Archives for November 2005

5 GIs Dead, US Kills 36 in Qaim District; Guerrillas Kill 16 Guerrillas at a checkpoint south of Baghdad detonated a car bomb that killed 4 US GIs. In addition, AFP writes: ‘ A suicide car bomber killed nine people, including six Iraqi policemen, in the southern Dora district of Baghdad on Monday. Ten people […]

Italians Release Video of Phosphorous Attack on Fallujah The Italian television network RAI has released a video that includes an interview with an ex-Marine and footage of the use of phosphorous bombs at Fallujah in November of 2004. The issue is being discussed at Daily Kos. White phosphorus is a form of incendiary bomb. The […]

Comment Section Rules The comment section of Informed Comment is intended to allow readers to weigh in on the issues raised in the postings. The ideal comment would be meaty, with some analysis or information that contributes to the topic, and would be one or two paragraphs in length. Short messages of a sociable nature […]

Comments at Informed Comment Readers have occasionally asked for a comment feature at this web site. I of course love the idea, but did not move in that direction for a number of reasons. At first, of course, blogger.com software did not allow it. Then when they did, there was no moderating function and there […]

Future of the Book The Institute for the Future of the Book is having a gathering soon to which I am invited, as an academic blogger. They thought it would be useful to poll my readers about some issues. The brief poll is at a comments page at their web site. I’d be most grateful […]

Dennis O’Flaherty Reader Comment on Qaim Campaign Cole: [Al-Zaman: Sunni Arab leaders accused the US of conducting a campaign of genocide and ethnic cleansing in their sweep of the Western cities. (This allegation is, needless to say, not correct.] Dennis O’Flaherty writes: ‘… you raise a point that has troubled me — and I hope […]

Blair Could have Delayed Beginning of War: Meyer; Sadrists Will Boycott Cairo Conference Sir Christopher Meyer, former British ambassador in Washington, blames Prime Minister Tony Blair for not slowing the Bush administration’s rush to war in 2003. Meyer implies that he could see that the Bush team was poorly prepared for the aftermath, and says […]

Bush and the 7 Deadly Sins The Washington Post reports a new poll that shows that the public’s approval of Bush in the realms of trust, honesty and values has declined even in his base: “Bush’s approval ratings have been in decline for months, but on issues of personal trust, honesty and values, Bush has […]

Sunni Constitution Drafter Killed; Chalabi in Iran Fakhri al-Qaisi of the National Dialogue Council was assassinated in Baghdad on Saturday. The Sunni politician had helped draft the new Iraqi constitution and was running for parliament. His group is part of a Sunni religious coalition that is running in the December 15 elections, a move opposed […]