Juan Cole

Chalabi meets with Sistani: “UN can be Convinced” Ahmad Chalabi, a secular Shiite member of the Interim Governing Council, met for 90 minutes with Grand Ayatollah Sistani and emerged to declare that he was sure the United Nations team now in Iraq could be convinced of the feasibility of direct elections. Chalabi had initially opposed […]

Militias and Terrorism; Terrorism and Militias The news from Iraq in the New York Times focuses Monday on terrorism and militias. Edward Wong of the NYT surveys the persistence of Shiite and Kurdish paramilitaries. I was struck by the tone of resignation on the American side; they appear to have given up on disarming these […]

Bush on MEET THE PRESS BUSH: I expected to find the weapons. Sitting behind this desk, making a very difficult decision of war and peace, and basing my decision on the best intelligence possible — intelligence that had been gathered over the years — intelligence that not only our analysts thought was valid, but analysts […]

Candidates Discussed for 3-Man Presidency Al-Qabas (Kuwait) reports that Iraqi sources close to the Interim Governing Council say that the IGC is now negotiating with the Americans about forming a three-man presidential council and announcing a new interim government. The sources say the prime candidates for the tripartite presidency are Adnan Pachachi, Jalal Talabani and […]

2 US Soldiers wounded Friday in Roadside Bombing AP says, “A roadside bomb exploded in Baghdad on Friday, wounding two U.S. soldiers. The explosion that wounded the soldiers took place about 3 p.m., the U.S. command said, without providing further details.” US forces captured 6 men they said were closely tied to the Baathist regime. […]

‘Imminent Threat’ and ‘We know where they are’ becomes “Intent” (Cheney) I am so naive that I still read items like this with my jaw on my keyboard: AP reported that US Vice President Dick ‘Cheney, the keynote speaker at the Republicans’ annual Lincoln Days, said the evidence indicates that Saddam Hussein had the intent […]

John Hannah Allegedly Focus of Plame Probe Richard Sale, respected intelligence reporter for UPI, has given credibility to a story that had been rumored for several weeks . It is that the FBI investigation into the outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame is increasingly focusing on two officials in the office of Vice President Dick […]

Jaafari of al-Da`wa Calls for Shiite Unity Plan The London daily al-Hayat says today that after being roiled by divisions after the fall of Saddam, the Shiites are now seeking a way to unify. Ibrahim Jaafari, a physician who leads the al-Da`wa Party and serves on the Interim Governing Council, has been in the forefront […]

Sadrists occupy Provincial HQ in Nasiriyah, force Resignation of some Members of Provincial Council Sat. 8:30 pm. Just checked my email and am getting some information indirectly from a CPA source in Nasiriyah that challenges the al-Zaman story below on some particulars. The source claims that although there was a demonstration last Wednesday, the governor […]