Juan Cole

US Forces Storm Iranian Consulate in Irbil The US military stormed the Iranian consulate in the northern Iraq Kurdistan city of Irbil on Thursday. Irbil is the fief of Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani. The Kurdistan Regional Government, which he leads, is semi-autonomous and maintains a regional army, the Peshmerga, of 60,000 men. Kurdistan authorities say […]

Bush Sends GIs to his Private Fantasyland To listen to Bush’s speech on Wednesday, you would imagine that al-Qaeda has occupied large swathes of Iraq with the help of Syria and Iran and is brandishing missiles at the US mainland. That the president of the United States can come out after nearly four years of […]

Groundhog Day in Purple Heart Boulevard 50 Dead in Clashes, 46 Bodies Found US and Iraqi forces fought a significant street battle at Haifa Street in the Karkh section of Baghdad on Tuesday. Ground forces were supported by US fighter jets and helicopter gunships. The fighting left 50 persons dead, which the US said were […]

Victims of Violence Triple Bush to offer more Power to al-Maliki Al-Hayat writing in Arabic says that Da’wa Party official Hasan al-Sunaid, a member of parliament, has information on Bush’s plan for Iraq. He learned of it through Bush’s consultations with PM Nuri al-Maliki: * Strengthening the Iraqi government so that it can take over […]

Are we Winning Yet? Submarines, Iran & Gulf Somalia, Afghanistan, Palestine Iranian officials point out that they don’t need a bomb to stop petroleum exports through the Straits of Hormuz. And they say they will, if the US bothers them too much about their nuclear energy program. Iranian sabotage in the Straits of Hormuz could […]

Sunnis in Parliament Criticize al-Maliki’s Security Plan Pelosi warns Bush on Purse Strings The killing by Iraqi guerrillas of 5 US troops was announced on Sunday. Three of them were airmen assigned to a bomb squad. Reuters reports other violence in Iraq, including the discovery in the capital on Sunday of 17 bodies. Speaker of […]

Maliki threatens Diplomatic Relations with Protesting States Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Saturday threatened to cut off diplomatic relations with countries that criticized the execution of Saddam Hussein. He defended the decision to execute him on the Sunni feast of sacrifice, saying that Saddam had profaned religious holidays. Note to al-Maliki: 1. Don’t compare yourself […]

Bay Area I’m going to be in the Bay Area, Ca., for talks Jan. 17-20. Thanks so much for your kind responses. The itinerary is full except for Saturday when I will be in SF proper. Public talks on this trip have now been arranged: UC Santa Cruz January 17 (Wednesday, 7 PM, College 9/10 […]

Ethnic Cleansing in Battle for Baghdad Sistani Aide Claims threat to Islamic Line McClatchy reports a mortar attack on Zafaraniya in Baghdad, which killed 5 and wounded 15. Another two civilians were injured in al-Amil by mortar attacks. Police found 12 bodies in Baghdad. Gunmen abducted an American civilian and two of his Iraqi aides […]