Juan Cole

Jordan declines to Join in Iraq War (Again) Jordan’s Foreign Minister Marwan al-Mu`ashir continued to maintain today that its territory could not be used in any U.S. attack on Iraq. He said that the US understands he constraints on his government. He may have been referring to the anti-American fatwas issued at a recent gathering […]

Deal struck for Government in Pakistan? Rumors are swirling in the Pakistani press (“informed sources say . . .”) that a deal has finally been struck under U.S. pressure that will allow the formation of a national unity government including both the Pakistan People’s Party and the Muslim League (QA) along with a number of […]

Predator strike against al-Qaeda in Yemen The strike on Abu `Ali al-Harithi and his companions near Marib was carried out by a Predator controlled from Langley because past attempts to use conventional forces in this regard had failed. Last December, the Yemeni government sent in its special forces to search for al-Harithi and others. The […]

Are Arabs Anti-American? On a list I am on, we have been discussing Barry Rubin’s article on the roots of Arab anti-Americanism in the current Foreign Affairs. Several of us feel his arguments are vitiated by recent polling data that demonstrates the love Arabs and Muslims have for American values such as democracy and freedom […]

Election Trouble for US: Turkey and Pakistan Electoral politics in the Muslim world continue to produce results troubling to the policies of the Bush administration. On Monday it was announced in Pakistan that the Pakistan People’s Party and the United Islamic Council had reached an accord allowing them to attempt to form a government. The […]

Fighting broke out again near Shindand in Afghanistan between the forces of Ismail Khan of Herat and those of his Pushtun foe Amanu’llah Khan. Five were killed and nine wounded in the battle. This struggle has flared into violence intermittently, as have similar conflicts among warlords near Mazar-i Sharif in the north and in Paktia […]

Bahrain Elections: Islamists Win Now that the second round in the Bahrain elections has been completed, it appears that the Sunni Islamists have a bare majority in the lower house of parliament. They have 22 of the 40 seats. Of the victors in the second round, only three are liberals (one Sunni and a Shiite). […]

Safwat al-Sharif, the Minister of Culture in Egypt, insists that a television serial that depends on the Protocols of the Elders of Zion for plot elements will be shown during the fasting month of Ramadan despite Israeli protests. The “Protocols” are a forgery cooked up by the tsarist police in the early 20th century and […]

Iranian President Khatami attacked the idea of a US war against Iraq forcefully while in Spain this week. Officially, Iran has all along loudly denounced the idea of a US invasion of Iraq. . The ruling ayatollahs are afraid, I think of having the US in place on both major borders–in Afghanistan and in Iraq. […]