Juan Cole

US moves to Hand Sovereignty to Iraqis by June; Well, Sort of We now know what the anonymous Arab diplomat meant when he told the New York Times that he had met with Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz and that all of them were focused on an “exit strategy” for Iraq. ABC News seems to have been […]

Muqtada al-Sadr Praises New Transition to an Iraqi Government Young Shiite radical Muqtada al-Sadr, in his Friday Prayers sermon at Kufa, also praised the new program, saying that any step that restored sovereignty to Iraqis was a step in the right direction. He said that the decision of the US to move in this direction […]

Riot in Samawah AP reported that demonstrators threw rocks in downtown Samawah, protesting alleged police corruption. Iraqi police tried to deal with the rally by firing into the crowds, wounded at least one man. The hostilities died down when Dutch soldiers appeared.

Fateful US Choices in Iraq Rory McCarthy, writing for the Guardian from Baghdad, has outlined the new policy options facing Paul Bremer now that his original 7-stage plan has been abandoned. “Plans now being considered include: · Letting an enlarged governing council immediately take over the responsibilities of a transitional government · Enlarging the governing […]

Blackwill, NSC tapped to take over Iraq from Rumsfeld Reliable diplomatic sources in New York have told al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper that the Bush administration has decided to reduce the role of the Department of Defense in Iraq and to gradually give that responsibility to the National Security Council and the White House. They said that […]

New Poll Shows Public thinks it was Misled on Iraq From The Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland: “No Clear Consensus For or Against Decision to Go To War Support for Iraq Reconstruction Undaunted For Release: Nov. 13, 2003, 12:15 pm Contact: Steven Kull (202) 232-7500 College Park, MD: According to […]

Move to Early Turnover of Civil Authority in Iraq? One outcome of Paul Bremer’s frantic consultations in Washington on the rapidly deteriorating Iraq situation appears to have been a decision to move to some sort of sovereign Iraqi government quickly, and to worry about the writing of a constitution later. Although this decision is long […]

Japan Pulls Out; S. Korea Reduces Planned Force The car bombing of the Italian police station at Nasiriyah has had the results the guerrillas were aiming at. Japan has now formally announced that it won’t send peacekeeping troops to Iraq. South Korea had been being pressed by the US to send 10,000 troops, including combat […]

US Army Confiscates Journalists’ Videotape Some thirty media outlets are protesting that the US military on the ground in Iraq is interfering with their coverage of the ongoing military operations there, in contradiction of the Pentagon’s own guidelines. They say equipment, including cameras and videotapes, have been confiscated, and journalists have been harassed. Since the […]