Archives for October 2006

Corey Robin on “Liberty versus Security” Corey Robin’s review essay in the London Review of Books raises a raft of important questions about civil liberties and “security.” His canny remarks, and the books he reviews, make clear that the American Right is about establishing difference and hierarchy in society and ensuring that not everyone is […]

Scorpion Brigade Head Killed by Bombing Construction Workers Killed An assassin managed to get a bomb into the office of Col. Salam al-Mamuri, head of a unit of the special police commandos in Hillah south of Bahgdad, and blew him up along with an aide, wounding 7 other officers. His Scorpion Brigade, a unit of […]

British Chief of Staff Calls for Troop Withdrawal Sunnis in Parliament Revolt over Vote on Confederacies 53% of Americans want a timetable to be set for when US troops would leave Iraq. The funny thing? A big majority of Iraqis also wants a timetable! Here we have a case where the two publics agree, on […]

Cole in Salon on Bush’s Speech My essay, “Four more years? As civilian casualties climb, the U.S. makes plans to keep 140,000 troops in Iraq until 2010. Will the public in either country permit it?” is in Salon.com today. Excerpt: ‘ On Wednesday, George W. Bush again laid out his rationale for declining to consider […]

Iraq: We ask, they tell Us Q. How long will a sixth of a million US troops be tied down in the killing fields of Iraq? A. Maybe until 2010. Q. Would Shiite leader Abdul Aziz al-Hakim really risk completely alienating the Sunni Arabs by passing a law permitting the formation down the road of […]

Wikipedia, Karsh and Cole An encyclopedia article should be an objective accounting of a person’s life and work. The wikipedia entry on me is constantly being distorted by a small group of far rightwing activists who put the comments of my ideological critics up into the body in an attempt to discredit me. I never […]

Rajiv Chandrasekaran Replies to Dan Senor Rajiv Chandrasekaran of the Washington Post writes: ‘ Several people have asked me to respond to Dan Senor’s op-ed in yesterday’s Washington Post about an excerpt from my book, Imperial Life in the Emerald City, that was published in The Post on September 17. While I don’t want to […]

655,000 Dead in Iraq since Bush Invasion It is a big news day. Don’t miss my interview with veteran Iraq reporter Rajiv Chandrasekaran, below. Among other things, on Tuesday guerrillas blew up a bakery in Baghdad and killed and wounded a lot of people; police found over 50 bodies in the streets of the capital; […]

Interview with Rajiv Chandrasekaran Washington Post reporter Rajiv Chandrasekaran spent a very great deal of time in Iraq, beginning in 2002 and then resuming after the war. His book, Imperial Life in the Emerald City is just out from Alfred Knopf. It is a challenging account of American missteps in Iraq, from the point of […]