Juan Cole

Democratic Senate Ponders Iraq Massive Bombings Shake Shiite districts in Baghdad Since the Democrats now have a majority in the Senate, Barbara Slavin writes, they are poised to have a major role in Iraq policy. She says some analysts doubt that such a partnership is likely, given that the new Congress intends to investigate Bush […]

Prosterman Guest Editorial: Where is Ike? WHAT THIS COUNTRY NEEDS IS A PRESIDENT WITH IKE’S INTEGRITY AND COURAGE SUEZ & BUDAPEST – 50 YEARS LATER H. Scott Prosterman Last week marked the 50th Anniversary of the aborted Hungarian Revolution of 1956. Coincidently, it also marks the 50th Anniversary of the failed tripartite invasion of the […]

Al-Zaman: Good Riddance to Rumsfeld Osman: Abu Ghraib scandal should have required his Resignation The Times of Baghdad [al-Zaman] editorializes in the third person on the resignation of US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on Wednesday thusly: ‘ The political editor of Al-Zaman welcomes the resignation of the American Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. He […]

What does it Mean for Iraq? The fourth popular revolution of the twenty-first century (after the Ukraine, Lebanon and Kyrgyzstan) swept America on Tuesday, as voters engaged in the moral equivalent of storming the Bastille. The United States of America has roundly repudiated the Bush Administration and Republican Party dominance of all three branches of […]

Is Bush Unhinged? Calling Hannah Arendt Journalist Bill Gallagher of Detroit’s Channel 2 News joins Andrew Sullivan in asking the increasingly unavoidable question: Is George W. Bush Criminally Insane? Gallagher writes: ‘ Bush’s fantasies are even disturbing his fans. In a sit-down with wire-service reporters, Bush assured them that Rumsfeld, the most incompetent man on […]

Baquba Police Kill 20 Pro-Saddam Demonstrators; Khalilzad to Depart Someone, [presumably, Shiite militiamen] fired mortar rounds into the Sunni Arab Adhamiya district of Baghdad on Monday, wounding 7. Al-Zaman (Arabic) says that this is the fourth day in the row that this quarter has been attacked this way. Al-Zaman also reports that the death toll […]

Iran, Iraqi Shiites Celebrate Mosul, Baquba, West Baghdad Demonstrate The US military announced that guerrillas had killed 3 US GIs in Iraq over Saturday and Sunday. Only 8 percent of Americans are satisfied with ‘stay the course’ in Iraq. Al-Zaman reports in Arabic that clashes broke out in Baghdad Sunday between joyous anti-Saddam and angry […]

Saddam to Hang; Shiites, Kurds Celebrate Some Sunnis Protest The Daily Telegraph reports that the death verdict against Saddam Hussein announced Sunday has sharpened further Iraq’s already parlous ethnic tensions. Shiites in Sadr City, once viciously repressed by Saddam, erupted in celebrations of joy, including celebratory fire. NBC news is reporting some protests by Sunnis […]

Iraq Jittery over Saddam Verdict Dozens of Sunnis killed by Police Commandos Special Police Commandoes killed 53 al-Qaeda fighters in Iraq on Saturday, according to Iraqi officials. Or you could say that Shiite death squads infiltrated into the special police commandos killed 53 Sunni Arab guerrillas. Just to make sure everyone is unhappy all at […]