Juan Cole

New UN-controlled Fund for Iraq The Bush administration reluctantly allowed the establishment of a development fund for Iraq that would not be under US control, but rather under that of the UN. Without such an independent account, most potential donor nations were balking at contributing to reconstruction. (I take it the subtext is that they […]

Iraq not on Turkey’s Agenda Turkish Interior Minister Cemil Cicek said Monday that the ball is in the court of the US and the Interim Governing Council with regard to the question of deploying Turkish troops in Iraq. Referring to the sending of troops, Cicek said, “For that to happen, the situation has to move […]

Sharon’s attack on Syria Soured Plan to provide Electricity to Iraq A deal for Syria to provide electricity to northern Iraq in return for exports of Iraqi petroleum, worked out by Colin Powell with Bashar al-Asad, was derailed by the Israeli bombing of an alleged terror training camp in Syria, for which President Bush essentially […]

Kirkuk railway Police Strike for back Pay Hundreds of Kirkuk railway police went on strike Monday, protesting the arrears in their salaries. Demonstrators said they hadn’t been paid for three months.

US Troops Accused of Using Excessive Force A new report suggests that US troops in Iraq have used excessive force and inflicted unnecessary casualties on civilians. To be fair, the US military has been put in an impossible position by Bush, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz. It is occupying Iraq, trying to act as enforcer of the […]

Kurds uneasy in New Iraq The Kurdish minority in Iraq fought enthusiastically alongside US troops to overthrow Saddam Hussein. Its two simple demands are that Iraq become a loose Federation in which there is a consolidated Kurdish province (the Kurds are now largely scattered through four separate provinces), and that it be free from intereference […]

US HQ, Large Hotels in Baghdad Barricaded; the Rise of the Luxury Hotel Militias. Journalist Hazim al-Amin has returned to Baghdad for al-Hayat, and reports that there is a big difference between the ordinary Iraq “street” and the political “street” there now. He says that the markets are bustling now in a way they were […]

Barzani Greets Turkish Indecision on Troops In an interview with al-Sharq al-Awsat in the United Arab Emirates, Massoud Barzani greeted the Turkish government’s new state of indecision about whether to send troops to Iraq as a positive sign. Barzani, a member of Iraq’s US-appointed Interim Governing Council and head of the Kurdish Democratic Party, said […]

Two US Soldiers Killed, One injured at Kirkuk Guerrillas near Kirkuk fired on a US patrol with rocket propelled grenades and machine guns late Saturday, killing two US soldiers and wounding a third. 103 US troops have been killed by enemy fire since May 1. In Hawija, a US convoy came under fire and returned […]