Juan Cole

Democratic Presidential Debate: Lieberman, Kerry slam Dean In the Democratic debate yesterday, Sen. Joe Lieberman slammed Howard Dean for saying that the capture of Saddam Hussein had made America no safer: “I don’t know how anybody could say that we’re not safer with a homicidal maniac, a brutal dictator, an enemy of the United States, […]

New Sunni Fundamentalist Militia Announced; al-Kubeisi Exiled by US, will not Join other Sunnis The London daily al-Hayat reports that the “Clear Victory Movement,” a Sunni group, has formed a militia to offset the “Mahdi Army” of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. It pledges to oppose the American occupation forces if they continue to marginalize Sunnis […]

US arrests Kurdish official but Acquiesces in Continued Kurdish Semi-Autonomy On the one hand, US troops have moved decisively to arrest a high official of the Kurdistan Democratic Party in Kirkuk, apparently on suspicion of having ordered the shooting of Arab and Turkmen protesters by pershmerga militiamen last week, which has led to dozens of […]

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 […]