Hamza Hendawi and Qassim Abdul Zahra of AP get the scoop: Their sources in Najaf tell them that young Shiite men belonging to the “Troops of the Ayatollahs” (Jund al-Marja`iyyah) militia that protects the leading Shiite clerics in the Middle Euphrates have been imploring Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani for a fatwa or formal legal ruling […]
Archives for May 2008
Hagee Anti-Semitism and Endorsement of McCain
John McCain actively sought and accepted the endorsement of pastor John Hagee. Breaking News: CNN is reporting that McCain has just repudiated Hagee, specifically over these remarks on Hitler as God-sent hunter of Jews. Now, what about Rod Parsely? Or is that OK? And, when will AIPAC, JINSA, etc. also repudiate Hagee and his ilk? […]
Cole on Newshour
The Newshour with Jim Lehrer will be doing an Iraq segment this evening on the Public Broadcasting Service, and I will be one of the commentators.
Assassinations of High Officials; 36 Killed, Wounded in Baghdad; Iraqiya Rebuffs al-Maliki
Signs that things weren’t that calm in Baghdad on Wednesday: Guerrillas assassinated Colonel Abdul Kareem Muhsin, the director of the protection department in the ministry of transportation, in East Baghdad. An attempted assassination by car bomb of an Iraqi court judge who has his seat in Abu Ghraib left him severely wounded. Then “Four civilians […]
Appeasement Breaks out Everywhere
After all that trouble George W. Bush caused with his foolish speech before the Israeli Knesset condemning negotiation with bad guys, it turns out that no one in the Middle East, including Israel, is paying the slightest attention to him. Even his own secretary of state seems to be disagreeing with him in public. Such […]
Poll: Americans Want their Iraq News
The Zogby news release, below, about a new poll demonstrates that Informed Comment is giving the American people what they want in the way of Iraq news: “When asked about the news coverage of the Iraq war, most (80%) say the coverage has been fair or poor. When respondents were asked to pick what coverage […]
Reuters/Zogby: Obama Opens up 10 Point Lead on McCain
Zogby Polling has permitted the reprinting of the below. What I take away from it is that in a four-way race Nader would hurt Clinton more than he would hurt Obama, and Barr could be deadly for McCain. Reuters/Zogby find that Obama is starting to do better with the Democratic base than Clinton, and he […]
American Idol and American Politics
I find it a little eerie how closely the finale of the television program American Idol resembles the presidential race. Here you have an older male from the school of hard knocks; a younger, soulful man who inspires his peers; and a woman candidate who shows amazing resilience. In a way, both Idol and the […]
4 Awakening Council Members Killed; Iraqi Army enters Sadr City; Provincial election Date provokes Row
The Iraqi Army moved into part of Sadr City without meeting resistance on Tuesday, according to McClatchy. Raheem Salman of LAT blogs the scene in Sadr City. Al-Hayat reports in Arabic that Iraqi security forces began their search of Sadr City (East Baghdad) in an operation aimed at imposing a rule of law on the […]