Juan Cole

Diwaniyah Ceasefire in Doubt Spike in Death toll Continues, with over 50 dead Dan Murphy of the CSM writes about the increasing fragmentation of Iraqi politics and militias at the local level. He argues that Muqtada al-Sadr and even the powerful Kurdish warlords are losing control to local militant groups that take the law in […]

Israeli War on Lebanese Civilians Continues A top United Nations humanitarian official, Jan Egeland, said he was shocked on inspecting southern Lebanon to find it littered with deadly unexploded cluster bombs. These were for the most part dropped in the last three days of the conflict, when it was foreseen that there would be a […]

Rumsfeld Accuses Critics of Appeasement of Fascists The LA Times reports that ‘ Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Tuesday compared critics of the Bush administration to those who sought to appease the Nazis before World War II, warning that the nation is confronting “a new type of fascism.” ‘ (Click here for explanation of […]

Americans bombed Diwaniyah 26 Bodies found in Baghad On Wednesday morning in Iraq, guerrillas set off a bomb outside a military recruiting center, killing 12 and wounding 38. Two more US troops were announced dead, one from action in al-Anbar, and one from a humbee accident. The initial story, conveyed in the press and by […]

Over 100 Killed in Iraq, 100 Wounded Mahdi Army Clashes in Diwaniyah Bombings Rock Turkey Two more US troops were announced dead on Monday, bringing the total dead among GIs for the weekend to 9. Vice President Richard Bruce Cheney doesn’t get it, as usual. The reason to draw down US ground troops in Iraq […]

Civil War Violence Explodes Throughout Iraq At Least 80 Dead, Dozens Wounded 6 US Troops Killed al-Zaman says that [Ar.] Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has been forced to make alterations in his cabinet only 100 days after its formation by two crises– the lack of fuel and the lack of loyalty. Sources told al-Zaman that […]

Collier: The “Shaped Charge” Bogey Man Military historian and former Green Beret Tom Collier writes: ‘ We have read recently in the press about “sophisticated shaped-charge” mines destroying Coalition vehicles in Iraq. They are described as new, deadly, and coming from Iran. The truth is the shaped-charge effect was discovered in the 19th Century and […]

Achcar Guest Editorial: The Situation in Iraq The Situation in Iraq by Gilbert Achcar [The following excerpt is from the Epilogue to Perilous Power: The Middle East and U.S. Foreign Policy, by Noam Chomsky & Gilbert Achcar, edited with a Preface by Stephen R. Shalom, to be published by Paradigm Publishers September 15, 2006, Hardcover […]

Ahmadinejad: We are Not a Threat to Any Country, Including Israel Believe it, don’t believe it, that’s up to you. But at least we should know what exactly he said, which is not something our US newspapers will tell us about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s speech on Saturday: Kayhan reports that [Pers.] Ahmadinejad said, “Iran is not […]