Juan Cole

Sunni Arab Guerrillas Massacre 155 Shiites, Wound 305 Sunni Guerrillas Kill 4 US GIs A Majority of Americans Wants Troops out within Year The US military announced on Saturday the killing of 4 more US GIs. A fifth died of a heart attack. Sunni Arab guerrillas drove a truck packed with a ton of explosives […]

Realists in US Tone Down Iran Accusations; Baquba Dean Executed in Public Two US GIs were announced killed in al-Anbar Province on Friday. Police found 23 bodies in Baghdad. Iraqi authorities made several arrests, in the small southeastern Shiite city of Kut, of members of a messianic cult that attacked the holy city of Najaf […]

Internet Wars in the Middle East and Iraq The London Pan-Arab daily, Al-Sharq al-Awsat [“The Middle East”] reports in Arabic that sectarian guerrilla groups and militias in Iraq have enlisted hackers to take their struggle into the internet. These jihadi hackers attempt to break into the sites of their rivals and deface them or steal […]

National Security Estimate Key findings of the Iraq National Security Estimate have been posted (pdf) at the Director of National Intelligence web site. Josh Marshall and colleagues have links to early comment and reaction. Important points from TPM commenters: *It is a civil war but in some ways it is worse than just civil war, […]

Guerrillas Kill 45 in Hilla Massacre Security Plan May strengthen Shiites Guerrillas detonated two bombs in Hillah on Thursday, killing 61 and wounding 150. Hillah is a largely Shiite city, and the guerrillas were likely Sunni Arabs based in Sunni areas to the north. The guerrillas are trying to throw Iraq into civil war by […]

4 US Troops Announced Killed Troops lack Basic Equipment in Iraq Bush Admin. launches anti-Iran propaganda campaign The mission of US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan is being impeded by lack of armored vehicles and other weapons. State Dept. figure Nick Burns made a lot of vague and unsubstantiated charges against Iran on Wednesday. Most […]

Holy Day attacks Kill at Least 56 Sunni Arab guerrillas seeking to provoke further fighting in Iraq’s sectarian civil war targeted Shiites on the holy day of Ashura, Tuesday, killing 56 and wounding dozens. Many of the Shiites targeted were in smaller towns or cities, or were hit by mortar shells. The deployment of 11,000 […]

Bush Comment on Najaf Farcical; Hawatimah Tribe of Diwaniyah involved in Mahdist Uprising? Attempts are being made to knock down all kinds of stories about the Najaf uprising. Bush expressed happiness that the Iraqi Army (actually the Badr Corps fundamentalist Shiite militia) acquitted itself well against the rebels. But in fact, the Iraqi security forces […]

Cole in Salon.com: Bush’s Anti-Iran Fatwa My Salon.com column this week is now available:“The danger of Bush’s anti-Iran fatwa”: The president’s decision to use force against Iranian “agents” inside Iraq could snare innocent pilgrims, and raises the risk of open warfare. Excerpt: ‘ George W. Bush last week announced that American troops in Iraq were […]