Juan Cole

Latest Tomgram on Chalmers and the US Military Tom Engelhardt’s Tomdispatch.com at the Nation Institute is always entertaining and insightful. For anyone interested in the debate on the new American empire (which actually doesn’t seem to be going very well, since it is being overruled by Kurdish militiamen and grand ayatollahs), his comments and quotation […]

Cobban on CPA Laws and Transition to new Iraqi Government Veteran journalist and blogger Helena Cobban wrote in with further remarks on the issue of whether Coalition Provisional Authority regulations in Iraq are likely to survive the transition to an Iraqi government. I quote her below with kind permission. “Nathan Brown says this: “My impression […]

Bomb in Baghdad Kills 1, Wounds 3 AP reports, “The bloodshed persisted in Baghdad Friday, as a roadside bomb missed American troops but killed one Iraqi boy and wounded three others as they played soccer along a busy street. The U.S. command also announced an investigation into alleged abuse of Iraqi prisoners.”

Shiite Preachers throughout Iraq support Sistani, Slam US Plans as “Colonialism.” al-Hayat reported that Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani’s representative in Karbala, Shaikh Abdul Mahdi al-Karbala’i, warned that the coming days will witness demonstrations and strikes, and possibly confrontations with the occupation [Coalition] forces if they insist on “their colonialist plot and in designing the politics […]

Democratic Candidates in Iowa Differ on Iraq, and it Probably Doesn’t Matter I think the Iraq War as an issue has probably been overblown as a factor in the US elections, and don’t personally think much will turn on it barring a major social revolution or major hostage-taking or something dramatic in fall of 2004. […]

The Paul O’Neill Controversy: Smith on the Iraq War Planning and the PNAC The allegation by Paul O’Neill that Bush wanted people to get him a justification for an Iraq war already in January of 2001 has provoked a lot of controversy about the origins of the war. (“?It was all about finding a way […]

Nathan Brown on the Trial of Saddam Nathan Brown, an eminent political scientist at George Washington University, shared with me the following with regard to issues around the trial of Saddam and Coalition Provisional Authority attitudes to the law of occupation. He kindly permitted me to reprint his comments here. Brown: “You have speculated about […]

Cole on Lehrer 1/16 Some readers have kindly asked me to let them know about these things in advance. I’ll be on Jim Lehrer’s show on PBS Friday 1/16 talking about Iraq and Sistani. This program airs at different times in different markets so check listings. It will also be available early next week in […]

US HQ in Kirkuk comes under Fire; Civilians killed by bomb near Tikrit al-Hayat: Guerrillas launched an RPG attack in Karbala, with no casualties reported. Guerrillas fired a Katyusha rocket at the US HQ in Kirkuk. “TIKRIT, January 16 (Online): An anti-tank mine planted along a road in Tikrit blew up when a passenger bus […]