replacing PMMaliki Said it supported Maliki Sadr had
been criticizing Maliki before
(Musings On Iraq TheSadrists’ Double Game: Criticizing Iraq’s Prime Minister, While Supporting HimAt The Same Time)
(Musings On Iraq WhatDoes Iraq’s Sadr Want?)
(Musings On IraqIraq’s Sadrist Back Off Attacks Upon Prime Minister Maliki For Now)
2013 Report Iran recruiting Iraqis to fight in Syria Wentto Iran for training Some joined Kataib
Hezbollah and Abu Fadhl al-AbbasBrigade associated with it
(Musings On Iraq TheIncreasing Flow Of Iraqi Fighters To Syria, An Interview With University OfMaryland’s Phillip Smyth)
(Musings On IraqInstrument Of Iran’s Power In Iraq And Syria Kataib Hezbollah)
(Musings On Iraq AbuFadhl Al-Abbas Brigade From Fighting In Syria To Iraq)
2013 Report Dawa big loser in provincial elections Numberof seats declined from 2009 State of Law
did well
2013 PM Maliki speech said protests had to follow rule oflaw and were sectarian and threatening
Said they were criminals thatthreatened political process
(Musings On IraqUnderstanding Iraq’s Protest Movements, An Interview With Kirk Sowell, Editorof Inside Iraqi Politics)
2013 Mutahidun complained PM Maliki allowed militias tooperate in Baghdad
(Musings On IraqRumors Spread Of Militias At Work In Iraq)
2013 Insurgents took control of Suleiman Beq Salahaddinafter ISF attacked Hawija protest site
Heavy fighting in Mosul andBaquba
(Musings On IraqHawija The Moment Iraq’s Insurgency Was Reborn)
2013 Hawija protest group announced that it was joiningNaqshibandi after ISF attacked protest site
(Musings On IraqIraq’s Protest Movement And Insurgency Split About Response To Hawija Raid)
(Musings On IraqIraq’s Resurgent Insurgency Interview With Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi)
2014 Was fighting betweenISIS and Military Council in Fallujah
2015 Report that ISF was charging displaced Anbaris moneyto get into Baghdad
2015 Report Hashd imposed movement restrictions withinTikrit Investigating Camp Speicher
massacre and not allowing othersto be involved Most of presidential palaces in Tikrit seized by Hashd
2015 IS took army regiment HQ in Anbar Executed 22 soldiers
2016 KRG MP on Finance comm said 110,000 ghost Peshmerga69,000 were with KDP 41,000
with PUK
2017 Gorran said it wouldn’t join independence referendumcommittee Said KRG parliament had
to be brought back and passreferendum first
(Musings On IraqWhat’s Next For Kurdistan After The Referendum?)
(Musings On Iraq reviewThe Great Betrayal, How America Abandoned The Kurds And Lost The Middle East)
2017 KDP official said KRG independence referendum wouldinclude Kirkuk and all disputed
areas
2018 Report 18,000properties in 7 provinces belonging to IS families seized by govt and given tomembers of the ISF and martyr families as part of govt program
2018 Report Gap between ISFand peshmerga in disputed areas being exploited by IS Some areas IS appearingduring day time
2020 Resigned PM Abdul Mahdi said he didn’t accept 4pro-Najaf Hashd leaving Hashd
Commission Said he wanted tokeep all Hashd united
(Musings On IraqResigned PM Abdul Mahdi Doesn’t Accept Units Leaving Hashd Commission)
2023 Hashd controlled Muhandis General Company took overaround 20 blocks of property
in west Baghdad
View the Iraq History Timelines