Juan Cole

Back Channels The US military has established back-channel negotiations with some of the leaders of the Sunni Arab guerrilla war, according to Time magazine. Earlier on, the US had refused such negotiations. Ahmad Chalabi was clearly angered by these talks, and said on US television on Sunday that the new Iraqi government would not be […]

Abu Ghraib in Brooklyn Larry Cohler-Esses of the New York Daily News reveals that Abu Ghraib has been going on in the United States itself. Five Israeli suspects and dozens of Muslim ones apprehended after September 11 were subjected to humiliation, stripped, left in the cold, and generally treated with cruelty. None of the arrestees […]

How Many Methods Are There to Enact a New Constitution in Iraq? Guest Editorial by Andrew Arato Many commentators keep repeating a fundamentally erroneous statement, namely that Sunni part of the population unrepresented in the National Assembly is to an important extent protected in the Iraqi political process because a new constitution can be adopted […]

Chalabi Interviewed by Stephanopoulos George Stephanopoulos interviewed Ahmad Chalabi on ABC’s This Week Sunday morning. Here are some excerpts from the press release issued with the transcript afterwards: ‘ · When Mr. Stephanopoulos asked why Prime Minister Allawi’s government failed to stop the insurgency and how the new government will deal with the same issues, […]

At Least 55 Dead, Over 100 Wounded In Ashura Bombings Eight suicide bombers struck at various sites in Iraq on Saturday, killing and wounding dozens during the commemboration of Ashura. This holy day is sort of like Easter Friday for Shiites, when they remember the martyrdom of Husain, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad. The […]

Present Conflicts, Looming Conflicts Reuters reports, ‘ Five U.S. soldiers were killed in separate guerrilla attacks in Iraq, the U.S. military said Friday, three in or near the northern city of Mosul, one north of Baghdad and the fifth south of the capital. ‘ The Financial Times points out that a conflict is brewing between […]

Bomb Blasts kill at Least 40 Suicide bombers targeted three Shiite mosques in Baghdad and one near Kirkuk, and other blasts went off elsewhere in the country, wreaking devastation. The guerrillas continue to attempt to provoke Sunni-Shiite civil war, but so far Shiites are continuing to refuse to fall for this gambit. Having come to […]

Shiite Iraq Al-Hayat: Muhammad Husain Adili, the Iranian ambassador to the United Kingdom, said Thursday that his government had leant substantial help to the United States in fostering a “calm atmosphere” for the holding of elections on Jan. 30 in Iraq. He revealed that Iran had contacted Sunni Arab groups with which it had influence […]

Shiites Have Majority The Iraqi Electoral Commission confirmed on Thursday the projection I reported here last Monday, that the United Iraqi Alliance or the Shiite religious parties have a 51 percent majority of seats in the new Iraqi parliament. They have 140 seats out of 275. The wire services have been confused about this matter […]