So whatever happened to Fallujah? Hard to get news from the city. Can they drive personal cars again, yet? Apparently the US military has built blast walls around each of 10 districts in the city. As the US prepares to withdraw from al-Anbar, there are worries about there not being enough local police to provide […]
McCain runs on Iraq in Michigan
My new Salon.com column is out, entitled McCain runs on Iraq in Michigan. The Intro is here: On the stump in Michigan, John McCain campaigns on victory in Iraq. It’s a risky strategy, as the recent surge in violence shows.’ Read the whole thing.
Kurds Miffed by New Coalition
Al-Hayat reports in Arabic that altogether 150 deputies in parliament (well over a majority) signed a memorandum of agreement aimed at resolving the most contentious issues facing Iraq. For their part, the Kurds considered the new alliance as a “wave against them.” Al-Hayat also says the PM Nuri al-Maliki is conducting extensive talks with the […]
Muqtada al-Sadr Denounces Bush
The USG Open Source Center translates a statement by Shiite clergyman Muqtada al-Sadr condemning Bush’s Middle East tour. “Iraq: Muqtada al-Sadr Statement Condemns President Bush’s Mideast VisitIraq – OSC SummaryMonday, January 14, 2008 . . . Al-Amarah Militant Al-Amarah News Network in Arabic — website associated with the Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, url: http:// al3marh.net/ […]
12 Parties Sign Letter of Understanding: Seek to Block Kurds from Taking Kirkuk
Several Sunni, Shiite and secular political parties have come together in a new pact aimed at challenging the dominant coalition of the Kurdistan Alliance and the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI). They appear to aim at blocking the formation of a Shiite regional confederacy in the South. They also want to stop oil-rich Kirkuk […]
New Iraqi Law on Baath Worries Ex-Baathists
So the big political news today is that the Iraqi parliament on Saturday finally passed a revision of the “De-baathification” law issued by US viceroy Paul “Jerry” Bremer in May of 2003. That law got tens of thousands of Sunni Arabs fired from their government jobs and excluded from public life and helped kick off […]
Yamli Arabic software
My readers sometimes ask me about Arabic software tools for the web. I just wanted to flag for them Yamli.com, which I’m finding a real delight. It would be slow for someone who was a good touch typist in Arabic, but for those of us who peck out the letters, it is wonderful, and it […]
4 Killed in Baghdad Bombing Turks attack Kurds inside Iraq Again
PM Nuri al-Maliki called for widened political participation. He appears to be working on a compromise that might bring the parties of Iyad Allawi and Tariq al-Hashimi/ Adnan Dulaimi back into his government. Ammar al-Hakim, called on the Iraqi Accord Front and the National Iraqi List to rejoin the al-Maliki government, giving al-Maliki some support. […]
US Video of Iran Speedboats Doctored; Iranians Charge Fabrication
The Bush administration’s assertion that 5 small Iranian boats confronted big, well-armed US ships in the Straits of Hormuz and threatened to blow up the American vessels is looking more and more like a serious error if not a Republican Party fabrication. The episode featured prominently in the Republican presidential debate in South Carolina, according […]
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