Juan Cole

US destroys Houses According to Jeff Wilkinson of Knight Ridder, the US military in its most recent shock and awe campaign has destroyed fifteen houses in and around Tikrit, which it said were used by guerrillas to plan attacks on Americans. Alas, it is unlikely that the houses were only inhabited by guerrillas. I saw […]

Haeri rejects Transitional Authority The San Francisco Chronicle’s Robert Collier has pulled off a coup, landing an interview with Grand Ayatollah Kadhim al-Haeri, a leading Iraqi religious authority still resident in Qom. Al-Haeri is a Khomeini style radical, unlike Najaf’s Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the leading religious authority in Iraq. Collier reports, “Haeri said Sunday […]

Khatami recognizes IGC According to AFP, Iran’s President Mohammad Khatami met with Interim Governing Council president Jalal Talabani on Monday. In a surprise announcement, Khatami said he recognized the legitimacy of the IGC in Iraq. “We recognise the Iraqi Governing Council and we believe it is capable, with the Iraqi people, of managing the affairs […]

Shiite Leaders Cautious, Critical of New Plan for Iraqi Government Stories in the Christian Science Monitor and the Washington Post have some reaction from Shiite leaders to the new plan for moving to a sovereign Iraqi government in June of 2004. Howard LaFranchi and Anthony Shadid both seem to report that Shiites are suspicious of […]

String of Assassination Attempts in Kirkuk: IGC member Shongol Chapouk escapes; Deputy Mayor Wounded The deputy governor of Kirkuk, Ismail Rajab al-Hadidi, was wounded along with his driver in an assassination attempt on Sunday. That incident was only one of a number in the past few days. In some instances, reprisal killings have been launched […]

Stages for New Government The precise stages envisaged in the new plan for Iraqi sovereignty by June, 2003, are available at the Web site of the Coalition Provisional Authority. The Fundamental Law laying out basic rights and the structure of the state must be completed by Feb. 28, 2004. (Dara Nuruddin, a member of the […]

Cole Article on Sadr Movement among Iraqi Shiites Those of you who have followed this site for any length of time will already know the details. But I have just brought out a journal article on the Sadr Movement and Iraqi Shiites in post-war Iraq: Juan Cole, “The United States and Shi‘ite Religious Factions in […]

Interview with Todd Mundt on Michigan Public Radio Via Michigan Radio ” 11/13/03 Iraq Update Todd Mundt Paul Bremer is returning to Iraq with a new set of marching orders from the Bush administration. The Washington Post reports this morning that the administration plans to support the creation of a reconstituted governing body in Iraq. […]

Cheney Ignored British Warnings on Post-War Instability in Iraq Former British ambassador to Washington Sir Christopher Meyer has revealed to the Guardian that the British repeatedly pressed US Vice President Dick Cheney and the Pentagon on planning for the chaotic situation in post-war Iraq. They got no satisfaction from either, even though the State Department […]