Juan Cole

Changing Status of Shiites in Arab World Hamza Hendawi of AP reports on the implications of a Shiite-majority Iraqi government for Arab world politics. He points to the Shiite majority in Bahrain (though the emir there is a Sunni), and the substantial Shiite populations in Lebanon, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Hendawi notes that Shiites have […]

Shape of Things to Come UPI is reporting that the Interim Governing Council is considering the form of the Iraqi government to which sovereignty will be handed on June 30. Previous plans had called for a more representative and expanded body, of 100 or more delegates, with more representation for tribal sheikhs and clerics who […]

Muqtada’s Newspaper Closed, 1000 Demonstrate AP is reporting that the Coalition Provisional Authority has closed the weekly newspaper of radical young Shiite cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr, al-Hawzah. It is charged with fomenting violence against US troops. The US military authorities seriously considered arresting Muqtada last October, but in the end decided that would cause more trouble […]

Clarke: Difference Between Clinton and Bush For readers who don’t scroll all the way down, just wanted to draw your attention to my posting late Sunday on what Clarke means when he says fighting terrorism was a more urgent consideration for the late Clinton administration than for the early Bush one. I argue that it […]

Mosul: Barwari Escapes Assassination; US MPs wounded, Western Security Guards Killed Public Works Minister Nasrin Barwari narrowly escaped an assassination attempt while traveling to Mosul on Sunday, , according to AP. She is the only female minister appointed by the Interim Governing Council. She is a Kurd, and a feminist, and led the movement to […]

Sistani will not Launch Street Protests: Aide az-Zaman/AFP: Refuting reports appearing Saturday in the Kuwaiti press, an aide to Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani in Najaf told the press Sunday that Sistani wishes to avoid chaos and does not intend to call his supporters out for demonstrations, even if his reservations about the interim constitution are […]

Israeli Intelligence Blasted by the Knesset over Iraq Failure A subcommittee of the Israeli Parliament has issued a report sharply critical of Israeli intelligence failures concerning weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. It notes that Mossad thought Iraq’s programs and stockpiles were a threat, which they were not, and yet seemed unaware of how much […]

The Difference between Clinton and Bush: The Millennium Plot More on the Clarke conroversy: The pundits and politicians who keep saying that Clinton’s anti-terrorism policies and Bush’s are the same are missing a key piece of the puzzle. The policy outline was the same, but the implementation was very different. Hint: The key piece of […]

Sistani Aide Denounces Interim Constitution Reuters is reporting that Kuwaiti papers on Saturday discussed the Friday sermon of Muhammad Baqir al-Muhri, a lieutenant of Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani in that country. Al-Muhri (Mohri) threatened that if key passages of the interim constitution are not amended, Sistani would call for massive street demonstrations against it. I […]