Archives for December 2005

ABC/Time Poll on Iraq The full tabulation of the new ABC News/Time, et al., poll on Iraq is in pdf format on the web. Although a lot of Iraqis are optimistic about the future, and a lot say things aren’t going so badly for them personally, their view of where the country is at presently […]

Kashmir Crisis Enters Critical Phase The news from Kashmir, where 80,000 survivors of the earthquake now face severe winter weather and problems of food and shelter, is not good. The UN High Commissioner on Refugees is complaining about lack of resources. Let’s make a last push with the US Congress. A Hill staffer writes: “After […]

Anti-Muslim Race Riots in Australia The government of John Howard has belatedly called for religious tolerance in Australia after a race riot broke out there, wherein Australian surfers and rowdies directed violence against Lebanese and others. This sort of riot against the Muslim minority is the dream of Muslim radicals, who can add the footage […]

Sistani Counsels Shiites Against Wasted Votes Sunni Arabs Plead for Talks Knight Ridder reports on dirty campaign tricks and over-heated rhetoric in the Iraq political campaign. Robert Collier of the San Francisco Chronicle has an extremely important piece based on interviews with Sunni Arab politicians in Iraq. Their general consensus is that if the US […]

4 US Troops Killed Election Violence in Najaf, Mosul Guerrillas killed four GIs in separate incidents, some with small arms fire. A suicide bomber targeted an Iraqi army unit in Balad and killed one soldier and wounded 11 others. Aljazeera on early Sunday morning was reporting 6 US troops dead, but the wire services were […]

Iraq Round-Up for Saturday Eric Black’s interview with me about the upcoming Iraq elections is at the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Clerics are using the mosque to try to get out the vote for the parties they favor on December 15. Iraqi Academics are at severe risk. A recent poll in several Arab countries shows that […]

Guest Editorial: Achcar on Sadr Initiative “A PAN-IRAQI PACT ON MUQTADA AL-SADR’S INITIATIVE Gilbert Achcar December 9, 2005 As part of his effort to influence the political forces in Iraq prior to the forthcoming parliamentary election, at the end of November Muqtada al-Sadr had his supporters distribute the draft of a “Pact of Honor,” and […]

43 Killed, 70 Wounded by Bus Bomber And Rumsfeld’s False Analogy A suicide bomber jumped on a bus in Baghdad just as it was about to head south for Nasiriyah on Thursday, eluding security. The bus was lifted by gigantic fingers of flame, reaching out to kill and wound bystanders, as well. Some 43 were […]

Talabani to Meet with Resistance Leaders; Shiite Coalition in Friction Al-Hayat: President Jalal Talabani [Ar. ULR] is preparing a meeting in Sulaimaniyah to be attended by the Americans and by leaders of the underground Sunni Arab guerrilla movement. US Ambassador Khalilzad has announced that he would be willing to talk to any groups save the […]