Juan Cole

Guerrillas Kill 29, Incl. 3 Marines Sistani List Looks set to Win Big Late in the Iraqi election season, interim Prime Minister Allawi and his supporters clearly attempted to build a buzz that his list would do better than expected and that he still had a shot at remaining prime minister. I personally thought this […]

Guest Editorial: Arato on Constitutional Participation in Iraq Constitutional Participation in Iraq by Andrew Arato The election of January 30, 2005 was Sistani’s victory. It is indisputable that it was he above all who pushed through this election for a constitution making assembly in the face of American resistance and UN paternalism. But as Carl […]

Marine General’s Idea of Fun Marine Lt. General James Mattis said Thursday ‘ “Actually, it’s a lot of fun to fight. You know, it’s a hell of a hoot. … It’s fun to shoot some people. I’ll be right upfront with you, I like brawling.” He added, “You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who […]

Karl Rove’s Memo to Bush on the Middle East Note to the humorless: Satire Warning M E M O From: Karl Rove To: W. Re: State of the Union and the Middle East Problem: The big steps toward open parliamentary elections in the Arab world have happened in Morocco, Jordan, Yemen and Bahrain. We didn’t […]

Guerrillas Kill 11 as Mosul & Ninevah Demonstrate Security problems are reemerging as traffic gets back to normal. Al-Zaman says that Tuesday and Wednesday 11 persons were killed in Baghdad, including 8 policemen and army troops. Iraqi officials admitted Wednesday that the election held on Sunday was flawed. Wire services also report an assassination attempt […]

The Bombing I don’t always agree with Dahr Jamail, an independent journalist in Iraq. I don’t think the US used chemical weapons at Fallujah, and I don’t think people were coerced to vote via their food ration cards. But Dahr’s report on the US bombing campaign on civilian neighborhoods in Iraqi cities, which the US […]

Religious Shiites claim Victory Abdul Aziz al-Hakim claimed victory in the Sunday elections for the United Iraqi Alliance, the coalition of religious Shiite parties he leads. And this is what the winners, if they are winners, think of the US: ‘ “No one welcomes the foreign troops in Iraq. We believe in the ability of […]

3 Marines Killed, 2 Wounded Violent clashes broke out Tuesday into early Wednesday between guerrillas and US Marines in the vicinity of Fallujah, according to LBC (Lebanese satellite television news). Al-Jazeerah is reporting US airstrikes on Ramadi, with deaths of civilians. Ash-Sharq al-Awsat reports that two explosions in Samarra killed 5 persons and wounded 6. […]

Election Fallout Ash-Sharq al-Awsat: The Association of Muslims Scholars, a hardline Sunni clerical group, announced that it rejects the legitimacy of the elections, insofar as they were conducted under the shadow of occupation. AMS spokesman Umar Raghib disputed the reports of a high election turnout, especially in Sunni Arab areas. He said that turnout was […]