The BBC says that Ninevah Province police are reporting that three car bombs targeted a Yazidi village in northern Iraq near Sinjar not far from the Syria border. One of them was a fuel truck. The bombings destroyed buildings and 175 are now being reported dead, with 200 wounded. The death toll is expected to […]
Four US Troops Killed PKK Threatens Iraq, Turkey
Four more US troops have been announced killed in Iraq. In the wake of PM Nuri al-Maliki’s talks with Turkey and his commitment to expel the Kurdish Worker’s Party (PKK) from Iraq, the PKK has threatened both Turkey and Iraq with terroist acts if they follow through on any crackdown: ‘ The Iraqi government should […]
Karl Rove Resignation: Satire
Satire on Karl Rove’s resignation: Rewriting a Wikipedia article on Goebbels through search and replace. (Link in time stamp, below.) Karl Rove, leader of the Republican Party’s propaganda machine, later the official in charge of all Republican Party Propaganda and Bush’s adviser. Homeland official for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda Preceded by None Political party Republican […]
Sunni Arab Guerillas Kill 5 US Troops, Use EFP Fears of Shiite on Shiite Warfare Dulaimi denounces Genocide against Sunni Arabs
Sunni Arab guerrillas deployed an explosively formed projectile (a kind of roadside bomb) against 4 soldiers who had come in a humvee to investigate the sniping death of a fifth soldier. All four were killed. Unfortunately the LA Times calls the guerrillas “al-Qaeda-allied.” This terminology is from the Bush administration lexicon. I very much doubt […]
Bush’s Failures in Afghanistan
At our Global Affairs group blog, Barnett Rubin comments on an important new NYT article on how Afghanistan is going bad under W.’s tender ministrations. Rubin is perhaps our foremost Afghanistan expert and his trenchant and informed commentary is a must see.
Guerrillas kill Governor of Qadisiya
Militiamen deployed a powerful roadside bomb to kill the governor and police chief of Qadisiya Province, the capital of which is Diwaniya. Gov. Khalil Jalil Hamza, of the Badr Organization and police chief Maj-Gen Khaled Hassan were returning to Diwaniyah from a funeral. This kind of incident is one reason for which I am very […]
Getting Pakistan Right
Be sure to check out Manan Ahmed’s “Getting Pakistan Right at our Global Affairs group blog. It is a powerful corrective to American tendencies to undervalue the democratic potential of the place.
Kirkuk Car Bomb Kills 11 UN to Up Involvement in Iraq Wave of Killings, Death Threats in Najaf
The United Nations Security Council voted to get more involve in Iraq on Friday. The increase of staffers involved, however, is minuscule, and the vote is more important for its symbolism than for its likely effective impact. The staffers will have a special charge to help in promoting national reconciliation among Sunnis and Shiites. Some […]
Baath Party: Threats over Oil Law; Seeks Info on Shiite Crimes
The USG Open Source Center translates two communiques from the Iraqi Baath Party. As long-time readers know, I believe the Baath Party cells are a significant component of what the US calls the ‘insurgency,’ but that they allow Salafi Jihadis to take the ‘credit’ for some of their terror operations. The first memo calls on […]