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Archives for October 2009

Uncategorized
Corey: What Afghanistan (Should) Mean to Us

Corey: What Afghanistan (Should) Mean to Us

Juan Cole

Scott Corey writes a guest op-ed for IC: The Afghanistan debate is mired in the very shortcomings that have kept us from doing well there up to now. We need a qualitative shift of policy, but we dither about metrics and troop levels. We ask ourselves if we should “get out” as if there is […]

Uncategorized
UN Guest House Attacked in Kabul; 8 More US Troops Killed in Bombings; FSO Resigns in Protest; President's Brother CIA Agent, Drug Lord

UN Guest House Attacked in Kabul; 8 More US Troops Killed in Bombings; FSO Resigns in Protest; President’s Brother CIA Agent, Drug Lord

Juan Cole

Afghanistan continues to generate bad news at an alarming rate. Gunmen stormed a UN guest house in Kabul, deploying small arms fire and killing 3 UN staff members along with 4 other persons. A Taliban spokesman said his group was behind the attack and that it was aimed at disrupting the Nov. 7 presidential runoff […]

Uncategorized
Bittle & Johnson: Will America’s Short-Term Memory Loss Kill the Climate Bill?

Bittle & Johnson: Will America’s Short-Term Memory Loss Kill the Climate Bill?

Juan Cole

Scott Bittle & Jean Johnson, Authors of Who Turned Out the Lights: Your Guided Tour to the Energy Crisis, write in a guest op-ed for IC: Imagine if the Senate hearings about a climate change bill had been held a year ago. Think of the context: $4 per gallon gas and oil over $130 per […]

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Cole in Salon: "Obama’s Foreign Policy Report Card"

Cole in Salon: "Obama’s Foreign Policy Report Card"

Juan Cole

My Salon column , “Obama’s foreign policy report card,” is available online. Excerpt: ‘ When Obama came into office in January, 142,000 U.S. troops were in Iraq, conducting regular patrols of the major cities. His Republican rivals were dead set against U.S. withdrawal on a strict timetable. He faced something close to an insurrection from […]

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Rivals Blame al-Maliki for Poor Security Arrangements

Rivals Blame al-Maliki for Poor Security Arrangements

Juan Cole

The death toll of Sunday’s twin bombings in Baghdad has risen to 155, and tragically it turns out that two dozen children were among the victims. I still disagree with those who have been alleging that the bombing puts the upcoming parliamentary election in question, or raises questions about whether the Iraqi troops can keep […]

Uncategorized
MPs Wounded in Blast; al-Maliki Decries Baathists, al-Qaeda; Kurds Threaten Election Boycott

MPs Wounded in Blast; al-Maliki Decries Baathists, al-Qaeda; Kurds Threaten Election Boycott

Juan Cole

Al-Hayat reporting in Arabic surveyed the reactions of Iraqi politicians to the massive bombings on Sunday. As with Prime minister Nuri al-Maliki, they blamed remnants of the former, Baath, regime and “al-Qaeda” (Sunni fundamentalist militants). I was struck by how they for the most part responded technocratically, by pledging a review and an improvement of […]

Uncategorized
Baghdad Devastated by Massive Blasts, 136 Killed, 500 Wounded, Ministries Destroyed

Baghdad Devastated by Massive Blasts, 136 Killed, 500 Wounded, Ministries Destroyed

Juan Cole

Two massive blasts shook central Baghdad on Sunday, killing at least 136 people and wounding 500, and destroying three government ministry buildings, according to the Times of London’s Oliver August reporting from Baghdad. It was the most destructive attack of 2009. August notes that the likely perpetrators were either Baathists from the old regime or […]

Uncategorized
Pakistan Army Takes Militant Stronghold

Pakistan Army Takes Militant Stronghold

Juan Cole

The Pakistani military announced Saturday that its troops have taken Kotkai in South Waziristan, the erstwhile headquarters of the Tehrik-i Taliban Pakistan or the Taliban Movement of Pakistan. Both Hakimu’llah Mahsud and Qari Husain, leaders of the TTP, hail from the city. Dawn adds that Pakistani military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said: ‘ 21 […]

Uncategorized
Taliban Attack Pakistan Air Force Base

Taliban Attack Pakistan Air Force Base

Juan Cole

A suicide bomber at the gates of the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (an Air Force base) detonated his payload on Friday, killing 8 and wounding 17. Kamra is northwest of the capital, Islamabad, on the way to Peshawar, the capital of the North-West Frontier Province. AP has video: The Pakistani Taliban also set off a bomb […]

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