Al-Hayat reports in Arabic that the Kurdistan Alliance has responded to the Iraqi parliament’s passage of a bill concerning provincial elections. (The bill was vetoed by Kurdish President Jalal Talabani). The committee in the Kurdistan Parliament in charge of revising the Kurdistan constitution has proposed language that would formally incorporate portions of four provinces into […]
Female Suicide Bomber Kills 8 in Diyala; Turks bomb Iraq again
A female suicide bomber killed 8 Iraqis in Diyala province on Thursday, including the head of a local Awakening Council. Turkey bombed 13 targets in northern Iraq on Thursday, targeting positions of the Kurdish Workers Party or PKK. Turkish PM Tayyip Rejep Erdogan recently visited Baghdad and relations seemed to be improving, but apparently the […]
Obama ist ein Berliner
Obama addresses a crowd of 200,000 in Berlin. Some were shouting in English, “Yes we can!” Text transcript here.
CBS Edits McCain Whopper out of Broadcast
Keith Olbermann and Jedreport clear up the gaffe that John McCain made about the history of the surge and examine the Orwellian editing techniques of CBS News.
A Social History of the Surge
I want to weigh in as a social historian of Iraq on the controversy over whether the “surge” “worked.” The NYT notes: ‘Mr. McCain bristled in an interview with the “CBS Evening News” on Tuesday when asked about Mr. Obama’s contention that while the added troops had helped reduce violence in Iraq, other factors had […]
Bhasin: John McCain and Barack Obama’s Foreign Policy Choices: Different Bottles, Same Wine
Madhavi Bhasin writes in an IC Guest Editorial: The race to elect the successor to President George W. Bush is attracting more attention from across the globe than any previous Presidential contest in the United States. The next occupant of the White House is expected to manage the consequences of the infamous Bush Doctrine of […]
Cole in Salon: Obama is Wrong on Afghanistan
My Salon column, , “Obama is saying the Wrong things about Afghanistan,” , is now available online. Excerpt: ‘ The governor of the North-West Frontier province, Owais Ghani, immediately spoke out against Obama, saying that the senator’s remarks had the effect of undermining the new civilian government elected last February. Ghani warned that a U.S. […]
Passage of Electoral Provision Likely will Delay Elections
It is not looking good for the holding of provincial elections in Iraq this year. First the high electoral commission warned that if enabling legislation was not passed by the end of July, it would push them back from October to Dec. 22. Now, the contentious issue of the province of Kirkuk may have delayed […]
Troop Agreement Misses Deadline; Provincial Law Misses Deadline; Bombings in Mosul, Diyala, Fallujah
First there was going to be a status of forces agreement between the US and Iraq, which would be ratified by the Iraqi parliament and would grant the US long-term bases. Private security guards and US troops would be immune from Iraqi law. US commanders would launch operations at will, would decide who a terrorist […]
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