Juan Cole

Dozens of Red Crescent Workers Kidnapped The horror show in Iraq continued on Sunday, when men dressed as special police commandos invaded the offices of the Red Crescent Society [which is allied with the Red Cross] in Karrada in central Baghdad and kidnapped “dozens” (the local Adhamiyah police say they don’t know how many) of […]

3 GIs killed, 53 Bodies found Sunnis, Sadr Boycott ‘Reconciliation’ Conference Sunni Arab guerrillas killed 3 GIs north of Baghdad on Saturday with a roadside bomb. Police found 53 bodies in the streets of Baghdad on Saturday, some of them in the tense Sunni Arab district of Ghazaliya. A bombing in Kirkuk killed an Iraqi […]

Lando on Oil Insecurity in Basra Ben Lando of UPI gives us a 2-part report on oil security [part 1 here] in Iraq, or rather the lack thereof. This problem is often ignored in the press, but it is at the center of the inability of the new government to establish itself. You don’t need […]

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 […]