Juan Cole

Washington Whodunits and the Iraq War Evangelist Pat Robertson has ignited a firestorm by telling CNN that President Bush alleged in March of 2003 that “there will be no casualties” in the Iraq war. Robertson said he had pressed the president to prepare the public for casualties. White House spinmeister Karl Rove is denying that […]

11 US Soldiers Wounded in SamarraCar Bombs & Assassinations On Wednesday, clashes in Samarra left 11 US soldiers wounded, with 8 civilians killed and 12 wounded. Reuters naughtily notes that the US had claimed to have pacified the town earlier. Also in Samarra, guerrillas detonated two car bombs, killing one child and wounding a translator. […]

Bush would Accept Islamic Iraq Bush fundamentalizes the Middle East President Bush has said that he would “accept” an “Islamic Iraq,” according to AP. If free and open Iraqi elections lead to the seating of a fundamentalist Islamic government, “I will be disappointed. But democracy is democracy,” Bush said. “If that’s what the people choose, […]

10 Dead, 109 Wounded Warren Strobel of Knight Ridder has an excellent retrospective on the damage done to the US effort in Iraq by the Department of Defense’s lack of planning for the post-war, Phase IV period. Actually, I know that serious thought was given to Phase IV in some areas of the military, especially […]

Democracy and Iraqi Universities Nancy Youssef of Knight Ridder gives us an excellent piece on the democratic process and debates at Iraq’s universities. An excerpt: ‘ Students hold protests and sit-ins, sign petitions and go on marches, all new since Saddam Hussein fell. This week, a group of students from al Mustansiriya University protested Iraqi […]

Sistani Calls for Independent Slate AFP/ ash-Sharq al-Awsat report that a spokesman for Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani said Monday that the spiritual leader supports the formation of a committee of “independents” to form a party ticket to contest the elections scheduled for January. Hamid al-Khaffaf said at a gathering at the Sadr Center in Najaf […]

15 Dead, 52 wounded in Iraq Violence Al-Zaman says that violence killed 15 and left 52 persons injured in a series of explosions and attacks on Sunday and Monday, in Baghdad, Mosul, Baqubah, al-Hillah and Tikrit. AP reports that In Mosul on Monday, a car bomber ran into a civilian convoy, leaving one dead and […]

Over a Dozen Police Killed, Nearly 2 Dozen Wounded Reuters reports that guerrillas detonated a car bomb on Sunday near a Baghdad cafe frequented by Iraqi police, killing seven persons and wounding 20. The police were having their evening meal to break the fast during Ramadan. On Saturday, guerrillas had opened fire south of Baghdad […]

Tawhid Joins al-Qaeda On the internet site of Monotheism and Holy War (al-Tawhid wa al-Jihad), the group allegedly declared, “We announce that the Tawhid and Jihad Group, its prince and soldiers, have pledged allegiance to the sheikh of the mujahideen Osama bin Laden.” This pledge is a new development. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and his group […]