Juan Cole

Neocons can’t Spell A reader asked me to comment on the controversy over whether an Iraqi intelligence agent was detailed to al-Qaeda in Kuala Lumpur to be the guy that picked people up at the airport. It was covered by the Washington Post after the allegation was made by 9/11 Commission member John Lehman, former […]

6 US Servicemen Reported Dead in Iraq, 11 Iraqis Monday’s toll (still incomplete but more complete than any one article I saw in any one language): Guerrillas sent a videotape to Associated Press with views of four US Marines lying dead in a walled compound in Ramadi, west of Baghdad. The bodies appear to have […]

Iraq War not Worth it: 52% of Americans A new Washington Post/ABC poll shows that a majority of Americans now feels that the Iraq War was not worth it. It cost too many US lives, according to 70% of them, and 51% thought that it had not made Americans any safer. Not only has President […]

Najaf Calming; Police to be Trained in Urban Warfare Al-Hayat reports that previous disputes between Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani and junior cleric Muqtada al-Sadr have now been completely resolved. One last step has been the appointment of a new prayer leader at the mosque connected to the shrine of Ali, who would be neither a […]

US Marine Killed; 23 Iraqis Killed in Separate Attacks; US Helicopters mistakenly Kill 5 Policemen at Samarra’ Wire services report several violent incidents on Sunday. Anbar province: Guerrillas fighting US troops in Anbar Province, which covers Ramadi and Fallujah, killed a US Marine on Sunday. The Marines killed 4 of the guerrillas. Baghdad: Guerrillas ambushed […]

National Congress Planned; Muqtada Invited Chalabi mediates with Kurds Al-Hayat: On Sunday, the preparatory board met to begin planning a national congress of 1000 notables, politicians, religious leaders and tribal sheikhs to be held in July. It will involve twenty members of the old Interim Governing Council, including Sheikh Abdul Karim al-Muhammadawi, against whom an […]

Thousands of Indian Shiites Protest US Policies in Iraq Thousands of Indian Shiites came out into the streets of New Delhi Sunday to protest harsh US policies in Iraq and to demand that the United Nations take the leading role in putting the country back on its feet. They were supported by Hindu friends. The […]

Controversy at UC Irvine over Muslim Witness to Faith The Orange County Register reports a controversy over graduation ceremonies at the University of California Irvine, where 11 Muslim students had been planning to wear green stoles with Islamic inscriptions over their robes. One side would say “Lord, increase my knowledge.” The other would have the […]

3 Wounded by Bomb at Central Bank; 22 Guerrillas Die in Fallujah Bombing Guerrillas detonated a bomb outside Iraq’s central bank in Baghdad on Sunday, wounding 2 employees and a guard. Guerrillas blew up another bomb in a crowded market in Baghdad on Sunday, injuring at least 5. Fighting continued near the eastern city of […]