Juan Cole

*Iraqi guerrillas wounded four US soldiers on Sunday, though details are not forthcoming. Another soldier died of heat stroke in the 123 degree F. sun (50 C.) near al-Diwaniya. A journalist was also wounded. British forces came under fire at Amara in the South, and killed three and wounded six of their assailants. *The riots […]

*Iraqi guerrillas wounded at least four American troops on Friday night and Saturday, according to AP. They fired rocket propelled grenades and directed small arms fire at a patrol of the 173rd Airbone Brigade in Kirkuk (the Kurdish north). That attack wounded two soldiers, who are in stable condition. In south-central Baghdad, guerrillas exploded a […]

Here’s my Friday op-ed for The Daily Star at http://www.dailystar.com.lb/opinion/09_08_03_e.asp Shiite divisions give the US breathing room Juan Cole The Daily Star, 8/9/03 Most Shiite leaders in Iraq have made a tactical decision not to resist the Anglo-American occupation during the coming year. They hope the US, in recreating Iraq as a parliamentary democracy, will […]

*A US soldier was shot to death in the ritzy Mansur district of Baghdad on Friday, but whether it was the work of a guerrilla is unknown. Some 12 US troops were wounded. Six were wounded when guerrillas in Mosul hit their vehicle with a rocke propelled grenade. A bomb blew up two humvees near […]

*Guerrillas in Karada, Baghdad directed small arms fire from their vehicle at two US soldiers from the 1st Armored Division on Wednesday night, killing one soldier on the spot. The other died later on from his wounds. One of them was identified as: – Army Staff Sgt. Brian R. Hellerman, 35, Freeport, Minn. The previous […]

*The bombing of the Marriott in Jakarta by the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyya is very bad news. It will hurt Indonesia’s tourism and foreign investment, which is the goal. They want to destabilize the government of Mrs. Megawati, which is the freest Indionesians have known. If Indonesians can be reduced to poverty and induced ro rage […]

*Three US soldiers were slightly injured in Falluja on Tuesday along with 3 Iraqi policemen, according to AP. The Americans had joined Iraqi police in fending off an angry crowd that attacked on the police station there that used rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons. CNN covered this very cursorily according to the transcript. AFP reports […]

*Five US soldiers were wounded in Iraq Monday, along with an Iraqi translator, according to AFP. In one attack, guerrillas gutsily fired an anti-tank rocket near Baghdad police headquarters, wounding 3. The other attack took place on the dangerous road to the airport. On Sunday, a US soldier and two Iraqis were killed by a […]

*People in Baghdad are still suffering with a crime wave that includes kidnappings, burglaries, car jackings and assassinations. Kidnappers demanded $100,000 for the return of his son to a physician recently, according to In`am Kajahji of al-Sharq al-Awsat. He bargained them down to his new Mercedes Benz. Others have had to sell their really new […]