Middle East

US Public Skeptical of “Surge,” 72% Disapprove of Bush’s Handling of Iraq It isn’t amazing that 61% of Americans think the US should never have invaded Iraq. [- Courtesy NYT/CBS.] What is amazing is that 35% still think it was a good idea. It isn’t amazing that 76% (including 51% of Republicans) of Americans say […]

Muqtada Renews call for US Departure Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadr, the young Shiite nationalist cleric, preached openly at Kufa before about 1,000 worshippers for the first time in many months on Friday, AFP reports in Arabic at Sawt al-Iraq He preached in his kafan, or burial shroud, a sign of defiance and willingness to be martyred. […]

Sadr and Shiite Politics Sawt al-Iraq carries a report that Muqtada al-Sadr is back in Najaf after travels in Lebanon and Iran. The US military is cautiously reporting the same information, though with less certainty. It is thought possible that Muqtada will preach in Kufa on Friday. Meanwhile, the US military announced on Friday morning […]

Guerrillas Kill 9 US GIs Over 100 Dead in New Wave of Violence Sectarian Killings at forefront Again Sunni Arab guerrillas killed 9 US GIs in five separate attacks on Wednesday, bringing the death toll for May so far to 80. A tenth soldier was found floating in the Euphrates on Wednesday. He was one […]

The Bushies Just Make it Up: Iraq & al-Qaeda Bush was out there again on Wednesday trying to link Iraq to al-Qaeda and maintaining that the US was mainly fighting it in that country. In fact, No Mahdi Army Shiites are al-Qaeda. Almost all Sunni Arab guerrilla cells are Baathist or Salafi rather than al-Qaeda. […]

Dems Blink on Timetable; New Iraq Plan on the Ground The Democratic leadership in the House and Senate blinked on a troop withdrawal timetable today. The Warner plan, which substitutes 19 benchmarks to be achieved by the Iraqi government for the exact departure dates of US troops, puts some reporting restrictions on Bush but essentially […]

Effort to Amend Constitution Founders Again Al-Hayat reports in Arabic that Iraqi parliamentarians proved unable to agree on key constitutional compromises. The sticking points included the establishment of further provincial confederacies, De-Baathification, the disposition of the oil city of Kirkuk, and the distribution of national wealth [this is where that would be done, not in […]

Chart of Enemy Attacks in Iraq Here is a chart of guerrilla attacks in Iraq since 2003 through April 2007. It is from a GAO document on Iraq, “GAO-07-677 Iraq Electricity and Oil,” p. 34. The original is in .pdf format here. I think it says it all. Note that all the activity related to […]

Cole interview of Ali Allawi in Chronicle My interview with Ali Allawi, author of The Occupation of Iraq: Winning the War, Losing the Peace is temporarily available at the Chronicle of Higher Education at this special site for non-subscribers. Excerpt: ‘ Cole: Is the Iraqi government as it is now constituted really viable? Can it […]