Juan Cole

Rove Unfit for Public Office Whether the courts can and will punish Karl Rove for telling Time Magazine’s Matthew Cooper that Joe Wilson’s wife was a CIA operative should be beside the point. That’s for the courts to decide. The real question is whether we want a person to occupy a high office in the […]

35 Killed in Clashes, Guerrilla Attacks on Monday Al-Zaman reports that 2 members of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, a leading Shiite political party, were killed in Latifiyah. The circumstances were not reported, but that area of Iraq has seen repeated Sunni-Shiite violence. Reuters reports security incidents in Iraq for Monday: In […]

London, Terrorism and Iraq A Majority of Americans says Iraq War has made them Less Safe The UK will have two minutes of silence on Thursday in honor of the victims of the the July 7 bombings. We should have it in the United States, as well. If we cannot synchonize with the British timing […]

Jerusalem and Terrorism The Ariel Sharon government in Israel has announced that it will build a huge wall on someone else’s land through Jerusalem, cutting off 55,000 Arabs from the city (they’ll have to go through nasty Israeli checkpoints every day to get into their own city!) This is land theft on a massive scale. […]

Guerrilla Violence Kills 48 Jaafari Criticizes US Rules of Engagement Guerrillas launched a new wave of bomb attacks in Iraq on Sunday, killing at least 48 persons and wounding dozens more. AP reports: In Baghdad, a suicide bomber targeted a recruiting center for the new Iraqi military. He killed 25 and wounded nearly 50 persons, […]

Update on London Bombings Larry Johnson writes knowledgeably on the possible types of explosives used in the July 7 London bombing at Pat Lang’s very interesting Weblog. The leader of the Muhajirun group predicted last year that London would be hit by extremists. Fareed Zakaria nails it. The piece is well worth reading for his […]

22 Killed in Iraq Guerrilla Violence US, UK, to Massively Draw Down Troops during Next Year Reuters has picked up on a report that first appeared in The Guardian on July 6, that the British are planning to draw down from 8,000 to 9,000 troops in Iraq now to 2,000 to 3,000 by spring-summer of […]

Update on London Bombing Investigation Cole: Unlikely to be by British Muslims AP is reporting that London police have issued new conclusions about the July 7 London bombings. The three subway bombings were virtually simultaneous, suggesting that they were coordinated somehow (or maybe the timers had just been set for the same time). It is […]

London Bombing by Less Sophisticated Group London began digging out on Friday, dealing with the aftermath of the attacks. AP reports: ‘ Much of London was eerily quiet. Bombed stations were shrouded in security curtains, and refrigerated trucks waited outside to carry away bodies. Bouquets of fresh flowers and cards scribbled with thoughts for the […]