Militiamen detonated three car bombs in downtown Amara on Wednesday, killing over 40 persons and wounding 125. The southern Shiite city of Amara–capital of Maysan province–has seen fighting between the Mahdi Army and the Badr Corps (or police recruited from the Badr Corps), as part of a contest between their parent parties, the Sadr Movement […]
Archives for December 2007
Ayatollah Huckabee’s Fatwa
In Shiite Iran, only a Shiite may be president. Not a Sunni Muslim, not a Christian, and not a secularist. Article 115 of the current Iranian constitution says: ‘ Article 115 The President must be elected from among religious and political personalities possessing the following qualifications: Iranian origin; Iranian nationality; administrative capacity and resourcefulness; a […]
Rubaie: No Permanent Bases; Bombing Near Allawi’s Compound; Basra Christians cancel Christmas Celebrations
Iraq’s national security adviser, Muwaffaq al-Rubaie, said Tuesday that the Iraqi nation would never permit permanent US military bases in that country. He named some areas where there would be continuing US support for the Iraqi military. The announcement does not envision an early departure of US forces, and seems mainly intended to blunt criticisms […]
"Cole in Salon: The GOP’s Iran option is off the table
My column in Salon.com, “The GOP’s Iran option is off the table.” The subhead is: “Rudy Giuliani was counting on Iran as a weapon of mass distraction in the ’08 race. But the flailing Republican right has just been disarmed.” Excerpt: ‘ Republicans have used the alleged nuclear threat posed by Iran to scare the […]
Giuliani, Reagan, and Kissing up to Ayatollahs with fancy Cakes
I just saw this campaign ad for Rudy Giuliani’s presidential campaign. He says that Iran held US embassy hostages for 444 days. Then they were released within one hour. That was the hour after Ronald Reagan was inaugurated as president, succeeding Jimmy Carter. Giuliani goes on to tell us that this incident shows how you […]
Muqtada al-Sadr Regroups Sadrists Condemn al-Hakim’s Visit to Washington Mortars hit Prison
Sam Dagher of the Christian Science Monitor is a good reason to subscribe to CSM. He reports on the way Muqtada al-Sadr is using his ‘freeze’ on Mahdi Army activities to organize cadres and turn his organization into something like Hizbullah in Lebanon. Dagher also provides the most connected and detailed count I have seen […]
Police Chief of Hilla Killed; And, 40 Women Killed in Basra
Guerrillas deployed a roadside bomb to kill the police chief of Hilla, a largely Shiite city south of Baghdad. AP reports that “Religious vigilantes have killed at least 40 women this year in the southern Iraqi city of Basra because of how they dressed, their mutilated bodies found with notes warning against “violating Islamic teachings […]
Oprah and Obama: Irony of the Week
The irony of the week is that Oprah Winfrey has come out strongly for Barack Obama as president. Why is that ironic? Because the subtext of Oprah’s television show is that men are unreliable and women have to stick together. So she supports a man for president in preference to another woman. I like Obama […]
Napoleon’s Scientists and the Pyramids
At the NYT, Katherine Bouton reviews Nina Burleigh’s new book, “Mirage: Napoleon’s Scientists and the Unveiling of Egypt,” which I’m eager to see. In the course of the review, she writes of the French invasion of Egypt in 1798: ‘ Some historians see this venture as an exploratory expedition gone wrong. Others, including the historian […]
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