Elaine Meinel Supkis
The political situation in both Iraq and the USA is rapidly deteriorating. Maliki today tried to bring everyone together except those who are fighting didn't come. Bush is doubling the fighting units right on the heels of his father's commission's unreal report with a 'plan' for escaping this complex trap we sprung on ourselves. Here is an edited timeline from Infoplease.com which has many wonderful timelines. This is our 'roadmap' for remembering important events in this disaster.
&hearts Infoplease.com has many timelines, the one on Iraq is pretty well-researched.
Jan. 29, 2002
In President George W. Bush's state of the union speech, he identifies Iraq, along with Iran and North Korea, as an "axis of evil." He vows that the U.S. "will not permit the world's most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world's most destructive weapons."
This is where it all began: Congress rose as one and cheered him when he said this line. I was horrified. I knew this would lead us into endless disasters.
&hearts Jun. 2, 2002
President Bush publicly introduces the new defense doctrine of preemption in a speech at West Point. In some instances, the president asserts, the U.S. must strike first against another state to prevent a potential threat from growing into an actual one: "Our security will require all Americans…[to] be ready for preemptive action when necessary to defend our liberty and to defend our lives.
&hearts Oct. 11, 2002
Congress authorizes an attack on Iraq.
&hearts Nov. 18, 2002
UN weapons inspectors return to Iraq, for the first time in almost four years.
&hearts Jan. 27, 2003
The UN's formal report on Iraqi inspections is highly critical, though not damning, with chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix stating that "Iraq appears not to have come to a genuine acceptance, not even today, of the disarmament that was demanded of it."
&hearts Jan. 28, 2003
In his state of the union address, President Bush announces that he is ready to attack Iraq even without a UN mandate.
&hearts Feb. 22, 2003
Hans Blix orders Iraq to destroy its Al Samoud 2 missiles by March 1. The UN inspectors have determined that the missiles have an illegal range limit. Iraq can have missiles that reach neighboring countries, but not ones capable of reaching Israel.
&hearts Mar. 1, 2003
Iraq begins to destroy its Al Samoud missiles.
&hearts Mar. 17, 2003
All diplomatic efforts cease when President Bush delivers an ultimatum to Saddam Hussein to leave the country within 48 hours or else face an attack.
&hearts Mar. 19, 2003
President Bush declares war on Iraq.
&hearts Mar. 20, 2003
The war against Iraq begins 5:30 AM Baghdad time (9:30 PM EST, March 19), when the U.S. launches Operation Iraqi Freedom.
&hearts Jul. 13, 2003
Iraq's interim governing council, composed of 25 Iraqis appointed by American and British officials, is inaugurated. The council has power to name ministers and will help draw up a new constitution for the country. The American administrator Paul Bremer, however, retains ultimate authority.
&hearts Aug. 19, 2003
Suicide bombing destroys UN headquarters in Baghdad, killing 24, including top envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello, and wounding more than 100.
&hearts Aug. 29, 2003
A bomb kills one of Iraq's most important Shi'ite leaders, Ayatollah Muhammad Bakr al-Hakim, as well as about 80 others, and wounds 125.
&hearts Oct. 16, 2003
The UN Security Council unanimously approves the U.S. and UK resolution on Iraq's reconstruction, which supports an international force in the country under U.S. authority. Several countries originally opposed the resolution unless Washington agreed to a faster timetable for transferring power to the Iraqis, but in the end voted for the resolution without requiring changes.
&hearts Oct. 23–24, 2003
The Madrid Conference, an international donors' conference of 80 nations to raise funds for the reconstruction of Iraq, yielded $13 billion in addition to the $20 billion already pledged by the United States. This amount fell short of the overall target of raising $56 billion, the figure the World Bank and the UN estimated that Iraq needs over the next four years.
&hearts Dec. 9, 2003
A directive issued by Paul Wolfowitz, deputy secretary of defense, bars France, Germany, Canada, Mexico, China, and Russia from bidding on lucrative contracts for rebuilding Iraq, creating a diplomatic furor.
&hearts Dec. 13, 2003
Iraq's deposed leader Saddam Hussein is captured by American troops. The former dictator was found hiding in a hole near his hometown of Tikrit and surrendered without a fight.
&hearts Jan. 19, 2004
The United States asks the UN to intercede in the dispute over the elections process in Iraq. Shiite leader Ayatollah al-Sistani, at the center of the debate, has refused to meet with American officials. The UN weighs sending election experts to determine whether there is enough time to prepare for direct elections.
About 100,000 Shiites march in Baghdad and other cities in support of Ayatollah al-Sistani's demand for direct elections. It is the largest protest since the occupation of Iraq.
&hearts Mar. 2, 2004
Suicide attacks in Karbala on Shiite Islam's most holy feast day killed more than 85 and wound 233 others. It is believed that the perpetrators are attempting to foment unrest between Shiites and Sunnis.
&hearts Mar. 28, 2004
Coalition forces close radical cleric Moktada al-Sadr's rabidly anti-American newspaper, Al Hawaz.
&hearts Apr. 15, 2004
The Bush administration agrees to a UN proposal to replace the Iraqi Governing Council with a caretaker government when the U.S. returns sovereignty to Iraqis on June 30.
&hearts Apr. 30, 2004
The appalling physical and sexual abuse and humiliation of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad comes to light when photographs are released by the U.S. media.
&hearts May 17, 2004
A suicide bomber kills the head of Iraq's Governing Council, Izzedin Salim, and six other people.
&hearts May 27, 2004
After seven weeks of fighting in Najaf, U.S. forces and the militias loyal to Moktada al-Sadr reach a truce.
&hearts May 28, 2004
Iyad Allawi is designated prime minister of the Iraqi interim government. A Shiite neurologist, Alawi has close ties to the CIA, and many observers inside—and outside—Iraq say Alawi's selection is a sign of the U.S.'s continued attempt to assert control over the country.
&hearts Jun. 8, 2004
The UN Security Council unanimously passes a resolution endorsing the appointment of an interim government in Iraq. It authorizes U.S. military forces to remain in the country until Jan. 2006.
&hearts Jun. 28, 2004
In a surprise move, the United States transfers power back to Iraqis two days early. The ceremony was held in secret to thwart attacks by Iraqi insurgents. Only 30 people were present.
&hearts Jul. 7, 2004
Prime Minister Allawi signs a law permitting him to impose martial law.
&hearts Jul. 9, 2004
The Senate Intelligence Committee releases an unanimous, bipartisan "Report on Pre-War Intelligence on Iraq" evaluating the intelligence assessments that formed the basis for the Bush administrations justifications for the war. It harshly criticizes the CIA and other American intelligence agencies for the "mischaracterization of intelligence:"
&hearts Aug. 27, 2004
A bloody, three-week battle in Najaf between the U.S. forces and the militia of militant cleric al-Sadr ends in August when Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani negotiates a settlement.
&hearts Sep. 15, 2004
The Bush administration requests that the Senate shift $3.4 billion of the $18.4 billion Iraqi aid package meant for reconstruction work to improving security measures.
&hearts Nov. 8, 2004
U.S. forces initiate an all-out assault on Falluja, which has been under the control of insurgents since May. Named Operation Phantom Fury.
&hearts Jan. 30, 2005
Iraq's elections to select a 275-seat National Assembly went ahead as scheduled. A total of 8.5 million people voted, representing about 58% of those Iraqis eligible to vote. But violence accompanied the voting, with 260 attacks taking place on election day, the largest number since the war began. A coalition of Shiites, the United Iraq Alliance, received 48% of the vote, the Kurdish parties received 26% of the vote, and the Sunnis just 2%. The Sunni vote was so low because most Sunni leaders had called for a boycott.
&hearts Feb. 22, 2005
The United Iraqi Alliance, the group of Shiite political parties that won the most votes in Iraq's Jan. 30 election, selects Ibrahim al-Jaafari to be the prime minister of Iraq. The 58-year-old doctor served as Iraq's interim vice-president of Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein. Jaafari is a popular politician who is seen as acceptable to the Sunnis and Kurds as well as the dominant Shiites.
&hearts Apr. 3–7, 2005
On April 3, Iraqi Assembly name Hajim al-Hassani, a Sunni, as speaker, and Hussain al-Shahristani, a Shiite, and Arif Taifour, a Kurd, as deputies. On April 6, Iraq Assembly selects Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani as president; Adel Abdul Mahdi, a Shiite politician, as vice president, and Sheik Ghazi al-Yawar, the Sunni president of the interim government, as the second vice president. On April 7, the Iraq Assembly names Shiite Ibrahim al-Jaafari as prime minister. Interim prime minister Ayad Allawi resigns.
&hearts Aug. 27, 2005
Frustrated with demands by Sunni Arabs, Shiite and Kurdish leaders end negotiations with Sunnis.
&hearts Oct. 25, 2005
Electoral commission reports that constitution has passed, with 79% of voters supporting it. But it failed by more than a two-thirds majority in two Sunni-dominated provinces and by less than a two-thirds majority in a third, making the victory a narrow one.
&hearts Nov. 21, 2005
For the first time, a group of Sunni, Shiite, and Kurdish leaders sign a statement that demands a specific time for the pullout of foreign troops.
&hearts Nov. 30, 2005
President Bush unveils his vision for victory in Iraq and rejects calls by Democrats and some Republicans for a timetable for withdrawal: “Pulling our troops out before they've achieved their purpose is not a plan for victory.”
&hearts Dec. 15, 2005
Iraq holds parliamentary elections.
&hearts Jan. 20, 2006
Preliminary election results are reported for the Dec. 15 parliamentary elections. The Shiite United Iraqi Alliance—an alliance of Shiite religious parties—captured 128 of the 275 parliamentary seats. It did not succeed in winning the two-thirds majority needed to rule without coalition partners, and will seek to form a coalition over the next weeks.
Eleven other political groups won seats: an alliance of the two major Kurdish parties won 53 seats; the Iraqi Accordance Front (Sunni Arab), 44 seats; Iraqi Front for National Dialogue (Sunni Arab), 11 seats; Iraqi National List (secular), 25 seats; Islamic Part of Kurdistan, 5; Reconciliation and Liberation Bloc (Sunni Arab), 3; Risaliyoun (Shiite), 2, Turkomen Iraqi Front (ethnic Turks), 1; Iraqi Nation List (Sunni), 1; Yazidi minority religious sect, 1; Al-Rafidian List (Christian), 1.
&hearts Feb. 22, 2006
Inurgents bomb and seriously damage the golden dome atop the Shiite's most revered shrine in Iraq, the Askariya Shrine, in Samarra.
&hearts April 5, 2006
Four months after elections, the appointment of Jaafari as prime minister is still not confirmed—Sunni Arab and Kurdish officials continue to reject him. Jaafari, a religious Shiite, is considered by many to be a divisive figure
&hearts April 22, 2006
Nuri al-Maliki of the Shiite Dawa party, is approved as prime minister, ending four months of political stalemate.
&hearts These negotiations were extremely delicate and very dangerous on a thousand levels!
April 2006 SECRET talks in which senior American officials came face-to-face with some of their most bitter enemies in the Iraqi insurgency broke down after two months of meetings, rebel commanders have disclosed.The meetings, hosted by Iyad Allawi, Iraq’s former prime minister, brought insurgent commanders and Zalmay Khalilzad, the US ambassador to Iraq, together for the first time.
After months of delicate negotiations Allawi, a former Ba’athist and a secular Shi’ite, persuaded three rebel leaders to travel to his villa in Amman, the Jordanian capital, to see Khalilzad in January.
&hearts Oct. 11, 2006
The Iraqi Parliament votes in favor of a law that would allow provinces to unite and form semi-independent regions. Sunnis in parliament, who oppose the move out of fear that Shiites and Kurds will control most of the country's oil, boycott the vote.
&hearts Oct. 17, 2006
Under pressure to control violence that has spiraled out of control, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki fires two police generals.
&hearts Nov. 21, 2006 Cheney is summoned to Saudi Arabia and given an ultimatum concerning letting Iran take over half of Iraq.
&hearts CNN transcript of the upcoming Thanksgiving visit
Nov. 24, 2006 Happening now -- after a Thanksgiving Day massacre, fears of an all out civil war. It's midnight in Iraq where furious Shiites have torched Sunni mosques, denounced their leaders, even burned some Sunnis to death. This after a bloody attack in a Shiite neighborhood leaves hundreds of Shiites dead.Followers of Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr say U.S. actions in Iraq are probably responsible for yesterday's attack. Now some of al- Sadr's followers who are part of Iraq's government are threatening to boycott that government if the Iraqi prime minister goes ahead with a meeting with President Bush.
&hearts Maliki meeting with Bush and King of Jordan fails spectacularily.
Nov. 25, 2006 The meeting in Jordan, which was also to have involved Jordan's King Abdullah II, was scrapped due to a scheduling glitch, a Jordanian official told AFP.He said talks between Bush and Maliki on Iraq's sectarian bloodshed were scheduled to go ahead on Thursday morning.
The White House denied that the cancellation of Wednesday's meeting had anything to do with an administration memo leaked by the New York Times that cast doubt over Maliki's authority.
November 28, 2006 Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's highest authority, told the Iraqi president on Tuesday the U.S. occupation and some U.S.-backed regional "agents" were to blame for violence in Iraq, state TV reported.Khamenei also told Jalal Talabani that Iran was ready to help restore security in Iraq if Baghdad wished -- echoing comments made a day earlier by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
&hearts I predicted that Maliki will die very soon.
Nov. 30,2006 Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki faced a widening revolt within his divided government as two senior Sunni politicians joined prominent Shiite lawmakers and Cabinet members in criticizing his policies.Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi said he wanted to see al-Maliki's government gone and another "understanding" for a new coalition put in place with guarantees that ensure collective decision making.
On December 6, 2006 the ISG releases its official report to the President, Congress, and the public.
&hearts In a pure panic, first a Democratic Senator decides to break the ice and go to Syria.
12/12/2006 Bush Dithers While Senator Nelson Goes To Syria. Bushs_brain_1. Bush is determined to do absollutely nothing but let things continue to deteriorate.
&hearts Saudi Arabia recalls ambassador, chaos evelopes royals.
Dec. 13, 2006 A Washington diplomatic mystery swirled around the sudden resignation of Saudi Arabia's ambassador here, baffling foreign policy experts and injecting new intrigue into US-Saudi relations.Prince Turki Al Faisal, one of the most influential foreign envoys here and steward of the key and sometimes uneasy alliance between the world's sole superpower and the Gulf oil state, abruptly quit Monday, Saudi sources said.
Specter, R-Pa., said in an interview late Friday that he is planning a trip to the Middle East that will include Israel and Syria.
&hearts Dec. 16, 2006 The reason why Bush didn't want to make his 'Iraq' speech at Xmas was because he wants to assemble 50,000 troops to 'reinvade' from Kuwait. The Pentagon told him this would tak a month. When foreign news broke this story, it showed clearly, we are not a democracy anymore. Only 9% of America supports this troop increase. The Democrats must demand Bush be impeached for WAR CRIMES.<
&hearts Iraq's army decides to call in all former Sunni fighters.
Dec. 16, 2006 Iraq's army has "opened its doors" to all former members of Saddam Hussein's army, the prime minister said Saturday at a national reconciliation conference boycotted by one of his main Shiite allies, a major Sunni group and Iraq's exiled opposition.Despite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's effort to reach out to Iraq's Sunni Arabs and some former members of Saddam's outlawed Baath Party, the gathering was overshadowed by rising sectarian tensions and political divisions.
The radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, one of al-Maliki's key political backers — refused to attend the meeting, as did a major Sunni group and former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, a secular Shiite.
Keeping track of all the poltics in this Gordian Knot mess is very difficult if one doesn't periodically check up the progression of previous events. I chose those events that trace the line of the political developments concerning how the various insurgents, factions and surrounding political enviornment impacted on American Imperial progress. Namely, it shows clearly how we got screwed by our own ineptitude. American desires refuse to take in account, realities on the ground. Today, we just installed what has to be the most grotesque general outside of the right wing Christian crusader who is in charge of military intelligence, to run Iraq's ongoing wars for us.
This is a disaster. Far from retreating from past errors like the attacks on Sadr, on Fallujah, on Anbar Province, we are redoubling our efforts. Now that the Baathists are rejoining the military there, they will take over the machinery and they do not love us. They do want us to put down Sadr's Shi'ite militia. In return, we will have to hand over political power to the Ba'athist military and Col. X, the guy I have talked about so much, will take over with our relieved blessings and be showered with gold from Saudi Arabia. And on it goes...all over again as the Kurds and Shi'ites will revolt in the north and the south and this guy has NO intention of letting them get away with all that oil.
And this is what will happen next: he will work with all the Sunni Sheikhs and Kings to pull Iraq back together again. If he fails, he will topple THEM. And bin Laden will laugh. Only this guy isn't a Wahhabist.
The last one laughing will be Nassar's ghost.
You forgot the massive demonstration by the Shiites in the summer of 2003. It showed that if there were fair elections they would be won by fundamentalist Shiites
Posted by: cha | December 16, 2006 at 08:45 PM
Correct. There were many such events. I left some of them out, man, were there many such!
We are nearing the end of this whole adventure. The Chinese just gave us another $200 billion in loans to keep this up for just one more year.
This is why Beijing is breaking out the champangne tonight.
Posted by: Elaine Meinel Supkis | December 16, 2006 at 09:36 PM
But this was the really big one. It showed that if they didn't win that the elections wouldn't be fair and that is what made them special.
Posted by: cha | December 17, 2006 at 05:51 PM