Juan Cole

Kirkuk Police Defy their Dismissal by Interior Ministry More Car Bombs Wreak Havoc The Associated Press reports, ‘ Four car bombings within seven minutes killed six people, including at least three Iraqi soldiers, in northern Iraq, an army commander said. The first attack struck Hawija, about 65 kilometres south of Kirkuk, before three others exploded […]

Quran Splashed with Urine at Guantanamo The Pentagon released this news late Friday in order to defeat the US news cycle, which closes down for the American weekend. I deliberately kept it for Monday morning. The Pentagon now admits that it found evidence in its files of the Quran being “mishandled” at Guantanamo. (Muslims would […]

Sunni Arab Issue Continues to Bedevil Iraq Ed Wong of the New York Times reports: ‘ Attacks continued across central and northern Iraq on Sunday. One man was killed in Buhruz, northeast of Baghdad, when gunmen drove up to a car carrying a police officer and opened fire, an Interior Ministry official said. The officer, […]

Hizbullah Wins Big in South Lebanon Hizbullah and Amal, along with some representatives of Saad al-Hariri’s “Future” movement swept the elections in South Lebanon. Lebanon also uses a “list” system, which I have decided is extremely anti-democratic. Hizbullah [Hezbollah] and Amal represent about 40% of the Lebanese population, i.e. the Shiites, but they only get […]

Bombings, Shootings in Balad, Tikrit, Samarra, Mahmudiyah Sunni Clerics Condemn Marginalization of their Community, Protest US Al-Sharq al-Awsat reports a suicide attack on an Iraqi military checkpoint in Balad Saturday, which killed three Iraqi soldiers and wounded a third. Guerrillas shot dead an Iraqi policemen from the rapid response team on a bridge in Samarra […]

The Zarqawi MythJordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (actually Ahmad al-Khalayleh of Zarqa) has been elevated by the Bush administration to an almost mythic position as the fomenter of much of the violence in Iraq. It isn’t true. Most of the violence in Iraq is being undertaken by Baathists or Iraqi nationalists trying to drive the […]

At Least 19 Dead in Guerrilla Violence Guerrillas detonated bombs near Balad, and in Samarra. Mortar rounds fell in Baghdad and there was a car bombing in the capital. A firefight took place in Tikrit. There were assassinations of important figures in Kirkuk, Baghdad and Basra. The Washington Post has some more details on the […]

Sufi Gathering Targeted, 10 Dead Andrew Marshall of Reuters reports, “A suicide bomber blew himself up at a gathering of Sufi Muslims north of Baghdad, killing 10 people in the latest attack by Iraqi insurgents on religious sects they disapprove of, officials said on Friday. The bomber detonated his explosives on Thursday evening in a […]

12,000 Dead in Iraqi Guerrilla War Rate of Killing Same as Under Saddam The final toll for Iraqis killed in guerrilla violence or the USG/Iraqi government response to it on Thursday grew to 39. In addition to the early-morning incidents reported here this morning, there were several further attacks around the country. In Baghdad, “men […]