Archives: May 2004

Miller As Chalabi Stenographer

Miller as Chalabi Stenographer Franklin Foer's profile of Judith Miller of the NYT and the way in which her over-dependence on the Iraqi National Congress and Ahmad Chalabi besmirched her journalistic career…

Kufa Fighting Flares Bombs In Baghdad

Kufa Fighting Flares; Bombs in Baghdad Fighting flared again Sunday and Monday between Mahdi Army militiamen and US troops, who are apparently trying to reconquer the police stations in the city. Fierce…

Portrait Of Rebellion In These Times

Portrait of a Rebellion In These Times has made my analysis of the Shiite rebellion of the past two months available online. It came out about a week ago and so before…

Wrangling Over President Delays

Wrangling over President delays Announcement Rajiv Chandrasekaran of the WP summarizes the deadlock on the new prime minister among the Iraqi Governing Council, Paul Bremer, and special UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi. The…

Sites Of Day Veteran Journalist Helena

Sites of the Day Veteran journalist Helena Cobban's Just World News site is worth checking out. She writes frequently on the Middle East and knows it well. Abbas Kadhim, Calling it Like…

Muqtada Misses Friday Prayers More

Muqtada Misses Friday Prayers; More Violence Near Najaf Reuters reports Friday that a day after an apparent agreement between the Interim Governing Council and Muqtada al Sadr, his followers were disappointed to…

Wedding Party Bombing Controversy

Wedding Party Bombing Controversy The controversy on the US bombing of what appears to have been a wedding party near Syria continues to boil, with this al Jazeerah editorial taking the con…

They Even Changed Its Name Nathan

They Even Changed its Name? Nathan Brown, a Middle East expert at George Washington University, writes: "With little fanfare, the name of Iraq seems to have been changed. In light of all…

Abuse Of Women Detainees Iraqi Women

Abuse of Women Detainees Iraqi women were also abused at Abu Ghuraib, according to the Taguba report and reports of photographs seen by the US Congress. As this Islamist PakNews story notes,…

Thoughts On Torture Guest Editorial By

Thoughts on Torture Guest Editorial By William R. Polk Displays of naked Iraqi prisoners being humiliated in American military prisons have shocked not only Arabs and Europeans but also most Americans. They…

Americas Incompetent Colonialism Guest

America's Incompetent Colonialism Guest Editorial by Keith Watenpaugh America’s Incompetent Colonialism: The Failures of the US Administration of Iraq A year ago, word began to filter out of Baghdad that in addition…

Zinni On What Went Wrong In Wake Of Gen

Zinni on What Went WrongIn the wake of Gen. Anthony Zinni's 60 Minutes appearance, it is worth looking in detail at his recent essay on what went wrong. The Center for Defense…

Zinni On What Went Wrong In Wake Of

Zinni on What Went Wrong In the wake of Gen. Anthony Zinni's 60 Minutes appearance, it is worth looking in detail at his recent essay on what went wrong. The Center for…

Continued Fallout Of War Of Holy Cities

Continued Fallout of War of Holy CitiesEven though Karbala has fallen quiet, there were clashes on other fronts. 20 people were killed and 50 wounded in clashes between the US and the…

Continued Fallout Of War Of Holy

Continued Fallout of War of Holy Cities Even though Karbala has fallen quiet, there were clashes on other fronts. 20 people were killed and 50 wounded in clashes between the US and…

Shiite International There Was More

A Shiite International?There was more heavy fighting in Karbala early on Friday, after which the city fell eerily quiet. By Friday night into early Saturday morning, Mahdi Army militiamen had mysteriously ceased…

Shiite International There Was More

A Shiite International? There was more heavy fighting in Karbala early on Friday, after which the city fell eerily quiet. By Friday night into early Saturday morning, Mahdi Army militiamen had mysteriously…

Guest Editorials Im Going To Be Doing

Guest EditorialsI'm going to be doing some traveling this coming week. I will be posting more guest editorials than usual, and may not be able to comment as often on hard news.…

Guest Editorials Im Going To Be Doing

Guest Editorials I'm going to be doing some traveling this coming week. I will be posting more guest editorials than usual, and may not be able to comment as often on hard…

Shiite Demonstrations In Bahrain

Shiite Demonstrations in BahrainViolent demonstrations broke out in Bahrain protesting the US fighting in Karbala. "Violence broke out on Friday after police fired tear gas to disperse thousands of mainly Shia Muslim…

Shiite Demonstrations In Bahrain

Shiite Demonstrations in Bahrain Violent demonstrations broke out in Bahrain protesting the US fighting in Karbala. "Violence broke out on Friday after police fired tear gas to disperse thousands of mainly Shia…

Heavy Fighting In Holy Cities

Heavy Fighting in Holy CitiesThe Associated Press reports that"American tanks and AC-130 gunships pounded insurgent positions near two shrines in the center of the holy city of Karbala early Friday, and the…

Heavy Fighting In Holy Cities

Heavy Fighting in Holy Cities The Associated Press reports that "American tanks and AC-130 gunships pounded insurgent positions near two shrines in the center of the holy city of Karbala early Friday,…

More On Chalabi Raid Ash Sharq Al Awsat

More on Chalabi Raid Ash-Sharq al-Awsat: Chalabi aides said that 10 computers and lots of files were carted away from Chalabi's house, which they turned upside down. His nephew, Defence Minister Ali…

More On Chalabi Raid Ash Sharq Al

More on Chalabi Raid Ash-Sharq al-Awsat: Chalabi aides said that 10 computers and lots of files were carted away from Chalabi's house, which they turned upside down. His nephew, Defence Minister Ali…

Sullivan On Iraq War Sept

Sullivan on Iraq War, Sept. 1, 2002There has been no accountability for all the war hysteria whipped up by media pundits and politicians about Iraq in the year before the U.S. invaded.…

Sullivan On Iraq War Sept

Sullivan on Iraq War, Sept. 1, 2002 There has been no accountability for all the war hysteria whipped up by media pundits and politicians about Iraq in the year before the U.S.…

Martin And Malcolm Chalabi And Muqtada

Martin and Malcolm, Chalabi and MuqtadaAn informed Iraqi Shiite writes:" 1.Chalabi is setting himself up to be Martin Luther King to Muqtada's Malcolm X. I predict he will head to Najaf soon…

Martin And Malcolm Chalabi And Muqtada

Martin and Malcolm, Chalabi and Muqtada An informed Iraqi Shiite writes: " 1.Chalabi is setting himself up to be Martin Luther King to Muqtada's Malcolm X. I predict he will head to…

Chalabis House Raided He Is Suspended

Chalabi's House Raided; He is Suspended from the Interim Governing CouncilAhmad Chalabi's house was raided in Baghdad by US troops on orders of an Iraqi judge. He is said to have been…

Chalabis House Raided He Is Suspended

Chalabi's House Raided; He is Suspended from the Interim Governing Council Ahmad Chalabi's house was raided in Baghdad by US troops on orders of an Iraqi judge. He is said to have…

Rockets Fired At Italian Base News From

Rockets Fired at Italian BaseNews from Italy about Iraq via a kind reader there:Drawing on ANSA News agency (Rome): "Two rockets (NB: Italian journalists aren't very precise with military terminology, you never…

Rockets Fired At Italian Base News

Rockets Fired at Italian Base News from Italy about Iraq via a kind reader there: Drawing on ANSA News agency (Rome): "Two rockets (NB: Italian journalists aren't very precise with military terminology,…

Wolfowitz And Marsh Arabs Mickey Kaus

Wolfowitz and the Marsh ArabsMickey Kaus responds to my explanation (below) of my view of the relative authority of Muqtada al-Sadr and Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani. He says, however, that I compared…

Wolfowitz And Marsh Arabs Mickey Kaus

Wolfowitz and the Marsh Arabs Mickey Kaus responds to my explanation (below) of my view of the relative authority of Muqtada al-Sadr and Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani. He says, however, that I…

Us War Planes Kill 40 Iraqis Near

US War Planes Kill 40 Iraqis Near the Syrian BorderThe NYT report on the US helicopter gunship attack that killed 40 Iraqis, including 15 children and 10 women is typical of reporting…

Us War Planes Kill 40 Iraqis Near

US War Planes Kill 40 Iraqis Near the Syrian Border The NYT report on the US helicopter gunship attack that killed 40 Iraqis, including 15 children and 10 women is typical of…

Sistani And Al Sadr Demonstrations And

Sistani and al-Sadr: Demonstrations and Counter-DemonstrationsMainstream Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani and the young sectarian leader Muqtada al-Sadr are now locked in a battle of wills, according to az-Zaman. Several hundred Sistani supporters…

Sistani And Al Sadr Demonstrations And

Sistani and al-Sadr: Demonstrations and Counter-Demonstrations Mainstream Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani and the young sectarian leader Muqtada al-Sadr are now locked in a battle of wills, according to az-Zaman. Several hundred Sistani…

Poll Muqtada Second Most Popular

Poll: Muqtada Second Most Popular Politician in Iraq Roula Khalaf of the Financial Times reports the results of a poll of 1600 Iraqis from all major ethnic groups.The results confirm that radical…

Poll Muqtada Second Most Popular

Poll: Muqtada Second Most Popular Politician in Iraq Roula Khalaf of the Financial Times reports the results of a poll of 1600 Iraqis from all major ethnic groups. The results confirm that…

All Bush Wants To Do Is Dance It Seems

All Bush Wants to do is DanceIt seems clear that the weird Bush policy of doing the most destructive thing possible is likely to continue in Iraq until the Apocalypse. (See below.)…

All Bush Wants To Do Is Dance It Seems

All Bush Wants to do is Dance It seems clear that the weird Bush policy of doing the most destructive thing possible is likely to continue in Iraq until the Apocalypse. (See…

Thousands March Against Us Uk In Iran

Thousands March against US, UK in IranMolotov Cocktails thrown at UK EmbassyHeavy fighting continued on Wednesday between the Mahdi Army in Karbala, which was firing from the shrine of Imam Husain, and…

Thousands March Against Us Uk In Iran

Thousands March against US, UK in Iran Molotov Cocktails thrown at UK Embassy Heavy fighting continued on Wednesday between the Mahdi Army in Karbala, which was firing from the shrine of Imam…

Apocalypse Now In White House Rick

Apocalypse Now in the White HouseRick Perlstein of the Village Voice acquired a damning memo ("you're not supposed to have that") demonstrating the hold the looney Christian far Right has on Bush…

Apocalypse Now In White House Rick

Apocalypse Now in the White House Rick Perlstein of the Village Voice acquired a damning memo ("you're not supposed to have that") demonstrating the hold the looney Christian far Right has on…

Sistani Vs

Sistani vs. Muqtada vs. US in NajafDaniel Williams, Scott Wilson and Saad Sarhan of the Washington Post report on the new test of wills between the young sectarian leader Muqtada al-Sadr "Sadr…

Sistani Vs

Sistani vs. Muqtada vs. US in Najaf Daniel Williams, Scott Wilson and Saad Sarhan of the Washington Post report on the new test of wills between the young sectarian leader Muqtada al-Sadr…

Italians Retake Base Nasiriyah Library

Italians Retake BaseNasiriyah Library in FlamesItalian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi wants out of Iraq with honor, according to Italian sources. He is down in the polls and keenly aware of what happened…

Italians Retake Base Nasiriyah Library

Italians Retake Base Nasiriyah Library in Flames Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi wants out of Iraq with honor, according to Italian sources. He is down in the polls and keenly aware of…

Reader Comment On Torture

Reader Comment on Torture InterrogationsMichael Pollak writes:Dear Juan,On Sunday you wrote: "First, torture does not work, and there is no evidence that it worked at Abu Ghuraib."I quite agree, and it's occurred…

Reader Comment On Torture

Reader Comment on Torture Interrogations Michael Pollak writes: Dear Juan, On Sunday you wrote: "First, torture does not work, and there is no evidence that it worked at Abu Ghuraib." I quite…

Sistani Calls For Iraq Wide Protests

Sistani Calls for Iraq-Wide ProtestsThe BBC reports that Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani has again called for all military forces to be withdrawn from Najaf and Karbala, the two holiest cities for Shiites.…

Sistani Calls For Iraq Wide Protests

Sistani Calls for Iraq-Wide Protests The BBC reports that Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani has again called for all military forces to be withdrawn from Najaf and Karbala, the two holiest cities for…

50 Sadrists Killed By Americans In

50 Sadrists Killed by Americans in Karbala and NasiriyahSistani's House Sprayed by Machine Gun FireAn aide to Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani reports that his house in Najaf was sprayed with machine gun…

50 Sadrists Killed By Americans In

50 Sadrists Killed by Americans in Karbala and Nasiriyah Sistani's House Sprayed by Machine Gun Fire An aide to Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani reports that his house in Najaf was sprayed with…

Powell Admission Begs Question By Now

Powell Admission Begs QuestionBy now most persons with a television and an interest in US affairs will have seen the bizarre scene in which Deputy Press Secretary Emily Miller, an aide to…

Powell Admission Begs Question By Now

Powell Admission Begs Question By now most persons with a television and an interest in US affairs will have seen the bizarre scene in which Deputy Press Secretary Emily Miller, an aide…

Moving To More Secure Camp Daniel

Moving to a More Secure CampDaniel Williams of the Washington Post wonders if Iraq can be salvaged. The article is one of the more clear-eyed I have seen:Some quotes:' "We could not…

Moving To More Secure Camp Daniel

Moving to a More Secure Camp Daniel Williams of the Washington Post wonders if Iraq can be salvaged. The article is one of the more clear-eyed I have seen: Some quotes: '…

Gay Marriage In Massachusetts And

Gay Marriage in Massachusetts and the Egyptian BoathouseThis Web Log has focused on Iraq so much in the past year that sometimes readers complain if I stray into other subjects. But it…

Gay Marriage In Massachusetts And

Gay Marriage in Massachusetts and the Egyptian Boathouse This Web Log has focused on Iraq so much in the past year that sometimes readers complain if I stray into other subjects. But…

Ezzedin Salim People Have Been Asking

Ezzedin SalimPeople have been asking me about the slain president of the Interim Governing Council, Ezzedin Salim (Izz al-Din Salim). The best profile I have found is a compilation of newswire reports…

Ezzedin Salim People Have Been Asking

Ezzedin Salim People have been asking me about the slain president of the Interim Governing Council, Ezzedin Salim (Izz al-Din Salim). The best profile I have found is a compilation of newswire…

President Of Interim Governing Council

President of Interim Governing Council AssassinatedA suicide car bomber assassinated the current president of the Interim Governing Council on Monday as he was waiting at a checkpoint outside the Green Zone or…

President Of Interim Governing Council_17

President of Interim Governing Council Assassinated A suicide car bomber assassinated the current president of the Interim Governing Council on Monday as he was waiting at a checkpoint outside the Green Zone…

Continued Clashes In Karbala Lead To

Continued Clashes in Karbala Lead to Closure of Shrinesal-Zaman: On Sunday, Shiite religious authorities in Karbala formally closed the shrines of Imam Husain and his half-brother Abu'l-Fadl Abbas, to pilgrims. This rare…

Continued Clashes In Karbala Lead To

Continued Clashes in Karbala Lead to Closure of Shrines al-Zaman: On Sunday, Shiite religious authorities in Karbala formally closed the shrines of Imam Husain and his half-brother Abu'l-Fadl Abbas, to pilgrims. This…

Italians Pushed Out Of Nasiriyah Tell

Italians, Pushed out of Nasiriyah, Tell Bush to Back Off10 Italian Troops Wounded, 20 Iraqis wounded, 2 KilledMore heavy fighting at Nasiriyah on Sunday. AP reports that the Mahdi Army in Nasiriyah…

Italians Pushed Out Of Nasiriyah Tell

Italians, Pushed out of Nasiriyah, Tell Bush to Back Off 10 Italian Troops Wounded, 20 Iraqis wounded, 2 Killed More heavy fighting at Nasiriyah on Sunday. AP reports that the Mahdi Army…

Patel On Religious Authority For Quick

Patel on Religious AuthorityFor a quick primer on religious authority in Iraq, Sunni and Shiite, from an academic who has been living there for the past year, see David Patel's piece, just…

Patel On Religious Authority For Quick

Patel on Religious Authority For a quick primer on religious authority in Iraq, Sunni and Shiite, from an academic who has been living there for the past year, see David Patel's piece,…

Iran Strongly Condemns Us Operations In

Iran Strongly Condemns US Operations in Najaf, KarbalaSupreme Jurisprudent Ali Khamenei of Iran finally broke his silence about the US military operations in Najaf and Karbala on Sunday. I had presumed that…

Iran Strongly Condemns Us Operations

Iran Strongly Condemns US Operations in Najaf, Karbala Supreme Jurisprudent Ali Khamenei of Iran finally broke his silence about the US military operations in Najaf and Karbala on Sunday. I had presumed…

Rumsfeld Plays M Gives License To Kill

Rumsfeld Plays "M", Gives License to KillSy Hersh's expose of an ultra-secret 00 unit of two hundred inside the Pentagon is probably the nail in the coffin of Rumsfeld's tenure at the…

Rumsfeld Plays M Gives License To Kill

Rumsfeld Plays "M", Gives License to Kill Sy Hersh's expose of an ultra-secret 00 unit of two hundred inside the Pentagon is probably the nail in the coffin of Rumsfeld's tenure at…

Implication Of Shiite Divisions Scott

The Implication of Shiite DivisionsScott Wilson of the Washington Post says that "A Divided South Moves to the Fore in Iraq."The main point of the article is that the situation in Najaf…

Implication Of Shiite Divisions Scott

The Implication of Shiite Divisions Scott Wilson of the Washington Post says that "A Divided South Moves to the Fore in Iraq." The main point of the article is that the situation…

Heavy Fighting In Karbala Amara

Heavy Fighting in Karbala, Amara, Nasiriyah, Samawah5 Americans Dead; British Kill 20 Near AmaraThe Shiite uprising of Muqtada al-Sadr continued Saturday, as it clashed with Coalition forces throughout the south of the…

Heavy Fighting In Karbala Amara

Heavy Fighting in Karbala, Amara, Nasiriyah, Samawah 5 Americans Dead; British Kill 20 Near Amara The Shiite uprising of Muqtada al-Sadr continued Saturday, as it clashed with Coalition forces throughout the south…

New Template I Get Lot Of Messages

New TemplateI get a lot of messages complaining about web presentation. Some people did not like the blue background. Some people did not like the use of italics to show quotations. Some…

New Template I Get Lot Of Messages

New Template I get a lot of messages complaining about web presentation. Some people did not like the blue background. Some people did not like the use of italics to show quotations.…

Al Muhammadawi Slams Bremer Bbc World

Al-Muhammadawi Slams BremerBBC world monitoring summarizes headlines in Al-Shira' [Baghdad, independent political daily]: Bloody fighting rages in Al-Najaf, Karbala as Al-Najaf truce agreement is rejected by occupying forces \… Shaykh Karim al-Muhammadawi…

Al Muhammadawi Slams Bremer Bbc World

Al-Muhammadawi Slams Bremer BBC world monitoring summarizes headlines in Al-Shira' [Baghdad, independent political daily]: Bloody fighting rages in Al-Najaf, Karbala as Al-Najaf truce agreement is rejected by occupying forces \… Shaykh Karim…

Shrine Of Ali Damaged Uprisings In Some

Shrine of Ali Damaged;Uprisings in some southern CitiesHeavy fighting continued Friday between US troops and the Mahdi army in downtown Najaf and Karbala. The dome of the shrine of Imam Ali in…

Shrine Of Ali Damaged Uprisings In

Shrine of Ali Damaged; Uprisings in some southern Cities Heavy fighting continued Friday between US troops and the Mahdi army in downtown Najaf and Karbala. The dome of the shrine of Imam…

More On Berg Murder Matthew B

More on Berg MurderMatthew B. Stannard of the San Fransisco Chronicle has a thoughtful piece on the Berg murder. He quotes me on two points, the first having to do with the…

More On Berg Murder Matthew B

More on Berg Murder Matthew B. Stannard of the San Fransisco Chronicle has a thoughtful piece on the Berg murder. He quotes me on two points, the first having to do with…

6 Us Soldiers Wounded 22 Iraqis Killed

6 US Soldiers Wounded, 22 Iraqis Killed in Holy City FightingMore fighting in Karbala and Najaf over Thursday night to Friday morning, according to Reuters: " At least four Iraqis were killed…

6 Us Soldiers Wounded 22 Iraqis Killed

6 US Soldiers Wounded, 22 Iraqis Killed in Holy City Fighting More fighting in Karbala and Najaf over Thursday night to Friday morning, according to Reuters: " At least four Iraqis were…

Kurdish Dimension Of Muqtada Al Sadr

Kurdish Dimension of Muqtada al-Sadr Crisis It seems clear that Iraqi Shiite leaders such as Abdul Aziz al-Hakim and Muhammad Bahr al-Ulum at the very least greenlighted the US attack on Muqtada…

Kurdish Dimension Of Muqtada Al Sadr

Kurdish Dimension of Muqtada al-Sadr Crisis It seems clear that Iraqi Shiite leaders such as Abdul Aziz al-Hakim and Muhammad Bahr al-Ulum at the very least greenlighted the US attack on Muqtada…

Partition Of Iraq Would Be Wrong

Partition of Iraq Would be Wrong: Dawisha Adeed Dawisha an Iraqi political scientist, explains why talk of partitioning Iraq is wrong." . . . nothing that has happened on the ground imposes[partition].…

Caretaker Government May Contain

Caretaker Government may Contain the Expatriate PoliticiansAlissa Rubin of the LA Times reports that the original Brahimi plan has had to be abandoned, a victim of the prisoner torture scandal. Washington and…

Caretaker Government May Contain

Caretaker Government may Contain the Expatriate Politicians Alissa Rubin of the LA Times reports that the original Brahimi plan has had to be abandoned, a victim of the prisoner torture scandal. Washington…

Partition Of Iraq Would Be Wrong

Partition of Iraq Would be Wrong: Dawisha Adeed Dawisha an Iraqi political scientist, explains why talk of partitioning Iraq is wrong. " . . . nothing that has happened on the ground…

Condemnations Of Prisoner Abuse Berg

Condemnations of Prisoner Abuse, Berg Murder in Middle EastFrom BBC World Monitoring:"Egypt condemns Iraq torture, beheading: Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Mahir on 13 May condemned pictures showing Iraqi prisoners being abused and…

Condemnations Of Prisoner Abuse Berg

Condemnations of Prisoner Abuse, Berg Murder in Middle East From BBC World Monitoring: "Egypt condemns Iraq torture, beheading: Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Mahir on 13 May condemned pictures showing Iraqi prisoners being…

Did Israel Try To Take Out Us

Did Israel Try to Take out a US Ambassador?There is strong evidence in recently released diplomatic papers that Israel's secret police, Mossad, attempted to assassinate the US ambassador to Lebanon, John Gunther…

Did Israel Try To Take Out Us

Did Israel Try to Take out a US Ambassador? There is strong evidence in recently released diplomatic papers that Israel's secret police, Mossad, attempted to assassinate the US ambassador to Lebanon, John…

Negotiations Collapse Amid Fierce

Negotiations Collapse amid Fierce Fighting in KarbalaUS forces, having collapsed half of the historic al-Mukhayyam Mosque and set 7 hotels on fire in its environs in Karbala, are continuing to fight Mahdi…

Negotiations Collapse Amid Fierce

Negotiations Collapse amid Fierce Fighting in Karbala US forces, having collapsed half of the historic al-Mukhayyam Mosque and set 7 hotels on fire in its environs in Karbala, are continuing to fight…

Reader Comment Where Is Sistani Hayder

Reader Comment: Where is Sistani?Hayder Gallaghan writes, "The silence of Sayyid Sistani has become deafening. An historic masjid destroyed, along with neighboring hotels and the better part of a shopping district. One…

Reader Comment Where Is Sistani Hayder

Reader Comment: Where is Sistani? Hayder Gallaghan writes, "The silence of Sayyid Sistani has become deafening. An historic masjid destroyed, along with neighboring hotels and the better part of a shopping district.…

Iraqi Leaders Want To See Karpinski In

Iraqi Leaders want to See Karpinski in the Docket with Saddamaz-Zaman Iraqi political figures Wednesday condemned Brig. Gen. Janice Karpinsky, head of the Military Police in charge of prisoners at Abu Ghuraib…

Iraqi Leaders Want To See Karpinski In

Iraqi Leaders want to See Karpinski in the Docket with Saddam az-Zaman Iraqi political figures Wednesday condemned Brig. Gen. Janice Karpinsky, head of the Military Police in charge of prisoners at Abu…

Muslim Authorities Condemn Berg Killing

Muslim Authorities Condemn Berg KillingMuslim authorities at al-Azhar Seminary, the preeminent center of learning for Sunni Islam, vehemently condemned the brutal murder of Nick Berg by terrorists in Iraq, according to Sobhy…

Muslim Authorities Condemn Berg

Muslim Authorities Condemn Berg Killing Muslim authorities at al-Azhar Seminary, the preeminent center of learning for Sunni Islam, vehemently condemned the brutal murder of Nick Berg by terrorists in Iraq, according to…

Us Helps Revive Old Pan Islamic Project

US Helps Revive the Old Pan-Islamic Project In IraqMy article, "US Failure Helps Revive the Old Pan-Islamic Project," is now available in English at theLe Monde Diplomatique Web Site.THE Iraqi rebellion in…

Us Helps Revive Old Pan Islamic

US Helps Revive the Old Pan-Islamic Project In Iraq My article, "US Failure Helps Revive the Old Pan-Islamic Project," is now available in English at the Le Monde Diplomatique Web Site. THE…

Heavy Fighting In Karbala Ap Is

Heavy Fighting in KarbalaAP is reporting heavy fighting in Karbala between Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army and US forces, with the Shiite militiamen taking heavy casualties, some 25 estimated dead. The US used…

Heavy Fighting In Karbala Ap Is

Heavy Fighting in Karbala AP is reporting heavy fighting in Karbala between Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army and US forces, with the Shiite militiamen taking heavy casualties, some 25 estimated dead. The US…

Taguba And Cambone Clash On Prison

Taguba and Cambone Clash on Prison Torture ResponsibilityNo one is a better friend to historians than a military or civilian official who doesn't know he is supposed to lie about some things.…

Taguba And Cambone Clash On Prison

Taguba and Cambone Clash on Prison Torture Responsibility No one is a better friend to historians than a military or civilian official who doesn't know he is supposed to lie about some…

Signs Of Negotiated Settlement In Najaf

Signs of a Negotiated Settlement in NajafBut Clashes Continue at Kufa, Karbalaaz-Zaman: The Coalition and Muqtada al-Sadr exchanged letters via mediators during the past thirty-six hours, which may be fateful. Signs of…

Signs Of Negotiated Settlement In

Signs of a Negotiated Settlement in Najaf But Clashes Continue at Kufa, Karbala az-Zaman: The Coalition and Muqtada al-Sadr exchanged letters via mediators during the past thirty-six hours, which may be fateful.…

Sistani Favors Brahimi Plan Grand

Sistani Favors Brahimi PlanGrand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, according to UN sources, approves of the transition plan of Lakhdar Brahimi for Iraq, which consists of establishing a caretaker Iraqi government on June 30…

Sistani Favors Brahimi Plan Grand

Sistani Favors Brahimi Plan Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, according to UN sources, approves of the transition plan of Lakhdar Brahimi for Iraq, which consists of establishing a caretaker Iraqi government on June…

Sadrists Launch Wider Insurgency In

Sadrists Launch Wider Insurgency in Southaz-Zaman Muqtada al-Sadr ordered his followers Monday to widen the scope of their military operations against the Coalition to the entirety of Iraq, in an attempt to…

Sadrists Launch Wider Insurgency In

Sadrists Launch Wider Insurgency in South az-Zaman Muqtada al-Sadr ordered his followers Monday to widen the scope of their military operations against the Coalition to the entirety of Iraq, in an attempt…

Us Ordered Spanish To Bring In Muqtada

US Ordered Spanish to Bring in Muqtada 'Dead or Alive'Spanish Command predicted "Large-Scale Military Response"The new Spanish Minister of Defense, Jose Bono, is drawing the curtain from some of the events of…

Us Ordered Spanish To Bring In Muqtada

US Ordered Spanish to Bring in Muqtada 'Dead or Alive' Spanish Command predicted "Large-Scale Military Response" The new Spanish Minister of Defense, Jose Bono, is drawing the curtain from some of the…

Israel Connection To Abu Ghraib Scandal

Israel Connection to Abu Ghraib Scandal?Wayne Madsen a former National Security Council staffer, explores the evidence for an Israeli connection to the prison torture scandal in Iraq. He seems to suggest a…

Israel Connection To Abu Ghraib

Israel Connection to Abu Ghraib Scandal? Wayne Madsen a former National Security Council staffer, explores the evidence for an Israeli connection to the prison torture scandal in Iraq. He seems to suggest…

More Arguments With Bush I Just Want To

More Arguments with BushI just want to make a few observations about President Bush’s remarks on Monday: Transcript: Bush Gives Rumsfeld Vote of Confidence Monday, May 10, 2004; 12:32 PM "BUSH: Mr.…

More Arguments With Bush I Just Want

More Arguments with Bush I just want to make a few observations about President Bush’s remarks on Monday: Transcript: Bush Gives Rumsfeld Vote of Confidence Monday, May 10, 2004; 12:32 PM "BUSH:…

Hersh Photographing Torture Was Itself

Hersh: Photographing Torture Was itself a Form of CoercionJournalist Seymour Hersh came out with several revelations concerning US torture of POWs on Sunday. He reveals the logic behind it, and says he…

Hersh Photographing Torture Was Itself

Hersh: Photographing Torture Was itself a Form of Coercion Journalist Seymour Hersh came out with several revelations concerning US torture of POWs on Sunday. He reveals the logic behind it, and says…

East Baghdad Rebels Against Us Rule

East Baghdad Rebels against US RuleDaniel Williams of the Washington Post penetrates the fog of war and concludes that the US has been thrown out of the Shiite ghetto of East Baghdad,…

East Baghdad Rebels Against Us Rule

East Baghdad Rebels against US Rule Daniel Williams of the Washington Post penetrates the fog of war and concludes that the US has been thrown out of the Shiite ghetto of East…

Abdul Aziz Al Hakim Makes His Move Al

Abdul Aziz al-Hakim Makes his moveal-Hayat: The Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution (SCIRI) in Iraq organized a demonstration in Najaf Sunday in support of Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani. (Implicitly, this rally served…

Abdul Aziz Al Hakim Makes His Move Al

Abdul Aziz al-Hakim Makes his move al-Hayat: The Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution (SCIRI) in Iraq organized a demonstration in Najaf Sunday in support of Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani. (Implicitly, this rally…

36 Die In Bloody Sunday Afp Reports

36 Die in Bloody Sunday AFP reports that 36 Iraqis were killed in violence in that country on Sunday.Guerrillas detonated a bomb in a crowded market in the Bayaa district of southern…

36 Die In Bloody Sunday Afp Reports

36 Die in Bloody Sunday AFP reports that 36 Iraqis were killed in violence in that country on Sunday. Guerrillas detonated a bomb in a crowded market in the Bayaa district of…

Bremer Still Writing Laws For Iraq

Bremer Still Writing Laws for IraqWalter Pincus of the Washington Post reports that US proconsul in Iraq Paul Bremer has unilaterally issued more laws, this time attempting to limit the scope of…

Bremer Still Writing Laws For Iraq

Bremer Still Writing Laws for Iraq Walter Pincus of the Washington Post reports that US proconsul in Iraq Paul Bremer has unilaterally issued more laws, this time attempting to limit the scope…

New Sunni Shiite Political Grouping

New Sunni-Shiite Political GroupingSeveral readers asked me what I thought of the al-Jazeerah article about the formation of a new pan-Iraqi, Pan-Islamic group that will work to end US occupation and refuses…

New Sunni Shiite Political Grouping

New Sunni-Shiite Political Grouping Several readers asked me what I thought of the al-Jazeerah article about the formation of a new pan-Iraqi, Pan-Islamic group that will work to end US occupation and…

Coalition Battles Sadrists In East

Coalition Battles Sadrists in East Baghdad, Amara, BasrahThe Sadrist movement deliberately attempted to provoke the British on Saturday in Amara and Basra. Their provocative actions appear to me likely to be calculated.…

Some Senior Officers In Iraq Say Were

Some Senior Officers in Iraq Say: We're Winning Battles, Losing the WarGeorge W. Bush's elective decision to besiege Fallujah in revenge for the killing of four Western private commandos produced revulsion throughout…

Nato To Bush You Broke It You Own It

NATO to Bush: You Broke it, You Own itPaul Richter of the LA Times reports that NATO has had second thoughts about coming in to play a role in Iraq this summer.…

Ongoing Crisis Around Muqtada Al Sadr

Ongoing crisis around Muqtada al-SadrMuqtada al-Sadr taunted US troops who are seeking to arrest or kill him. In his Friday prayers sermon in Kufa. Muqtada said, "What sort of freedom and democracy…

Mideastization Of Us Or Rumsfeld Must

The Mideastization of the US, or:Rumsfeld Must ResignThe Bush administration keeps talking about bringing democracy to the Middle East, but a key element in democracy is always the accountability of public officials…

Cole On Wolf Blitzers 5 Pm Newshour Cnn

Cole on Wolf Blitzer's 5 PM Newshour, CNNIf current plans hold, I'll be a guest on Wolf Blitzer's show sometime 5-6 pm EST on CNN. Readers have asked for a heads up…

Us Troops Assault Sadrists In Three

US Troops Assault Sadrists in Three Shiite Holy CitiesAl-Hayat: Special UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi had to delay his return to Iraq because the Bush's decision to besiege Fallujah and kill 600 there…

Brahimi Under Fire Bush Administration

Brahimi under FireThe Bush Administration is putting a great deal of faith in UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi's ability to establish a caretaker government by June 30. But the idea of the UN,…

Israeli Connection With Abu Ghuraib

Israeli Connection with Abu Ghuraib Torture?Many readers have written to suggest that there is an Israeli connection of some sort to the Abu Ghuraib prison scandal, because the techniques used seem so…

Muqtada Negotiates With Head Of Secret

Muqtada Negotiates with Head of Secret Policeaz-Zaman reports that a new round of negotiations has begun with Muqtada al-Sadr, this time conducted directly by Maj. General Muhammad al-Shahwani, the new head of…

Sunni Shiite Unity At Abu Ghuraib

Sunni-Shiite Unity at Abu Ghuraib demonstrationThe demonstration at Abu Ghuraib against the abuse of prisoners that I mentioned yesterday turns out to have been called for by the Board of Muslim Scholars,…

America In Balance Sex Lies And Prison

America in the Balance: Sex, Lies and Prison AbuseGuest EditorialShahin Cole Most Muslims admire American democracy but disapprove of what they perceive as US moral laxity, according to polls. The revelations about…

Is It Torture What Does Is Mean

Is it Torture? What does "is" mean? Demonstrators at Abu Ghuraib Demand ApologyAs Mark Rothschild pointed out, " When asked by a reporter whether torture has taken place in Iraq, Rumsfeld said,…

Mahdi Army Kills 3 Us Troops In

Mahdi Army Kills 3 US Troops in DiwaniyahClashes in Karbala, NajafWill Abu Ghuraib affect the Muqtada al-Sadr Issue?Mopping up operations continue by the US military against the Mahdi Army, according to Reuters.…

Taguba Report Online Bush Tries Damage

Taguba Report Online; Bush tries Damage Control on Arab Satellite TVThe Taguba report on Abu Ghuraib prison abuse is now online at MSNBC, or at least an executive summary of it. On…

Standoff With Muqtada Continues Army Of

Standoff with Muqtada continuesThe Army of the Mahdi fought a gun battle with US troops at Karbala on Tuesday. ' Fighting erupted shortly after midnight when Mehdi Army militiamen loyal to rebel…

Television Images Winning Media War Al

Television images Winning the Media Waral-Hayat alleges that a Parisian television channel aired new footage Tuesday night from Iraq of American troops who fire on three men that do not obviously pose…

Army Of Mahdi Attacks Us Base Near

Army of the Mahdi attacks US Base near Najaf The Shiite Army of the Mahdi launched twenty mortar shells against the US base near Najaf on Monday, and engaged in a 3-hour…

Turki Bremer Didnt Care About Torture

Turki: Bremer "Didn't Care" about Torture Evidence:Sa'idi: American Democracy is Dead save for the FacadeAbdul Basit Turki, Iraq's first Minister of Human Rights, had his resignation accepted on Sunday. He had tendered…

Fallujah And Abu Ghuraib No Comparison

Fallujah and Abu Ghuraib: No ComparisonThere simply is no logical or ethical comparison between the killings and desecrations of the four private commandos at Fallujah by a mixture of guerrillas and mobs,…

Chalabi Gave Sensitive Information To

Chalabi Gave Sensitive Information to Iran: NewsweekMark Hosenball of Newsweek reports that US intelligence has intercepted telephone calls among high-ranking Iranian officials that prove that Ahmad Chalabi has provided Tehran with sensitive…

Al Dhari It Would Be Yet Another Piece

Al-Dhari: It would be Yet another Piece of Stupidity for the US to go after Muqtada; US Troops Raid Sadrist Conference in Hilla Harith Sulaiman al-Dhari, the head of the Board of…

Abuse Allegations Are Big Deal Wp

Abuse Allegations are 'a Big Deal': WP.Sewell Chan of the WP has an article today, "U.S. Official: Abuse Allegations Are 'a Big Deal' ." Now this is more like it. I'm quoted:…

Foreign Fighter Myth Exposed Jim Krane

"Foreign Fighter" Myth ExposedJim Krane of AP is throwing cold water all over the repeated allegations of the Interim Governing Council that foreign fighters are playing any significant role in the Iraqi…

Rant On Us News Coverage It Is

Rant on US News CoverageIt is remarkable how the US press allows themselves to be manipulated by the government. When the Abu Ghuraib story broke, Bush just issued a statement that he…

Us Has Lost Battle Of Photographs My

The US has Lost the Battle of the PhotographsMy essay, "The U.S. Has Lost the Battle of the Photographs," is up through Tuesday at TomDispatch.com, veteran journalist Tom Engelhardt's site for the…

Interrogator Diary Bilmon Has Via

Interrogator DiaryBilmon has , via a reader, Bernhard, managed a real journalistic coup. He found a cached diary, kept at a rightwing radio station, KSTP, of Joe Ryan, until recently a military…

9 Us Troops Killed In Iraq On Sunday

9 US Troops Killed in Iraq on SundayReuters is reporting that guerrillas launched a mortar attack on US troops at their base near Ramadi in al-Anbar province, killing 6 immediately and wounding…

Al Wafd American Prison Guards Are Dark

al-Wafd: American Prison Guards are "Dark Angels of Hell"As public revulsion at the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghuraib prison by American guards circles the globe, a second scandal hit, this time…

British Clash With Mahdi Army In Amara

British Clash with Mahdi Army in Amaraal-Hayat: 4 American troops were killed Saturday in separate incidents. In Amara, British troops clashed with the Army of the Mahdi, loyal to radical cleric Muqtada…

Arab Reaction To Photos Of Prisoner

Arab Reaction to Photos of Prisoner AbuseThe sexual and physical abuse of Iraqi prisoners of war, a direct violation of the Geneva Conventions by US soldiers at the Abu Ghuraib prison, has…

Muqtada Condemns American Recall Of

Muqtada Condemns American Recall of the BaathAccording to AFP/al-Hayat, in Kufa Muqtada al-Sadr threatened "the Baathists" whom the Coalition had begun returning to the administration of the state. He said in his…

Wolfowitz Does Not Know How Many Us

Wolfowitz Does Not Know How Many US Soldiers He has Sent to their DeathsIn congressional testimony on Thursday, deputy secretary of defense Paul Wolfowitz, the major architect of the Iraq war, demonstrated…