Juan Cole

Sistani Arrives in Najaf Dozens Dead in Kufa Mosque Mortar attack Abdul Hussein al-Obeidi of AP reports that Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani has arrived in Najaf and gone to a house about a mile from the besieged shrine of Ali. He has asked the thousands of marchers with him to wait outside the city. Caretaker […]

Cole as Issue in Oklahoma Senate Campaign In this month’s Wired magazine, an article entitled “The Dean Machine Marches On” looks at the internet, blogging, and political campaigns. In the profile on p. 141 of Brad Carson, a Native American and Blue Dog Democrat running for an Oklahoma senate seat, it is written: “But the […]

Sistani in Najaf Today As I write very early Thursday morning, Sistani ‘s convoy had left Basra on its way to Najaf several hours to the north. Al-Jazeerah says his convoy is being accompanied by Iraqi police. The Guardian’s Michael Howard scored a coup with an interview with Ayatollah Muhammad Bahr al-Ulum, who is close […]

Iraqi Police fire on Kufa Demonstrators Peaceful, civilian Shiite demonstrators in Kufa heeding Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani’s call for a march on Najaf (which is just next door to Kufa) were fired on Wednesday afternoon, suffering two killed and five wounded. Apparently the firing came from the Iraqi police. The Australian Herald Sun reports: ‘ […]

Sistani Returns, Launches March Sadrist Ceasefire Announced Al-Hayat is reporting that Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani defied his physicians’ advice and insisted on returning to Iraq midday on Wednesday. He landed in Kuwait and went overland to Basra, where he is staying at the home of prominent Shiite Ali Abdul Hakim. Reuters says that Sistani’s aide […]

Metro Times Profile Curt Guyette’s profile of me at the Detroit Metro Times is now available on the internet.

Attempted Assassinations of Ministers Fail Iraqi Troops Move into Najaf: “We are in the Last Hours” Reuters and AFP report via Dawn that the assassination attempt on the Minister of Education, reported here yesterday, was followed by another such attempt against the Minister of the Environment, Mishkat Moumin. Dawn quotes her: ‘ “Serving the Iraqi […]

George H.W. Bush on Why Invading Iraq was a Bad Idea George Gedda of AP reminds us of the opposition to an American invasion of Iraq expressed after the Gulf War by George Bush senior and his secretary of state, James Baker. Bush wrote in his memoirs: ‘ Incalculable human and political costs” would have […]

The Fighting in Iraq Reuters is reporting that guerrillas detonated a car bomb early on Tuesday, killing 2 persons and wounding 3 others. They were trying to assassinate Education Minister Sami al-Mudhaffar, but he escaped unscathed. Knight Ridder’s Hannah Allam was trapped in the Imam Ali Shrine on Monday when fighting suddenly intensified, and she […]