Juan Cole

Sunday Times Alleges Torture, Kidnapping in Basra The Sunday Times carried a story that members of the Badr Brigade of the Shiite Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq are being used as a sort of secret police in Basra with the permission and even oversight of the British authorities there. The article says that […]

The Question of Elections in Iraq In the past week, two significant demonstrations were launched by Iraq’s Shiites, including one on Monday 1/19 that involved an estimated 100,000 in the streets of Baghdad (including, from all accounts, some Sunnis who support open elections). The other, on Tuesday, was smaller and drawn from the poorer, more […]

Kay, Powell, Backtrack on WMD It seems to me that David Kay’s resignation as weapons inspector in Iraq and his open admission that there simply are no “weapons of mass destruction” in Iraq of any significance, has settled the issue. Kay snarkily went out suggesting that there may have been “programs” (read: vague plans and […]

3 US soldiers Wounded in Mosul Blast AP is reporting that “A roadside bomb exploded Wednesday near the northern city of Mosul, wounding three U.S. soldiers and seven other people, the military and local police said. The explosion occurred as three American vehicles were passing, but the force of the blast hit two civilian cars […]

5000 Sadrists March in Baghdad The Financial Times reported that the demonstrations in Baghdad on Tuesday were smaller than the approximately 100,000 who came out on Monday, and that they were also poorer. That is; they seem to have been mainly followers of Muqtada al Sadr. They not only marched in favor of free and […]

The Independent reports that 100,000 demonstrators marched through the streets of Baghdad on Monday, as part of Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani s bid to put pressure on Kofi Annan and the United Nations to certify that free and fair elections can be held: This situation reminds me more and more of Algeria; where mass protests […]

British Say Open Elections Feasible The Financial Times is reporting that British authorities in Basra now believe that there are no procedural obstacles to holding open elections in Basra of the sort that Grand Ayatollah Sistani has called for: Whether this is true or not, it is hard to see the British announcement as anything […]

Gone Fishin’ Just a warning to regular readers that for personal reasons I may find it difficult to post regularly the week of Jan. 19-25. It is possible I am exaggerating the difficulties, so do check in. But it is also possible the site will be less active this week. It will certainly be back […]

US and UN: Caught between Shiites and Sunnis Two parallel reports from Baghdad, one from Alissa Rubin of the LA Times and one from Hamza Hendawi of AP, point to the increasing difficulties the US is having in satisfying the Kurds, Sunni Arabs and Shiites in Iraq. Rubin [reg. req.] emphasizes the dissatisfaction of the […]