Juan Cole

Letter from Rasha in Beirut; and the Israeli Siege Notes From Rasha [a young woman] in Beirut: “Dear All, I am drafting this entry in this unusual diary at 11:30 pm. I have about half an hour before the generator shuts down. Most of Beirut is in the dark. I dare not imagine what the […]

Letter from a Young Lebanese-American Woman Yasmina Kamal wrote this to an email acquaintance of mine and I am reprinting: I now feel compelled from within to voice my own views of the recent bloody conflict. Since I have many close friends on either side of the issue, and since I grew up in a […]

Call Congress! I got this from the CNI. I agree. Please let Congress know that Israel’s Total War on Lebanon (they hit the Saint Therese Hospital today) is unacceptable. Please take a moment to call or email your congressional representatives. There is a link on the right to congress.org or the below message gives a […]

Israel Targets Milk, Medicine Factories Hizbullah Kills One in Nahariyah Israeli troops invaded Lebanon again early Wednesday morning, on what Israeli spokesmen called a limited search and destroy mission. Hizbullah sent more rockets on northern Israel, killing one person at Nahariyah. The death toll late Tuesday stood at 235 people killed in Lebanon and 25 […]

70 Iraqis Killed on Tuesday Massive Bombing at Kufa I thought I’d check in with Iraq news, for which I don’t have as much time because I’m following Lebanon. Bad idea. Very bad scene. Already mid-morning on Wednesday, Reuters was reporting these incidents: ‘ BAGHDAD – Five civilians were killed and 22 wounded, including three […]

Bush to Siniora: Drop Dead Israeli war planes struck Lebanese army targets on Tuesday: “Israeli warplanes pounded an army barracks east of Beirut in an overnight raid in which 11 troops, including four officers, were killed and 40 injured, an army statement said Tuesday.” That wasn’t a Hizbullah barracks. That was the regular Lebanese army, […]

Israel’s Maximal Option My article on the political and military aims of the Israeli government and of Hizbullah is out at Salon.com. Excerpt: Israel has a range of options. It has already made one raid into the south. It could pull back at any point. But the maximal option would be to change the human […]

Evacuation of the American University in Beirut Patrick McGreevy writes from Beirut: ‘ Friends, In the early evening, we watched from our apartment balcony as a huge white cruise ship glided past west Beirut toward Cyprus. Aboard were several groups of evacuees, including a number of US students from American University of Beirut. A few […]

Email from Beirut A friend writes from the American University in Beirut: ‘ The university has fuel (and power) for only 12 days; after that we will have a real crisis at the hospital which is already stressed with many wounded people. Refugees from the southern suburbs are now visible in Ras Beirut. I spoke […]