Uncategorized

US Intervention in 1957 Lebanese Elections A reader writes by email concerning the question of whether the United States engineered the parliamentary elections of 1957 in Lebanon in an attempt to give President Camille Chamoun a second (unconstitutional) term: In regards to the US role in these elections, the remarks of former Ambassador Richard Parker […]

Asad Pledges 2-Stage Withdrawal President Bashar al-Asad of Syria gave a major policy speech [Arabic link] to the Syrian parliament on Saturday on Lebanon. He pledged a withdrawal of Syrian troops to the Biqaa Valley (a largely Sunni Arab area near the Syrian border), after which the troops would then be stationed along the Syria-Lebanon […]

Kurdish-Shiite Negotiations Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani put pressure Saturday on the United Iraqi Alliance to maintain its unity and to speed up the formation of a new government. Intrepid PBS reporter Elizabeth Farnsworth of the Lehrer Hour did a piece from Qom this week about the influence of Grand Ayatollah Sistani in Iran, via his […]

Samarra Turmoil AFP reports that Iraqi police in Samarra announced a daytime curfew aimed at preventing the holding of mass demonstrations called for by the Association of Muslim Scholars. This curfew is apparently authorized by the State of Emergency extended through the end of March by interim PM Iyad Allawi. There has been a lot […]

Constitutional Issues Professor Nathan Brown has written an overview of constitutional issues (link is pdf). Andrew Arato writes by email: This is the more or less complete picture for what 2/3 votes are needed for, according to the Transitional Administrative Law, in the National Assembly and for what 50% + 1 majorities are enough. [Many […]

Public Support for Iraq War CollapsingMajority of Americans want to Bring Some Troops Home Zogby international found that in late February the percentage of Americans who felt that the Iraq War was worth the cost plummeted by 20 percent. Is this because of the further $83 billion Bush requested for Iraq? If so, the support […]

US Wounds Italian Hostage, Kills Intelligence Man Guerrillas Kill 4 Marines The US military on Friday fired on the car carrying a just-released Italian journalist who had been taken hostage. AP says that the troops wounded journalist Giuliana Sgrena and killed “the Italian intelligence officer who helped negotiate her release . . .” Italian Prime […]

Chalabi seeks Anti-American Coalition Kurds Demand Kirkuk Az-Zaman: In a development that many observers considered a surprise, it was announced Friday that Ahmad Chalabi, Shiite secularist and head of the Iraqi National Congress, met a few days ago with members of the Association of Muslim Scholars, who had boycotted the political process. He discussed with […]

Achcar: Allawi’s Offensive Gilbert Achcar writes by email: Allawi’s offensive which I described in my previous email involved a phone talk yesterday with George W. Bush, described as follows by the WH spokesperson: ———————————————-Press Briefing by Scott McClellan [excerpt] The White House March 3, 2005 Q When the President talked with Allawi this morning, you […]