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Archives for October 2007

Iraq
Turkey Shells Iraqi Kurds; Pilgrims Bombed in Baghdad; Ammar Visits Sheikhs of al-Anbar; Muqtada Condemns Soft Partition;

Turkey Shells Iraqi Kurds; Pilgrims Bombed in Baghdad; Ammar Visits Sheikhs of al-Anbar; Muqtada Condemns Soft Partition;

Juan Cole

The sectarian civil war in Iraq left dozens of persons dead and wounded on Sunday. One major bombing targeted Shiite pilgrims in Baghdad heading to the shrine of Kadhimiya, in the north of the capital, killing 10 persons in a minibus, including women and children, and wounding two dozen. There were other bombings and firefights, […]

Iraq
Iraq Sermons this Week

Iraq Sermons this Week

Juan Cole

The USG Open Source Center rounds up this week’s sermons at major mosques, mostly Shiite, in Iraq. The comments focus on the peace agreement between Abdul Aziz al-Hakim and Muqtada al-Sadr, whose militias had been fighting with one another; on the danger posed by the Sunni tribal militias called ‘Awakening Councils;’ on the recent statements […]

Iraq
2 US Soldiers Killed Ammar Calls for ultimate US Withdrawal Sistani Aide Calls for Laws to Rein in contractor, US military lawlessnes

2 US Soldiers Killed Ammar Calls for ultimate US Withdrawal Sistani Aide Calls for Laws to Rein in contractor, US military lawlessnes

Juan Cole

The killing of two US soldiers and the wounding of 5 more in a mortar attack were reported on Saturday. Sawt al-Iraq reports in Arabic that Abdul Aziz al-Hakim (leader of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq) returned to Baghdad from chemotherapy in Iran and was welcomed by a big crowd of admirers at his […]

Iraq
Karbala’i: Parliament Must regulate Security Firms, US Military

Karbala’i: Parliament Must regulate Security Firms, US Military

Juan Cole

The USG Open Source Center translates or paraphrases reports in the Iraqi press on the sermon of Abdul Mahdi al-Karbala’i, the representative in the holy city of Karbala of Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, calling for parliament to regulate foreign security firms and ‘occupation forces’ (i.e. the US military) operating in the country. Al-Karbala’is sermons are […]

Iraq
Sanchez Attacks Iraq War Sistani Condemns Security Firms, Occupation Forces

Sanchez Attacks Iraq War Sistani Condemns Security Firms, Occupation Forces

Juan Cole

Retired Gen. Rick Sanchez lambasted the Bush administration’s Iraq War in a speech on Friday, as “a nightmare with no end in sight”. Sanchez implied that former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld would have been court-martialled if he had been in the active duty military. The NYT reports him saying, ‘“There was been a glaring […]

Turkey
Turkish Press reaction to Armenian Resolution

Turkish Press reaction to Armenian Resolution

Juan Cole

The USG Open Source Center translates and summarizes Turkish press reaction to the US congressional resolution concerning the Armenian genocide. ‘Turkey: Roundup of Press Reactions to House Resolution on Armenian GenocideHighlights of reports and articles in the Turkish secular press about a resolution supporting allegations that Armenians were subjected to genocide by the Ottoman army […]

Iraq
Who Lost Turkey?

Who Lost Turkey?

Juan Cole

Turkey has been the strongest ally that the United States has had in the Middle East since the end of WW II. The Marshall Plan started with Northern tier states like Turkey and Greece. Turkey joined NATO and was a key player in the American victory in the Cold War. As a secular government, Turkey […]

Father Dease President Of University Of

Father Dease President Of University Of

Juan Cole

Father Dease, the president of the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis, has reversed himself and invited Archbishop Desmond Tutu to speak at UST. Dease had been misled by a smear campaign against Tutu launched by the Zionist Organization of America, which was angered by the archbishop’s criticism of Israel for its mistreatment of the […]

Iraq
Attacks Increase in Iraq Militants Recruit Displaced Young Men

Attacks Increase in Iraq Militants Recruit Displaced Young Men

Juan Cole

The number of attacks in Iraq has increased in recent days, frustrating US military commanders who were hoping a corner had been turned and that violence would steadily be reduced. See below for Wednesday’s violence. Internally displaced Iraqis are finding it increasingly difficult to settle in another province, since provincial authorities do not want the […]

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