Juan Cole

Process of Writing New Constitution Delayed Seemingly irreconcilable differences will delay the writing of an Iraqi constitution, says journalist Ahmad Mukhtar in Iraq Today. He says that the Shiites on the Interim Governing Council demand that the drafters of the constitution be elected. Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani suggested recently that a delegate be chosen on […]

References http://www.novinite.com/ newsletter/print.php?id=26801 Robin Wright on Iran and Iraq http://www.latimes.com/news/ nationworld/iraq/la-fg-usiran4oct04-1.story Delays in writing Iraqi Constitution http://www.iraq-today.com/ article.php?id=11 New Iraqi nationality law http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/ 2003-10/01/content_1108999.htm

Jordanian Islamists ask Government not to Train Iraqi Police Jordan’s Islamists asked the government of King Abdullah II not to train 30,000 Iraqi police, as is now planned. They said it was inappropriate given that Iraq is occupied, since it would just help the US consolidate its colonial position in Iraq. (-al-Sharq al-Awsat).

Israeli Attack on Syria Poses Dilemma to Old Guard in Damascus I heard the Israeli ambassador to the UN allege on Sunday that Israel’s attack on Syria on Sunday resembled the US attack on the Taliban in Afghanistan. This analogy is incorrect. The US was not sending US citizens to grab land and settle any […]

Unemployment Riots in Baghdad and Basra for Second Day Hundreds of former soldiers rioted in Basra and demonstrated in Baghdad on Sunday, after similar violence on Saturday in Basra, Baghdad and Hilla. In Basra, four hundred men closed the main road. British troops fired rubber bullents to disperse them, wounding five people. At one point […]

No al-Qaeda connection Found: Kay US weapons inspector David Kay admitted that his team’s exhaustive sifting of documentation on Iraq’s weapons programs turned up no evidence of any link to al-Qaeda whatsoever. Proponents of the war often cited the danger that Iraq would give WMD to al-Qaeda as a justification for attacking Iraq.

Bangladesh Division Ruled Out Bangladesh told US Secretary of State Colin Powell that it would not send troops to Iraq, only peace-keepers. Moreover, it would only send peace-keepers if an elected government of Iraq asked Bangladesh for them. Since there is unlikely to be an elected government of Iraq until early 2005 at the earliest, […]

References Hirst on Syria: http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/ story/0,3604,1056693,00.html Bangladesh: http://nation.ittefaq.com/artman/ publish/article_5329.shtml No al-Qaeda link to Iraq: http://www.brunei-online.com/ bb/mon/oct6w2.htm

No American-Imposed Constitution – al-Mudarrisi Prominent cleric Taqi al-Mudarrisi in Karbala warned the US Sunday not to attempt to impose on Iraq a constitution that was inappropriate to it. He also warned against a sort of loose Federalism that would divide the country along ethnic lines. He went on to suggest that even some form […]