Juan Cole

Black Banners and Economic Warfare in Iraq Claude Salhani of UPI reports that the recent kidnappings of truck drivers in a bid to force the companies that employ them out of the Iraq market are being claimed by a shadowy group called “the Black Banners.” He speculates that this phrase has a Shiite ring to […]

Guest Editorial: Penn on the Fall of Pacifist Japan Michael Penn examines the impact of the Iraq crisis on Japan. Ending the “Irresponsible Peace”—The Fall of Pacifist Japan by Michael Penn More than two centuries ago James Madison wrote in The Federalist Papers that “the mild voice of reason, pleading the cause of an enlarged […]

September 11 Report Due Today The September 11 Panel will issue its findings on Thursday. It notes 10 points at which the US made key mistakes that might have stopped Bin Laden’s plot. Four of these were under Clinton and 6 under Bush. Bush came out today and said that if he had known what […]

US Military Death Toll in Iraq Reaches 900 Some Two Dozen Iraqis Killed in Baghdad, Ramadi, Baquba, Samarra Violence AP reports that a roadside bomb killed a 1st Infantry Division soldier in Duluiyah, 45 mi. north of Baghdad when his Bradley fighting vehicle struck it. He was the 900th US soldier to die in Iraq […]

Naylor on Iran/al-Qaeda Red Herring Professor Thomas Naylor of McGill writes: This is certainly not the the first time these tales about Iran cooperating with al-Qa’idah have surfaced. About two years ago US spooks floated via the Washington Post and other outlets some silly stories about al-Qa’idah involved in the underground traffic in gold. Since […]

4 US Servicement Killed Bombing in Baqubah leaves 6 dead AP reports that guerrillas killed two US Marines and two US soldiers in Anbar province on Monday and Tuesday. The two Marines were killed Tuesday. One soldier was killed and another wounded on Monday, and the wounded soldier died on Tuesday. The total toll for […]

Deputy Governor of Basra Assassinated AFP reports that guerrillas shot and killed Hazem Ainachi in Basra on Tuesday morning as he got in his car to go to work. Ainachi, acting governor of Basra and a member of the governing council in the southern city, had earlier held the posts of coordinator of the Basra […]

Iran in Bush’s Sights The same techniques used to get up the Iraq war are now being applied by the political Right in the United States, including President Bush, to Iran. These include innuendo, guilt by association, vague fears, and hyped capabilities. If Bush gets a second term, it seems very likely that his administration […]

Fresh Wave of Violence in Iraq Leaves 10 Dead, 62 Wounded Reuters reports that a suicide bomber set off a massive explosion by targeting a fuel tanker near a police station in Baghdad on Monday, killing 9 and wounding 62. There have been five such bombings of police or national guards in recent days, and […]