Juan Cole

*The British are asserting that there has been a popular revolt in Basra against the Republican Guards and other forces loyal to Saddam. The Iraqi government has denied the report. The British also say that the Iraqi military is firing mortars on the rebels. Since the British can pinpoint the origin of mortar fire, they […]

*I saw an interview by a journalist with some Kurds in the North of Iraq who were complaining about the US invasion of Iraq and bombardment of Baghdad. They said Bush had not gotten UN backing for the war, and so it was illegitimate. They also said they did not like seeing Muslims die at […]

*As usual in war reporting, I already have to take back some of what I said yesterday. It seems increasingly clear that the Bush administration rushed into war with Iraq before its military was really ready. All the forces have been thrown against Baghdad, to which they have raced, leaving the Shiite south insecure. Rear-guard […]

*Basra fell early Sunday morning EST, Sunday afternoon Baghdad time. Actually what appears to have happened was that the largely British force surrounding the city negotiated its surrender with the Iraqi army officials. The bulk of the British forces, supported by US Marines, has now headed north for Baghdad. Had the Baathist military put up […]

*Well, we found out why the ground troops moved in without a preceding air campaign. The air campaign had been planned for Friday, and was not moved up because the US was waiting for assessment from its attempt to kill Saddam by Tomahawk Cruise missiles. Apparently he was wounded but is not dead, though his […]

*The US 3rd Infantry Division has entered southern Iraq virtually without opposition. The insertion of some 16,000 or 17,000 men into enemy territory before the air campaign has all us observers baffled. Is it because they are assured that the Iraqi command structure has disintegrated and there is no need to soften the Iraqi armor […]

*Asharq al-Awsat reports that hundreds of “Afghan Arabs” (volunteers, mainly from the Arab world, who had fought the Soviets or with the Taliban in Afghanistan) have gathered in Iraq to carry out suicide missions against US troops there. Sources close to the fundamentalists maintain that other volunteers have come from Lebanon and that remnants of […]

*My mind and heart are, like those of so many Americans, focused on the Gulf and Iraq tonight. I am thinking about all those brave young men and women in the US and British armed forces whose lives are on the line, and send them my warm support. And I am thinking about all the […]

http://hnn.us/articles/1322.html History News Network 3-17-03: News Abroad Why You Should Pray that We Don’t Bomb the Sites Sacred to Shiites By Juan Cole Most Iraqi Shiites would be overjoyed to see the United States come in and effect regime change. But will the Shiites, brutalized by Saddam’s tyranny, remain happy with the United States in […]