Juan Cole

The Iraqization of Afghanistan A suicide bomber walked into the Abd al-Rabb Mosque in the southwestern city of Qandahar, Afghanistan, at 9 am Wednesday morning and detonated his payload, killing nearly 20 and wounding dozens. The mosque was holding a commemoration for a slain cleric, killed last week, who opposed the Taliban. The bombing comes […]

The Good Israelis Revered Israeli news anchor Haim Yavin has made a five-part documentary on the Israeli colonization of the Palestinian West Bank and Gaza Strip since 1967, concluding that it has harmed Israel. He says, “Since 1967, we have been brutal conquerors, occupiers, suppressing another people.” He adds, “My intention was to get the […]

9 Dead in Crashes Jaafari Pledges not to Contravene Islamic Law A bomb wounded three on the road to the airport from Baghdad. The bombers had been gunning for a US military convoy. In Fallujah, a bomb destroyed a car. (-LBC) Al-Hayat: The body of the governor of Anbar province, Nawaf Raja al-Mahallawi was discovered. […]

31 Dead, 108 Wounded in Hillah Blasts Basra Insecure Suicide bombers in the Shiite city of Hillah about an hour’s drive south of Baghdad killed at least 31 persons and wounded 108 on Monday. Al-Zaman says one bomber targeted recruits to the Iraqi security forces standing in line for a medical examination. Another hit recently […]

Iraqi Islamic Party Leader Released The US military has released Muhsin Abd al-Hamid, the leader of the Iraqi Islamic Party. The IIP runs the provincial council in Anbar and is the only major Sunni Arab religious party that has generally been willing to cooperate with the Americans. Abd al-Hamid served on the American-appointed Interim Governing […]

30 Dead, Dozens Wounded by Guerrillas In Response to Operation Lightning Guerrillas in Baghdad fought determinedly against the 40,000 Iraqi soldiers fielded to crack down on violence in Baghdad. AFP writes, “Four car bombs in and around the capital killed 16 people, most of them security personnel, Sunday, in a swift response to Iraq’s widest […]

No God But God Max Rodenbeck makes odd statements and basic errors in his review of Reza Aslan’s “No God but God” on the struggle between moderates and extremists in the Muslim world. Rodenbeck writes: “Aslan’s wish to emphasize the tolerant, merciful side of Islam can lead to pitfalls. It is not particularly comforting to […]

43 Iraqis Dead in 2 Days Shiite Pilgrims Massacred Killings in Sinjar, Hilla Wire services report that the unconventional sectarian civil war in Iraq continued on Saturday. Guerrillas in Qaim executed 10 Shiite pilgrims originally from Diwaniyah returning from Syria. The shrine of Sayyidah Zaynab, the granddaughter of the Prophet Muhammad and the sister of […]

Military Analysts Who Lived in Aluminum Fairy Land Rewarded Two Army analysts who mistakenly claimed that aluminum tubing bought by Iraq was for centrifuges to enrich uranium received job performance awards during the past 3 years. When the specifications of the tubing were finally shown to the International Atomic Energy Commission in March of 2003, […]