Juan Cole

*The question was raised on a list of what would happen if the US invaded Iraq and found there were not weapons of mass destruction there. I fear I replied somewhat cynically, but also called it as I see it. If Iraq turns out not to have much WMD, the administration will fall back on […]

Republished from Cole’s private email archives, 7/1/2012 Thu Jan 30 12:21:18 2003 To: [JP] From: Juan Cole Subject: Re: Iraq WMD – Potential or Actual? X-Eudora-Signature: Dear [J]: Yes, I saw that. I am fairly cynical about all this. Cheney, Perle, Wolfowitz and Condi have wanted a war on Iraq for a long time, and […]

Published from Cole’s private email archives 7/1/2012 Wed Jan 29 11:43:49 2003 To: xxx From: Juan Cole Subject: Re: Fwd: Iraqi defectors? X-Eudora-Signature: Dear xxx: Bush specifically mentioned information from Iraqi defectors as the basis for some of his WMD charges. Since some of the defectors were scientists working for Saddam, they should know what […]

* Iraqi Vice President Tariq Aziz has warned Kuwait that Iraq would not rule out hitting it if it allows US troops to launch an invasion of Iraq from its soil. Such complicity, he said, would make this action legitimate. (It is not clear exactly what Aziz is threatening to do. However, if it involved […]

Published from Cole’s private email archives 7/1/2012 Wed Jan 29 02:58:49 2003 To: infoco@yahoogroups.com From: Juan Cole Subject: Wednesday, January 29, 2003 X-Eudora-Signature: Wednesday, January 29, 2003 * Iraqi Vice President Tariq Aziz has warned Kuwait that Iraq would not rule out hitting it if it allows US troops to launch an invasion of Iraq […]

The Journal of the International Institute ( University of Michigan) Winter 2003, vol. 10, no. 2, p. 3 The Risks of Peace and The Costs of War Juan Cole Most discussion of the looming war against Iraq by the United States quite naturally focuses, in this country, on the pros and cons of such an […]

Asharq al-Awsat reporter Abdel Baqi Khalifa reports from Sarajevo today that retired Yugoslav officers and some politicians are warning Saddam Hussain against repeating the Kosovo scenario in Baghdad. These officers tilted toward Iraq in the past, and put their concerns in a letter to the Iraqi leader. Signatories include a former Yugoslav foreign minister. They […]

I posted on the new list H-Mideast-Politics an inquiry about the lack of grassroots democratic practice in the Middle East. I said that I had read in Asharq al-Awsat last year that the Egyptian parliament was seriously considering allowing elections for the governors of the major provinces, eg Buhayra, Minya, etc. I wondered if this […]

A major tiff has broken out between the Pakistani government and the US ambassador in Islamabad, Nancy Powell. Speaking at a dinner for businessmen in Karachi, she called on Pakistan fully to implement its pledge to stop cross-border infiltration of radicals accross the line of control into Indian-held Kashmir. “Pakistan must ensure its pledges are […]