Juan Cole

Allawi Snubs Iran Caretaker Prime Minister Iyad Allawi cancelled his planned visit to Iran, even as he was being feted in Kuwait. He has sent a ministerial delegation instead, according to al-Hayat, in protest against Iranian meddling in Iraq. Allawi’s Minister of Defense Hazem Shaalan, has recently spoken out vocally against Iran, calling it Iraq’s […]

Fierce Firefight in Fallujah Leaves 13 Dead, 14 Wounded AP reports that US Marines in Fallujah came under fire late Thursday, starting a firefight that continued through Friday and spilled over into an industrial area of the city. The Marines fired mortar rounds and called in close air support. AP writes, “Many of those wounded, […]

Did al-Qaeda Game Bush into Iraq War? Douglas Jehl of the New York Times explains how Ibn al-Shaykh Libi, a high al-Qaeda official of Libyan extraction, was captured in fall of 2001 and alleged to CIA interrogators that Iraq had provided al-Qaeda with training in chemical and biological weapons. Later on, Abu Zubaydah and Khalid […]

Muqtada warns Muslim Nations In his Friday prayer sermon on Friday before hundreds of followers in Kufa, radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr warned Muslim nations not to send troops to Iraq, warning that they would be considered collaborators with the US Occupation, and would risk being hit as such by Iraqis. His warning was echoed […]

Humanitarian Crisis looms in Basra Reuters reports that a high UN official has raised the specter of a serious humanitarian crisis (i.e. lots of people dying) in Basra this summer. The problem is that there is only half as much potable water as people need for a population of 1.3 million, and the temperature has […]

National Congress Postponed Fighting in Nasiriyah In a sign that the political situation in Iraq is even worse than anyone had suspected, the caretaker Iraqi government has had to postpone the holding of national congress until mid-August. The complicated selection process for choosing delegates had favored the expatriate parties and politicians, and had stirred up […]

The Kerry Plan on Iraq: How it Could Work if the UN were Brought In In his speech to the National Democratic Convention, John Kerry devoted a few passages to Iraq. He said: “I know what we have to do in Iraq. We need a president who has the credibility to bring our allies to […]

120 Dead in Bombings, Clashes in Iraq 4 US Troops Killed Wire services report that 120 persons died in separate incidents in Iraq on Wednesday, the one-month anniversary of the “transfer of sovereignty” to the caretaker government of Iyad Allawi. The NYT says that guerrillas detonated a truck bomb outside a police recruiting station in […]

Cheney Watch Vice President Dick Cheney gave his stump speech in Utah on Wednesday, attempting to rally the Republican faithful while the national spotlight remained on the Democrats. Rebecca Walsh reports: Cheney said terrorists are as determined to destroy America as the “Axis powers” of Germany, Italy and Japan during World War II. Borrowing a […]