Juan Cole

Iraq: We ask, they tell Us Q. How long will a sixth of a million US troops be tied down in the killing fields of Iraq? A. Maybe until 2010. Q. Would Shiite leader Abdul Aziz al-Hakim really risk completely alienating the Sunni Arabs by passing a law permitting the formation down the road of […]

Wikipedia, Karsh and Cole An encyclopedia article should be an objective accounting of a person’s life and work. The wikipedia entry on me is constantly being distorted by a small group of far rightwing activists who put the comments of my ideological critics up into the body in an attempt to discredit me. I never […]

Rajiv Chandrasekaran Replies to Dan Senor Rajiv Chandrasekaran of the Washington Post writes: ‘ Several people have asked me to respond to Dan Senor’s op-ed in yesterday’s Washington Post about an excerpt from my book, Imperial Life in the Emerald City, that was published in The Post on September 17. While I don’t want to […]

655,000 Dead in Iraq since Bush Invasion It is a big news day. Don’t miss my interview with veteran Iraq reporter Rajiv Chandrasekaran, below. Among other things, on Tuesday guerrillas blew up a bakery in Baghdad and killed and wounded a lot of people; police found over 50 bodies in the streets of the capital; […]

Interview with Rajiv Chandrasekaran Washington Post reporter Rajiv Chandrasekaran spent a very great deal of time in Iraq, beginning in 2002 and then resuming after the war. His book, Imperial Life in the Emerald City is just out from Alfred Knopf. It is a challenging account of American missteps in Iraq, from the point of […]

N. Korea, Iraq, Foley Anything in Common? Now with the North Korea crisis erupting, it strikes me that there are some similarities among Bush’s crises. In all three cases–North Korea, Iraq and Foleygate– the Republican establishment knew something was wrong but failed or declined to address the problem. And the reason for the inaction was […]

Brother of Iraqi VP Killed 4 US Troops Killed 57 Bodies found in Baghdad Reuters reports that 4 US GIs were announced killed by Iraqi guerrillas on Monday. Since the beginning of October, guerrillas have killed 33 US soldiers and Marines. Gunmen dressed in police uniforms killed the brother of Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi […]

100 Tortured Each Day in Iraq Situation Worse than Under Saddam Andras Riedlemayer writes: ‘ The UN Special Rapporteur for Torture, Manfred Nowak, was interviewed about Iraq for German public broadcaster ARD’s news magazine program “Tagesschau”. He had some blunt and disturbing things to say . . . English translation by yrs. truly; link to […]

Rubin on Afghanistan Just in case anyone has forgotten, there is a war going on in Afghanistan, too. Barnett Rubin doesn’t think it is going well.