Juan Cole

*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 […]

*Iraqi guerrillas killed one US soldier and wounded three others over Friday night/ Saturday morning. They fired a rocket propelled grenade at their convoy as it was moving north of Baghdad. Remote control bombs in Tikrit injured two US soldiers after the burial of Uday and Qusay. *AP is reporting that a close aid to […]

*Seven US troops were wounded in various attacks on Friday, some only lightly. There were 8 attacks in 24 hours west of Baghdad, suggesting new levels of organization. (So much for the dampening effect of executing Uday and Qusay). Also, as soon as the new Polish unit got to Hilla in the south, they came […]

As usual, I have to republish yesterday’s post here if I want it archived. [ Fri Aug 01, 08:25:52 AM | Juan Cole | edit ] *Guerillas killed a US soldier with small arms fire and wounded two others at a base northeast of Baghdad near Baquba. A truck carrying ammunition to the airport to […]

*Guerillas killed a US soldier with small arms fire and wounded two others at a base northeast of Baghdad near Baquba. A truck carrying ammunition to the airport to be destroyed hit a landmine. Eyewitnesses saw four wounded soldiers being taken away. One later died. A guerrilla fired a rocket propelled grenade at US troops […]

*Guerrillas killed at least one US soldier at Diraa Dijla, west of Baghdad, and wounded others, on Weds. according to Reuters/via al-Hayat. Other guerrillas launched a rocket propelled grenade attack on US troops near Samarra, wounding two. The Washington Post reports that such attacks are frequent throughout Iraq, but most fail because the troops are […]

*Here’s my post from Gulf2000 today: What happened in Karbala this past weekend still seems a little murky. I am amazed that some enterprising reporter hasn’t gotten the story out (I haven’t seen a really good account in the Arabic press or the Western). Although it is murky, it is potentially much more significant than […]

*One US soldier was killed and three others severely wounded on Monday when a guerrilla dropped a grenade on their vehicle as it went under a bridge in the Sunni center of Baghdad. *The claimant to the Iraqi throne, Sharif `Ali b. al-Husain, visited the Shiite holy city of Najaf on Monday, receiving a mixed […]

*5 more US troops were killed over the past weekend in Iraq, bringing the July total to 27. On Sunday, a guerrilla launched a grenade attack on 3 US soldiers guarding a children’s hospital in Baquba, killing them. Another US military man was ambushed by a sniper south of Baghdad. Baquba is the capital of […]