Middle East

A Surge of Phony Spin on Iraq: Cole in Salon My column is out in Salon.com Tuesday: A surge of phony spin on Iraq Bush’s backers are peddling a sunny view of the president’s strategy — despite Iraq’s political chaos and soaring death counts. excerpts: ‘ The troop escalation was intended to calm down Baghdad […]

122 Dead in Civil War Violence; The Collapse of the al-Maliki Cabinet The cabinet ministers in the al-Maliki government belonging to the National Iraqi List led by Iyad Allawi suspended their participation on Monday. They did not withdraw altogether from the government, just declined to come to meetings. But now some 17 cabinet ministers have […]

Republican Candidates for Staying the Course; Tal Afar Bombing Kills 25; 60 Bodies found Near Baquba; 190,000 Guns Unaccounted for by Pentagon Republican candidates on Iraq Sunday: “They are making progress, and we are winning on the ground,” said Senator John McCain of Arizona. “We must win. And we will not set a date for […]

Hard of Hearing when it Comes to the Saudis Iraqslogger discovers that the State Department suddenly can’t hear very well when the Saudi foreign minister starts fulminating against ‘foreign interference’ and ‘Occupation’ in Iraq. Plus: Jonathan Steele thinks it is good news that the petroleum bill has stalled out in the Iraqi parliament. And, Cindy […]

Al-Anbar Residents approve of Sunni withdrawal Remember all that reporting about “progress” against “al-Qaeda” in al-Anbar Province? But for Sunni Arab Iraqis to hate the foreign Salafi fighters is not strange, and it says nothing about al-Anbar’s relationship to the Shiite government in Baghdad. al-Hayat writing in Arabic reports that its interviewees in al-Anbar wholeheartedly […]

Shiite Militia Attacks on US and British Troops;The Kurds and the Kirkuk Crisis Remember that spate of newspaper stories about July seeing the lowest number of US military deaths in Iraq since November? Darrel Plant points out that the stories began before the month was over and before the final tally was even in. It […]

13 Killed in Hibhib US-Iraqi Operation in Samarra’ US and Iraq troops are mounting a major operation in the northern Sunni Arab city of Samarra, intending to uproot the “Islamic State of Iraq,” which sympathizes with the goals of al-Qaeda. The city has witnessed two major attacks on an crucial Shiite shrine that have contributed […]

Sunni Arab Withdrawal from Al-Maliki Government The USG Open Source Center analyzes the recent withdrawal of the Sunni Arab Iraqi Accord Front from the al-Maliki government. Reactions of major Iraqi political blocs, especially the Shiites, are translated and quoted. “Iraq: Government Plays Down Withdrawal; Tawafuq to Be Parliamentary OppositionIraq — OSC ReportThursday, August 2, 2007 […]