Juan Cole

Iraq Hearing follies. John McCain just can’t keep the branches of Islam straight. He said to Gen. David Petraeus: ‘ SEN. MCCAIN: There are numerous threats to security in Iraq and the future of Iraq. Do you still view al Qaeda in Iraq as a major threat? GEN. PETRAEUS: It is still a major threat, […]

I am always astounded at the combination of unrealistic optimism and foolish gullibility that marks political discourse on the Right in Washington. We were being told by Rich Lowry at the National Review that Sadr was on the ropes and on the verge of disbanding the Mahdi Army because the other political factions had turned […]

The US military attacked the Mahdi Army militia in Sadr City on Sunday, alongside Iraqi Army troops. The fighting left 22 dead and 78 wounded, at least. It was not clear what the purpose of the attack was, since the US clearly cannot intensively occupy the labyrinthine Shiite slum and therefore cannot actually disarm the […]

Senator John McCain on the failed Basra campaign: ‘ Republican presidential hopeful John McCain said Sunday that Iraq’s military performed “pretty well” in its recent Basra assault despite the “mixed” results of the battle. . . the presumed Republican nominee for president defended Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s government as increasingly effective in managing the war-torn […]

Frank Rich’s “Tet Happened . . . and No One Cared” is an elegantly written and argued examination of the current situation in Iraq that seems to me to pretty much nail it. Rich demolishes so many of the myths put out by McCain and the American Right generally. The Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq […]

Al-Hayat reports in Arabic that the Iraqi National Security Council met on Saturday. The heads of the major blocks in parliament attended, including Nassar al-Rubaie, leader of the Sadr bloc. Ali al-Adib of the Da`wa Party, which is part of the United Iraqi Alliance, said that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki “laid out the technical capabilities […]

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki suddenly reversed himself on Friday, pledging a freeze on attacks on militias. Just a day before he had been saying that he would send the Iraqi military in after the Mahdi Army in Baghdad. Given what happened to the army in Basra, where the Sadr Movement isn’t all that strong, I […]

Al-Hayat reports in Arabic that clashes continued to be fought in Basra on Thursday between Iraqi government troops and the Mahdi Army militia. It also says that US troops in civilian clothing were targeted in the Shiite city of Hillah south of Baghdad. They were attacked by unknown gunmen and had to call in airstrikes […]

The Iraqi military made incursions into Sadrist neighborhoods in Basra on Wednesday, AP says. The show of force provoked fears of an outbreak of fresh fighting. It turns out that McCain had said that Muqtada al-Sadr’s influence was waning in a recent interview. But then when Muqtada reasserted himself, McCain claimed to have all along […]