Juan Cole

War turns Republics into dictatorships. The logic is actually quite simple. The Constitution says that the Congress is responsible for declaring war. But in 2002 Congress turned that responsibility over to Bush, gutting the constitution and allowing the American Right to start referring to him not as president but as ‘commander in chief’ (that is […]

April 9, yesterday, marked the fifth anniversary of the fall of Saddam Hussein. But for many Iraqis, it was more notable for marking the beginning of a long-term American military occupation of their country. The US military was so little in control after five years that two mortar shells slammed into the Green Zone, the […]

Gen. Petraeus is clearly convinced that Iraq needs US troops to shore up the government and security. He has done the most responsible job yet seen by an American official in Iraq in trying to end the carnage. He has made bazaars no drive zones to stop the car bombings. He has surrounded city districts […]

Iraq Hearing follies. John McCain just can’t keep the branches of Islam straight. He said to Gen. David Petraeus: ‘ SEN. MCCAIN: There are numerous threats to security in Iraq and the future of Iraq. Do you still view al Qaeda in Iraq as a major threat? GEN. PETRAEUS: It is still a major threat, […]

I am always astounded at the combination of unrealistic optimism and foolish gullibility that marks political discourse on the Right in Washington. We were being told by Rich Lowry at the National Review that Sadr was on the ropes and on the verge of disbanding the Mahdi Army because the other political factions had turned […]

The US military attacked the Mahdi Army militia in Sadr City on Sunday, alongside Iraqi Army troops. The fighting left 22 dead and 78 wounded, at least. It was not clear what the purpose of the attack was, since the US clearly cannot intensively occupy the labyrinthine Shiite slum and therefore cannot actually disarm the […]

Senator John McCain on the failed Basra campaign: ‘ Republican presidential hopeful John McCain said Sunday that Iraq’s military performed “pretty well” in its recent Basra assault despite the “mixed” results of the battle. . . the presumed Republican nominee for president defended Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s government as increasingly effective in managing the war-torn […]

Frank Rich’s “Tet Happened . . . and No One Cared” is an elegantly written and argued examination of the current situation in Iraq that seems to me to pretty much nail it. Rich demolishes so many of the myths put out by McCain and the American Right generally. The Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq […]

Al-Hayat reports in Arabic that the Iraqi National Security Council met on Saturday. The heads of the major blocks in parliament attended, including Nassar al-Rubaie, leader of the Sadr bloc. Ali al-Adib of the Da`wa Party, which is part of the United Iraqi Alliance, said that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki “laid out the technical capabilities […]