Juan Cole

Raucous Celebrations in Kirkuk at Kurd as President; 5 Dead The odd rotating presidency of the Interim Governing Council, whereby 9 of the 25 members take turns for one month each as leaders of the country, has now fallen on Jalal Talabani, 69. The leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan is popular in eastern […]

Wolfowitz on Shiite contacts in Iraq; and on How He is the Only Patriot Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz talked Friday at Georgetown about his recent trip to Iraq, during which his life was put in danger by a missile attack on the hotel where he was staying. He spoke of his meetings with […]

Two US Soldiers, 20 Iraqis Wounded in Baghdad Firefight Two US soldiers were wounded on Friday in Abu Gharib, Baghdad. Guerrillas in the area had tossed grenades at US forces. The US army responded by doing search and discover operations, supported by tanks. One tank accidentally ran over a six-year-old boy. His death provoked locals […]

Mudarrisi Calls for Withdrawal of Coalition Troops Ayatollah Muhammad Taqi Mudarrisi of Karbala, leader of the Islamic Action Party, called Friday for withdrawal of coalition troops frm Iraq. He said the framing of a new constitution and the holding of elections for an Iraqi government should allow Coalition troops to go home. He said Shiites […]

Preachers denounce IGC; Sistani calls for Disarming of the Militias Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani called Friday for the country’s militias to be disarmed. He said a new Iraqi army needed to be established as soon as possible, and that the soldiers of the old army should be called back to duty where they had not […]

Baath Guerrillas Call for 3-day Strike Sunni Arab nationalists passed around fliers Friday warning government employees, shopkeepers and bus and cab drivers to stay home over the weekend. “Anyone who does not take this seriously will be responsible for his life and his possessions.” http://wvgazette.com/ section/News/2003103126

Washington Post Profiles Followers of Muqtada Anthony Shadid discusses the appeal of Muqtada and the politics of anti-Occupation sentiment in the slums of East Baghdad. One Shiite told him that if Muqtada weren’t there, and someone else called for an immediate end of the occupation, he would follow him. http://msnbc.com/news/987346.asp?cp1=1

WP: Crackdown on Muqtada al-Sadr Imminent David Ignatius argues that the US still plans to crack down on Shiite radical Muqtada al-Sadr and his movement. He says the Pentagon feels that in the firefights between the Sadrist Army of the Mahdi and US troops recently in East Baghdad and Karbala, Muqtada “crossed a line.” They […]

Rail, Old Baghdad Explosions Guerrillas sabotaged a US military train shipment near Haditha west of Baghdad on Thursday, after which the shipment was looted of equipment, including computers. Afficionados of the film Lawrence of Arabia will remember the bedouin guerrillas blowing up Ottoman train shipments during WW I at British instigation. Baghdad police foiled an […]