1 January – A suicide bomber kills more than 30 people and injures 32 in an attack in Baghdad. The blast is targeted at mourners at the funeral of a Shia army officer, Nabil Hussein Jassim, who had himself been killed by a car bombing in central Baghdad three days earlier.[1]
7 January – A double bombing in Baghdad kills at least 14 people, including Riyadh Samarrai, leader of the US-backedAdhamiyaAwakening group, which fightsal-Qaeda in Sunni areas of the city.[2]
9 January – One of the largest surveys to date of Iraqi casualties of violence since the US-led invasion in 2003 is released and reports that around 151,000 Iraqis have died. The study by theIraq Family Health Survey Study Group involved a survey of Iraqi homes and estimated the number of violent deaths at 151,000 (with a 95% uncertainty range of 104,000 to 223,000) for the period March 2003 through June 2006.[5]
11 January – Snow fell in Baghdad for the first time in over 50 years. Thawing on contact with the ground, the snow failed to settle, although residents gathered in the streets to watch the flurries. Anecdotal evidence suggests snow may have fallen in northern parts of the city 40 years ago however the 2008 snowfall is thought to be the first in living memory.[7][8]
13 January – TheFederal government of Iraq announces the passing of a law which will allow former members of theBaath Party to take up military and civil service positions. Following the cessation of formal hostilities in 2003 the US-led administration underPaul Bremer had prohibited former Baath members from holding positions. The new law, aimed at reconciliation, offers an amnesty in respect of Baath party members whose re-appointment is not resisted following a three-month review period. Pensions may also be offered to former officials regardless of whether they take up new positions.[9]
14 January – A seniorIraq Appeals Court judge is assassinated in theMansour district of Baghdad. Jawdat Naeib was shot (along with his driver) when his car was ambushed. He was also a member of the Supreme Judicial Council, the body which supervises and nominates members of the judiciary in Iraq.[10]
16 January – A suicide bomber blows herself up near a Shia mosque in Khan Bani Saad, a town south ofBaqubah, the capital ofDiyala Governorate. 11 people were killed and eighteen others wounded in the attack.[12]
17 January – TheInternational Monetary Fund and the United Nations release reports suggesting Iraq is facing a period of economic growth and a stabilising political process. The IMF's Middle East and Central Asia department, said GDP growth may exceed 7% in 2008 and hold at between 7% and 8% in 2009 (in each case dependent on continuing oil production). Meanwhile, the UN praised political reconciliation efforts exemplified by the new laws regarding former Baathists returning to public employment.[13]
22 January – The parliament of Iraq approves a new flag for the country. The new design no longer has the three green stars of the old flag, which represented the ideals of theBaath Party.[14]
24 January – A suicide bomber kills a high-ranking police chief and two other police officers in Mosul at the site of an explosion that had killed at least 34 people and wounded at least 217 the day before. Brigadier General Salah Mohammed al-Jubouri, the director of police forNinawa Governorate, was inspecting the scene of Wednesday's blast when gunmen ambushed his convoy.[15]
25 January – After successive suicide attacks in Mosul in recent days, killing over 40 people including the city's police chief, Iraqi Prime MinisterNouri al-Maliki announces that Iraqi security forces and American troops were gathering for what he described as a "decisive" offensive against al-Qaeda in Iraq and its allies.[16]
1 February – Two bombs explode in Baghdad animal markets killing 99 people and wounding 200. The Iraqi government claims that the bombs were carried by women and detonated remotely.[17]
9 February – Two children in Baghdad die after eating cake contaminated withthallium and at least nine others are affected. The cake was given to people at an Iraqi sports club near the capital. The Secretary of the Iraqi Air Force and his daughter were among the victims.[18]
13 February – TheIraqi parliament passes provincial powers law setting out relationship between the provinces and the central Iraqi government. It also demands that provincial elections be held before the end of 2008. These elections are scheduled for 1 October[19]
Also, the Iraqi parliament passes 2008 budget and an amnesty law.
19 February – The Iraq war has strained U.S. forces to the point where they could not fight another large-scale war, according to a survey of military officers.[20]
Tours of duty for U.S. soldiers in Iraq may be cut from 15 months to 12 if current improvements in security hold up.[21]
22 February –
Approximately 10,000Turkish Armed Forces cross the border into northern Iraq in an operation againstKurdish rebels from theKurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The move followed an aerial bombing campaign which began on 21 February.[22]
Moqtada Sadr orders a renewal of the ceasefire which theMahdi Army has observed for the previous six months.[23]
24 February –
Iraq's government has urgedTurkey to rethink its military incursion against Kurdish rebels operating from bases in northern Iraq amid fears the escalating fighting could destabilize the region.[24]
A leader of a SunniAwakening Council group, Sheikh Ibrahim Mutayri al-Mohammedi, is killed in a suicide bombing in Falluja.[25]
25 February –
The White House said it is in "constant dialogue" withIraq andTurkey about the Turkish military operation againstKurdish rebels in northern Iraq.[26]
A man in a wheelchair blew himself up in a northernIraqi police station, killing three National Police officers, including a commander.[27]
About 8,000 of the 30,000 "surge" troops sent to Iraq in 2007 will not go home as planned summer 2008, the Pentagon told.[28]
26 February – One of five Britons believed to have been kidnapped 29 May 2007 inBaghdad pleaded with the British government to release prisoners sought by his captors so "we can go home."[29]
29 February –
The cousin ofSaddam HusseinAli Hassan al-Majid, known by the nickname "Chemical Ali" for his role in a chemical weapons attack onIraqiKurds in the 1980s, will be executed, Iraqi officials told.[30]
According to reports given by theCatholic News Service,Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho waskidnapped from his car in the Al-Nur district of the city; his bodyguards and driver were killed.[31] The kidnappers demanded that the Assyrian Christians contribute to thejihad, throughjizya. The captors are also believed to have demanded the release of Arab (Non-Iraqi) detainees and that they be paid a ransom for Rahho's release.
6 March – Fifty-three people were killed and 125 were wounded in two bomb attacks in aBaghdad commercial district.[34]
8 March – A mass grave holding an estimated 100 bodies was found in an orchard in Iraq'sDiyala Governorate, just north ofBaqubah.[35]
10 March –
In 2008, its fifth year, the war will cost approximately $12 billion a month, triple the "burn" rate of its earliest years, Nobel Prize-winning economistJoseph E. Stiglitz reported.[36]
12 March – Eleven militants were killed by Iraqi police raids against theMahdi Army, after radical Shiite clericMuqtada al-Sadr declared that members of the Mahdi Army could defend themselves if attacked by U.S. troops.[38]
13 March –
It was reported that ArchbishopPaulos Faraj Rahho's body had been found buried in a shallow grave near Mosul.[39][40] Officials of the Chaldean Church in Iraq said they had received a call telling them where the body was buried. Reports over the cause of death were somewhat contradictory.[41] An official of themorgue in Mosul said the archbishop, who had health problems, including high blood pressure anddiabetes, might have died of natural causes. Police at the Mosul morgue said the Archbishop appeared to have been dead a week and his body bore no bullet wounds.[41] He is believed to be the highest-rankingChaldean Catholic Church official killed since the 2003 conflict began.
17 March –
A report by theInternational Committee of the Red Cross suggested that Iraq was on the brink of a full-scale humanitarian crisis some 5 years after US-led military operations began. The report indicated that millions of Iraqis continue to have little or no access to clean water, sanitation or healthcare.[42]
A female suicide bomber apparently targetingShiite worshippers killed at least 33 people and wounded at least 50 inKarbala.[43]
18 March – The smuggling of stolen antiquities from Iraq's rich cultural heritage is helping finance Iraqi extremist groups, said the U.S. investigator who led the initial investigation into the looting ofBaghdad's National Museum.[44]
19 March –
The top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen.David Petraeus, saidIran continues to support Iraqi insurgents andSyria is allowing foreign fighters passage into Iraq.[45]
The war in Iraq is widely unpopular among U.S.-citizens: ACNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll found only 32 percent ofAmericans support the conflict. And 61 percent said they want the next president to remove most U.S. troops within a few months of taking office.[46]
20 March –
TheInternational Rescue Committee issued a report detailing the plight of Iraqi refugees on the five-year anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.[47]
On the fifth anniversary of the launch ofOperation Iraqi Freedom, President Bush noted that the war in Iraq had been "longer and harder and more costly than we anticipated" and that there was "still hard work to be done" to maintain gains that were "fragile and reversible". But he said that the surge was "working" and had "opened the door to a major strategic victory in the broaderwar on terror". He ended by telling American soldiers that "with your courage, the battle in Iraq will end in victory."[49]
21 March –
A U.S. soldier is killed and four others wounded by indirect fire south ofBaghdad.[50]
A suicide bomber detonated a small truck rigged with explosives outside a local Awakening Council leader's house just east ofSamarra, killing at least five people and wounding 13 others. Awakening Councils are largelySunni security groups that have been recruited by the U.S. military.[46]
22 March –
Three U.S. soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb that struck their vehicle while they were on patrol in northwesternBaghdad. Two Iraqi civilians were also killed in the attack. The deaths bring to 3,996 the number of U.S. service members who have died since the Iraq war began in 2003.[50]
Another roadside bomb blast struck an Iraqi police patrol inKirkuk, killing a civilian and wounding nine people.[50]
23 March –
Four U.S. soldiers died in a roadside bombing in southernBaghdad, bringing the American toll since the beginning of the war on 19 March 2003 to the grim milestone of 4,000 deaths. Of the 4,000 U.S. military personnel killed in the war, 3,263 have been killed in attacks and fighting and 737 in non-hostile incidents, such as traffic accidents and suicides. Meanwhile, estimates of the Iraqi death toll range from about 80,000 to the hundreds of thousands, with another 2 million forced to leave the country and 2.5 million people displaced within Iraq. Mowaffak al-Rubaie, IraqiNational Security Advisor, told the war in Iraq is part of "a global terrorism hitting everywhere, and they have chosen Iraq to be a battlefield". Nearly 160,000 U.S. troops remain inIraq, and the war has cost U.S. taxpayers about $600 billion.[46]
U.S. troops raided a suspected suicide bomber cell inDiyala province, killing a dozen militants, half of whom had shaved their bodies—which the U.S. military says indicates they were in the final stage of preparation for a suicide attack.[46] At least fourAl-Qaeda in Iraq members were killed in volatileDiyala province.[51]
A suicide car bomb exploded at a fuel station in a predominantlyShiite neighborhood in northwestBaghdad, killing seven people and wounding 12 others.[46]
The military also reported a roadside bombing that killed two children and wounded two civilians. It occurred in Khatoon, north of theDiyala provincial capital ofBaqubah.[51]
A suicide bomber detonated a truck full of explosives outside the main gate of an Iraqi military base inMosul, killing at least 10 Iraqi soldiers and wounding 35 people, including 20 soldiers.[46]
Amortar round landed in aShiite neighborhood in easternBaghdad, killing seven people and injuring nine others. Six more mortar rounds landed in otherBaghdad neighborhoods, killing three people.[46]
In southeasternBaghdad, gunmen riding in at least two cars opened fire on a crowded outdoor market, killing at least three people and wounding 17 others.[46]
25 March – The political movement of powerfulShiite clericMuqtada al-Sadr launched a nationwide civil disobedience campaign acrossIraq to protest raids and detentions against theMahdi Army. TheBattle of Basra (2008) betweenIraqi security forces andal-Sadr'sMahdi Army militia left 50 dead and spread to severalBaghdad districts. The discord also threatens to unravel a much-praised suspension of Mahdi Army militia activity since August 2007, and its collapse could spark renewed sectarian violence and prompt the United States to delay any troop withdrawals.[51]
26 March –
Clashes between Iraqi security forces andMahdi Army fighters spread from the key oil city ofBasra and parts ofBaghdad to theShiite heartland ofAl Diwaniyah andKut, with the death toll rising past 100 after the start of fighting on 24 March 2008. At least 35 people have died in Kut and one person was killed and four were wounded in Diwaniya.
At least nine people were killed and 23 wounded during clashes between militants and Iraqi police in neighborhoods around the city ofHilla and in a U.S. air strike that killed four.
PresidentGeorge W. Bush discussed war with the chiefs of the armed services. The military was expected to recommend delaying further withdrawals of U.S. troops once the surge troops are withdrawn.
Indirect fire attacks on the American seat of power inBaghdad continued, with threeAmericans seriously injured and another dying of wounds he received a few days ago.[52]
The British military admitted that it breached the human rights of an Iraqi man, named Baha Mousa, who died in custody, and that its soldiers also violated the rights of eight other detained Iraqis.
Forty-two people were killed inKut, the latest casualties since the start of the clashes between theMahdi Army andIraqi security forces on 24 March 2008. There was also fighting in Jamhouriya, one of five neighborhoods the Mehdi Army controls, and Muqal.
A U.S. government official was killed when militants fired rockets into theGreen Zone.
Dozens of gunmen kidnapped the spokesman of theBaghdad security plan, Tahseen Sheikhly. Three of his guards were killed and his house burned in the attack.
A car bomb explosion killed three people and wounded five others near a police patrol in central Baghdad.[53]
PresidentGeorge W. Bush on 27 March 2008 called the Iraqi government's move to launch theBattle of Basra (2008) against theMahdi Army a "bold decision." He will carefully weigh recommendations from his commanders Gen.David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to IraqRyan Crocker about how the United States should proceed in Iraq after the 2007-military buildup ends in the summer of 2008.[54]
Iraq's government imposed a curfew, which took effect at 11 p.m. 27 March 2008 (4 p.m. ET), bans pedestrian, motorcycle and vehicle traffic through 5 p.m. 30 March 2008 inBaghdad and U.S. Embassy workers in Iraq were told to remain in secure buildings and wear protective clothing as rockets continued to rain down onBaghdad'sGreen Zone.[55]
28 March –
Baghdad was on virtual lockdown as a tough new curfew ordered everyone off the streets of the Iraqi capital and five other cities until 5 p.m. 30 March 2008.
At least 14 people were killed and 61 wounded during clashes betweenIraqi security forces and the insurgents of theMahdi Army inSadr City ofBaghdad. Some of the deaths resulted from U.S. airstrikes, which have been supporting Iraqi ground fighting.
A special session of the 275-seatCouncil of Representatives of Iraq convened to discuss ways to stem the violence but fell far short of a quorum, blocking lawmakers from taking action.
The Iraqi government offered cash to people who surrender medium and heavy weapons by 8 April 2008.
One U.S. soldier was killed by a roadside bomb south of the cityBaghdad.[56][57]
A U.S. military analysis of theBattle of Basra (2008) indicated the government push was not going as well as American officials had hoped.[58]
29 March –
U.S. warplanes and British artillery struck targets inBasra. Another Basra airstrike killed 10 fighters, and a joint U.S.-Iraqi patrol killed 7 more fighters in southeasternBaghdad's Suwayrah district.
Two U.S. soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in easternBaghdad.[57]
A curfew that was imposed onBasra was lifted.[57][58]
30 March –
A strict curfew was extended indefinitely inBaghdad as the death toll mounted from theBattle of Basra (2008) betweenIraqi security forces and theMahdi Army to more than 280 people. Death tolls are difficult to obtain, but reports from Iraqi and coalition authorities suggest more than 400 people have died since fighting began 25 March 2008.[57][58]
The U.S. military death toll in Iraq now stands at 4,007.
Turkey's military told it killed at least 15 rebels in operations in northern Iraq in the week of 24 March 2008, but a spokesman for the Iraqi Kurdish Regional Security Forces denied the report, saying Turkey has not conducted any military operation or air assault there in the weeks of 24 March 2008 and 17 March 2008.[57]
Shiite clericMuqtada al-Sadr called on theMahdi Army to stop shooting and cooperate withIraqi security forces, a move Iraq's government praised as a step toward ending six days of fighting, includingBattle of Basra (2008), that has left hundreds dead. Witnesses reported continued clashes throughout the day in Basra even after the announcements. But Iraqi authorities said after al-Sadr's announcement they would lift an indefinite curfew that had been imposed onBaghdad since 27 March 2008.
In northern Iraq, five Iraqi police officers were killed and two bystanders were wounded when gunmen attacked a police patrol in the town of Dhuluiyah.
The U.S. military said it found a mass grave with 14 bodies near Muqdadiya. The bodies, which showed signs of torture, appeared to have been in the grave for two to six months. They were found 100 yards from where 37 bodies were found buried 28 March 2008.
Ten people were killed when a suicide car bomb struck a checkpoint manned by members of the Awakening Council. Four members of the council were among the dead. Also in Baiji, a child was killed and seven civilians were wounded when a mortar landed in a residential area 29 March 2008.
In Samarra, gunmen stormed the home of an Awakening Council member, killing him and his son. His wife and daughter were wounded in the 29 March 2008 morning attack, Samarra police said.[58]
31 March – The curfew imposed onBaghdad is scheduled to be lifted 6 a.m.[58]
An Iraqi soldier from the 1st QRF division examines a mortar captured during clearing operations in Hayaniya, 19 April
1 April – The British defense minister,Des Browne, said that the number of British troops inIraq will remain at the current level of around 4,000 for the time being, particularly in light of theBattle of Basra (2008) in the week of 24 March 2008.[59]
2 April – Al-Sadr'sSadrist Movement called for millions of Iraqis to demonstrate against the U.S. presence inIraq, a protest that would coincide with scheduled testimony in Washington D C from top U.S. officials in Iraq and the anniversary of the toppling of theSaddam Hussein-regime.[60]
3 April –
Shiite clericMuqtada al-Sadr offered to help purgeIraqi security forces ofMahdi Army-members. But he also criticized the Iraqi government for denying that it sent envoys to him to discuss theBattle of Basra (2008) in the week of 24 March 2008. The Iraqi government said the operation that began 25 March targeted criminals who had been carrying out indiscriminate attacks, burglaries and oil smuggling. Prime MinisterNouri al-Maliki called theBattle of Basra (2008) but said it exposed weaknesses in the security forces, including operational snafus and troop desertions that he said will be addressed and reviewed. He brushed off criticism that the widespread action was poorly planned, was politically motivated and failed to dislodge the renegade militias from their strongholds acrossBasra. Al-Maliki promised a major offensive targetingAl-Qaeda in Iraq in the northern city ofMosul.
ASadr City resident said mosque loudspeakers blared the call to protest.[60]
4 April – Saleh al-Ageili, a spokesman for theSadrist Movement, reported thatMuqtada al-Sadr had called for peaceful demonstrations inSadr City after prayers "to protest the campaign of raids carried out by the occupier."[60]
7 April –
ThePentagon said it does not expect Gen.David Petraeus to recommend or predict additional U.S. troop cuts in Iraq, beyond the 20,000 U.S. troops returning home as the troop "surge" ends in July 2008, when he testifies before his "State of Iraq" report to theUnited States Congress on 8 April 2008 and 9 April 2008. After the surge ends in July 2008, there will be 15 U.S. combat brigade teams in Iraq, and roughly 140,000 American troops.
Gen.David Petraeus, the commander of multinational forces in Iraq, and AmbassadorRyan Crocker, told theUnited States Senate Committee on Armed Services and theUnited States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations thatIranian agents and weapons are fueling the ongoing strife there and that further U.S. troop withdrawals will have to wait. Although the last of the additional U.S. combat brigades dispatched in 2007 is scheduled to leave in June 2008, Petraeus said he would recommend against further withdrawals for at least 45 days. Future troop levels be based on conditions on the ground. In the seven months since their last appearance before Congress, U.S. and Iraqi forces made progress toward tamping down the violence but the progress was "fragile" and "reversible."
Petraeus told senators the Iraqi government's operationBattle of Basra (2008) "could have been better planned, and the preparation could have been better." He said that once the forces got intoBasra, "they ended up going into action more quickly than anticipated" and Prime MinisterNouri al-Maliki didn't follow his advice to move at a more careful pace.
Opening the Senate hearings, the Armed Services Committee chairman,Carl Levin, said the United States must come up with a timeline for ending its involvement inIraq.
When asked by Republican SenatorJohn Warner whether the Iraq War is making the U.S. safer, Petraeus stated that it would ultimately be up to history.[62]
Republican SenatorChuck Hagel asked about AmbassadorRyan Crocker's "diplomatic surge," and its apparent lack of results in the region.[63]
SenatorGeorge Voinovich, a Republican, broke with his party line, saying the country is, "kind of bankrupted ... in a recession."[64]
Republican SenatorBob Corker asked for an articulated exit strategy.[65]
Hillary Clinton said it would be "irresponsible" to continue a failed policy in Iraq. She said it is "time to begin an orderly process of withdrawing our troops" from Iraq in order to focus onAfghanistan and other U.S. interests.
Barack Obama, a member of theUnited States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, questioned whether the conditions set by U.S. commanders for withdrawal would lead to a war that could last until 2028 or 2038. He called the invasion of Iraq a "massive strategic blunder" that allowedAl-Qaeda andIran to spread their influence into Iraq, and said the United States should pressure Iraqi officials to settle the war by threatening to leave. SenatorBarack Obama remarked, "if the definition of success is so high: no traces of Al Qaida and no possibility of reconstitution, a highly-effective Iraqi government, a democratic multi-ethnic, multi-sectarian functioning democracy with no Iranian influence, at least not of the kind that we don't like, then that portends the possibility of us staying for 20 or 30 years. If, on the other hand, our criteria is a messy, sloppy status quo but there's not huge outbreaks of violence, there's still corruption, but the country is struggling along, but it's not a threat to its neighbors and it's not an Al Qaida base, that seems to me an achievable goal within a measurable timeframe."[66]
America's ambassador toIraq,Ryan Crocker, said that the United States has to keep its forces inIraq unless it wantsIran to have a free hand in Iraq.[67]
PresidentGeorge W. Bush is expected to announce the shortening of the Army combat-zone tours from 15 months to 12 months as of the summer of 2008.[61]
Unmanned aerial vehicles targeted and killed six "heavily armed criminals" in northeasternBaghdad.[68]
11 April –
Muqtada al-Sadr accused Iraqi and U.S. forces of attackingSadr City, just hours after theShiite cleric called for calm in the wake of the assassination of Sayyed Riyadh al-Nuri, one of his top aides in the southern city ofNajaf. SheikhFowzi Saad al-Obeidi called the killing an "act of provocation" after the "siege of Sadr City." He was referring to the battles since 6 April 2008 involving members of al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia andIraqi security forces dominated by a rival Shiite political movement, theSupreme Islamic Iraqi Council. That fighting started with theBattle of Basra (2008) and spread to other Shiite regions, including Sadr City and theBabil provincial capital of Hilla. The intra-Shiite fighting in Iraq that has killed hundreds of people in the past two weeks involved two main movements: members of the Mahdi Army militia loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr, and Iraqi security forces dominated by the chief political rival of the Sadrists, the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq. The al-Nuri assassination prompted officials to expand the daily curfew inHilla. 17 people killed over 24 hours in airstrikes, fighting and attacks in areas wracked in recent weeks by fighting among Shiites. Witnesses and media reported heavy fighting between U.S.-backed Iraqi troops and al-Sadr'sMahdi Army militia. U.S. troops working in support of Iraqi soldiers killed two snipers. At the same time at least six roadside bombs damaged vehicles in aU.S. Army convoy that was transporting barriers for a group ofIraqi Army soldiers establishing a checkpoint.
Unmanned aerial vehicles targeted and killed six suspected insurgents inBasra.
Suicide bombings killed at least four people—three of them police. The first bombing was inRamadi, the provincial capital of the predominantlySunniAnbar province. At least three national police officers were killed. The second attack took place at a checkpoint about 20 km north ofBaiji, the bomber and one other person a localAwakening Council were killed. Also, at least three people were killed in a mortar attack onBaghdad'sPalestine Hotel.[68]
14 April – Three people died in the nearby city ofTal Afar when a suicide attacker blew himself up at an Iraqi soldier's funeral.[69]
15 April – A wave of bombings blamed onAl-Qaeda in Iraq-jihadists shookBaghdad,Baquba,Ramadi andMosul, killing at least 60 people. Nonetheless, the overall violence in Baquba has decreased by 80 percent since June 2007.[69]
17 April – A suicide bomber killed at least 15 people and wounded many others in a suicide attack on a crowd of mourners in Baquba, during the funerall of two members of a local group who had died fighting al-Qaeda in Iraq militants.[70]
22 April – A female suicide bomber killed six people and wounded a dozen others when she blew herself up north of Baghdad according to Iraqi police.[71]
29 April – In April 2008, the United States government accused an alleged Iranian-backed insurgency of launching attacks on Iraqi civilians and US-led multinational forces and claimed that approximately 90 percent of foreign militants entered Iraq through Syria, but again, provided no proof. "Iran and Syria must stop the flow of weapons and foreign fighters into Iraq, and their malign interference in Iraq," U.S. AmbassadorZalmay Khalilzad said Monday in a report to the U.N. Security Council on behalf of the multinational force in Iraq. The Iranian and Syrian governments, however, have repeatedly denied trying to destabilize Iraq and insist there is no proof.[72]
2 May – An Iraqi delegation in Iran gave Iranian security officials evidence purporting to show that Tehran was providing support for Shi'ite militias battling Iraqi government forces. According toHaidar al-Ibadi, a member of Iraqi Prime MinisterNuri al-Maliki'sIslamic Dawa Party, list of names, training camps and cells linked to Iran were presented to the Iranian officials.[73] The Iranian officials denied the accusations and the Iraqi government has since announced that there is no hard evidence against Iran.[74]
8 May – A man originally thought to be the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, is arrested in Mosul.[75]
31 May – The U.S. Department of Defense reports 19 deaths, the lowest total deaths this month since the invasion began.[76]
14 June – Iraqi troops begin an offensive in the southern governorate ofMaysan. The operation began when helicopters dropped leaflets over the provincial capitalAmarah urging residents to cooperate with security forces. Iraqi security forces closed down the border withIran and began patrols in Amarah. There were no reports of major clashes, as many militia leaders are believed to have fled into Iran followingoperations in Sadr City in April and May.[78]
SenatorBarack Obama shakes hands with a U.S. Soldier outside Multi-National Division South East Headquarters in Basra, during his visit in Iraq, 21 July 2008.
23 July – AdmiralMike Mullen, Staff Chairman the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that while the situation in Afghanistan is "precarious and urgent," the 10,000 additional troops needed there would be unavailable "in any significant manner" unless withdrawals from Iraq were made. Mullen stated that "my priorities ... given to me by the commander in chief are: Focus on Iraq first. It's been that way for some time. Focus on Afghanistan second."[80]
26 July – In a report published by the AP, Robert Burns, the AP's chief military reporter, and Robert Reid, the AP bureau chief in Baghdad, say the tide of war in Iraq had turned dramatically, with formerly violent neighborhoods rid of extremists and Iraqi civilians filling public parks, confident in their newfound, albeit fragile peace.[81]
29 July – 50,000 Iraqi soldiers and police, supported by U.S. troops, launchOperation Augurs of Prosperity inDiyala Governorate, north-east of Baghdad. Iraqi forces faced little resistance, since insurgents were believed to have fled the area before the offensive.[82]
1 September – The US military transferred control of Anbar province to the Iraqi government.[84] Anbar is the largest of Iraq's 18 provinces, and is the eleventh province to be handed over to Iraq by coalition forces.
17 September – A U.S. Soldier from 610 ESC 14th Engineer Battalion, 555 Engineer Brigade is killed in a tragic Humvee accident just south of Baghdad.
20 September – At least three people were killed by a suicide car bomb near a soccer field where young men were playing inTal Afar.[85]
21 September – At least 35 people were wounded and one killed in seven violent incidents inBaghdad, including seven bombings and two gun attacks.[85]
28 September – At least 27 people were killed and 84 wounded in five separate bombings inBaghdad coming close to the end of the Muslim holy month ofRamadan.[86]
4 October – Polish troops in Iraq hold a ceremony at Camp Echo in Qadasiyah Province to mark the end of their mission in Iraq. U.S. troops from the 2nd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division took over responsibilities for the area of operations vacated by the Poles.[87]
26 October – ASyrian government source claimed four US helicopters coming from Iraq violated the Syrian airspace.[88]
28 October – U.S. officials said the US helicopter raid that took place two days earlier, into Syria killedAbu Ghadiyah, a key figure involved in the smuggling of foreign fighters into Iraq.[88]
29 October –
Iraqi authorities take over responsibility for security ofWasit province from US military forces making it the 13th of Iraq's 18 provinces to be transferred.[89]
The last contingent ofPolish troops land in Polish city of Szczecin, marking the end of their country's mission in Iraq.[90]
17 November – The US and the Iraqi Government sign the US-Iraq Status of Forces Agreement providing for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraqi cities by 30 June 2009 and a complete withdrawal of US forces from Iraq by the end of 2011.[91]
14 December – On 14 December 2008 then-U.S. President George W. Bush signed the security pact with Iraq. In his fourth and final trip to Iraq, the president appeared with Iraq's prime minister and said more work is to be done.[95] During the press conference discussing the signing of the pact[96] with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in his palace in the heavily fortified Green Zone,President Bush dodged two shoes thrown at him from the audience. The man who threw the shoes,Muntadhar al-Zaidi, an Iraqi journalist with Egypt-basedal-Baghdadia television network, could be heard yelling in Arabic: "This is a farewell ... you dog!"[97] When throwing the second shoe, he could be heard yelling "This is for the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq!"[98] While pinned on the ground by security personnel, he screamed: "You killed the Iraqis!"[99] As the man's screaming could be heard outside, Bush said "That's what people do in a free society, draw attention to themselves."[100]
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