The USG Open Source Center reports on wrangling between two Sunni groups, the more urban and small-town Sunni fundamentalists of the Iraqi Accord Front [al-Tawafuq] and the more rural, tribal Anbar Salvation Counci [ASC]. The two groups, both of whom oppose the very violent extremists among the Salafi Jihadis [whom the US insists on calling […]
Iraqi Gov’t Inaction Poses Grave Risks: US Officers 17 Killed in Sunday Bombing Wave
According to the Washington Post’s Tom Ricks, US officers in Iraq are saying that the failure of the government of PM Nuri al-Maliki to capitalize on the reduction of violence in Baghdad to work for political reconciliation forms a grave danger to the future of Iraq. Al-Maliki, a fundamentalist Shiite, has lost the Sunni Arab […]
Satellite Channels, Blogs, Criticize Musharraf
The USG Open Source Center surveys electronic media in and about Pakistan, reporting on the situation with regard to closure or blocking of television channels, as well as making remarks toward the end on Pakistani blog sites. In other news, on Sunday Gen Pervez Musharraf rejected US calls for him to end the state of […]
US Increasingly Alone in Iraq Dozens Killed or Found Dead on Saturday
Top British Gen. Sir Richard Dannatt says that British troops are overstretched by their missions in Iraq and Afghanistan and are suffering from “Iraq fatigue.” He warned that the covenant of trust between the enlisted men and the officers was in danger of being broken. Dannatt insisted that troops need recuperation time between missions but […]
Satellite T.V. on Iraqi Security Developments
The USG Open Source Center reports on how Arabic television is reporting on political and security developments in Iraq. ‘Al-Sharqiyah, Al-Iraqiyah Report on Political, Security Developments in IraqIraq — OSC SummarySaturday, November 17, 2007 Dubai Al-Sharqiyah Television in Arabic, independent, private news and entertainment channel focusing on Iraq, run by Sa’d al-Bazzaz, publisher of the […]
Farhi: IAEA Finds Iran did not Divert Material to Weapons
Some Saturday reading: At our Global Affairs group blog, Farideh Farhi takes a closer look at the International Atomic Energy Agency and Iran. This issue may be the most important one in world politics today, on which war and peace hang. Farhi shows that the IAEA is saying that Iran has satisfactorily answered questions about […]
Turks Favor Invasion
A new poll shows that 81% of Turks favor invading northern Iraq, up from 46% in July. ‘ The number of people saying Turkey should conduct a cross-border military operation against militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) stood at 81 percent, up sharply from 46 percent in the last poll in July.’ . […]
Cole on Academic Freedom
The Monreal Mirror carries an interview with me by Samer Elatrash, in honor of the holding of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) Conference in Montreal. MESA has over 2700 members among teachers and researchers at colleges and universities, mainly in North America. Elatrash writes: ‘ . . . The biggest problem facing Middle East […]
The Democratic Debate seen from San Francisco, Boston and Des Moines
Everyone reads the NYT and WaPo, so I thought it might be interesting to see how some other newspapers covered the Democratic debate. The San Francisco Chronicle’s Carla Marinucci awards the Las Vegas debate to Hillary Clinton. Clinton had to come back from her poor performance in Philadelphia. So in that sense she won if […]
© 2025 All Rights Reserved