Juan Cole

Sistani Reaffirms demand for Elections by end of Year The NYT reports that Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani has again said the UN needs to set a date certain for direct elections in Iraq, which Kofi Annan said could plausibly be held in December or January if preparations begin being made now. He clearly wants those […]

High Baghdad Official Forced to Resign over Veiling Issue Az-Zaman reports that Jawad Kadhim al-Anani, appointed to a high position in the Baghdad provincial government just twenty-four hours before, was forced to resign because he had immediately issued a decree requiring enforced veiling of women municipal employees during business hours. He thereby deeply offended hundreds […]

Mahmoud Uthman: IGC too Weak to be given Sovereignty In an interview with ash-Sharq al-Awsat, Kurdish Interim Governing Council (IGC) member Mahmoud Uthman (Osman) said that a national congress should be held to elect a transitional parliament, He said that sovereignty should not be handed to the existing IGC because it is weak and lacks […]

Two US Soldiers die in Helicopter Crash; Police General Killed AP reports that two US soldiers were killed in a helicopter crash on Wednesday near Haditha in the Sunni heartland. Guerrillas shot down a police general in the northern city of Mosul, in line with their general attempt to discourage Iraqis from joining or serving […]

Sunni Clerics Fail to Secure Release of 150 Imprisoned Women (AFP/az-Zaman): Sunni clerics meeting with US officers failed to secure the release of 150 Iraqi women imprisoned by the American forces. A US spokesman said he had no immediate knowledge of the condition of the jailed women. Cleric Muhammad Bashshar al-Faydi said, “The Americans must […]

The Passion of Christ in the World Religions The phenomenon of Mel Gibson’s The Passion, about the death of Jesus of Nazareth, has provoked a lively debate about the dangers of anti-Semitism. Historians are well aware that medieval passion plays (which shared the sado-masochistic themes of Gibson’s movie) often resulted in attacks on Jews. The […]

3 Iraqi Contractors Killed, 2 Wounded in Mosul AFP says that guerrillas sprayed machine gun fire from a car at Iraqi contractors in Mosul working for the Americans, killing 3 and wounded 2 on Tuesday.

Bremer fails to Resolve Deadlock in IGC over Fundamental Law ash-Sharq al-Awsat reports that Paul Bremer met Tuesday with the nine most powerful members of the Interim Governing Council in an attempt to settle outstanding issues that have delayed passage of the Fundamental Law or interim constitution. A member of the IGC who declined to […]

Karbala Provincial Council Row Shows Power of Shiite Clergy in Iraq Mariam Fam has the best and clearest account I have seen of the recent trouble in Karbala over the provincial council. Apparently what happened is that the Coalition Provisional Authority decided to expand the council from 16 to 40. They asked local tribal leaders […]