Juan Cole

Stalemate between Sistani and Governor Sfouk in Karbala Aamer Madhani reports on the stalemate in Karbala between the American-appointed provincial governing council and Grand Ayatollah Sistani. The CPA administrator there, John Berry, had consulted with tribal leaders and called for volunteers in January, when he expanded the membership to 40 from 17. Deborah Amos of […]

Prince Hassan Warns of World War III Prince Hassan of Jordan has expressed fears that the current Middle East crisis may eventuate in “World War III.” He points to the Israeli murder of Sheikh Yassin, the renewed tensions between Hizbullah and Israel, the possibility of Syria and Iran being drawn in, and the general repercussions […]

Israeli Tourism Devastated by Sharon The murder of Sheikh Yassin, the clerical leader of Hamas, has led to the collapse of what was left of the Israeli tourism industry, wth half of the remaining tours having been suddenly cancelled. (- ash-Sharq al-Awsat).

Landres: Big Brother Lurks J. Shawn Landres’ “Big Brother Lurks in Higher Education Bill” in The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, makes short work of HR 3077’s provisions for an investigatory “advisory board” to oversee international studies. Regular leaders know that I have been urging readers to write their senators to protest this neo-McCarthyism.

Marines Wounded; Sheraton, Green Zone Rocketed The Washington Post reports that that guerrillas detonated a roadside bomb and then fired weapons at Marines near Fallujah early on Wednesday; two Marines were wounded, 3 civilians were killed. The Ishtar Sheraton Hotel, a haunt of journalists and contractors, took rocket fire but there were no casualties. A […]

Clarke Smeared by Neocon Slime Machine Dick Clarke’s testimony before the 9/11 Commission turned into a political ping pong match, with John Lehman, former secretary of the navy, insisting that Clarke has a “real credibility problem.” I read Clarke’s book while traveling the past couple of days, and found it anything but a liberal tract. […]

Ministries to become Independent in April; Shiite-Kurdish Disputes Fester (al-Hayat) Raghida Dergham of al-Hayat : Nasrin Barwari, the minister of public works, affirmed on Wednesday that four ministries will be turned over to Iraqi sovereignty in the beginning of April. These are education, health, water utilities, and public works. She said that “the Coalition advisers […]

Brown: CPA Legislation to Shape Iraq’s Future Professor Nathan Brown of George Washington University, a major figure in the US study of Middle Eastern law and politics, comments on the recent CPA rules signed by Paul Bremer: “The CPA has recently issued a series of legal enactments (‘Orders”) that give a little more sense of […]

Demonstrations, Denunciations in Iraq over Sharon Murder of Sheikh Yassin Xinhua reports that a wide range of Iraqi political forces on Tuesday condemned Sharon’s murder of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, a religious leader of Hamas, the day before. The Board of Muslim clerics in Fallujah, 50 km west of Baghdad, “condemned the assassination and promised immediate […]