Juan Cole

East Baghdad Rebels against US Rule Daniel Williams of the Washington Post penetrates the fog of war and concludes that the US has been thrown out of the Shiite ghetto of East Baghdad, called Sadr City. He says that the cadres of Muqtada al-Sadr have set up checkpoints, set garbage and tires afire, and mobilized […]

East Baghdad Rebels against US Rule Daniel Williams of the Washington Post penetrates the fog of war and concludes that the US has been thrown out of the Shiite ghetto of East Baghdad, called Sadr City. He says that the cadres of Muqtada al-Sadr have set up checkpoints, set garbage and tires afire, and mobilized […]

Abdul Aziz al-Hakim Makes his move al-Hayat: The Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution (SCIRI) in Iraq organized a demonstration in Najaf Sunday in support of Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani. (Implicitly, this rally served as a protest against Muqtada al-Sadr, the young radical whose sectarian movement challenges Sistani’s authority). ash-Sharq al-Awsat: At the same time, SCIRI […]

Abdul Aziz al-Hakim Makes his move al-Hayat: The Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution (SCIRI) in Iraq organized a demonstration in Najaf Sunday in support of Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani. (Implicitly, this rally served as a protest against Muqtada al-Sadr, the young radical whose sectarian movement challenges Sistani’s authority). ash-Sharq al-Awsat: At the same time, SCIRI […]

36 Die in Bloody Sunday AFP reports that 36 Iraqis were killed in violence in that country on Sunday. Guerrillas detonated a bomb in a crowded market in the Bayaa district of southern Baghdad on Sunday, killing at least 6 and wounding 13. In Mosul, guerrillas fired mortar rounds at a US base, killing one […]

36 Die in Bloody Sunday AFP reports that 36 Iraqis were killed in violence in that country on Sunday. Guerrillas detonated a bomb in a crowded market in the Bayaa district of southern Baghdad on Sunday, killing at least 6 and wounding 13. In Mosul, guerrillas fired mortar rounds at a US base, killing one […]

Bremer Still Writing Laws for Iraq Walter Pincus of the Washington Post reports that US proconsul in Iraq Paul Bremer has unilaterally issued more laws, this time attempting to limit the scope of operation of the new Iraqi intelligence agency (it isn’t to spy on legitimate Iraqi parties), and to place time limits on former […]

Bremer Still Writing Laws for Iraq Walter Pincus of the Washington Post reports that US proconsul in Iraq Paul Bremer has unilaterally issued more laws, this time attempting to limit the scope of operation of the new Iraqi intelligence agency (it isn’t to spy on legitimate Iraqi parties), and to place time limits on former […]

New Sunni-Shiite Political Grouping Several readers asked me what I thought of the al-Jazeerah article about the formation of a new pan-Iraqi, Pan-Islamic group that will work to end US occupation and refuses to recognize the Interim Governing Council or any government appointed by the US. My answer is that so far this is 500 […]