Juan Cole

Sistani vs. Muqtada vs. US in Najaf Daniel Williams, Scott Wilson and Saad Sarhan of the Washington Post report on the new test of wills between the young sectarian leader Muqtada al-Sadr “Sadr had invited all Iraqis to come to the southern city and support his uprising, which U.S. troops are struggling to contain. The […]

Sistani vs. Muqtada vs. US in Najaf Daniel Williams, Scott Wilson and Saad Sarhan of the Washington Post report on the new test of wills between the young sectarian leader Muqtada al-Sadr “Sadr had invited all Iraqis to come to the southern city and support his uprising, which U.S. troops are struggling to contain. The […]

Italians Retake Base Nasiriyah Library in Flames Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi wants out of Iraq with honor, according to Italian sources. He is down in the polls and keenly aware of what happened to rightwing Spanish PM Aznar. The Italian public is increasingly against an Italian presence in Iraq, and opposition politicians are calling […]

Italians Retake Base Nasiriyah Library in Flames Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi wants out of Iraq with honor, according to Italian sources. He is down in the polls and keenly aware of what happened to rightwing Spanish PM Aznar. The Italian public is increasingly against an Italian presence in Iraq, and opposition politicians are calling […]

Reader Comment on Torture Interrogations Michael Pollak writes: Dear Juan, On Sunday you wrote: “First, torture does not work, and there is no evidence that it worked at Abu Ghuraib.” I quite agree, and it’s occurred to me that, on the face of it, Abu Ghuraib might in fact be a classic example of torture […]

Reader Comment on Torture Interrogations Michael Pollak writes: Dear Juan, On Sunday you wrote: “First, torture does not work, and there is no evidence that it worked at Abu Ghuraib.” I quite agree, and it’s occurred to me that, on the face of it, Abu Ghuraib might in fact be a classic example of torture […]

Sistani Calls for Iraq-Wide Protests The BBC reports that Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani has again called for all military forces to be withdrawn from Najaf and Karbala, the two holiest cities for Shiites. His statement seems calculated to put pressure on both sides. He wants the US to stop being so aggressive. And he wants […]

Sistani Calls for Iraq-Wide Protests The BBC reports that Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani has again called for all military forces to be withdrawn from Najaf and Karbala, the two holiest cities for Shiites. His statement seems calculated to put pressure on both sides. He wants the US to stop being so aggressive. And he wants […]

50 Sadrists Killed by Americans in Karbala and Nasiriyah Sistani’s House Sprayed by Machine Gun Fire An aide to Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani reports that his house in Najaf was sprayed with machine gun fire (-al-Hayat). (If Sistani gets killed in the current fighting in Najaf between the US and the Mahdi Army, there will […]