Juan Cole

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for Iraq-Wide Protests The BBC reports that Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani has again called for all military forces to be withdrawn from Najaf and Karbala, the two holiest cities for Shiites.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for Iraq-Wide Protests The BBC reports that Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani has again called for all military forces to be withdrawn from Najaf and Karbala, the two holiest cities for Shiites.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 […]

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 […]

Powell Admission Begs Question By now most persons with a television and an interest in US affairs will have seen the bizarre scene in which Deputy Press Secretary Emily Miller, an aide to Colin Powell, attempted to pull him off camera and stop him from answering a question put by Tim Russert of Meet the […]