Juan Cole

Sistani Calls on Iraqis to Turn in Terrorists Sadrists Call for Sunnis to Fight Zarqawi Al-Zaman/ AFP report that Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the Shiite spiritual leader, called Friday on his supporters to aid the authorities in combatting the perpetrators of violence, according to the members of a delegation that met with him. According to […]

The Victory of Hamas and the Miseries of Bush’s Policies My article about the victory of Hamas in the Palestinian elections is out at Salon.com. Excerpt: ‘ Hamas, or the Islamic Resistance Movement, a branch of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, has come to power in Palestine. In his press conference on Thursday, Bush portrayed the […]

Minister of Industry Almost Killed US Tilting to Sunni Arabs? Assassinations in Kirkuk, a near-death of the minister of industry (and actual deaths of his bodyguards), the death of a GI and wounding of another in a roadside bombing, were among the violent incidents in Iraq on Thursday. Guerrillas also attacked a convoy of oil […]

Split in Sunni Guerrilla Movement Gilbert Achcar kindly shares this translation of an article from al-Hayat on splits in the Sunni Arab guerrilla movement. ‘ The AMS: We Are Now Waging Two Battles: Against ‘the Occupation’ and Against ‘the Terrorists’ Sunni Clans Take the Initiative of Launching a Campaign to Expel Zarqawi’s Followers and ‘Foreigners […]

Pipeline Blasted Again Sunnis want Federalism postponed until 2009 Guerrillas blew up pipelines again on Wednesday, halting Iraqi petroleum exports through Turkey. There were some other bombings and shootings. Interior Ministry police commandos (usually Shiites) killed a Sunni cleric in Samarra. This looks bad. A new report says that the Iraq quagmire is causing the […]

Achcar on Basra & British Gilbert Achcar kindly writes: ‘ Dear Friends, I searched a couple of British newspapers today and could not find any mention of the news item reported in today’s Al-Hayat and involving British troops in Basrah.I decided therefore to translate it for your information. The behavior of British troops in Southern […]

7 Troops killed in 2 Days Sunni Arabs warn of Paralysis Guerrillas used roadside bombs to kill 7 US and coalition troops in the past two days in separate incidents. Sunni Arab politicians in Iraq are complaining that the US has set up the new political system so as to favor sectarian outcomes and to […]

Rafsanjani Warns against US Policy in Iraq Muqtada Demands Islamic Rule Former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said Monday as he met with young Iraqi Shiite nationalist, Muqtada al-Sadr, that the US sought to divide and rule in Iraq. Iran Focus says, ‘ “The goals of the occupiers are in contradiction to the wishes of […]

Top Ten Mistakes of the Bush Administration in Reacting to Al-Qaeda Usamah Bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri murdered 3,000 Americans, and they both issued tapes in the past week, blustering and threatening us with more of the same. Most of us aren’t wild about paying for the Bush administration with our taxes, but one thing […]