Juan Cole

Amara Fighting Threatens Stability of South Fighting broke out Thursday and Friday in the southern city of Amara (pop. 330,000) between the Mahdi Army and the local police (which are infiltrated by the Badr Corps, another Shiite militia). The fighting killed 9 and wounded 90. The Mahdi Army fighters occupied three buildings important to the […]

Aliens or Citizens: Van Erp Peter van Erp writes: ‘ From: Peter van Erp Sent: Thu 10/19/2006 11:14 AM To: Juan Cole Subject: Your lettre de cachet is coming… Dear Professor Cole, I just noted an error in your post yesterday regarding the Military Commissions Act of 2006. The original version of the House bill […]

71 Killed Bombings, Shootings; Mosul, Kirkuk Targetted; Islamic Army in Talks with US Another US GI was killed in al-Anbar Province on Thursday. Guerrillas set off bombs in four Iraqi cities on Thursday, leaving dozens dead and hundreds wounded. *In Mosul a fuel truck loaded with explosives was driven into a police station. The driver […]

The Unconstitutionality of the Military Commissions Act: Furey Ed Furey writes: ‘ Professor Cole: You barely scratched the surface on the unconstitutionality of the so-called terror legislation. Beyond repealing habeas corpus, another grotesque violation of the Constitution is implicated in that legislation. The Constitution specifically forbids the passage of a “bill of attainder.” In the […]

MESA Letter on Judt Speech Cancellation This letter went out from the Committee on Academic Freedom of the Middle East Studies Association over my signature as president of the Middle East Studies Association. Many thanks to all the colleagues who worked so hard on it: October 19, 2006His Excellency Christopher KastryzkConsul-GeneralRepublic of Poland233 Madison AvenueNew […]

11 GIs Killed; 70 Dead in Oct.; Bush: This is their Tet; Maliki Sees Sistani Iraqi guerrillas killed 11 US troops on Wednesday, one of the highest tolls in a single day seen in the course of the war. Since October 1, some 70 US troops have been killed. This level of violence resembles November, […]

Year One of the Empire Bush: Resistance is Illogical Bush and a supine, cowardly Congress shredded the US Constitution on Tuesday, abolishing the right of a court review (habeas corpus) for some classes of suspect. Suspect, mind you, not proven criminal. In other words, we have to be confident that George W. Bush is so […]

31 Percent Increase in Iraq Poverty 60 Percent Unemployment 30 Bodies Found in Baghdad Sabrina Tavernise reports that US troops were called in by the police at Balad north of Baghdad to help quell a raft of death squad attacks by Shiite militiamen on Sunni Arab inhabitants. On Monday evening, mortar shells slammed into buildings […]

130 Killed in Wave of Sectarian Attacks Bush called Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Monday to reassure him that it was not true that the US planned to dump him if he had not produced better results in two months. Bush hasn’t dumped Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who has not produced better results for […]