Juan Cole

*As President Bush went to the United Nations for a new resolution in Iraq, his representatives immediately met again with the Indian Foreign Secretary* Kanwal Sibal about the possibility of India providing a division, nearly 20,000 men. The last such request was rebuffed by the Indians on the grounds that there would have to be […]

*Guerrillas near Tikrit set off a roadside bomb that wounded four US soldiers in a passing convoy. Later they fired mortar rounds at US positions in Tikrit, but the US military responded forcefully and chased them off. For now. Meanwhile, the US military revealed that a shoulder-held ground to air missile was fired at a […]

*Guerrillas in southern Iraq set off a roadside bomb as a US convoy went by on Monday, killing two US soldiers and wounding a third. Another US soldier was killed, and one wounded, on Tuesday in a helicopter accident. *Another car bomb went off in Baghdad on Tuesday, outside the HQ of the Iraqi police […]

*Fourteen US soldiers were wounded over the weekend. Several fell victim to attacks in the Sunni Arab triangle on Sunday. The WP now reports that the US military often does not release news of wounded soldiers unless one among the group has been killed. This practice has the effect of playing down the number of […]

Note: I will appear on the Lehrer News Hour on PBS on Monday 9/1, at 6 pm or 7 pm in most markets. Sorry for the last minute notice; it is how these things are done.

*A band of 8 Iraqi guerrillas fired rocket propelled grenades at a US convoy west of Kirkuk on Saturday, wounding two U.S. soldiers. The soldiers in the convoy fired back, killing six and wounding two of the Saddam loyalists. A new report says that one in seven of wounded US troops die. This is a […]

*An exploding mine wounded seven American soldiers in a vehicle that ran over it early Saturday near the border with Syria. *In Najaf crowds demonstrated in protest of Friday’s bombing. Some anti-American slogans were heard (the US is blamed for not providing enough security.) Najaf police have arrested some 19 suspects in Friday’s massive car […]

*Guerrillas near Baquba northeast of Baghdad fired rocket-propelled grenades at a US convoy, killing one US soldier and wounding four others. One of the wounded soldiers will have to lose his leg. A fair-sized bomb went off Friday outside the British military headquarters in the southern city of Basra, destroying two automobiles 100 yards from […]

*Breaking news. Nearly 100 people have been killed and hundreds more wounded by a hug car bomb blast in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, Iraq. Among the dead is Ayatollah Muhammad Baqir al-Hakim, head since 1984 of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq. His brother, Abdul Aziz, is a member of the […]