Juan Cole

Battle of the Speeches Breaks out in Wake of Lebanon War Israel shot 5 Hizbullah fighters on Tuesday and Hizbullah fired ten rockets inside Lebanon at Israel troops. Emergency workers dug 38 bodies of civilians out of the rubble in Lebanon. But despite these provocations, the ceasefire more or less held. The Israelis were towing […]

Civil War Violence Reaches New Heights in Iraq Religious Group Clashes with Police in Karbala Bush Opposes Partition Faith-based civil war violence killed 110 civilians each day in July, a new report shows, which is a new one-month record. The deaths come in the midst of a new security program and extra checkpoints pushed by […]

Close: The Building War on Iran Ray Close, a retired CIA analyst of Arab affairs, writes: ‘ Despite vehement official assertions to the contrary, indications are increasing every day that the Bush Administration has already decided that conventional diplomacy will fail as a way to manage its confrontation with Iran, and that military action against […]

Fragile Ceasefire in Lebanon Naharnet/ AFP report ‘ A ceasefire aimed at silencing the guns in Lebanon remained fragile as thousands of Lebanese streamed back home to the devastated south and Hizbullah claimed it had emerged victorious. A day after the U.N.-brokered truce went into effect, a dozen rockets targeted Israeli positions in south Lebanon […]

Guest Comment: On the Occasion of Uri Grossman’s Death Todd Hasak-Lowy On the Occasion of Uri Grossman’s Death ‘ About five years ago I had the good fortune of hearing David Grossman, the Israeli writer, speak at an event in San Francisco. Grossman related the following anecdote: he was traveling on a bus in Israel […]

VL Day? Patrick McGreevy writes from Beirut: ‘ VL Day? It’s 11 pm in Beirut, and honking cars and motorbikes are cruising the Corniche while their occupants discharge Kalashnikovs into the black air shouting “Allahu Akbar.” If only we had electricity and lights, the triumph might be more believable. This seems like a time warp: […]

Cole on Majority Report I’m booked to be on Air America’s Majority Report Monday evening 7:40 or so EST. Please consider writing to tell the channel’s managers and owners how much you appreciate the show and the contribution Sam Seder and Janeane Garofalo make to our political life: supporttheshow@majorityreportradio.com

Israel Kills 38 Civilians on Eve of Ceasefire Hersh: Israeli Campaign Dress Rehearsal for War on Iran 250 Hizbullah Rockets Slam into northern Israel, Kill 1 Seymour Hersh says that sources knowledgeable about Israeli and Bush administration planning maintain that the Israelis laid out last spring in Washington and gained administration support for a plan […]

63 Dead, 140 Wounded at Zafaraniyah US Raids Ministry of Health The Associated Press reports that after 7 pm on Sunday, Sunni Arab guerrillas suddenly attacked the Shiite Zaafaraniyah district of Baghdad. First they set off two car bombs in the neighborhood. Then another team, in the Dora district, fired up to nine rockets at […]