Juan Cole

The Australian Military and Iraq Given Australian PM John Howard’s appearance with Bush in Washington on Tuesday, the question of the role of Australian troops in Iraq remains a live one– especially in view of British plans to draw down their contingent to only 3,000 in the next year. Brian writes from Australia: ‘ You […]

24 Dead in Iraq Women face Restrictions PM Ibrahim Jaafari’s discussions in Tehran with the Iranian government have gone well. A number of economic deals were struck that will help Iraq recover its ability to produce electricity. AP reports that guerrilla violence left 24 dead in Iraq on Monday. AP says that most of the […]

July 7 bombers Stayed in Karachi Al-Hayat is reporting that Magdy Elnashar, the Egyptian suspect in the July 7 bombing now being interrogated by British police in Cairo, admits that he knew Hasib Hussein, one of the four bombers, and helped him get an apartment. The apartment he passed to Hasib was discovered to be […]

Bush Weasels out of Pledge With regard to the Karl Rove leak scandal, President Bush had earlier pledged to fire anyone with responsibility for the leak of a CIA operative’s name.. But now he is revising his criteria to say that he would only fire the person if they were shown to be guilty. Satire […]

The Crock of Appeasement The warmongers, imperialists, and just plain greedy who wish to use up US troops to gain their ill-gotten goods love to use the word “appeasement.” Anyone who stands against their expansionist ambitions will be tagged with this term. In the lexicology of the Rabid Right, it evokes British Prime Minister Neville […]

Christian Terrorist Rudolph Sentenced What the Rightwing Press Will not Say Notorious Christian terrorist Eric Rudolph was sentenced to two life terms on Monday. The one-time fugitive had carried out four bombings that terrorized the southeastern areas of the United States. Among his crimes were the blowing up of an abortion clinic in Birmingham, Alabama, […]

Israeli Orange Shirts Protest, Threaten Violence Tens of thousands of rightwing Israeli protesters came out on Monday to rally against the withdrawal of Israeli colonizers from the Palestinian Gaza strip. To the lexicon of brown shirts and black shirts of the European far right can now be added the phrase “Orange Shirts,” the color favored […]

Bombings Provoke Fears of Hot Civil War Jalal al-Din Saghir, an Iraqi parliamentarian close to Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, called the weekend’s onslaught of suicide bombings a sign that Iraq is slipping into civil war. Shiite neighborhoods in and around Baghdad are seething with rage over the massacre at Musayyib, which used a fuel truck […]

Leeds Cell Linked to al-Libi? The Mystery of the Egyptian Chemist Pakistani authorities have traced one telephone call from one of the July 7 bombers to a businessman in Pakistan, and are questioning him. They are also following up on other telephone calls to the country from the bombers. Officials have also been visiting madrasahs […]