Juan Cole

One Ring to Rule Them The wholesale destruction of all of Lebanon by Israel and the US Pentagon does not make any sense. Why bomb roads, bridges, ports, fuel depots in Sunni and Christian areas that have nothing to do with Shiite Hizbullah in the deep south? And, why was Hizbullah’s rocket capability so crucial […]

Lebanon War Grinds on Despite UN Diplomacy On Sunday morning, “Six civilians were killed when an air-to-ground missile hit a house in the village of Ansar, near the port city of Sidon. The aircraft returned as rescue teams in villages throughout the area tried to sift through rubble searching for more victims.” Also, on Sunday […]

Bombings in Baqubah, Ambush Near Kirkuk Reuters details guerrilla violence on Saturday (and late Friday. An army checkpoint sprayed with fire, killing 5 soldiers, near Kirkuk. Three bombs in Baqubah wounded 10. 7 bodies found in Kut. 9 bodies found in Baghdad. Then there was fighting in Ramadi. Morgue refrigerators made for 5 bodies are […]

Israeli Bombers Hit Christian Areas Israeli Massacre of Syrian Workers, Other Civilians Death Toll of 38 Courtesy the Daily Star The Daily Star reports: “Israeli warplanes destroyed five bridges along the main North-South coastal highway Friday, killing five people, wounding 19 others and completely isolating the capital from the North of the country.. . .The […]

Thousands of Sadrists Rally for Hizbullah in Baghdad Guerrilla Uprising in Mosul Some 100,000 Sadrists rallied against Israel’s war on Lebanon [Ar.] in Sadr City on Friday, their ranks swelled by an influx of demonstrators from Maysan and Wasit provinces. Al-Zaman notes that this demonstration comes two days after a similar big event for the […]

Israelis Kill 7 Civilians in Massive Air Raids on Beirut, South, Baalbak Hizbullah Rockets Kill 8 Civilians in Israel Israel resumed a heavy bombardment of South Beirut on Thursday, hitting al-Awza’i 24 times in the space of two hours. There are no Hizbullah facilities in al-Awza’i, according to LBC (a Christian-owned Lebanese satellite channel). AFP […]

38 Dead, including 2 Sadrists Killed by US US, UK Officials Admit Slide toward Civil War : Reuters says that 24 persons were killed or reported dead on Thursday. But 2 of the wounded Sadrists later died, and it doesn’t seem to know about the 9 bodies dragged from the Tigris or the shootings in […]

McGreevy: “Justice” Comes to Qana Patrick McGreevy writes from Beirut: “Justice” Comes to Qana ‘ The attacks of 11 September 2001 gave many ordinary Americans a palpable experience of injustice. Addressing both houses of Congress nine days later, President Bush proclaimed: “Our grief has turned to anger and anger to resolution. Whether we bring our […]

HRW: Israel Guilty of War Crimes Human Rights Watch, after extensive investigation, has concluded that the Israeli military is guilty of war crimes. HRW says: Israeli forces have systematically failed to distinguish between combatants and civilians in their military campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon, Human Rights Watch said in report released today. The pattern of […]