Thursday, May 10, 2018

This Day in Iraqi History – May 10


1923 Sir Henry Dobbs wrote US Consul in Iraq that King Faisal was not a strong
            leader and he expected trouble from his rule
1941 New German ambassador to Iraq arrived in Mosul with 2 He 111 bombers
1941 Iraqis abandoned Fort Rutba allowing British to capture it
1941 UK India commander Gen Auchinlek advocated occupying Baghdad Mosul Kirkuk
            to preclude German intervention
1941 UK Mid-East commander Gen Wavell told Auchinlek that Iraq not as important
            as other fronts and he had limited resources
1941 British commander in Middle East Gen Wavell ordered that Baghdad was not to
            be occupied
1950 Grenade thrown at car company owned by Jews in Baghdad 4 injured 2nd of 7 such
            attacks on Jews 1950-51
1950 Iraq prosecuted Jews for grenade attacks claiming Zionist plot to get Jews to move
to Israel Opponents argued most Jews already leaving Iraq so no need to scare them
1967 PM Naji Talib forced to resign by military Pres Abdul Rahman Arif became
            premier
1976 New Kurdish rebellion led by PUK started Kurds backed by Soviet Union, Syria,
            Iran, Libya
1991 Iraq rejected US French UK proposal for international police force to deploy
            to Kurdistan
2002 Gen Franks discussed war plans with Rumsfeld who was afraid Iraq might take
            initiative and launch a pre-emptive attack
2002 Gen Franks briefed NSC on Middle Eastern countries and their role in
            invasion plans
2002 CIA briefing book on Iraq’s WMD mentioned Iraq-Niger uranium deal
(Musings On Iraq article on Iraq-Niger uranium story)
2003 Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim head of SCIRI returned to Iraq from Iran
2003 Outgoing ORHA head Garner flew to Qatar to brief incoming CPA head Bremer
            on situation in Iraq
2003 US forces surrounded Iranian opposition group Mujahadeen e-Khalq camp and
            demanded they disarm
2004 Human Rights Min Turki told Guardian Bremer warned in 2003 about prisoner
            abuse by US soldiers
2004 Blair denied he knew about British forces abusing Iraqi prisoners
2005 Parliament created 55 member constitution drafting committee but with no
            Sunni members
2008 Sadr announced ceasefire ending most fighting in Baghdad Led to many
            Special Groups and Asaib Ahl Al-Haq to flee to Iran
2008 Op Lion’s Roar started in Mosul after Charge of Knights ended
2010 Kurdish list in Ninewa said open to deal with Hadbaa to join provincial council
            which Kurds had boycotted since 09
2010 ISI carried out coordinated car bombings in Baghdad Hillah Iskandiriya Basra
2010 Iranian helicopters attacked Kurdish villages and got into shootout with
Peshmerga trying to target PJAK
2011 Analyst est Iraq had lost $493 bil 03-11 due to bad administration planning and
            project delays
2011 Army chief of staff Gen Zebari said US withdrawal would be bad for security in
            Iraq because ISF not ready to defend country until 2020
2011 Allawi released insulting letter to Maliki
2011 Protest in Mosul demanding US withdrawal release of prisoners govt reform
2012 KRG complained about Maliki holding cabinet meeting in Kirkuk Listed all
            grievances with Baghdad over oil Article 140 etc
2012 KRG Natural Resource Min said if Baghdad didn’t deliver regions’ share of
            budget it would truck oil for exports independently


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