Juan Cole

al-Qaeda and Pakistani Intelligence It has long been clear that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (military intelligence) helped create the Taliban and almost certainly was involved in al-Qaeda somehow. Just-declassified US military intelligence documents reveal that ISI actually ran one of the al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan and may have been far more involved in fostering the […]

Bush May be making Hurricanes Worse For all those on the U.S. East Coast inconvenienced or endangered by the hurricane season, you should be aware that George W. Bush’s gutting of the Kyoto Protocol and his opposition to practical measures to stop global warming have the potential to cause mega-hurricanes in the future. Hurricanes are […]

Israeli Expulsion of Arafat would Violate Fourth Geneva Convention Someone asked me my stance on the Israeli War Cabinet’s decision to expel Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat from Palestine. My own stance is not important; the question is international law. Israel has been the occupying power in the West Bank and Gaza since 1967, and as […]

Hard Lives in Iraq As usual, Borzou Daragahi does an excellent job in reporting from Iraq on the ground (he is only “embedded” in Iraqi society). He presents snapshots of several living, breathing Iraqis, both members of various elites and ordinary people. His is one of the first extended sketches of a female member of […]

Bloody 24 hours in Iraq Guerrillas killed two US soldiers in the region west of Baghdad, and wounded 11 (yes, 11!) others on late Thursday through Friday. In addition, US soldiers mistook Iraqi auxiliary Facilities Protection Services personnel (our guys) in Falluja for guerrillas and killed 10 of them, along with a Jordanian guard. The […]

Sunni-Shiite Unity in Iraq (against American “Designs” The Iraqi Islamic Party had called on Sunnis and Shiites to pray together at a major mosque in Baghdad, and was met with success when thousands from both sects showed up on Friday. The prayer leader, Walid al-Adhami, denounced the US and the UK for attempting to divide […]

Bush willing to Safeguard Russian Economic Interests in Iraq According to a fine analysis by Knight-Ridder’s William Douglas, the United States will attempt to sideline and isolate France at the UN Security Council. This is because France will only back a new UNSC resolution on Iraq if the US surrenders some political power over Iraq […]

Clarification on Abdul Aziz al-Hakim and the Interim Governing Council Abdul Aziz al-Hakim gave a news conference, according to al-Zaman, in which he clarified rumors that he might resign from the Interim Governing Council. Apparently he might do so, but would be replaced by his son, Muhsin. Abdul Aziz said that the IGC is a […]

“Benign Autocracies” Produce Terrorism My response to the idea put forward in some circles that something they call a “benign autocracy” should be put in place by the Americans in Iraq: The “benign autocracies” of the Middle East have been the main producers of terrorism. Sadat and Mubarak’s Egypt produced al-Gamaa al-Islamiya (first World Trade […]