Juan Cole

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.

Lebanon War MIT’s electronic journal on the Middle East has a special issue on the Lebanon war. (Warning, .pdf).

9 US Troops Announced Killed; US/ Mahdi Army Clashes in Diwaniyah; Hundreds of Iraqi Police Made Sick by Meal Altogether, the US military announced the deaths of 9 US troops over the weekend on Sunday. Four US troops were announced killed by a roadside bomb on Sunday. The NYT says, that in addition, “The military […]

Tony Judt Talk Cancelled after Pressure from Israel Lobby There was a virtual news blackout on the debate at Cooper Union recently on the influence of the Israel Lobby. The video of the debate, which included John Mearsheimber, Dennis Ross, Martin Indyk and Rashid Khalidi, is now available on the Web. Despite the widespread interest […]

Blunkett Blames Cheney, Rumsfeld Baker Commission to accept 3-region Solution? 40 Killed; Tal Afar Bombed WaPo reports, ‘Last month, 776 U.S. troops were wounded in action in Iraq, the highest number since . . . November 2004, [and] the fourth-highest monthly total since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003. The sharp increase in […]

VP Abdul Mahdi: US Military Part of Problem; 4,000 Iraq police killed in past 2 years The deaths of two more US Marines were announced on Friday. Vice President Adil Abdul Mahdi said on Friday that the lack of a Status of Forces Agreement is among the main reasons for political gridlock in Iraq. The […]

62 Dead, Dozens Wounded as Rice Visits; Warner: Iraq going Sideways; Mahdi Army makes Hospitals Bases Senator John Warner says that Iraq is “drifting sideways” and that many communities do not have potable water. He is one of the few American politicians I have heard talking about the lack of services in much of the […]

Insurgent Leader Offers Talks with US Demands Withdrawal Timetable Dr. Ibrahim al-Shammari of the Islamic Army of Iraq offered talks with the US if Congress will set a withdrawal timetable. IAI was at one point allied with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s “Monotheism and Holy War” guerrilla group, but appears itself to be indigenous Iraqis. The USG […]