Juan Cole

Press Roundup for Wednesday 12/22 Josh White of the Washington Post reports that US soldiers at a base near Samarra routinely take mortar and machine gun fire, and that an incident similar to the luncheon massacre in Mosul could easily happen at other bases in the country. Skyrocketing security costs have forced Contrack International, a […]

Brooks on Moment of Hope David Brooks has a glib op-ed today in the New York Times in which he celebrates a moment of hope in the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. He suggests that all the factors analysts have been complaining about– the hegemony of the Likud in Israel, Ariel Sharon as PM, the re-election of George […]

Mosul Attack leaves 22 Dead, 51 Wounded The Guardian reports that a rocket and mortar attack on a US military base has left nearly two dozen dead and over 50 wounded. The shells landed on a tented mess hall, wreaking havoc among US troops, Iraqi national guards, and civilians. The Guardian notes that US bases […]

Poll Shows American Public Wising Up A new CNN poll shows that the views expressed here at Informed Comment on most issues related to Iraq and Donald Rumsfeld have become mainstream in the American public. A majority of Americans thinks Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld should resign. I called for his resignation after the Abu Ghraib […]

Funerals for 67 Dead Draw Thousands Fears of Instability Spreading Thousands of mourners came out in Najaf Monday to attend funerals for the 54 dead in that city from a massive bombing on Sunday. Emotions ran high, but key Shiite leaders seemed aware that the terrorism was intended to derail the upcoming elections, by producing […]

OFAC Reverses Censorship Policy Further to William Fisher’s guest editorial here on last Friday, good news! OFAC has reversed itself on several of its provisions for censoring manuscripts from Iran, Cuba Sudan. The issue, however, has not gone away. The Scientist notes, “But Edward Davis, one of the publishers’ attorneys, said yesterday that the publishers […]

43 Dead, More than 95 Wounded in Najaf, Karbala Ambush in Baghdad Guerrillas detonated a huge bomb near the bus station in Karbala on Sunday, destroying several minibuses and leaving dead and wounded. Then an hour later, guerrillas set off another big explosion, this time in downtown Najaf, at a funeral procession. The bomb exploded […]

Voter Registration Stations Attacked Ayatollahs: Shaalan Must Go According to Reuters, guerrillas in Dujail, 30 miles north of Baghdad, subjected the local voter registration site to mortar fire on Saturday morning, killing 2 and wounding 8. Six of the wounded were Iraqi national guards who were trying to provide security there. Late Friday night, mortar […]

Fisher Guest Editorial: US Squelches Shirin Ebadi RIGHT HAND, LEFT HAND By William Fisher Ellen Goodman of the Boston Globe performs a genuine public service by calling our attention to yet another screw-up in America’s war against the Axis of Evil. This one can only make us wonder if the government’s right hand knows what […]