Juan Cole

Deterrence and the Bush Doctrine Juan Cole Whatever Ikle’s (and Lowry’s) point of view represents, it is some fringe in the Republican Party but certainly not the stance of George W. Bush. Bush has been meticulous since September 11 in addressing and wooing Muslim audiences and emphasizing that Muslims are not the enemy, terrorism is. […]

More on Ikle and Nuking Mecca To: gulf2000 list Date: Tue, 04 Jun 2002 09:39:53 -0400 From: Juan Cole There is a difference between believing in freedom of speech and believing in giving prominent press platforms to hate speech. I believe Mr. Ikle should be free to believe and to say anything he likes. I […]

Ikle on Nuking Mecca: Or, Racism Lives Date: Sun, 02 Jun 2002 14:17:39 -0400 From: Juan Cole Re: Fred Ikle, Stopping the Next Sept. 11 http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110001790 Where Ikle writes: “Those who out of cowardice use their wealth to pay danegeld to the preachers of hate and destruction must be taught that this aggression will boomerang. […]

Iraq and September 11 Date: Wed, 29 May 2002 22:37:27 -0400 (EDT) To: gulf2000 list Subject: Re: Laurie Mylroie: Iraq, the Strategic Blunder, NRO The media industry around sabre rattling toward Iraq continues to flourish. But I just spent a week in Turkey talking to ordinary people, and I want to report that Turks are […]

Bin Laden’s Plan When I said that “He (OBL) knew what the likely US response would be, and had thought several steps ahead, as in chess” I was referring to September and October, when the al-Qaida propaganda machine clearly was way ahead of the United States. I personally also believe that al-Qaida assassinated Ahmad Shah […]

Bin Laden’s Intentions In his taped interview with Sheikh al-Harbi (or whoever it was), which was probably secretly taped without Usama’s knowledge by one of al-Harbi’s associates, Bin Ladin says that he was the most optimistic of the al-Qaida high command about the impact of the planes. However, he only thought that the floors above […]

International Law and the Building Iraq Campaign It is a mistake to believe that multilateralists accept “rhetoric, promises, and declarations (especially with regard to Iran and Iraq).” I know of few informed persons who would like to see the Saddam Hussein regime continue in power. I am not, however, the international community, and I am […]

The State Department vs. the Pentagon, and The Bush Doctrine I perceive one key difference between the Pentagon and State to be the former’s preference for unilateral action as opposed to the latter’s commitment to coalition building. Wolfowitz has been reported to believe that only the UK and Turkey are necessary as permanent allies in […]

Referendum Farce in Pakistan According to Dawn the Pakistani Supreme Court will take up the question of whether the presidential referendum that General Pervez Musharraf has called for April 30, 2002, is constitutional. Whatever the court decides (and its members will be under enormous pressure from the military to back it, as a recent high-level […]