View source for 2004 in Iraq

{{short description|none}} <!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive -->
{{Year in Iraq|2004}}
Events in the year '''2004 in [[Iraq]]'''.

==Incumbents==
* Head of State -
*# [[Civilian Administrator of Iraq|Government Administrator]] – [[L. Paul Bremer III]] (until June 28)
*# [[President of Iraq|President]] – [[Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer]] (from June 28)
*# [[Vice President of Iraq|Vice President]] – [[Ibrahim al-Jaafari]] (from June 1)
*# [[Vice President of Iraq|Vice President]] – [[Rowsch Shaways]] (from June 1)
* Head of Government -
*# [[Prime Minister of Iraq|President of the Governing Council of Iraq]] – [[Adnan Pachachi]] (January 1 – January 31)
*# [[Prime Minister of Iraq|President of the Governing Council of Iraq]] – [[Mohsen Abdel Hamid]] (February 1 – February 29)
*# [[Prime Minister of Iraq|President of the Governing Council of Iraq]] – [[Mohammad Bahr al-Ulloum]] (March 1 – March 31)
*# [[Prime Minister of Iraq|President of the Governing Council of Iraq]] – [[Massoud Barzani]] (April 1 – April 30)
*# [[Prime Minister of Iraq|President of the Governing Council of Iraq]] – [[Ezzedine Salim]] (May 1 – May 17)
*# [[Prime Minister of Iraq|President of the Governing Council of Iraq]] – [[Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer]] (May 17 – May 28)
*# [[Prime Minister of Iraq]] – [[Ayad Allawi]],  (from May 28)

==Events==

===January===
* January 10 – Protests in the city of [[Amarah]] because of an unemployment crisis. Police officers and soldiers open fire on demonstrators.
* January 15 – The [[United Nations]] call direct elections in advance of July impractical, due to continuing disorder and other factors.
* January 18 – A [[suicide bomber]] detonates a [[pickup truck]] packed with 1,000 pounds of [[explosive]]s outside the headquarters of the US led coalition killing about 20 people and injuring more than 60 – most of them [[Iraq]]is.

===February===
* February 1 – During the Muslim [[Eid ul-Fitr|eid]], [[2004 Erbil bombings|two suicide bombers kill 117 and wound 235]] at two [[Kurdish people|Kurdish]] buildings in the northern Iraqi city of [[Erbil]]. The bombers targeted the two offices for Iraq's main secular Kurdish parties packed with well-wishers. Sunni militant group Ansar al-Sunna claimed the attack.
* February 3 – The [[CIA]] admits that there was no imminent threat from [[weapons of mass destruction]] before the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]].
* February 7 – The Prince of Wales (now [[Charles III]]) begins a tour of the [[Middle East]], visiting troops in [[Iraq]].
* February 10 – At least 50 people killed in a car bomb attack on a police recruitment centre south of [[Baghdad]].
* February 11 – Up to 47 people killed in a car bomb attack on an army recruiting centre in [[Baghdad]].
* February 21 – The U.S. permits the [[Red Cross]] to visit [[Saddam Hussein]] for first time since his capture in December.

===March===
* March 2 – In the [[Ashoura Massacre]] almost 200 are killed in a series of bomb blasts in [[Baghdad]] and [[Karbala]] at the climax of the [[Shi'a Islam|Shi'a]] festival of [[Aashurah]]. A combination of suicide bombers and mortars hit large Shi'ite crowds mourning outside revered shrines in Kerbala and Baghdad's Kadhimiya shrine.
* March 8
** The governing council unanimously approves the country's new interim constitution
** [[Abu Abbas]] dies in [[United States|U.S.]] custody from natural causes.
* March 31 – Four [[United States|American]] defense contractors are attacked and killed in [[Fallujah]] and their burned bodies are hung openly from a bridge.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Graham |first=Stephen |date=2005-02-01 |title=Remember Fallujah: Demonising Place, Constructing Atrocity |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1068/d2301ed |journal=Environment and Planning D: Society and Space |language=en |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=1–10 |doi=10.1068/d2301ed |issn=0263-7758}}</ref>

===April===

* U.S. General [[Tommy Franks]] reportedly estimated soon after the invasion that there had been 30,000 Iraqi casualties as of April 9, 2003.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/2004/tr20040419-secdef1362.html |title=Secretary of Defense Interview with Bob Woodward – 23 Oct, 2003 |work=United States Department of Defense: News Transcript |date=2004-04-19 |access-date=2006-08-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060730192251/http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/2004/tr20040419-secdef1362.html |archive-date=2006-07-30 |url-status=live }}</ref> After this initial estimate he made no further public estimates.
* April 2 – Al Sadr gives a heated sermon, which leads to the uprising of the Mahdi army.
* April 3 – Polish-Bulgarian [[w:pl:Obrona ratusza w Karbali|defense of Karbala's City Hall]] starts.
* April 4 – [[Operation Vigilant Resolve]] begins in response to the mutilation on March 31 in [[Fallujah]].<ref name=":0" /> U.S. coalition forces face tough opposition as the resistance uses Soviet-style [[defense in depth]] tactics.
* April 5 – U.S. forces seal off [[Fallujah]]
* April 6 – Defense of Karbala's City Hall ends with victory of Polish-Bulgarian troops
* April 7
** U.S. forces fired upon a [[mosque]] compound in [[Fallujah]]. Officials claim that it was being used by insurgents to fire [[rocket propelled grenade|RPGs]] and [[mortar (weapon)|mortars]]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20090516014350/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,116396,00.html Fox]
** After three days of fighting, the U.S. forces are only able to secure 15% of [[Fallujah]] in [[Operation Vigilant Resolve]].
** [[ar Ramadi]] is returned to the control of the [[Iraqi Police]] Services and [[Iraqi Civil Defense Corps]].
* April 8 – The Mahdi army has taken full control in Kut and partial control of Najaf, Karbala and Kufa.
* April 9 – A civilian fuel convoy operated by private contractors [[Halliburton]] and [[Kellogg, Brown and Root]] is ambushed en route to Baghdad International Airport. The [[Mahdi Army]] is believed to be responsible for the attack. 7 civilians and several US Army Soldiers were killed in the attack. One of the truck drivers and one Soldier are still missing.
* April 10 – The U.S. forces declare a unilateral cease fire in [[Fallujah]]. Although the U.S. forces fight when provoked, they do not move to take more area.
* April 16 – Kut is retaken by coalition forces, but Najaf, Karbala and Kufa remain under control by Al Sadr.
* April 20 – 12 mortar rounds were fired on Abu Ghraib Prison by insurgents.  22 detainees were killed and 92 wounded. [https://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2004-04-20-iraq_x.htm]
* April 21 – At least 73 people were killed, including 17 children, along with 94 wounded in Iraq in suicide attacks on police stations in [[Basra]] and [[Az Zubayr]].
* April 26 – The [[Iraq Interim Governing Council]] announced a new [[Flag of Iraq|flag]] for post-Saddam Iraq. The flag is later abandoned among sentiments that it looks too much like [[Israel]]'s flag.
* [[File:AbuGhraibAbuse-standing-on-box.jpg|thumb|240x240px|[[Abu Ghraib prison]] abuse photo released April 2004]]April 28  – The program [[60 Minutes II]], airing on the CBS channel, revels shocking and gruesome images of prisoners at [[Abu Ghraib prison]] in Iraq being abused and tortured at the hands of American soldiers.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Smeulers |first=Alette |last2=van Niekerk |first2=Sander |date=2009-04-01 |title=Abu Ghraib and the War on Terror—a case against Donald Rumsfeld? |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10611-008-9160-2 |journal=Crime, Law and Social Change |language=en |volume=51 |issue=3 |pages=327–349 |doi=10.1007/s10611-008-9160-2 |issn=1573-0751|hdl=1871/34193 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>
* April 29
** The [[U.S. Marines]] announce it will pull out of [[Fallujah]] over a two- or three-week period and hand over control to the Iraqi army.
** At least 600 civilians have been killed during the American attack on [[Falluja]]
** 8 U.S. soldiers are killed and 4 wounded in a car bomb attack near [[Mahmoudiyah, Iraq|Mahmudiyah]], south of [[Baghdad]].

===May===
* May 17 – A suicide car bomb in Baghdad kills the head of Iraq's Governing Council Abdul-Zahra Othman Mohammad, a prominent Shi'ite politician from Basra also known as Izzedin Salim. More than a dozen others were also killed in the blast at the gates of the fortified [[Green Zone]] in Baghdad.
* May 28 – [[Iyad Allawi]] is chosen as the prime minister for the interim Iraqi government. The handover is scheduled to take place on June 30.

===June===
[[File:Bremer signs Iraqi Sovereignty Transfer document, 2004 June 28.jpg|thumb|[[Paul Bremer]] signs over limited sovereignty to Iraq's interim government, June 28|180x180px]]

* June 28 – Two days ahead of schedule, control and sovereignty of [[Iraq]] is handed over from the [[United States]] to an interim Iraqi government. Allawi becomes the prime minister, and [[Paul Bremer]] leaves the country. A slightly modified form of the [[Flag of Iraq|flag]] is used.

===July===
* July 1 – [[Saddam Hussein]] goes on trial for [[war crimes]], [[Arraignment|arraigned]] before an Iraqi judge on seven preliminary charges.
* July 12 – At a press conference, Prime Minister Allawi announces the creation of the [[General Security Directorate (Iraq)|General Security Directorate]], a domestic intelligence agency.
* July 19 - FOB Chosin mortar attack, casualties listed in Stars and Stripes.

===August===

[[File:Flag of Iraq (2004–2008).svg|thumb|180x180px|The new flag of Iraq]]

* August 5 – Marines from 1st Battalion 4th Marines begin battle in Najaf, Iraq. A new flag is created for the country.
* August 8 – United States Marine Jonathan Collins of Crystal Lake, Illinois was KIA in Al Ramadi, located in the Al Anbar Province.{{Citation needed|date=December 2011}}

===September===
* September 12 - The [[Haifa Street helicopter incident]] or the [[Haifa Street]] massacre was a controversial event in [[Baghdad]], [[Iraq]], on September 12, 2004. The fighting started before dawn on Haifa Street, where [[insurgents]] detonated two car bombs and attacked American troops with heavy gunfire. An American [[Bradley Fighting Vehicle|Bradley]] armored fighting vehicle was mobilized to support US troops, but it was struck by a car bomb around 6:30&nbsp;a.m., wounding four American soldiers. 
:At around 8:00&nbsp;a.m., an American helicopter fired two missiles and machine guns at the burning [[tank]], killing 13 people and injuring about 60 others.
* September 14 – A car bomb near a crowded market and police station in a Shi'ite area of Baghdad kills at least 47 people and wounds 114.
* September 30 – Insurgents detonate three car bombs killing 41 people (34 of them children) in the Shi'ite Amil area of southern Baghdad. The blasts, which wounded 139, occurred shortly after U.S. troops had celebrated opening a new sewage system and distributed sweets to children.

===October===
* October 1 – An early morning coordinated invasion of [[Samarra]] by 3,000 US troops and 2,000 Iraqi troops begins. Iraqis take two religious sites by force. Americans claim to have killed as many as 125 insurgents. 
* October 5 - An American soldier is killed after driving over a landmine in [[Latifiyah]].
* October 9 – [[Major-General (United Kingdom)|Major-General]] [[Tim Cross]] is appointed the new General Officer Commanding, Theatre Troops, commanding all British forces deployed in the country.
* October 10 – [[Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad|Tawhid and Jihad]] claims responsibility for two car bombs in Baghdad, killing at least 11 people including an American soldier, and wounding at least 16.
* October 12 – [[Army of Ansar al-Sunna]] claims to have beheaded Alaa al-Maliki. They claim he was a spy for the [[United States]] and [[Muqtada Al Sadr]].
* October 12 – [[Germany]]'s defense minister, [[Peter Struck (politician)|Peter Struck]], indicated that Germany might deploy troops in Iraq if conditions there change. This gesture appears to provide backing for [[John Kerry]], the US Democratic presidential challenger.
* October 13 -
** A suicide attack and roadside bombings kills six American soldiers.
** [[Brigades of Abu Bakr Al-Sidiq]], believed to be linked to [[al-Zarqawi]], release a video via internet showing the beheading of two Iraqis: Fadhel Ibrahim and Firas Imeil, believed to be members of the Iraqi National Intelligence.
** In a [[2004 Baghdad refusal of orders|refusal of orders]], American Army reservists participating in the Iraq War refused an order to drive a convoy of fuel tankers lacking armour plates through Baghdad on a "suicide mission".
* September 28 -
** U.S. troops swept into the Sunni stronghold of [[Ramadi]] and joined Iraqi police and National Guardsmen in raids in [[Baqouba]].
** Investigators uncovered more than 100 bodies in a mass grave near the northern Iraqi village of [[Hatra]]. The bodies were believed to be [[Kurd]]s killed during Saddam's crackdown in 1987–1988. The bodies includes those of small children and their mothers with bulletholes in their skulls. [https://web.archive.org/web/20050308175645/http://www.thisislondon.com/news/articles/14004914?source=Evening%20Standard]
* October 14 -
** Two [[suicide bombers]] penetrate the highly guarded green zone in [[Baghdad]] and detonate bombs in their backpacks. 5 are killed, 4 of them Americans. 20 others are wounded. [[Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad|Tawhid and Jihad]], a group connected to [[al-Zarqawi]], claim responsibility. The bombers are reportedly [[Jordan]]ians. This is the first successful attack in the green zone. [http://apnews.myway.com/article/20041014/D85NB6LG0.html AP]
** [[Ansar al-Sannah Army]] posts a video showing the beheading of a Turkish driver. [http://apnews.myway.com/article/20041014/D85N8QRG0.html AP]
** The [[United States|U.S.]] responds to the suspension of talks with more air, artillery, and ground attacks. [http://apnews.myway.com/article/20041015/D85NK4500.html AP]
* October 15 – A [[platoon]] in the 343rd Quartermaster Company refuses orders to convoy supplies from Tallil, Iraq to Taji, Iraq, citing safety concerns. They claim that their vehicles were unsafe and that the convoy isn't adequately protected. The Army launches an investigation. [http://apnews.myway.com/article/20041015/D85O0B2O0.html AP]
* October 25 – Nearly 380 [[ton]]s of conventional high-[[explosive]]s are found missing from an '''[[Iraq]]i''' site formerly used by [[Saddam Hussein]] for his dismantled atom bomb program, that was never secured by the [[United States Army]]. It is reported by [[MSNBC]] that the site was looted in April 2003, before coalition troops reached the area. US troops reported at the time that the explosives were missing. [https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna6323933 MSNBC]

===November===
* November 7 – The [[United States Marine Corps]] and the United States Army (1st Infantry Division) launched the bloodiest offensive of the Iraq War on November 7, 2004, [[Operation Phantom Fury]] against the insurgency in the city of [[Fallujah]].
* November 10 – The [[Battle of Mosul (2004)]] officially begins even though intense fighting had already spread throughout the streets and city days before.

===December===
* December 19 – A suicide car bomb blast in Najaf, 300 metres from the [[Imam Ali shrine]], near crowds of people, kills 52 and wounds at least 140. On the same day, a car bomb exploded in Kerbala, killing 14 and injuring at least 52.
* December 21 a huge explosion rocked a US-base in the northern city of [[Mosul]] killing 22 people (14 U.S. soldiers, 4 U.S. contractors and 4 Iraqi National guards) and wounding more than 70 people. At first, there were reports of a rocket attack but later it was said to be a suicide bomber. The Ansar al-Sunnah army in Iraq claimed responsibility. It was the deadliest single-attack on Americans (soldiers and civilians) in [[Iraq]] since the war ended on May 1, 2003.
* December 21, the French hostages Georges Malbrunot and Christian Chesnot were released, after having been taken hostage in August.
* December 27 – A suicide car bomber kills at least 13 people outside the offices of the [[Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq]] (SCIRI), one of the largest Shi'ite parties in Iraq in the upscale Jadiriya area of Baghdad. Its leader Abdel Aziz al-Hakim said it was a failed attempt on his life and blamed the bombing on Sunni militants.

==Notable deaths==
{{Expand section|date=October 2010}}
*January 24 – [[Abdul Rahman Munif]], author
*February 28 – [[Andres Nuiamäe]], 21, first [[Estonia]]n soldier to be killed in [[Iraq]]
*March 8 – [[Abu Abbas]], terrorist
*May 7 – [[Waldemar Milewicz]], 48, Polish journalist, and Mounyra Beouamrane, killed in [[Iraq]]
*May 8 – (body found) [[Nick Berg]], 26, American civilian killed in [[Iraq]]
*May 17 – [[Ezzedine Salim]], 60?, president of the [[Iraqi Governing Council]]
*May 18 – [[Joseph P. Garyantes|Joseph "SSG G" Garyantes]], 34, [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] [[Staff Sergeant]], [[M1 Abrams]] Tank Commander killed by sniper fire while on Combat Patrol in [[Muqdadiyah]], [[Diyala Governorate]] [[Iraq]].
*June 22 – [[Kim Sun-il]], 33, [[South Korea]]n translator, [[decapitation|decapitated]] by Iraqi militants
*June 28 – [[Keith Matthew Maupin]], 20, [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] [[Private First Class]], killed by Islamist militants in [[Iraq]]
*August 26 – [[Enzo G. Baldoni]], 56, Italian [[journalist]], [[murdered]] in [[Iraq]]
*September 20 – [[Eugene Armstrong]], 52, American civilian contractor, beheaded by Muslim [[terrorism|terrorists]] in [[Iraq]].
*September 21 – [[Jack Hensley]], 48, American civilian contractor, beheaded by [[Islamist terrorism|Muslim terrorists]] in [[Iraq]].<ref>{{cite news| url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3678124.stm | work=BBC News | title=Group 'kills second US hostage' | date=September 21, 2004}}</ref>
*October 7 – [[Ken Bigley]], 62, British hostage in [[Iraq]], executed by hostage takers
*October 28 – [[Shosei Koda]], 24, Japanese backpacker, beheaded by his captors in [[Iraq]]
*November 16 – [[Margaret Hassan]], 59, British-born Iraqi chief of the [[humanitarian]] relief organization [[CARE International]], killed by hostage takers in [[Iraq]] (unconfirmed, but presumed dead)

==See also==
{{Portal|Iraq}}
* [[Iraq War]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Years in Iraq}}
{{Iraq War}}
{{Asia topic|2004 in}}

[[Category:2004 in Iraq| ]]
[[Category:Years of the 21st century in Iraq]]
[[Category:2004 by country|Iraq]]