Archives for May 2006

4 Marines Die Fadila Withdraws from Government Friday’s guerrilla violence was relatively muted, though there were bombings and killings. The most serious incident was a firefight in Dhulu’iyyah between Shiite and Kurdish units in the Iraqi Army, which left 4 Iraqi soldiers and 7 civilians dead. Four Marines died when their tank rolled off a […]

3 GIs Killed Government Postponed Guerrillas set off bombs to kill 3 GIs in Hilla on Thursday. At least 15 Iraqis were also killed (-al-Sharq al-Awsat). Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani cancelled Friday prayers for Shiites in Zubayr this week to show solidarity with Sunnis mourning the assassination of one of their clerical leaders in the […]

Bush: Founding Fathers were Just Kidding About Fourth Amendment .President Bush apparently thinks that the fourth amendment of the US Constitution (i.e. the US Constitution) doesn’t have to be taken seriously, because he is invoking “national security.”

19 Dead in Violence Walkout in Parliament over Shiite Ringtone The Iraqi civil war took at least 19 lives on Wednesday, including especially in the Baqubah area of Diyala province. Five of Iraq’s most dangerous guerrillas fled the Susa Prison in Kurdistan yesterday. that a Sadrist member of parliament had set her cell phone ringer […]

Cole in Salon.com My article, “Saving Iraq: Mission Impossible,” is out in Salon.com. Excerpt: ‘ Hopes for a breakthrough hinge on the assumption that al-Maliki will be able to act more decisively than his failed predecessor, Ibrahim Jaffari, in crucial areas: putting together a government acceptable to all the parties, restoring a state monopoly on […]

Europeans offer Iran Deal Iranians say Program Peaceful Over Bush’s initial objections, the Europeans are going to try offering Iran further incentives to abandon its civilian nuclear energy research program. The attempt comes in part through the mediation of the Russians. Bush’s inability to get the Russians and Chinese to agree to condemn Iran has […]

Tal Afar Bombing Kills 20, Wounds 70 Did Coalition Ship 200,000 Guns to Guerrillas? Guerrillas killed 11 persons on a busnear Baqubah Wednesday morning. At least 30 Iraqis died in the civil war on Tuesday. Some 14 corpses showed up on the streets in Baghdad and Kut, according to al-Zaman. Guerrillas killed at least 20 […]

MESA/ISIS Letter on Behalf of Ramin Jahanbegloo For more on this case see this article and Eurasia.net. May 8, 2006 Ayatollah Ali KhameneiSupreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iranc/o H.E. Javad ZarifAmbassador Extraordinary and PlenipotentiaryPermanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United NationsFax: 212-867-7086 Your Excellency: We write to you on […]

Ahmadinejad as W.’s Penpal Ebadi warns of another Iraq Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wrote a letter to W., in which he insisted on Iran’s right under the Non-Proliferation Treaty to conduct scientific research on uranium enrichment. The NPT does in fact allow such research, but it is Bush administration policy to abrogate that right and […]