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Juan Cole

Iraq
Turkey Invades Iraq; Sadr Renews Freeze; Bombings in Baghdad, Green Zone

Turkey Invades Iraq; Sadr Renews Freeze; Bombings in Baghdad, Green Zone

Juan Cole

I review the news below and don’t somehow conclude that the US occupation of Iraq is a success story. I know we are paying a lot for our presence in Iraq. I can’t figure out what the average American is receiving for the money. It isn’t increased security, since Iraq is a training ground for […]

Uncategorized
Three Events that changed the World

Three Events that changed the World

Juan Cole

Three things happened on Thursday that changed the world. The victorious Pakistan People’s Party, now the largest in the Pakistani lower house of parliament, has reached a deal for a coalition with two other parties. One is the Muslim League-N, loyal to former PM Nawaz Sharif, which has a quarter of seats in the federal […]

Iraq
Turkish-Kurd Military Confrontation; Gunbattles Roil Basra; A Dozen Police Found Dead Near Baquba

Turkish-Kurd Military Confrontation; Gunbattles Roil Basra; A Dozen Police Found Dead Near Baquba

Juan Cole

While US troops keep a tenuous grip on Baghdad in the center, Iraq’s two extremities– Kurdistan in the north and Basra in the deep south– are coming apart at the seams. Neither area has many US troops to fall back on. In a tense confrontation, Iraqi Kurdish troops nearly surrounded Turkish troops who had made […]

Iraq
5 US Troops Killed; 25 Dead, 70 Wounded in Violence; Turkey Bombs Iraq

5 US Troops Killed; 25 Dead, 70 Wounded in Violence; Turkey Bombs Iraq

Juan Cole

DPA estimates that civil war violence killed 25 in Iraq on Wednesday and wounded 70. The dead included 5 US troops. On Tuesday evening, 3 US troops were killed when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb in northwestern Baghdad (a Sunni Arab area). Another was killed on Wednesday by an RPG attack in Mosul, which […]

Uncategorized
McCain’s Holiday from History in Pakistan; Will any Old Military Dictator Do?; Lies about Obama

McCain’s Holiday from History in Pakistan; Will any Old Military Dictator Do?; Lies about Obama

Juan Cole

Barack Obama’s spectacular win in Wisconsin has the GOP frightened. The Democratic turnout was much, much better than the Republican. The Democrats and independents are energized. Senator John McCain could not get the independents out in Wisconsin, and the Republican turnout was lackluster. In politics, failure always produces bluster. McCain spoke after his primary victory […]

Uncategorized
Musharraf’s Party Roundly Defeated; Fundamentalist Coalition Collapses in NWFP; PPP Likely to Form Next Government

Musharraf’s Party Roundly Defeated; Fundamentalist Coalition Collapses in NWFP; PPP Likely to Form Next Government

Juan Cole

Pakistan held its elections on Monday, which are fateful for the future of the country and also probably for the Bush-Cheney foreign policy. Bush and Cheney put most of their eggs in the basket of a military dictator, Pervez Musharraf, who has been on a self-destructive downward spiral during the past year that makes Amy […]

Uncategorized
Over 80 Dead in Afghan Blast

Over 80 Dead in Afghan Blast

Juan Cole

A massive suicide bomb ripped through crowd in Qandahar on Sunday, killing over 80 and wounding a similar number. The Afghan newspaper Rah-i Sulh took a dim view of the public’s activities at that site, which included dog racing. It observed that people who went to get a thrill from seeing dogs mangled unexpectedly saw […]

Iraq
Sadrist/ Badr Truce Breaks Down; Parliament Rejects Smaller Cabinet

Sadrist/ Badr Truce Breaks Down; Parliament Rejects Smaller Cabinet

Juan Cole

It is awfully suspicious that as soon as a firm date was set for new provincial elections in Iraq (October 1), the truce broke down between the paramilitary of Muqtada al-Sadr and that of Abdul Aziz al-Hakim. This according to Nassar al-Rubaie, the leader of the Sadrist bloc in parliament. The Sadrists say that the […]

Iraq
Bombings in Baghdad, Mosul Kill 6; Hilla Awakening Council Joins Strike

Bombings in Baghdad, Mosul Kill 6; Hilla Awakening Council Joins Strike

Juan Cole

Two bombings shook Iraq Sunday morning. In the Misbah commercial center in the upscale Shiite Karrada district, a female suicide bomber detonated a belt bomb, killing 3 persons and wounding 10. Meanwhile, in Mosul a car bomb killed 3. Mosul is the site of a major push against foreign fighters styled ‘al-Qaeda’ (really mainly Salafi […]

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