Juan Cole

Guerrillas Kill 6 Iraqi Soldiers, Wound 25 Over a thousand demonstrators rallied in Hilla to protest the bombing on Monday that is now estimated to have killed 106 persons at a medical clinic, including women and children and civilian men. It appears to have targeted potential recruits for the police and national guard standing in […]

Lebanon Realignment and Syria It is often pointed out that presidents get too much praise and blame for the economy, since the domestic economy has its own rhythms. We are now going to see everything that happens in the Middle East attributed to George W. Bush, whether he had much to do with it or […]

Negotiations Continue on Formation of Iraqi Government Al-Hayat: A Fallujah notable, Khalid Fakhri al-Jamili, said Monday that the Americans were engaged in a large-scale set of attacks on cities in Anbar province such as Ramadi, Hit, Hadithah and Aana, which had the prospect of reducing them to Fallujah-like states of destruction. He warned that the […]

Dawa Party Background Aaron Glantz gives an overview of the Dawa Party of Ibrahim Jaafari since 1980. One thing I would quibble with is that the dispute in the late 1980s was not over how close to be to the Iranian regime. It was over whether to keep the party autonomous or meld it in […]

Breaking News: Lebanese Government Resigns in Face of VideoClip Revolution Futur television satellite news is reporting that the Lebanese government has resigned. For the last few days, I was watching the crowds assembled at Martyrs’ Square in Beirut (a place significant in the anticolonial struggle against the French), and noted the ineffectual attempt of [now […]

Breaking News: Bloodbath in Hilla with 120 Dead, 200 Wounded Guerrillas drove a carbomb into the midst of young Shiite men standing in line to get physicals for service in the police or national guards, in the southern city of Hilla, and detonated it. CNN is reporting at least 120 dead and over 200 wounded. […]

8 Dead in Mosul UIA visits Sistani Threat of a Deadlock Guerrillas detonated a bomb in Mosul on Sunday that killed 8 persons and injured at least two more. The Syrians found Saddam Hussein’s half-brother in Beirut and handed him over to the US. (If there is an Arab city where US intelligence ought to […]

Mubarak and elections, Egyptian President Husni Mubarak is going to allow multiparty competition for the presidency. But note that only offically recognized parties can field candidates. This step excludes the Muslim Brotherhood, probably the only serious competitor with Mubarak’s party. Will blog more on this later . . . I’m really sleepy and it is […]

sBook Review on Islam and Iraq Paul William Roberts reviews a number of books about Islam and/or Iraq, and has some kind words about my Sacred Space and Holy War.