The USG Open Source Center reports on the possible postponement of the referendum on the future of oil-rich Kirkuk province, which the Kurds want to annex to Kurdistan. Iraq: Kurdish Leaders Raise Possibility of Delay on Kirkuk ReferendumIraq — OSC ReportMonday, September 17, In the wake of the Kurdistan Parliament vote on 13 June reaffirming […]
Right-Zionists try to Silence Walt at the University of Montana
Richard Drake, chair of the History Department at the University of Montana, describes what it is like to invite Stephen Walt, a respected political scientist at Harvard University and author of a best-selling book on the Israel lobby, to lecture on campus. The techniques of smearing and pressure politics deployed against his appearance can only […]
Greenspan: War about Oil; Bloody Sunday in Iraq
Alan Greenspan confirms that he urged the Bush administration to take out Saddam on grounds of petroleum security for the US, and says one official told him, ‘unfortunately we can’t talk about oil.’ Long-time readers know that I think restructuring the architecture of US energy security was among the major motives for the Iraq War. […]
Sadrists withdraw from Government; Say they Will not Bring Down al-Maliki; Iraqi Military called Unprepared
The unstable al-Maliki government is on its last legs. The Sadr Movement (32 seats) has now formally withdrawn from the United Iraqi Alliance, the Shiite fundamentalist bloc that is the largest in parliament (though no longer by much). The Sadrists had withdrawn from al-Maliki’s cabinet a few months ago, but had said they would still […]
Rep. Doggett: Congress must Respond to the Propaganda Surge
Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) on Iraq: Plus: International Atomic Energy head Mohammad Elbaradei walked out of a meeting where he felt a Portuguese diplomat’s speech was insufficiently supportive of his call for new inspections in Iran. On the other hand, Elbaradei has been critical of the US for pushing confrontation with Tehran. Despite Elbaradei’s findings […]
Cholera Spreads in North Iraq
The cholera epidemic in northern Iraq continues to grow, with 16,000 persons now estimated to have been infected. I grew up traveling and have seen cholera up close. You lose liquids from both major orifices and have trouble keeping anything down, and eventually if you are not treated you are dehydrated to death. It is […]
Bush’s ‘Troop Withdrawal’ Branded Phony; Sattar Assassination a blow to Bush Optimism; 1 million Dead in Iraq?
Our national discourse has now reached a point where it is a journalistic coup just to point out when a politician is lying. Thus, the headlines that Bush’s ‘troop cuts,’ announced in his speech last night, are phony, and reflect normal rotations. Patrick Cockburn, whose excellent reporting is deeply informed by his risky forays into […]
Shaikh Sattar Killed in Bombing; Anbar State of Emergency
Shaikh Sattar Abu Risha, leader of the Council for the Salvation of al-Anbar Province, has been killed by a bomb set at the entrance to his farm near Ramadi. Sawt al-Iraq says that a state of emergency has been declared in the province as a result. Bush met with him on the recent trip to […]
Rice’s Circular Colonial Logic All Pressure off Reform in Baghdad after Crocker/Petraeus Report
Colonial logic is always circular. Thus, Condi Rice: the US needs to stay in Iraq to protect the US from Iraq. Also, the US needs to stay in Iraq to protect Iraq from Iran. The next part of the circle will be that the US needs to stay in Iran to accomplish both of these […]
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