Juan Cole

Basra: Ward Leader Assassinated; Labor Riot against al-Khorafi Construction Co. The British-appointed leader of one of Basra’s city quarters, an attorney, was assassinated over the weekend. the announcement was made as British PM Tony Blair paid a surprise visit to the city. The Guardian reports that the CPA has given up on trying to disarm […]

3 US soldiers killed Friday, 3 wounded AFP reports that guerrillas in Balad (45 miles north of Baghdad) fired a mortar shell at the US base there around 5:00 pm Baghdad time on Friday, killing a soldier from the 4th Infantry Division. Guerillas in the south of Baghdad detonated a roadside bomb as a US […]

Iraqi MI5 in the Works, funded at $3 bn According to the Telegraph Dick Cheney has managed to put through a plan to have the US CIA train an Iraqi secret police (mukhabarat) and fund it at $3 bn., as part of the “black” CIA budget. The article claims that this secret police apparatus will […]

Kurdish Ethnic Conflict leaves 6 Wounded; Curfew imposed by US Six persons were injured on Saturday in ethnic violence in Kirkuk, and US troops imposed a night time curfew on the city. Paul Bremer visited the city and appealed for calm. Al-Hayat said that in Kirkuk, three Iraqis (two Arabs and a Turkmen) were wounded […]

Responses to ‘Top Five Tasks in War on Terror for 2004’ On Jan. 2, I presented “Top 5 Tasks Remaining in 2004 in the War on Terror”. I received in response some thoughtful and informed replies, and gained permission to share them here. Military historian and former Green Beret Tom Collier writes, “I very much […]

Mars Rover “Spirit” Lands Safely!! NASA announced around 1 am Sunday 1/4 that the Mars Rover, Spirit, had landed safely on the surface and sent a signal showing that it was undamaged. This is a great relief. Mars is called the “death planet” by space aeronautics experts, since 2/3s of missions there have failed. Spirit […]

1 US soldier Killed, 4 wounded A US helicopter was shot down on Friday, killing one US soldier and wounding another. There are confusing reports from the scene. The US military asserts that its soldiers took fire from assailants dressed as journalists, and apprehended some. Reuters says that the people in custody are just innocent […]

Sunnis Protest Mosque Raid There was a large (1000 to 1500 strong) demonstration in the Yarmouk quarter of Baghdad against a US raid on two mosques in the district on Friday. The Guardian reported that Iraqi police and US troops raided the Ibn Taimiyah Mosque in the southwestern Yarmouk quarter of Baghdad on Thursday and […]

More Ethnic Violence in Kirkuk AP reported that in the northern, mainly Arab city of Mosul, on Wednesday assailants kidnapped and killed Adel Jabar Abid Mustafa, a Baathist whom Saddam had appointed dean of the faculty of political science at Mosul University. Thursday morning his body was found; he had been killed Mafia-style, two bullets […]