Juan Cole

100,000 Gangsters in Iraq An official with the international Red Cross/ Red Crescent in Amman told al-Sharq al-Awsat on Saturday that the 100,000 members of criminal gangs constituted the second largest army in the country. (This number would be larger than the British contingent, but smaller than the 130,000 or so US troops). He said […]

Breaking news: Aqila al-Hashimi Attacked, in Critical Condition Guerrillas fired rocket-propelled grenades Saturday morning at the automobilie of Aqila al-Hashimi, a prominent female member of the US-appointed Interim Governing Council. When the grenades missed, they sprayed the car with machine gun fire, critically wounding her and several of her body guards. She was whisked away […]

Two US Troops Wounded Guerrillas launched two separate attacks on passing US military vehicles near Khalidiya on Friday, wounding two Americans. The attacks led to a heavy exchange of fire that left an Iraqi dead.

Powerful Explosion in Baghdad The NYT reports, “The violence continued in Iraq as a bomb exploded by a highway here in the capital on Friday night, with a boom that echoed through the city and sent a plume of white smoke hundreds of feet in night sky. The blast, just before 9 p.m., hurt no […]

Bremer Decries Iranian Actions in Iraq US civil administrator Paul Bremer gave an interview with the Daily Telegraph in which he decried what he called Iranian meddling in Iran. He said Tehran “continues to meddle in various ways in Iraq’s internal affairs.” He said that Iranian activities included “support for various people, some of whom […]

Iraq must be Kept together as a Single State The splitting up of Iraq into three countries would be unacceptable to all the neighbors, including Turkey and Saudi Arabia, and they are powerful enough that it probably cannot happen over their objections. Even President Khatami in Iran has begun speaking about the necessity to avoid […]

Diyala Bridge Cost Overruns More reader reactions to the Riverbend posting about US over-spending on construction projects in Iraq: From Nabil al-Tikriti: “Karen Magoon’s websearch is insufficient proof of the inaccuracy of the riverbend blog’s claim. I’ve been to Iraq a number of times, and through my relief work I’ve had quite a lot of […]

Three US Soldiers Dead, perhaps a dozen Wounded Guerrillas throughout northern Iraq subjected American troops to a large number of deadly attacks on Thursday, killing at least three US soldiers and wounding perhaps a dozen. Outside Tikrit, Saddam’s home town, guerrillas killed three US soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division and wounded two others. In […]

Police demonstrate in Basra The police chief of Basra has been removed from office by the British. About two hundred policemen loyal to him staged a protest Thursday.