Juan Cole

Hostage-Taking, Demonstrations in Najaf and Karbala In the holy city of Najaf, Shiite militiamen of Muqtada al-Sadr’s Mahdi army took 18 policemen hostage, in hopes of forcing them to release jailed colleagues of theirs. The hostage-taking is probably also meant to remind local Iraqi security forces that it is dangerous for them to cooperate with […]

Cheney Blames Democrats for High Oil Prices (!) US Vice President Dick Cheney lambasted the Democrats on Tuesday for causing high petroleum prices. I don’t often find Dick Cheney amusing, but I fell off my sofa belly-laughing over this one. Cheney, being an oil man, knows exactly why petroleum prices are high. 1) The Iraq […]

Do People Want to Hurt us Because We’re on the Offensive? A sound bite from President Bush on Monday strikes me as emblematic of the country’s current crisis. He said, “It is a ridiculous notion to assert that, because the United States is on the offensive, more people want to hurt us,” he said. “We’re […]

Marine, Kirkuk Police, Iraqi National Guard Killed Agence France Press reported that guerrillas killed a US Marine Tuesday in al-Anbar Province during ‘security and stability operations.’ Ash-Sharq al-Awsat reports that guerrillas ambushed a police patrol in Kirkuk, killing three policemen and wounding 6. Guerrillas in Karbala killed an Iraqi national guardsman and wounded 3 others […]

Series of Arrests in Pakistan reveals Plot to bomb Finance Centers The uncovering of a possible al-Qaeda plot against key US financial centers in New York and Washington began with the arrest in June of the nephew of Khalid Shaikh Muhammad and the cousin of Ramzi Yusuf, two top Paksitani operatives who come from Pakistan […]

Muqtada’s House Besieged by Marines US Marines and Iraqi National Guard troops headed for the house of Muqtada al-Sadr on Monday, possibly in an another attempt to arrest him, provoking a firefight with his militiamen, who were guarding the house. Several persons were wounded, and one woman was killed, according to Sadrist sources. The troops […]

Muslim Clerics Decry Targetting of Christians Iraq’s major religious leaders all strongly condemned Sunday’s bombing of Iraqi churches. Newsday writes, ‘ Iraq’s top Shia Muslim cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, condemned the attacks as “hideous crimes” and a threat to the fragile nation’s “unity, stability and independence . . . We assert the importance of […]

At Least 28 Dead, Over 100 Wounded in Iraq Attacks 1 US Soldier from 1st ID among Killed Early Sunday in Mosul, guerrillas attacked a police station, killing 5 persons, including 2 police, and wounding 53 (-al-Hayat). Later in the day, guerrillas bombed 5 Christian churches, some while evening mass was just ending, 4 in […]

Electricity Riots in Najaf Amara Council Dissolved Al-Zaman: For the second straight day on Sunday, angry crowds attacked the Electricity Office in downtown Najaf, protesting interruptions in the electricity supply that stretched to as many as 18 hours straight in recent days. The lack of electricity hurts local industry and agriculture, and leaves the population […]