Juan Cole

More on Iran and Iraq Or, Part 13 of the Rumsfeld Follies Anna Badkhen of the San Francisco Chronicle, who has reported from southern Iraq, examines the claims by US officials that Iran is sending bombs to Iraq to be used in the Sunni guerrilla insurgency. The claim, by Rumsfeld and others, is so ridiculous […]

Sufis condemn Killing of Innocents Al-Zaman: The Legal Rulings Office of the Central Council for Sufi Orders issued a fatwa or legal ruling on Sunday that forbids the killing of unarmed innocents from among the children of the Iraqi people. The fatwa or legal ruling clarified, “The gunmen’s shedding of the blood of the people, […]

The Prospect of Islamic Law in Iraq A secular Muslim reader writes on the reactionary implications of implementing Islamic canon law in Iraq: ‘ Unfortunately Sharia as we know it is implemented to punish the down trodden and the powerless, whose hands are cut off or who are pelted with stones or lashed in public […]

Sunni Exit Plan? Robert Collier of the San Francisco Chronicle has a very important article today on Sunni Iraqi’s own exit plan for the US, which is much more nuanced than one might have imagined. Excerpts: ‘ “It’s impossible for them or us to fix an exact schedule” for troop withdrawal, said Isam al-Rawi, a […]

Islamic Law Primary in Iraqi Constitution Thousands demonstrate against Federalism Kurdish Masses demand right to Secede Guerrillas ambushed a group of special police in Baghdad on Saturday, killing two of them. There was also a bombing of police in Fallujah. Altogether, al-Sharq al-Awsat says, some 11 Iraqi police and civilians were killed by guerrilla action […]

Village Voice on Feith US foreign policy supports the withdrawal of Israeli colonizers from the Palestinian Gaza Strip. But the outgoing number 3 man at the Pentagon, the son of a founder of the proto-fascist Likud Party, has his own foreign policy and fanatically favors the aggressive expansion of Israel and further expropriation of Palestinian […]

Visser on Shiite Separatism in Iraq Reidar Visser’s “Shi‘i Separatism in Iraq: Internet Reverie or Real Constitutional Challenge?” [pdf] is now available online. It is a very serious piece of research and lays out the details of an important but little-examined political movement in the south.

Sistani Opposes Ceding Kirkuk to Kurdistan Sadrists Demonstrate against Federalism Al-Zaman: On Friday, a major split became apparent among the Shiite clerics of Iraq on the issue of a federated state. Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani himself maintained a studied silence on the issue. He is reported initially to have opposed the establishment of further confederacies […]

Guest Editorial: Amendment and Empire Andrew Arato Amendment and Empire ‘ Constitutional amendment rules are beautiful things. They signify the sovereign right of a political community and its legitimate representatives to fashion and revise their political rules and institutions. Both Jefferson and Madison, though at odds concerning the nature and frequency of desirable constitutional amendments, […]