Juan Cole

Chalabi seeks Anti-American Coalition Kurds Demand Kirkuk Az-Zaman: In a development that many observers considered a surprise, it was announced Friday that Ahmad Chalabi, Shiite secularist and head of the Iraqi National Congress, met a few days ago with members of the Association of Muslim Scholars, who had boycotted the political process. He discussed with […]

Achcar: Allawi’s Offensive Gilbert Achcar writes by email: Allawi’s offensive which I described in my previous email involved a phone talk yesterday with George W. Bush, described as follows by the WH spokesperson: ———————————————-Press Briefing by Scott McClellan [excerpt] The White House March 3, 2005 Q When the President talked with Allawi this morning, you […]

US-Engineered Lebanese Elections of 1957 Josh Buermann of Flagrancy to Reason has dug up a printed source for the allegation I reported from a former USG official, that the CIA engineered the 1957 Lebanese elections (and so helped to provoke the mini-civil war of 1958). He writes: From the March 31st, 1997 New York Times: […]

3 US Soldiers Killed, Baquba Bombed Guerrillas take advantage of Parliamentary Gridlock AFP reports that on Thursday, in addition to the two bombings at the Ministry of the Interior, guerrilas car-bombed a police station in Baquba and killed 3 US soldiers. ‘ In Baquba, north of the capital, one person was killed and 18 wounded […]

Allawi Gambit Gilbert Achcar writes in an email: Today’s (3/3) Al-Hayat quotes Allawi’s conditions for any agreement on the government: “to keep the security apparatuses in their present formula; no interference from the [Shia parties’] militias in their functioning; to prevent regional and neighboring states [not the US, of course!] from interfering in Iraq’s domestic […]

Regime Change, Mafia Style: Syria 1957 Settling scores department: Some bloggers or commentators expressed skepticism about my allegation of US shaping of the Middle East in the 1950s and after. Gilbert Achcar reminded me of this report of the discovery of documents proving a US and British assassination plot against Syrian leaders in 1957. Kermit […]

US Military Deaths reach 1500; 19 Iraqis Killed Associated Press says that a US Marine killed by guerrillas in Babil province on Wednesday was number 1500 among US military deaths in Iraq. This number includes over 300 troops that have not died in action, though some proportion of those deaths may actually be war-related; and […]

Still no Government Allawi Slams Sistani Negotiations between the religious Shiite coalition, the United Iraqi Alliance, which has 54 percent of seats in the parliament, have bogged down with the Kurdish Alliance, which has 27 percent, according to the Scotsman. The UIA needs 66% to form a government. In theory, the UIA could call parliament […]

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