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Archives for October 2008

Iraq
Al-Maliki Will Not Sign Security Agreement

Al-Maliki Will Not Sign Security Agreement

Juan Cole

McClatchy reports that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has reneged on the security agreement that his office negotiated with the Bush administration, and now says he will not sign it and will not submit it to parliament. Instead, it is likely that Iraq will go back to the United Nations Security Council for a further mandate […]

Uncategorized
Palin the Plumber; Wardrobe Purchases Violate McCain-Feingold Law!

Palin the Plumber; Wardrobe Purchases Violate McCain-Feingold Law!

Juan Cole

Young Turks on Sarah Palin’s $150,000 wardrobe, purchased at Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue out of campaign contributions by the Republican National Committee. And, “wardrobe-gate” is illegal under the campaign finance law McCain helped write! ‘ SEC. 313. USE OF CONTRIBUTED AMOUNTS FOR CERTAIN PURPOSES.(a) PERMITTED USES- …(b) PROHIBITED USE- (1) IN GENERAL- A […]

Iraq
13 Killed, 24 Wounded in Attack on Minister; More Christians Flee Mosul Sadrist Parliamentarians on Strike against Security Agreement

13 Killed, 24 Wounded in Attack on Minister; More Christians Flee Mosul Sadrist Parliamentarians on Strike against Security Agreement

Juan Cole

A car bomber attacked a convoy he thought was conveying the Iraqi labor minister, Mahmoud al Radhi on Thursday, killing 13 persons and wounding 24, according to McClatchy. Al Radhi is a member of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, headed by Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, a fundamentalist Shiite party close to the ayatollahs in Tehran. […]

Iraq
Dabbagh Rejects Bush Pressure Tactics on Iraq; Al-Haeri Declares Security Agreement Illicit; Irrelevancy of Al-Qaeda on McCain

Dabbagh Rejects Bush Pressure Tactics on Iraq; Al-Haeri Declares Security Agreement Illicit; Irrelevancy of Al-Qaeda on McCain

Juan Cole

Iraqi government spokesman Ali Dabbagh reacted sharply on Wednesday to comments of US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen last Tuesday that Iraqis did not have much time to pass the agreement and might not understand the full consequences of failure to do so. Dabbagh said, “It is not correct to […]

Uncategorized
US Kills 9 Afghan Troops; Kabul Security Declines

US Kills 9 Afghan Troops; Kabul Security Declines

Juan Cole

The US military accidentally killed 9 Afghan soldiers in an air strike on Wednesday, one in a series of mistaken such aerial attacks in recent months, some of which have left behind substantial civilian casualties. Earlier in the Afghanistan war, US commanders had avoided the tactic of air strikes precisely for fear that they would […]

Iraq
Iraq Moves Closer to Obama-Type Plan for early US Withdrawal; Cabinet rejects Security Agreement

Iraq Moves Closer to Obama-Type Plan for early US Withdrawal; Cabinet rejects Security Agreement

Juan Cole

The debate between Senators John McCain and Barack Obama about a timetable for withdrawal of US troops from Iraq may have just been overtaken by events. Without a bilateral agreement on the rules governing US military actions in Iraq, US soldiers and officers would become liable to prosecution for acts committed in the course of […]

Iraq
When did McCain become a Neocon? Shiite MPs demand SOFA Renegotiation

When did McCain become a Neocon? Shiite MPs demand SOFA Renegotiation

Juan Cole

Jonathan Landay carefully traces John McCain’s transformation from pragmatist to Neoconservative warmonger, which took place while Bush was still just a Texas politician. He rather amusingly quotes Max Boot claiming that McCain is not a warmonger. I mean, in 2003 Boot acknowledged that the US killed thousands of Filipino civilians in the early 20th century […]

Uncategorized
Powell's Finest Moment

Powell’s Finest Moment

Juan Cole

What is remarkable to me about Colin Powell’s endorsement of Barack Obama on Meet the Press was its sincerity and the form of its reasoning. He addressed issues, not personalities. He engaged in analysis, not demonization. After the Rove years of Goebbels-like propaganda, guilt by association, and innuendo, Powell’s appearance brought fresh air into the […]

Uncategorized
Joe McCain: N. Virginia "Communist"; John McCain: Obama Socialist

Joe McCain: N. Virginia "Communist"; John McCain: Obama Socialist

Juan Cole

Is McCain a far Right extremist? When McCain calls Obama a “socialist,” is he Red-baiting? Republicans back in the 1950s through the 1980s routinely accused Democrats of being “Communists” or hinted around that they were fellow travelers or ‘soft on communism.’ Richard M. Nixon, the grand dragon of dirty tricks, described the Democratic standard bearer […]

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