Juan Cole

Iraq War Broke Back of US Counter-Terrorism: Experts Fresh bombings and assassinations, and the discovery of 18 bodies brought the death toll in Iraq on Thursday to some 34. A new poll of counter-terrorism and national security experts finds that 84 percent of them believe the US is not winning the war on terror, and […]

Members of Israeli Parliament on the Gaza Operation The USG Open Document Center translates this report from Israeli news broadcasts in Hebrew: Israel: Islamic Movement, MKs Comment on Gaza OperationIsrael — OSC ReportThursday, June 29, 2006 T17:23:50Z Ro’i Nahmias reports at 1036 GMT on Ynetnews: “The northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel aggressively […]

Israel Detains Palestinian Ministers Knocks out Electricity to Half of Gazans Half of the Palestinians in Gaza, who were already living pretty miserable lives after decades of marginalization and brutalization by the Israelis, were left without electricity yesterday. Palestinian officials like Saeb Erekat rejected the idea that knocking out electricity for hundreds of thousands of […]

Bombings in Baghdad, Baquba, Mahaweel Guerrilla Groups offer Truce if US will Withdraw Reuters details Iraq’s ongoing civil war violence: Guerrillas bombed a market in the Shiite quarter of Kadhimiyah, Baghdad, killing one person and wounding 8. Guerrillas detonated a car bomb near a throng of workers who had gathered to look for work at […]

Defending Markos And the Discourse Revolution I’ve been doing a lot of traveling recently, some of it abroad, and have barely been able to keep up with Iraq, much less with the blogosphere. I was sorry, as a result to have missed yearly Kos and to have been unable to return Markos Moulitsas’s kindnesses (i.e. […]

Iraqi Sermons from June 23, 2006 The USG Open Source Center translates sermons in Iraq on 6/23/2006: “At 0845 GMT Baghdad Satellite Channel in Arabic, reportedly sponsored by the Iraqi Islamic Party, carries a live relay of Shaykh Harith al-Ubaydi’s sermon from the Sunni Al-Shawwaf Mosque in Baghdad. In his sermon, Shaykh Harith Al-Ubaydi touches […]

Israel invades Gaza, Hits Bridges, Electricity The Israeli military destroyed 3 bridges that connect Gaza, and knocked out electricity along the coast, as troops made incursions into Gaza. I don’t have time to comment much on all this right now, except to say that the use of force here is all out of proportion. Without […]

Sunni Mosque Burned Guerrillas (likely Shiite militiamen) use mortar fire to destroy a Sunni mosque and burn down 20 shops in Shahraban near Baquba, northeast of Baghdad, on Wednesday morning. Reuters reports the civil war violence for Tuesday. There were bombings in Baghdad, Kirkuk and elsewhere, killing some 21 persons in iraq on Tuesday. Al-Zaman […]

Personal Investment as Commitment AP says that a “safer Iraq” is needed for US investment. D’oh. But this article reminds me of all the politicians (of both major parties) and bloggers who keep saying that things are just fine in Iraq and that the bad news is exaggerated by the “liberal media” (oh mythic phoenix!). […]