Juan Cole

Prominent Sunni cleric Assassinated The Chicago Tribune reports on the assassination Saturday in the Western Baghdad quarter of Khadra of prominent Sunni cleric Shaikh Dhamir al-Dhari. He had been one of several Sunni clerics to form a board to support Sunni interests, in hopes of offsetting the power of the more hierarchical and organized Shiite […]

Update on Americana in Arabic Project The project to translate key works of American thought, culture and history into Arabic and have them properly distributed is forging ahead. The first translation will be key works of Thomas Jefferson. The generosity of contributors has overwhelmed me, and we already have some money the kitty after only […]

4 US soldiers Wounded, their Translator Killed According to Reuters, ”’Four US soldiers were wounded and their Iraqi translator was killed in a small arms fire ambush 22 km (14 miles) south of Iskandariya (near Baghdad). Two civilian type SUVs were destroyed in the attack,” a US military spokeswoman said.‘

Four Members of Karbala’s Provincial Assembly Resign under Pressure from Sistani al-Hayat: Four members of Karbala’s American-appointed provincial council yielded to the demands that they resign issued by the representative of Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani. All four, including one woman, said they are “suspending” their membership in the body. Abdul Mahdi al-Karbala’i had warned them […]

Is Iraq an Arab Country? Islam Online reports a heated debate in Iraq and in the Interim Governing Council over whether Iraq should be identified in the Fundamental Law (the interim constitution) as an Arab state. Iraq’s population is about 24 million, probably. Some 65 % or 15.6 million are Shiite Arabs. Another 15% or […]

Abdul Hamid Shocks Kuwait and Jordan with Claims on their Territories

Chinese Excited over Iraq’s Free Market Growth Those capitalist roaders among the Chinese communists in Shanghai appear to be watering in the mouth over the potential profits to be made from a reviving Iraq. The Shanghai Daily estimates that Iraqis have imported 250,000 new cars in the past 10 months, that demand for electronics is […]

The Annan Plan for Iraq The London daily ash-Sharq al-Awsat says it has acquired an advance draft of comments UN Secretary General Kofi Annan will make on Monday regarding the future of Iraq and the procedure for elections. It says there are five points: 1) General elections must be held with a guarantee of constitutionality […]

Kurds’ demand for Autonomy Roils IGC The Washington Post reports that the issues of the nature of federalism and the rights of minorities and provinces with regard to Iraq’s Kurds are creating a deadlock in the Interim Governing Council as it polishes the Fundamental Law that will serve as a constitution until a new one […]