Juan Cole

5 US Troops, at least 9 Iraqis Dead Violence up 36 Percent in Iraq The incidents of violence on Friday and Saturday in Iraq that appeared in the newspapers were a very small proportion of the whole. The press did tell us that guerrillas killed 5 US troops in separate incidents on Friday and Saturday. […]

Two Faces of Bush This graphic is part of a new Democratic Party initiative to focus on the “two-facedness” of George W. Bush, which is apparently conceived broadly. The thing the graphic most reminded me of was Bush’s angry performance at the Cabinet meeting that discussed Fallujah in early April of 2004, where Newsweek says […]

US Assault on Ramadi Rockets in Baghdad Kill 4 Sadrists, AMS threaten Fresh Uprisings President George W. Bush cited a poll done in June and July to argue that Iraqis are more optimistic about their future than Americans are about theirs. First of all, even if this were true, it is not good news for […]

Of Iron Fists and Oil Sabotage Marine Killed in Anbar Guerrillas in Anbar Province killed a Marine on Thursday. US forces clashed with guerrillas in Samarra, signalling a breakdown of the truce earlier worked out between city elders and US commanders, which would have provided extensive reconstruction aid in return for the city’s acceptance of […]

Violence, Allawi, Sistani and Elections Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani continues to be concerned as to whether elections will be held in January in Iraq, and whether the outcome will reflect the Shiite majority in Iraq. He is worried that the system adopted, of nation-wide party lists, favors a small set of parties, mainly expatriate. Since […]

Iraq Violence Kills at Least 24, Wounds over 100 Sistani Criticizes Election Plans The guerrilla war and American military assertiveness together wrought havoc in several areas of Iraq once again on Wednesday. Baghdad In downtown Baghdad, guerrillas used a car bomb to strike at persons in a retail district who were waiting to sign up […]

Cat Stevens Deported I know that it is faintly ridiculous that Cat Stevens a.k.a. Yusuf Islam was deported on Wednesday from the US after the airplane he was on was diverted to Maine, on the grounds that he is a dire security threat to the country. David Letterman in his monologue allowed darkly as how […]

If America were Iraq, What would it be Like? President Bush said Tuesday that the Iraqis are refuting the pessimists and implied that things are improving in that country. What would America look like if it were in Iraq’s current situation? The population of the US is over 11 times that of Iraq, so a […]

The Western Press on Religious Violence in Iraq Howard LaFranchi of the Christian Science Monitor gives further, searching consideration to the mysterious murder of clerics on Sunday and Monday and sees dangers of sectarian violence increasing in Iraq. Paul Wood of the BBC reports on the situation in the British-dominated South. It is not a […]