Loya Jirga on the Tigris? US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said Weds. that a “Loya Jirga” could be held in Iraq. He seems to me to be grasping at straws. The loya jirga or tribal council was never an elective or decision-making body in Afghan history. Typically, the kings of the Durrani dynasty only […]
Muqtada Vs
Muqtada vs. the Grand Ayatollahs Ed Wong of the NYT has a canny read on the stand-off between Muqtada al-Sadr and the Grand Ayatollahs of Najaf. ‘ by choosing to make his stand in Najaf, one of the holiest cities in Shiite Islam, Sadr has cast the war in the south as a struggle between […]
Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Holds Iraq Hearings I didn’t post much on Tuesday because I was testifying in Washington at the Senate Foreign relations commitee hearing on Iraq. The Senate CFR began three days of hearings on Iraq on Tuesday. I’m told it wasn’t on C-Span, which is a great shame (maybe it will be […]
22 Killed 92 Injured At Abu Ghuraib Ap
22 Killed, 92 Injured at Abu Ghuraib AP reports that a bombardment by guerrillas of the Abu Ghuraib prison resulted in 22 deaths of inmates and about 92 injured. The prison has been attacked in the past. Since it houses captured insurgents, the US military speculates that the attacks are aimed at creating chaos and […]
30 Iraqis 12 Us Troops Killed Over
30 Iraqis, 12 US Troops Killed over Deadly Weekend 5 US troops were killed Sunday in fighting near the Syrian border at Husayba, but various other incidents on Saturday brought the weeked total to 12 killed. About 30 Iraqis were killed in clashes. The Husaybah fight appears to be an extension of Fallujah, with some […]
Najaf Muqtada Myers And Zapatero
Najaf: Muqtada, Myers, and Zapatero A spokesman for Muqtada al-Sadr, Qais al-Khaz’ali, said Sunday that his forces would extend their truce with the Coalition for two further days, Monday and Tuesday, in honor of the anniversary of the death of the Prophet Muhammad. He also said that the Army of the Mahdi was gradually withdrawing […]
Attack On Najaf Will Be Zero Hour Of
An Attack on Najaf “Will be Zero Hour of a Massive Popular Uprising”: al-Khaz’ali ash-Sharq al-Awsat: Hundreds of members of Muqtada al-Sadr’s Army of the Mahdi rallied in the streets of Najaf on Saturday, carrying arms and chanting slogans of support for him. They thronged to his office so as to kiss his hand and […]
Najaf Crisis And International
Najaf Crisis and International Implications Iran: US Will Pay a ‘Heavy Price’ Iran warned the American government that it would “pay a heavy price” if its forces attacked the cities of Najaf and Karbala. Ayatollah Muhammad Taskhiri, the representative of Supreme Jurisprudent Ali Khamenei, told al-Hayat, “The American forces will have committed the biggest act […]
Rantisi And Najaf Sunday Herald
Rantisi and Najaf The Sunday Herald correctly points out that the Israeli murder of Abdul Aziz Rantisi, the head of the political wing of the Hamas party, on Saturday, will cause further trouble in Iraq. With al-Anbar province tense and US troops surrounding Najaf, one could not imagine a worse time for Bush to give […]
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