Juan Cole

Bangladesh, Portugal, will not send Troops The US military’s desperate search for an international division of peace enforcers in Iraq has pretty much completely failed. Bangladesh and Portugal, whom the US had pressed to provide troops, announced Monday that they would not. They said that their publics were overwhelmingly opposed, and that the recent UN […]

57% of Americans want some Troops to Come Home; 50% of Americans Disapprove Bush Handling of Iraq According to a CNN/ USA Today poll taken Oct. 24-26, exactly half of Americans disapprove of the way the Bush administration has dealt with the Iraq situation since May 1. (In April, only 18 percent disapproved. I’m happy […]

Iraq’s Neighbors meet on Crisis The foreign ministers of Iraq’s neighbors will meet in Damascus in early November, with interim Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari representing Iraq. Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, Turkey, Iran and Kuwait will all send their foreign ministers. Observers will include Egypt and Bahrain. This meeting is an encouraging sign. At some points […]

Khamenei Warns of Secret Plans to Dismember Iraq In an interview with al-Zaman, Iran’s Supreme Jurisprudent, Ali Khamenei, said that he was extremely worried by the complex and confusing issue of Iraq, and that he prayed daily for the unity of the Iraqi people. He expressed concerns that there were forces that wanted to see […]

Optimistic, Pessimistic Views of Kurdistan A friend of mine in northern Iraq sent me the following recently, which I reprint with permission. It is more upbeat than the news from the Sunni Arab triangle. “I have now seen more of northern Iraq than I ever dreamed possible — from Dohuk and Zahko through Irbil to […]

66% of Europeans think Iraq War was Unjustified Meanwhile, a European poll found that two-thirds of Europeans felt the US war on Iraq was unjustified. Even among the publics of US allies, the UK and Spain, a majority condemned the war. Only in Denmark was a majority in favor. (Denmark has the least percentage of […]

Breaking News: Who was behind the Baghdad Blitz of October 27? As you all know by now, car bombings targeted a Red Cross HQ and three police stations in Baghdad Monday morning, in a coordinated attack spanning 45 minutes. 35-40 persons were killed and over 200 wounded according to wire service reports available 4 pm […]

Was Wolfowitz the Target? Brig. Gen. Martin Dempsey denied that the rocket attack on the al-Rasheed Hotel was aimed at assassinating Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, arguing that the attack was plotted for two months or so, whereas Wolfowitz’s trip was only recently announced. It seems to me that Dempsey was trying to suggest […]

Iraqis Prefer Technocrats Al-Zaman reports a poll indicating that most Iraqis prefer technocrats (engineers, physicians, scientists, etc.) as their leaders, and show much less trust in traditional politicians or Muslim clergymen. There seemed to be a widespread feeling that there were no traditional politicians in Iraq that were up to the job (i.e. knew politics […]