Juan Cole

3 Marines Killed Dozens of Bodies found 3 US troops were announced killed by Sunni Arab guerrillas on Friday. At least 22 bodies were found in Baghdad. A prominent Iraqi politician and clan leader, Muhsin al-Kanan, an elected member of the Basra provincial council, was shot down on Friday. On Thursday, dozens of people were […]

How the Republicans are Stealing the November Elections Or, Bushes and Bonapartes On November 7, the American people delivered a stiff rebuke to the Bush Administration and the Republican Party over its far-right policies. They were especially worried about the Iraq fiasco, and upset over the mounting US and Iraqi casualties. But they also worried […]

Bush Hints that he Will send More Troops Dozens Killed in Continued Violence Bush seems likely to try the “surge” tactic in Iraq of putting in substantially more troops, perhaps 20,000, in an attempt to take Baghdad and clear it of ‘terrorists.’ Hope springs eternal in the human breast, which is the only explanation for […]

The New Middle East Cold War: Saudi/Israel/Lebanon versus Iran/Syria/Iraq/Hizbullah Helene Cooper with Hassan Fattah of the NYT has the scoop that Saudi King Abdullah told US VP Dick Cheney two weeks ago that if the US withdrew precipitately from Iraq, the kingdom would have little choice but to support the Sunni Arab guerrillas. The Saudi […]

Kucinich-Paul Congressional Hearing on Civilian Casualties in Iraq Here is the transcript of Monday’s hearing on Capitol Hill on the Lancet study, at which I spoke along with two co-authors of the study. The video can be seen at the C-Span archive page (scroll down to the bottom). Thanks to Representatives Dennis Kucinich and Ron […]

Bombings Kill 54 Downtown Baghdad Saudi Clerics Mobilize against Shiites Guerrillas detonated two enormous bombs at Tayaran Square in central Baghdad, killing 54 persons and wounding 106. The bombers targeted day laborers who had gathered looking for work. Those at the Pentagon who want to tackle unemployment and the bad economy have it backwards. First […]

Congressional Hearing on Civilian Casualties in Iraq Stephen Soldz blogs the Paul-Kucinich hearings on civilian casualties in Iraq, at which I testified. Dennis Kucinich has been calling for a US withdrawal from Iraq for some time. His home page is down this morning but should be back up after noon. He is now calling for […]

Ross Guest Editorial on Pinochet ‘ Gone But Not Forgotten by Amy Ross (The writer is an assistant professor of geography and human rights at the University of Georgia.) The dictator is dead. At 91, after nearly a decade fighting desperately to avoid prison, Chile’s General Augusto Pinochet suffered a heart attack while under house […]

Congressional Briefing on Iraq Casualties The authors of the Lancet report on Iraq casualties, along with this ephemeral servant, will be testifying before a bipartisan group in Congress on Monday, December 11 from 10-12 am. My understanding is that it will be carried by C-Span.