Juan Cole

JonBenet Ramsey and Abeer al-Janabi Overseas readers who don’t watch US-based cable news may not know that there is a news blackout on the 24 hours news stations, which have shown endless hours of useless speculation on a ten year old small town murder case. Why the cable news channels in the US behave in […]

Sunni-Shiite Conflict takes New Turn CNN reports the civil war violence in the Baghdad-Diyala corridor. Al-Zaman/ DPA report that two members of Iraqi military intelligence were shot dead in the southern port city of Basra. [Al-Zaman says it is the third largest city in the country after Baghdad and Mosul, but I thought Basra was […]

McGreevy Guest Editorial: Lebanon: The Transnation Patrick McGreevy writes from Beirut: ‘ Some Western leaders are profoundly disturbed that Hezbollah, a non-state entity, should have such autonomy to act within and even beyond the borders of Lebanon. It seems an affront to Lebanon’s sovereignty and to the presumed foundations of a world in which citizens’ […]

Shiite reaction to Massacre: Blame on Sunni Mosques Sunnis Allege Reprisals on Mosques, Civilians Narratives of what happened on Sunday, when snipers targeted Shiite pilgrims as they passed through Sunni Arab neighborhoods of Baghdad, killing 20 and wounding nearly 300, are confused. What is clear is that there were two follow-ups to this violence. One […]

Lebanon War an Environtmental Disaster So says Fouad Hamdan writes in the Daily Star: ‘ An environmental catastrophe unfolded on July 12 when war broke out between Israel and Hizbullah. Around 1,000 people were killed in the course of the fighting and thousands more injured on both sides of the border. But in addition to […]

Shiite Pilgrims Slaughtered US losing Battle of Baghdad Guerrillas on rooftops let loose barrages of machine gun fire at Shiite pilgrims on foot as the moved through northern Baghdad to the shrine of Imam Musa al-Kazim in Kadhimiyah on a pilgrimage to commemorate his martyrdom. They killed at least 20 and wounded an astonishing 300. […]

Fallout of Failed Israeli Raid Al-Sharq al-Awsat reports that the Israeli raid into the Biqa’ was aimed at kidnapping a prominent Hizbullah leader, or possibly recovering captured Israeli soldiers. The official Israeli cover story is that they were preventing the supply of arms to Hizbullah by Syria. But that makes no sense. Why would you […]

56% of Americans: Iraq War not Worth it Lockdown Continues amid Shiite Pilgrimage and more Violence US troops found weaponry in an office affiliated with Shiite nationalist cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. The US sweep of Baghdad is aimed at reducing militia and guerrilla activity in the city. Of course, this can be accomplished while there is […]

Israeli Commando Raid foiled: Hizbullah Lebanon says that the Israelis made a commando raid into the Biqa’ valley, attacking a village near Baalbak. The Lebanese maintain that they foiled the raid. The Lebanese army increased the territory within which it functions in the South. WaPo on Hizbullah: The best guerrilla group in the world. Milt […]