No sooner had the truce between the Mahdi Army and the US & Iraqi military been signed than it appeared to break down. Clashes broke out Monday night into Tuesday morning between the Mahdi Army militiamen and US troops, leaving 11 Iraqis dead and 20 wounded. The militia also targeted some government ministries with mortar […]
Dangers facing the World
As if Iraq was not enough to worry about, some important political developments in Lebanon, and even in the Yemen have raised the temperature of the Middle East . . . A roadside bomb targeted Abu Qutaiba, a local leader of an Awakening group a U.S. sponsored militia, in Al Lehaib area north east of […]
Cole in Salon: Obama and Clinton on Aljazeera
My column, “Clinton and Obama on Aljazeera,” is just out in Salon.com. It is based in part on an interview I did with the editor-in-chief of Aljazeera during my recent trip to Qatar. Excerpt: ‘ Many Americans incorrectly think of Al-Jazeera’s Arabic-language network as al-Qaida Central because it occasionally broadcasts excerpts from videotapes of the […]
Mosul Offensive Catches Residents Off Guard; Turks Bomb N. Iraq; New Bloc in Parliament?
The Mosul operation came so unexpectedly for residents of the major northern city that they did not have time to stock up on food. Alexandra Zavis interviews Mosulis who say that they have been living in fear. What is odd is that we weren’t having these stories of living in fear in Mosul 2 months […]
Maliki-Sadr Agreement on Sadr City; Al-Maliki Heads to Mosul
The al-Maliki government and the Sadrists pulled back from the brink in Sadr City on Saturday. PM Nuri al-Maliki had demanded that the Mahdi Army militia that serves as the Sadrist paramilitary give up its arms and dissolve itself. The compromise simply states that the Iraqi security forces would be allowed in to Sadr City […]
Sadrists Denounce Sistani and al-Maliki
AFP reports that on Friday an aide to junior cleric Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadr lashed out at Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani over his silence at the attacks on Sadr City (a Shiite slum) by the US and the government of PM Nuri al-Maliki: ‘ “We are surprised by the silence in Najaf where the highest Shiite […]
OSC: Lebanon — Both Sides Take Tough Line, Leave Room To Maneuver
The USG Open Source Center analyzes the Lebanese press on the crisis between the Seniora government and Hizbullah, suggesting that despite their harsh words, they have left wiggle room for a resolution. OSC Report: Lebanon — Both Sides Take Tough Line, Leave Room To ManeuverLebanon — OSC ReportFriday, May 9, 2008 . . . Lebanon […]
Beirut Ramping Up
Irina Prentice writes from Beirut: Beirut Ramping Up Yesterday afternoon the political fight came to a head, turning to armed conflict throughout key neighborhoods in Beirut. Loud explosions, automatic machine gun fire, rocket propelled grenade, and pistol shots resounded throughout the night. The fight moved from a vicinity of half a kilometer from . . […]
Lebanon takes 2 Steps toward Civil War; Beirut in Chaos
On late Friday, the Lebanese army moved into some neighborhoods that had been taken during the day by the Hizbullah militia. Hizbullah routed Sunni militiamen loyal to Saad Hariri and set fire to the offices of al-Mustaqbal newspaper, his press outlet. (The Lebanese Army declined to intervene, the same mistake it made in 1975). Likewise, […]
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