Juan Cole

Did the Bush Administration Burn a Key al-Qaeda Double Agent? Simon Cameron-Moore and Peter Graff of Reuters reveal the explosive information that the Bush administration blew the cover Monday of double agent Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan. On Sunday August 1, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge announced a new alert against an al-Qaeda plot concerning fincial […]

US Attack “Uncivilized”: Jafari Fresh Violence in Sadr City 15 US Soldiers Wounded, 3 Dead in recent Fighting Before I go over the details, here is my reading of what is going on in Najaf. The truce between the Mahdi Army and US/ Iraqi forces broke down because they had different ideas of what the […]

Italians Battle Sadrists in Nasiriyah Late wire services on Friday afternoon in the US report that Nasiriyah was quiet after fighting earlier. Reader Anne Aldridge kindly summarizes a recent ANSA report from Rome on the situation earlier Friday: Intense combat is under way at Nasiriya between the Moqtada al Sadr militia and Italian military that […]

Muqtada: US is “Greatest of Satans” Sistani in London for Treatment Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani has been flown to London for medical treatment for a heart condition, removing him from the Najaf scene at a time of continuing fighting between radical Shiites and the United States. Abdul Hussein al-Obeidi of the Associated Press reports that […]

17 Dead, Dozens Wounded as Iraqi South Erupts 2 US Troops Killed, 5 Wounded in Najaf Alex Berenson of the New York Times reports that the young radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has called for a jihad or holy war against Coalition troops. Heavy fighting broke out between Mahdi Army fighters in Najaf, where the […]

Clinton on the Five Threats Facing US Bill Clinton said in a radio interview on Thursday that the Bush administration had made a grave mistake by turning US security with regard to al-Qaeda over to Pakistan while concentrating its own efforts on a low-level threat like Iraq. The former president listed the security threats to […]

Presbyterians Against Settler Colonialism The Presbyterian Church’s stance against companies that contribute to suffering in Israel and Palestine is among the most admirable and hopeful signs I’ve seen in American civil society for some time. It is usefully read in conjunction with Israel flouts road map with new settlement in The Guardian: “Israel has announced […]

2 Marines Killed, 4 Wounded Near Qaim 14 Iraqis Killed, 48 Wounded in Mosul Warfare Jackie Spinner of the Washington Post writes that guerrillas detonated roadside bombs near Qaim close to the Syrian border on Wednesday, killing two Marines in separate incidents and wounding 4. US forces engaged, wounded or captured several guerrillas at Tall […]

Brown excludes Iraqi Group as “Dangerous” in Memphis AP reports from Memphis that a Memphis councilman barred a visiting Iraqi delegation on a State Department tour of the United States from city hall. The seven Iraqis, who are meeting elected officials in Washington, Los Angeles and Chicago, were supposed to meet Memphis councilman Joe Brown […]