Juan Cole

UN Security Council Vote expected Tuesday; Sistani Weighs in Against Interim Constitution The final details of the UN Security Council resolution, on the caretaker government to which the Bush administration maintains it will surrender sovereignty on June 30, have been worked out. The final draft will include a provision for a joint committee of high […]

Kurds Threaten Boycott The distribution of posts in the caretaker government disappointed the religious Shiites and the Kurds, both of whom felt stiffed. The Kurds only got one vice presidency and the foreign ministry, along with a couple of other lower-profile positions (Nasrin Barwari stayed on as Minister of Public Works, which is actually potentially […]

Dissolution of Militias Announced Transitional PM Iyad Allawi announced Monday that nine militias would be dissolved. Their members would receive pensions or would be merged into the police or new Iraqi military. This announcement should be seen as a pious hope rather than as a political reality. I can’t say how many times I have […]

Bush in Italy A reader writes from Italy: “The Italian administration’s scare tactics about the June 4 anti-Bush demonstrations reached the US media. All the world believed them. The center-left political leaders decided not to participate and abandon the scene to the crazies. Roman residents stayed home: subway traffic was down 60%, car traffic was […]

Iraqi Electoral Commission Announced Nathan J. Brown of George Washington University writes: “On 31 May, Bremer signed an order creating an Iraqi electoral commission. The order was not published until today, and then only in English. The electoral commission order gas several interesting features: It is based very much on the the interim constitution (TAL), […]

28 Killed, 88 Wounded in Iraq on Sunday Ash-Sharq al-Awsat estimates that bombings, drive-by shootings and other acts of guerrilla violence took 28 lives in Iraq on this weekend, and left more than 88 wounded. A car bomb outside a US base killed nine Iraqis and wounded 30; 3 US troops were among the wounded. […]

Iranian Hardliners and Iraq Informal Irainian volunteers have come forward in the thousands for suicide bombings against the Americans in Iraq. They say, however,that they await the command of Supreme Jrisprudent Ali Khamenei. Ayatollah Jannati had also preached strongly against the US and the UK last Friday. He is not in the exective really and […]

Reagan’s Passing I did not say anything yesterday about Ronald Reagan’s death. The day a person dies he has a right to be left alone. But yesterday is now history, and Reagan’s legacy should not pass without comment. Reagan had an ability to project a kindly image, and was well liked personally by virtually everyone […]

Sistani Meets Muqtada; Ceasefire Taking Hold Fighting continued Saturday in East Baghdad. A roadside bomb killed two US soldiers and wounded two others. Mahdi Army militiamen attacked a police station and the police were supported by US troops in returning fire. They killed at least one militiaman. In contrast, Najaf began returning to normal on […]