Iraq Timeline (to November 2006)

 

  • 1919 -- Ottoman Empire loses WW I
  • 1920 -- British get League of Nations Mandate for Iraq
  • 1921 -- Monarch Crowned by British -- King Faysal
  • October 3, 1932 -- Independence
  • July 14, 1958 -- monarchy overthrown by military
  • 1963, 1968 -- coup d’etat
  • July 16, 1979 -- Saddam Hussein succeeds President (General) Ahmad Hasan al-Bakr
  • September 1980 -- Iraq attacks Iran – War begins
  • March 16, 1988 -- Iraq chemical weapon attack on Kurdish town of Halabjah (5,000 killed)
  • August 20, 1988 -- Iran-Iraq War ends
  • August 2, 1990 -- Iraq invades Kuwait
  • January 16, 1991 -- US-led coalition invades Iraq
  • March 3, 1991 -- Iraq surrenders formally, agrees to give up all WMD
  • 1991 -- UNSCOM and IAEA inspections of Iraq begin
  • 1998 -- US Congress passes legislation and President Clinton signs Iraq Liberation Act (PL 105-338) making it law that US will work to overthrow Saddam Hussein
  • December 16-19, 1998 -- Operation Desert Fox attacks Iraqi WMD (We now know that these attacks destroyed what was left of Iraqi WMD programs; ironically, the attacks also led to the end of IAEA/UNSCOM inspections of Iraq WMD and continued uncertainty about Iraq WMD programs)
  • February 19, 1999 -- Assassination of Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Sadiq al-Sadr by Saddam Hussein’s regime (revered Shi’ite leader)
  • September 11, 2001 -- US attacked by al-Qaeda
  • November 2002 -- UN Security Council passes UNSC Resolution 1441 calling for resumption of UN-sponsored inspections of Iraq to certify that Iraq has no WMD 
  • November 27, 2002 -- inspections begin
  • March 19, 2003 -- US and allies launch invasion of Iraq
  • March-April 2003 -- Department of Defense’s Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA) begins to take authority for post-Saddam decisions in Iraq; retired US General Jay Garner in charge
  • April 9-10, 2003 -- Baghdad captured
  • April 2003 -- Looting begins
  • May 1, 2003 -- President Bush announces that “major combat operations have ended”; declares “mission accomplished”
  • Mid-May 2003 -- L. Paul Bremer replaces Garner; Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) replaces ORHA
  • Mid-May 2003 -- Bremer abolishes Iraqi Army (350,000 men lose their jobs); Baath Party members purged from government service
  • July 2003 -- US-appointed Interim Governing Council takes power
  • August 7, 2003 – Jordanian embassy in Baghdad hit by car bomb
  • August 19, 2003 – UN headquarters in Baghdad bombed by suicide truck bomber; 17 killed, including UN Special Envoy to Iraq Sergio Vieira de Mello
  • August 29, 2003 – Bombing of Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf, a Shi’ite holy shrine; 85 killed, including Ayatollah Muhammad Bakr al-Hakim, the leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), the largest political party in Iraq (Iranian-backed Shi’ite Islamists)
  • August-September 2003 – Historically, this is when the insurgency is recognized by analysts of the war and when it is acknowledged that foreign fighters and Saddam loyalists are using terrorist car bombings and “improvised explosive devices” to attack coalition forces (US and UK primarily) and Shi’ite groups
  • December 14, 2003 -- Saddam Hussein captured
  • February 10, 2004 – 55 killed by car bombs at police recruiting center in Baghdad
  • March 2, 2004 – Simultaneous bombs in Karbala and Baghdad during Shi’ite Ashura festivals; 181 killed
  • April 2, 2004 – Five suicide car bombings in Shi’ite areas in Basra; 74 killed
  • April 2004 – Moqtada al-Sadr’s (Shi’ite leader in Baghdad) incites anti-US, anti-government uprisings
  • June 2004 -- New government headed by PM Iyad Allawi takes over; Government handpicked by CPA
  • June 24, 2004 – Five police stations attacked in Mosul; 58 killed
  • July 28, 2004 – Suicide bombing in Baghdad market; 70 killed
  • October 2004 – Unity and Jihad Group, Sunni insurgents composed of mostly foreign fighters, led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi pledges its loyalty to al-Qaeda and becomes Al-Qaeda in Iraq
  • Fall 2004 – Shi’ite parties, led by SCIRI, form grand coalition for elections – United Iraqi Alliance
  • December 19, 2004 – Suicide car bombing at funeral in Najaf; 51 killed
  • January 30,2005 -- Election of Transitional National Assembly -- TNA (275 members); 70% turnout; Boycott by Sunni parties; United Iraqi Alliance wins election, but not outright majority (128 of 275 seats)
  • February 28, 2005 – Car bomb in Hilla, south of Baghdad at police recruitment center; 125 killed
  • March 10, 2005 – Shi’ite funeral bombed in Mosul; 50 killed
  • April 2005 – United Iraqi Alliance forms alliance with Kurdistani Coalition (53 seats) to control 181 seat majority in TNA
  • April 2005 – Constitutional Committee created by TNA, charged with drafting new constitution
  • May 4, 2005 – Police recruitment center bombed in Irbil; 60 killed
  • May 2005 -- 672 people killed in sectarian violence
  • July 2005 – Sunni representatives added to Constitutional Committee
  • July 16, 2005 – Suicide bombing in Musayyab, south of Baghdad; 90 killed
  • August 28, 2005 -- Draft constitution approved by Shi’ites and Kurds, but not Sunni leaders
  • August 31, 2005 – Shi’ite funeral procession hears rumor of impending suicide attack; stampede begins; 965 killed
  • September 14, 2005 – Bomb in bus near day laborer pick-up; 112 killed
  • September 29, 2005 – Several car bombs in Balad, north of Baghdad; 87 killed
  • October 15, 2005 – Referendum on constitution held; constitution approved
  • December 15, 2005 -- Elections for Council of Representatives (replaces TNA); 78% turnout
  • January 5, 2006 – Police recruits attacked in Ramadi; 80 killed
  • February 22, 2006 Shi’ite Al-Ashariya Mosque attacked in Samarra
  • February 22-26, 2006 In Mosque attack and sectarian violence that follows 200 people killed
  • March 13-14, 2006 – 86 bodies found -- Sunni and Shi’ite -- tortured and executed
  • April 7, 2006 – Three suicide bombings at Shi’ite Buratha Mosque in Baghdad; 81 killed
  • April 22, 2006 -- Council of Representatives chooses senior governmental officials (President; two Deputy Presidents, Prime Minister, Speaker of Council and two Deputy Speakers)
  • May-June 2006 -- 100 civilians killed per day
  • July 18, 2006 – Suicide car bomb in Kufu at Shi’ite holy area; 59 killed
  • October 9-10, 2006 – 100 bodies found; Sunni and Shi’ite; tortured and executed
  • November 23, 2006 – Over 30 minutes, several car bombs kill 200, mostly Shi’ite

 

 

 

 

 

Sources: BBC News. Timeline: Iraq. Available at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/737483.stm. Accessed November 26

, 2006; Cable News Network web pages; Available athttp://www.cnn.com. Accessed November 24, 25, 26, 2006; George Packer. The Assassins’ Gate (New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 2005).