It is awfully suspicious that as soon as a firm date was set for new provincial elections in Iraq (October 1), the truce broke down between the paramilitary of Muqtada al-Sadr and that of Abdul Aziz al-Hakim. This according to Nassar al-Rubaie, the leader of the Sadrist bloc in parliament. The Sadrists say that the […]
Archives for February 2008
Bombings in Baghdad, Mosul Kill 6; Hilla Awakening Council Joins Strike
Two bombings shook Iraq Sunday morning. In the Misbah commercial center in the upscale Shiite Karrada district, a female suicide bomber detonated a belt bomb, killing 3 persons and wounding 10. Meanwhile, in Mosul a car bomb killed 3. Mosul is the site of a major push against foreign fighters styled ‘al-Qaeda’ (really mainly Salafi […]
4 Killed 17 Wounded in Tal Afar Mosque Bombing; Crisis of Water, Sewage in Baghdad;
AP reports that two suicide bombers attacked a Shiite mosque congregation in the northern Turkmen city of Tal Afar on Friday. The first was stopped and his belt bomb only killed him. But the second managed to detonate his belt in a crowd, killing four persons and wounding over 20. The scene of the attack […]
Arato: "A Victory of the Better America?" Guest Editorial
The below is a guest editorial that will appear the coming week in Elet es Irodalom, a Hungarian weekly. (Hungarian journalists should please consider it embargoed until it appears there.) Andrew Arato, Dorothy Hart Hirshon Professor of Political and Social Theory, The New School for Social Research, New York Frankfurt February 13, 2008 Is it […]
Sadr City Bombing Kills 4, Wounds 30; Sadrists announce Mourning for Mughniyah
The Herald Sun reports via correspondents in Baghdad, ‘ A bomb planted in a minibus ripped through a market in Baghdad’s teeming Sadr City neighbourhood on Thursdya night (AEDT), killing five people and wounding 30. The bomb exploded about midday local time when the market in the mainly-Shi’ite neighbourhood was bustling with people. ‘ Al-Hayat […]
Provincial Elections Set; Amnesty Announced for Prisoners; Muqtada Said to be in Qom
Al-Hayat reports in Arabic on the passage by the Iraqi parliament of three important laws. These included the annual budget, a general amnesty that will free thousands of mostly Sunni Arab prisoners in the teeming Iraqi security prisons, and finally a “law on the provinces.” The action came in the wake of threats by powerful […]
Speaker Threatens to Dissolve Parliament; 13 Bodies found at Muqdadiya; 3 Students Killed near Balad Ruz
The Daily Star summarizes reports coming out of Iraq that the Speaker of the House is threatening to dissolve parliament. Iraq’s legislature has been deadlocked for months over the budget and also setting a date for badly needed provincial elections. It is likely a hollow threat, but the Iraqi constitution does state, “The Council of […]
Twin Massive Bombings Target Awakening Leaders; Thousands Protest Police Chief in Baquba; Pipeline Bombing Causes Outages
Sunni Arab guerrillas deployed two massive car bombs in Baghdad to attack leaders of the Al-Anbar Awakening Council who were meeting in the city, killing at least 22 persons and wounding 42. McClatchy says that at least one major al-Anbar Awakening leader was among the dead, and that major figure Ali al-Hatem was wounded. Also […]
70 Killed or found Dead on Sunday; Big Bombing Near Balad: Baquba Clashes
So first on Sunday, Sunni Arab guerrillas tried to overwhelm Iraqi security forces, Awakening Council members and US troops at two villages near Sinjar not far from the Syrian border. The pro-US forces fought them off, but 22 died in the encounter, some on each side. McClatchy describes the events thusly: ‘ A source in […]
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