Student Reader's History Notes

Republic of Iraq, 1968-1991: Becoming Totalitarian

Levi Clancy — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:45:35 +0000

Period or Event	Time-Frame	Overview
Military Coup d’État	1968/07/30	Ba’thist military coup d’état organized by al-Bakr ousts non-Ba’thist allies.
Iraq-USSR Oil Agreement	1969/06	Major agreement between Iraq and USSR on Soviet assistance in exploiting Iraqi oil fields.
Saddam Husain Appears	1969/11	Saddam Husain appointed to ruling Revolutionary Command Council (RCC) and becomes its vice-chairman.
Kurdistan Manifesto	1970/03	Manifesto on Kurdistan grants limited autonomy. Barzani calls cease-fire.
Kirkuk Arabisation	1970s	Kirkuk has an important oil refinery and the was thus left out of the definition of Kurdish areas. Large numbers of Kirkuki Kurds were forced out of their jobs and homes and resettled elsewhere. Arabs were then made to move to Kirkuk form the south as part of the government’s Arabisation program.
Land Reform	1970/05	Land reform measures.
Kurdistan Recognized	1970/07	New provisional constitution recognizes Kurdish nationalism.
Iraq and Iran Chill	1971/11	Relations between Iraq and Iran are severed.
Iraq-USSR Treaty	1972/04	Iraq and USSR sign fifteen-year Iraq-USSR Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation.
IPC Nationalized	1972/06	Iraq Petroleum Corporation nationalized.
North Kurdistan Unrest	1972/11-12	Fighting erupts in northern Kurdistan.
Failed Coup	1973/07	Kazzar leads a failed coup attempt. President al-Bakr and Vice-President Hussein reinforce their hold on the state.
Iraq in War Against Israel	1973/10	Iraq limitedly participates in war with Israel.
Kurd Autonomy Law	1974/03	Autonomy Law for Kurdish areas is announced. Disagreement continues between government and KDP. Fighting is widespread throughout Kurdistan.
Algiers Agreement	1975/03	Algiers Agreement between Saddam Hussein and shah of Iran ends Iranian assistance to KDP, leading to collapse of the Kurdish revolt.
Kurd Party Split	1975/06	Kurdistan Democratic Party Provisional Leadership (KDP-PL) was led by Masoud Barzani. Popular Union of Kurdistan (PUK) was led by Jalal Talabani.
Safar Intifada	1977/02	30,000 process from Najaf to Karbala as an anti-government protest known as the Safar Intifada.
Ayatollah Expelled	1978/10	Ayatolla Khomaini expelled from Iraq.
Baghdad Summit	1978/11	Baghdad Summit following Camp David accords marks Iraqi bid for Arab leadership.
Shi’I Islamist Uprising	1979 Spring	Success of Iranian revolution encourages Shi’i Islamist organizations to launch more active campaigns in Iraq.
President al-Bakr Resigns	1979/07	President al-Bakr resigns.
President Saddam Hussein	1979/07	Vice-President Saddam Hussein immediately sworn in as President. Purge of Hussein’s party, the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC), and also of Ba’th Party.
KDP Congress	1979/11	KDP Congress elects Masoud Barzani as chairman and calls fro continuing armed struggle inside Iraq.



Mujama’aat for Kurds	1980	Mujama’aat (collective towns) are built by the Iraqi government to house Kurds whose rural communities were destroyed by scorched-earth policies of the 1970s and 1980s. They were generally built close to the main roads for ease of surveillance by the camp. The Barzani clan was transferred to two mujama’aat outside Qushtapa, named by the Iraqis al-Qadissiya (after the historic battle where Arabs defeated Persians and converted them to Islam) and al-Quds (the Arabic name for Jerusalem, meaning the Holy).
National Assembly	1980/03	Law for election of National Assembly in Iraq.




Shi’A Expulsion	1980/04	Ayatollah al-Sadr and his sister Bint al-Huda executed in Baghdad. Over 40,000 Shi’a expelled to Iran.




Iraq Invades Iran	1980/09	Iraqi forces invade Iran.
Iran Counteroffensive	1982/06-07	Iran’s counteroffensive recaptures most of its territory.
Hussein’s Totalitarianism	1982/06-07	9^th Regional Congress of Ba’th Party reasserts Saddam Hussein’s absolute control.
al-Bakr Dies	1982 Autumn	Former President Ahmad Hasan al-Bakr dies suddenly.




Iran Seized Haj Omran	1983/07	KDP units help Iran seize the border town of Haj Omran in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Iraq Slaughters Barzani	1983/07	In retaliation for helping the Iranians, Iraq sent troops to Qushtapa’s two mujama’aat (where the Barzani clan had been relocated) to seize the men and boys and load them into trucks at gunpoint. The collective towns of Qushtapa were left inhabited almost exclusively by widows and their children.


Escalation of Gulf Wars	1984	Wars escalate in the waters of the Gulf.
Iraq-US Relations	1984	Iraq re-establishes diplomatic relations with the United States.
Iran Captures al-Faw	1986	Iran captures the al-Faw pensinsula.
Anti-KDP & -PUK Action	1987	Iraqi government campaigns against KDP and PUK in Kurdistan.
Kurdistan Front	1998/06	Kurdistan Front formed to unite main Kurdish parties.

al-Anfal Begins	1988	The al-Anfal begins in Kurdistan.
Iraq-Iran Ceasefire	1988	Iran accepts UN cease-fire resolution. War with Iraq ends.
Kuwait Invasion	1990/08	Iraq invades and annexes Kuwait. UN imposes total trade embargo and sanctions on Iraq.

Tripp, Charles. A History of Iraq: New Edition.

Republic of Iraq, 1991-2003: Desert Storm, Rapparin and Genocide

Levi Clancy — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:45:25 +0000

Period or Event	Time-Frame	Overview
Desert Storm Begins	1991 01	Desert Storm begins, a campaign of air bombardment of Iraq by US-led allied forces. Result is liberation of Kuwait by allied forces in February.




Desert Storm Ceasefire	1991 02 28
Uprisings Begin in South	1991 02 28	Anti-government uprisings began in the south of Iraq in the Shi’i city of Basra on 28 February 1991, the day of the ceasefire, when a column of tanks fleeing from Kuwait rolled into Sa’ad Square and the commander at the head of the column stopped in front of a giant mural of Saddam and climbed onto the roof. He denounced the dictator as responsible for the humiliation and defeat of the Iraqi people, climbed back into the tank and began to blast the portrait with shells, to the delight of the assembled crowd.
Uprisings Spread in South	1991 03	Within days of the Gulf War ceasefire, spontaneous anti-government rapparin (uprisings) against the Iraqi regime had spread throughout the largest cities of the (predominantly Shi’i) south: Karbala, Najaf, Hilla, al-Nasiriya, al-Amara, Samawa, Kut and Diwaniya. The uprising was especially forceful due to disillusioned soldiers who joined forces with the rebels.
Uprisings Begin in North	1991 03 04	Rebellion erupted in the Kurdish north, beginning in the town of Ranya to the northwest of Sulaymaniyah. Many of the jash collaborator militia defected and fought alongside the peshmerga and the people. In both the north and south, rebels attacked security force headquarters, brutally killing large numbers of their personnel in revenge for the Iraqi government’s countless victims. Prisons were sacked and many prisoners were released, many of whom had not seen the light of day for ten years or more.The uprising spread so rapidly that within 10 days the Kurds were in control of every city except Kirkuk and Mosul. The Kurds’ greatest moment came on 20 March, when they succeeded in capturing Kirkuk.
Rebellions Squashed	1991 03	The uprisings were put down savagely by the Republican Guard. By the end of March the government regained control of all but a few areas in the south, inflicting tremendous suffering and seriously damaging the holy Shi’a sites at Karbala and Najaf. Next the government turned its attention to Kurdistan. Kirkuk was retaken by 28 or 29 March 1991; D’houk and Arbil on 30 March; Zakho on 1 April; and Sulaymaniyah by 3 April. Half of the population of Kurdistan fled to the mountainous Iranian and Turkish borders due to fear of renewed use of chemical weapons against them. By 5 April it was reported that up to three million Iraqi Kurds were fleeing.
Kirkuk Under Guard	1991 03 2^nd Week	Suspecting that the Kirkuki Kurds might join the uprising, the Iraqi army increased street patrols in Kurdish neighborhoods and placed many of them under curfew. Ali Hassan al-Majid was put in charge of the city’s security and a door-to-door operation began in which several thousand boys and men aged from their early teens to their fifties were arrested. They were transported to military camps and compounds outside the city, where they were held in appalling conditions for the next five weeks. When the majority of them were finally released, they were forbidden to return to Kirkuk. Having put many of the men out of action, the army was then sent in to demolish large numbers of houses in the Kurdish neighborhoods, using dynamite and bulldozers and putting families out on the streets. Army patrols drove past houses that were still standing, calling out on megaphones to the ‘heroic masses of Kirkuk’ to surrender their weapons to the Ba’ath party.
Kikruk Seized by Kurds	1991 03 18	Thornhill (1997) writes, Peshmerga were advancing on Kirkuk from the north and on 18 to 19 March Kurdish neighbourhoods began to fall under their control. By 20 March the peshmerga were in control of the entire city. Journalist Gwynne Roberts, who reached Kirkuk shortly afterwards, wrote in the Independent: Kurdish rebels were using bulldozers to clear the streets of Kirkuk of Iraqi corpses … I saw several bodies of security officials sprawled in the mud, one of them with live rounds of ammunition jammed into his mouth. A local Kurd said: ‘That bastard was a torturer, and God knows how many men, women and children he persecuted. He deserves what he got.’ Peshmerga lined up government officials and security police against walls and machine-gunned them by the dozen. Regular soldiers were spared because it was known that they had been forced to serve in the army. (Thornhill 1997, p 106)
Ba’athists Retake Kirkuk	1991 03 21	Thornhill (1997) writes, Few civilians had been hurt in the peshmerga seizure of the city, but a counter-offensive by government forces began almost immediately. By 21 March, tanks to the southwest of the city began shelling residential areas day and night, and helicopter gunships flew over the city firing rockets and dropping napalm. Scores of residents were killed dial and some began to flee the city. After a week-long bombardment, Kirkuk fell to the government. On 27 March, loyalist troops including Republican Guard assault units, paratroopers and special forces entered the city. One of their first acts was to attack Saddam Hussein hospital with tanks and helicopters. They then entered the wards, which were crammed with injured peshmerga and civilians. Scores of patients and medical staff were shot dead and some patients were slashed with knives or thrown out of windows. As they consolidated their hold on the city, the government troops ordered the remaining Kurdish population, which was predominantly women and children, to leave the city within 24 hours. Soon a stream of refugees was fleeing north and east in the directions of Arbil and Sulaymaniyah, while troops looted their abandoned homes. (Thornhill 1997, p 106-107)

UN SCR 687	1991 04	UN Security Council Resolution 687 demands Iraqi recognition of Kuwait and destruction of all Iraq’s non-conventional weapons, and affirms that economic sanctions would continue until full compliance. Safe haven established in northern Iraq, effectively placing most of Kurdistan under allied protection.
Safe Haven	1991 04	John Major’s ‘Safe Haven’ set up via UN SCR 687. Many refugees came down from the mountains to return to Kurdish cities. The security personnel of Saddam Hussein’s Ba’athist regime were still present. By later summer, after failed negotiations between the Kurds and the regime, the latter withdrew from about 50% of the area and the Kurdistan Front was left largely in control of the area. Kurdish cities of Mosul and Kirkuk remained in government control while Sulaymaniyah, Arbil and Dohuk were in the liberated area.


UN SCR 688	1991 04	UN Security Council Resolution 688 calls on Iraqi government to stop oppressing its own people.



First UNSCOM Visit	1991 05	First visit of United Nations Special Commission on Disarmament (UNSCOM) weapons inspection team.






Kurdistan Blockade	1991 10	Iraqi armed forces blockade Kurdistan.






Kurdish Elections	1992 05	Kurdistan Front did not have a mandate to govern the area, so after some months it was decided to hold an election and when they occurred a Kurdish administration was formed. More or less equal balance between KDP and PUK. Iraqi Kurds claimed to not want an independent state, but rather part of a post-Saddam Iraq under a federal arrangement. The enclave soon became host to the Iraqi National Congress (INC), a coalition of the Iraqi opposition.






KRG Formed	1992 07	Kurdish Regional Government formed by KDP and PUK, with essentially two parallel administrations ruling separate areas.




Belgian Killed	1993 03	Vincent Tollet, a young Belgian aid worker, killed near Sulaymaniyah. No successful assassinations until after September 1993.






Iraq-Kuwait Border	1993 05	UN Security Council approves demarcation of Iraq-Kuwait border in Kuwait’s favor.




US Missile Strike	1993 06	United States launches missile strike on headquarters of Iraqi intelligence services in Baghdad in reprisal for Iraqi plot to kill US President Bush during his first visit to Kuwait.




Zakho & Dohuk Power Cut	1993 08	Saddam cuts off power to Zakho and Dohuk.




Anti-Marsh Campaign	1993 10-11	Iraqi forces launch campaign against inhabitants of marshes in south of Iraq and finalize plans for draining of marshes.




KDP and PUK Fight	1994 05-08	Open fighting erupts between KDP and PUK.






Iraq Recognizes Kuwait	1994 10-11	Iraqi threats to Kuwait lead to crisis and eventual Iraqi recognition of Kuwait as an independent state.






Iraq Accepts UN SCR 986	1996 02	Iraq accepts UN SCR 986, allowing limited Iraqi oil sales for purchase of vital civillian supplies.






Iraq Aids KDP Take Arbil	1996 08	Iraqi government forces enter the Kurdish region at invitation of KDP and help to capture Arbil from PUK. The US responds by launching missile attacks on southern Iraq and extending the southern no-fly zone north to the 33rd parallel.




Iraqi Oil Flows	1996 12	Iraqi oil flows again through pipeline to Turkey. Iraq returns to world oil market as a producer.




Washington Agreement	1998 09	The Washington Agreement ends fighting between KDP and PUK.




Iraq Liberation Act	1998 11	Iraq Liberation Act passed by US Congress.




Operation Desert Fox	1998 12	Operaration Desert Fox, air bombardment of Iraq by US Air Force and Royal Air Force in retaliation for Iraqi non-cooperation with weapons inspections. Iraq ceases al cooperation forthwith.




Weekly Allied Bombardment	1999 01-12	American and British planes bombar Iraqi forces weekly, challenging their right to overfly Iraqi territory in southern and northern no-fly zones.




UN SCR 1284	1999 12	UN SCR 1284 offers to suspend sanctions if Iraq cooperates with UNMOVIC, a a new weapons agency. Iraq rejects the resolution and refuses to allow UNMOVIC into Iraq.




Iraq Begins Civil Flights	2000 03	Iraq defies a UN ban on civil air flights and organizes flights of pilgrims to Mecca.



Uday Husain Elected	2000 05	Uda Husain is elected to Iraqi National Assembly.
Baghdad Airport Reopens	2000 09	Baghdad airport reopens. Much-publicized flights arrive from Russia, France, Syria and other countries.


Domestic Flights Resume	2000 11	Domestic civil flights resume within Iraq.


KDP-PUK Relations Improve	2001 01	Masoud Barzani (KDP and Jalal Talabani (PUK) meet for the first time in three years. Some improvement in relations follows.



Extensive US & UK Strikes	2001 02	Extensive American and British air strikes against air defense systems around Baghdad.



Ba’ath Party Regional Congress	2001 05	12th Ba’ath Party Regional Congress occurs. Qusay Husain is elected to the Regional Command of the Ba’ath party.




Failed UN Sanctions Reform	2001 05-07	UK and US try to persuade UN SC to adopt ’smart sanctions’ resolution aimed at allowing greater freedom for Iraq to import civilian items, while tightening import of military and dual-use items. Attempt eventually abandoned in face of Russian opposition.



Extensive US & UK Strikes	2001 08	Extensive US and UK air strikes against air defense systems in southern Iraq.



KDP-PUK Reconciliation	2001 10	KDP and PUK reconcile and cooperation proceeds.

PUK Fights Jund al-Islam	2001 10	PUK fights Kurdish Islamist group Jund al-Islam.


UN SCR 1382	2001 11	UN SCR 1382 renews six-month oil for foor arrangement and opens way for sanctions reform and return of weapons inspectors in May 2002.


US Identifies Iraq as Evil	2002 01	US President Bush identifies Iraq as part of an axis of evil.


Iraq Reconciles with Saudi Arabia	2002 03	Iraq publicly reconciles with Saudi Arabia at Arab League Summit in Beirut.

Tripp, Charles. A History of Iraq: New Edition.

Republic of Iraq, 2003 to Present

Levi Clancy — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:07:47 +0000

Period or Event	Time-Frame	Overview




Status of Forces Agment	17 11 2008	(link)

	26 02 2010	Obama announced in a speech at Camp Lejeune that 16 months have become 18, and that 50,000 soldiers and Marines will be continuing the occupation until 2012 under the guise of training Iraqi army and police forces, “counter-terrorism,” and force protection. (link)
Baquba Attack	03 03 2010	Three suicide bombers blew themselves up in Baquba, northeast of the capital, killing at least 31 people in the deadliest attack in weeks.
Election: Early Ballot	04 March 2010	Early ballots are cast in the second parliamentary election since former dictator Saddam Hussein was overthrown in 2003. An early voting session goes underway for those who may not be able to get to the polls on Sunday. That includes soldiers who will have to be at work when the rest of the country votes, as well as prisoners and hospital patients. Two suicide bombers in Baghdad killed seven soldiers, seven civilians and wounded 25 others as Iraqis cast early ballots Thursday in the country’s general election. Earlier, officials say a rocket or roadside bomb attack killed seven people at a polling site that was not being used.
Election: Election Day	07 March 2010	In the second parliamentary election since 2003, nearly 6,200 candidates, including 1,718 women, are vying for a place in Iraq’s now expanded 325-member Parliament. The leading formations were: State of Law Coalition (Shia); Iraqi National Alliance (Shia); Iraqiya (secular); Kurdistan Democratic Party and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (Kurdish); and Iraqi Accordance Front (Sunni). The frontrunner was the Shia-supported State of Law Coalition headed by Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki. This formation had done well, especially in the southern Shia strongholds, during the provincial council elections held in January 2009. The Prime Minister during that year was credited with improving the general state of security. However, spiralling violence since the second half of 2009 and lack of basic services may now have dented his party’s appeal. Another Shia formation with strong support was the Iraqi National Alliance. The Alliance, which appears to have a pro-Iran slant, includes heavyweights such as Ammar Al-Hakim, the head of the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC) and the largest Shia party in Iraq. Analysts point out that Mr. Hakim and his followers have recently begun to stress the need for an early exit of U.S. troops from Iraq. Moqtada Al-Sadr, a leading critic of the occupation, is also part of this coalition. His presence imparts a prominent non-sectarian accent to the Alliance. In a Saturday interview aired by the Iran-based Al Alam television, Mr. Al Sadr said: “I want the Iraqi to serve the Iraqi, whether he is a Kurd, a Shia, a Turkoman or a Sunni or a member of any other Iraqi sect, whether a minority or a majority one.” Observers say that an alliance between Mr. Maliki’s coalition and the Iraqi National Alliance is a post-poll possibility, as neither of the two formations, on their own, may muster a simple majority in Sunday’s poll. The former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi heads the secular Iraqiya List, which is another major formation participating in the polls. Mr. Allawi’s bloc, having wide cross-sectarian support also has the backing of Sunni Vice-President Tariq Al-Hashimi. Iraq’s Kurdish community — concentrated in northern Iraq — is expected to cast its vote either for Massoud Barzani’s Kurdistan Democratic Party or President Jalal Talabani’s Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), which are part of a common alliance. This bloc has 53 seats in the current 275-member Parliament. The Iraqi Accordance Front, which a Sunni dominated formation, having 44 seats in the current Parliament, is also contesting the polls. With security a major threat, authorities deployed nearly 2,00,000 personnel in an effort to keep a lid on violence. At least 12 persons were killed when an explosion destroyed a residential building in Baghdad soon after polls opened at 7 a.m. local time. Five more were killed in another blast in the capital. Another seven died in other parts of the country. Violence was reported from Fallujah where two bombs went off close to a polling station. (link)

Al-Qaeda Personnel: Adam Gadahn

Levi Clancy — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:07:41 +0000

Adam Gadahn is an American spokesman for al Qaeda.

Period or Event	Time-Frame	Overview



		Gadahn grew up on a California farm, and was home-schooled until age 17.
		At 18 he moved in with his paternal grandparents, who were secular Jews.
		He converted to Islam at the Islamic Society of Orange County, California, but was banned from the mosque two years later after hitting its chairman, Haitham Bundjaki.
	1997	Gadahn began working for a California charity suspected of having ties to al Qaeda.
Moves to Pakistan	1998	He moved to Pakistan in 1998.
Ends Family Contact	2002	His family has said they last heard from him in 2002.
Involvement in Plot	2004	FBI identified him as part of an al Qaeda cell that was planning attacks aimed at disrupting that year’s presidential election in the United States.
Video Appearance	2004 10	He began appearing in disguise in al Qaeda videos.
Drops Disguise	2006	Gadahn dropped the disguise in 2006.
Indictment	2006	He was indicted on charges of treason and providing material support to terrorists. The U.S. government has offered a $1 million reward for information leading to his capture.
Video Message	2008	He renounced his U.S. citizenship and destroyed his passport in another al Qaeda video.
Video Message	2009 12	Gadahn released a video message in English offering condolences to “unintended Muslim victims” killed in attacks in Afghanistan, Pakistan and elsewhere. It was a rare example of al Qaeda offering condolences to the families of those killed in the group’s own attacks.
Video Message	2010 03 07	In his video message posted online Sunday 2010 03 07, Gadahn says Muslims should emulate the alleged Fort Hood shooter. “I believe that defiant Brother Nidal is the ideal role model for every repentant Muslim in the armies of the unbelievers and apostate regimes,” Adam Gadahn says in English in the video. “The Mujahid brother Nidal Hasan is a pioneer, a trailblazer and a role model who has opened a door, lit a path and shown the way forward for every Muslim who finds himself among the unbelievers and yearns to discharge his duty to Allah and play a part in the defense of Islam and Muslims.” Gadahn also cites in Sunday’s video the U.S. and allied buildup in Afghanistan, where the United States is in the process of adding about 30,000 troops. “It is rapidly becoming clear that this already hot global battle is about to get even hotter,” he says. “This is a war which knows no international borders and no single battleground, and that’s why I am calling on every honest and vigilant Muslim in the countries of the Zionist-Crusader alliance in general and America, Britain and Israel in particular to prepare to play his due role in responding to and repelling the aggression of the enemies of Islam.”

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/03/07/pakistan.alqaeda.american/?hpt=Sbin

Artus Van Briggle

Levi Clancy — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 14:05:52 +0000

Dy	Mo	Year	Overview

21	03	1869	Born in Felicity, Ohio from Holland Dutch extraction.
		1893	His talents as a decorator at the Rockwood Pottery Company landed him a scholarship to study at the Julian Art Academy in Paris under Jean Paul Laurens and Benjamin Constant.
			Van Briggle studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts.
		1896	Van Briggle returned to Cincinnati and continued his work at the Rockwood Pottery Company with slip-painted underglaze decoration in a style reminiscent of Art Nouveuau. Van Briggle also worked in his own studio, perfecting his recreation of the lost secret Chinese matte glazes of the 14^th century Ming Dynasty.
		1899	Tuberculosis forced Van Briggle to relocate to Colorado.
		1900	His work was exhibited at the Paris exposition and a figure vase known as Despondency was sold for $3,000 and placed in the Louvre.
		1901	Van Briggle achieved the glaze he had so painstakingly sought.
		1902	Van Briggle married artist Anne Gregory.
		1902	Van Briggle Pottery Company was formally organized, with Artus and Anne designing clay forms drawn from nature, mind and spirit. Often simple forms with quiet floral motifs, they had a soft matte glaze most renowned for its Turquoise Ming (a luminous blue) and Persian Rose (a shadowy rouge) colors.
04	07	1904	Van Briggle died.
07	07	1904	Van Briggle was buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
		1904	His widow assumed the presidency of the firm and it continued to grow and receive regular awards for its work.
		1920	Art pottery was replaced with mass-produced ware.

Republic of Turkey: Current Era

Levi Clancy — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 14:00:07 +0000

Period or Event	Time-Frame	Overview














PKK + Turk Fighting Erupts	1984	In southeastern Turkey, Kurdish guerrillas led by the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) began fighting with the Turkish army. The death-toll exceeded 20,000 by 1996.





Massive Earthquakes	1999 08 17	Two powerful earthquakes, measuring 6.7 and 7.4 on the Richter scale respectively, hit northwestern and western Turkey, killing about 18,000 people and affecting hundreds of thousands of others.
Bingol Earthquake	2003 05 01	At least 167 were killed and over 500 others injured when a quake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale hit Turkey’s eastern province of Bingol.
Eastern Earthquakes	2004 03	A 5.1-magnitude quake jolted eastern Turkey on March 26 2004, leaving at least 9 dead and 46 others injured. Another quake measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale in the same region injured 12 people on March 28.
Bingol Earthquake	2005 03 12	An earthquake measuring 5.7 on the Richter scale jolted Turkey’s eastern province of Bingol. No casualties were reported.
Northwestern Earthquake	2006 10 24	An earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale jolted northwestern Turkey, but caused no casualties or serious damage.
Eastern Earthquake	2007 02 21	A 5.9-magnitude earthquake jolted eastern Turkey, causing slight damage but no casualties.
Bala Earthquake	2007 12 20	A 5.5-magnitude earthquake shook Bala town, but caused no casualties.
Ankara Earthquake	2007 12 27	Quake hit the Turkish capital of Ankara, damaging 945 buildings.



Explosives Discovered	06 2007	Cache of explosives discovered; ex-soldiers detained
Coup Organizers Arrested	07 2008	20 arrested, including two ex-generals and a senior journalist, for “planning political disturbances and trying to organise a coup”
AK Party Escapes Ban	07 2008	Governing AK Party narrowly escapes court ban
Southeast Earthquake	2008 09 03	A 5.1-magnitude earthquake shook southeastern Turkey, damaging some houses in the region. No casualties were reported.
First Ergenekon Trial	2008/10	86 go on trial charged with “Ergenekon” coup plot
Second Ergenekon Trial	2009/07	56 in dock as second trial opens
Mediterranean Earthquake	2009 12 22	Quake measuring 5.4 on the Richter scale shook Turkey’s Mediterranean region, damaging some buildings.
Coup Plot Exposed	2010/01	Reports of the alleged sledgehammer plot first surfaced in the liberal Taraf newspaper, which said it had discovered documents detailing plans in 2003 to bomb two Istanbul mosques and provoke Greece into shooting down a Turkish plane over the Aegean Sea.
Coup Plot Convictions	2010/02	After a week of high drama at the state security court in Istanbul, the judges have almost completed their assessment of the 49 military suspects detained on Monday. Thirty-one officers, among them seven navy admirals and four army generals, have been charged with conspiring to provoke a military takeover in the months following the AKP’s first election victory in 2002. That makes this the most ambitious attempt yet to prosecute armed forces personnel in civilian courts. Three other officers, including the general who allegedly masterminded the plot, are still being questioned. For the once untouchable military the week’s events will have been a humbling experience. But it could have been worse; last night the three most senior officers among the 49 were released.
Gul Reassures Turkey	2010/02/25	On Thursday, Turkish President Abdullah Gul sought to reassure the country, saying tensions over an alleged military coup plot would be resolved within the “constitution”. The alleged sledgehammer plot was first revealed by the liberal Taraf newspaper. Gul made the statement after meeting the head of the armed forces, Gen Ilker Basbug, along with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Turkey’s military has overthrown or forced the resignation of four governments since 1960 – most recently in 1997 – though Gen Basbug has insisted that coups are a thing of the past. (link)




Earthquake Hits East	2010 03 08	Fifty-seven people had been killed by the quake, which caused the most deaths in six villages around the epicenter in the Karakocan town of the eastern province of Elazig, the newspaper quoted Karakocan mayor as saying. The quake struck Basyurt region of Karakocan town at a depth of 5 km at 4:32 a.m. local time (0232 GMT), said the Istanbul-based Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute of Turkey’s Bogazici University. Tremors were also felt in neighboring provinces of Tunceli, Bingol and Diyarbakir, said Hurriyet Daily News. The institute has so far reported 27 aftershocks and more are expected over the next hours and days, according to the newspaper. The Turkish Red Crescent had sent 500 tents and foodstuff to the quake zone, while State Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek and other senior officials had left the capital Ankara for Elazig, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported. (link)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8538484.stm

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-03/08/c_13202150.htm

Gay Rights in the United States of America

Levi Clancy — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 13:58:42 +0000

Period or Event	Time-Frame	Overview












Section 8050 Written	1950	Section 8050 of the Welfare and Institutions Code becomes law, which declares the State Department of Mental Health ’shall plan, conduct and cause to be conducted scientific research into the causes and cures of sexual deviation, including deviations conducive to sex crimes against children, and the causes and cures of homosexuality…’












Section 8050 Re-Enacted	1967	California re-enacts Section 8050 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, requiring the State Department of Mental Health to continue research into curing homosexuality and other sexual issues.






Section 8050 Ammended	1977	Section 8050 is amended but its basic language remains the same.






Black Cat Protests	1967	Gay men protested police brutality and harassment at the Black Cat Tavern in Silverlake, which some historians consider the birthplace of the gay rights movement.









Section 8050 Repeal Bill	2010/02/19	Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, introduced AB 2199. The bill would repeal Section 8050 of the Welfare and Institutions Code. Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California and bill sponsor, brought the idea in the past few months to Lowenthal’s attention.

Republic of Lebanon: Current Era

Levi Clancy — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 13:45:13 +0000

Period or Event	Time-Frame	Overview







Mandatory Service Abolished	04 02 2007	Mandatory military service abolished.







US Embassy Vehicle Bombed	15 01 2008	U.S. Embassy vehicle was targeted in a bomb attack that killed three Lebanese bystanders.
Rafiq Hariri Airport Seized	07 05 2008	Hizballah militants blocked the road to Rafiq Hariri International Airport. The action rendered the airport inaccessible and travelers were unable to enter or leave the country via commercial air carriers.







Other Areas Seized	05 2008	Armed Hizballah and other opposition members proceeded to enter areas of Lebanon not traditionally under their control resulting in heavy fighting and a number of casualties.

Terminology of Arts & Design

Levi Clancy — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 14:40:03 +0000

Term	Overview







Marquetry	Inlay of thinly sliced materials such as wood, ivory, bone, metal or mother-of-pearl into a background of veneer.
Cloisonné	Covering an object’s surface with vitrified enamels separated by metal strips, so as to create a design. The article is then fired at 900 degrees.
Champleve	A technique made without wires. Some are made by carving out a design, adding glass powder and firing at 900 degrees.
Capodimonte	Porcelain with a soft base body with a lustrous gaze, usually white, but sometimes tinged. Originated from Naples, Italy.

Swiss Artists: Angelica Kauffman (1741-1807)

Levi Clancy — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 14:37:00 +0000

Angelica Kauffmann was a Swiss-born historical and portrait painter and one of the original members of the Royal Academy. She is chiefly remembered for supplying the painted decorations for Adam-designed interiors of the 1770s.