Juan Cole

Economic Privatization and Liberalization in Iraq, Kuwait–maybe even Egypt The US is going ahead with privatizing 12 state owned enterprises, mainly services, in Iraq. This step is technically illegal in international law, despite UN resolutions of limited scope. The Hague Regulations of 1907 say that Occupiers may not change civil law, and the body of […]

Bin Laden Tape on Iraq The thing that always strikes me about Bin Laden is how hysterical he remains all the time in his pronouncements, which contrasts starkly with his calm personality. In the tape released Saturday via al-Jazeera, he said Iraq was the decisive battle against the West. But this is simple minded. Iraq […]

Turks May not Send Troops to Iraq Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday that Turkey has not made a “must go” decision about sending troops to Iraq, and that they will not be sent unless they are wanted. The Iraqi Interim Governing Council is unanimously opposed to their coming and opinion polls suggest that […]

Four US Soldiers Killed, 18 wounded In addition to the three US soldiers killed in Karbala on Friday–one of whom the Arabic press is calling a senior officer– (see below), another was killed by a roadside bomb set by a guerrillas in Baghdad (it wounded two others). Guerrillas set off a roadside bomb in Mosul […]

Demonstrations in Baghdad and Basra Against US by Shiites The aftermath of the gunbattle in Karbala between US troops and the tribal paramilitary of an obscure cleric named Mahmud al-Hasani (Mahmoud al-Hassani) was marked by demonstrations in Baghdad and Basra. All the indications are now that al-Hasani is a Sadrist. Knight-Ridder says that he was […]

Breaking News: Gunfight in Karbala For twelve hours from Thursday night into Friday early morning, US military police engaged in a gunfight with Shiite militiamen guarding the home of Ayatollah Mahmud al-Hasani (Mahmoud al-Hassani) in Karbala, near the shrine of Abbas. The MPs are said to have come into Karbala to enforce a curfew. The […]

Bombings and Attempted Bombings in North Iraq; Pipeline Hit The northern pipeline was bombed again Thursday, setting back US hopes that exports would resume from the northern fields. A lot of the petroleum pumped around Kirkuk just has to be reinjected into the ground nowadays. A car bomb hit a police station in Kirkuk. An […]

UN Resolution on Iraq a Sign of Bush Administration Desperation The widespread interpretation of Thursday’s successful US-backed UN Security Resolution on Iraq, that it was a victory for the Bush administration, is all wrong. The Bush administration showed nothing but contempt for the UN last spring when it went to war unilaterally (or bilaterally if […]

US Army Arrests Sadrists in East Baghdad The US military went into East Baghdad on Thursday with tanks, which stood guard while the soldiers took control of a municipal building and arrested several supporters of Muqtada al-Sadr. The building had been used by a local city council, but al-Sadr’s supporters had invaded it and taken […]