Juan Cole

Bombings in Baghdad, Baquba, Mahaweel Guerrilla Groups offer Truce if US will Withdraw Reuters details Iraq’s ongoing civil war violence: Guerrillas bombed a market in the Shiite quarter of Kadhimiyah, Baghdad, killing one person and wounding 8. Guerrillas detonated a car bomb near a throng of workers who had gathered to look for work at […]

Defending Markos And the Discourse Revolution I’ve been doing a lot of traveling recently, some of it abroad, and have barely been able to keep up with Iraq, much less with the blogosphere. I was sorry, as a result to have missed yearly Kos and to have been unable to return Markos Moulitsas’s kindnesses (i.e. […]

Iraqi Sermons from June 23, 2006 The USG Open Source Center translates sermons in Iraq on 6/23/2006: “At 0845 GMT Baghdad Satellite Channel in Arabic, reportedly sponsored by the Iraqi Islamic Party, carries a live relay of Shaykh Harith al-Ubaydi’s sermon from the Sunni Al-Shawwaf Mosque in Baghdad. In his sermon, Shaykh Harith Al-Ubaydi touches […]

Israel invades Gaza, Hits Bridges, Electricity The Israeli military destroyed 3 bridges that connect Gaza, and knocked out electricity along the coast, as troops made incursions into Gaza. I don’t have time to comment much on all this right now, except to say that the use of force here is all out of proportion. Without […]

Sunni Mosque Burned Guerrillas (likely Shiite militiamen) use mortar fire to destroy a Sunni mosque and burn down 20 shops in Shahraban near Baquba, northeast of Baghdad, on Wednesday morning. Reuters reports the civil war violence for Tuesday. There were bombings in Baghdad, Kirkuk and elsewhere, killing some 21 persons in iraq on Tuesday. Al-Zaman […]

Personal Investment as Commitment AP says that a “safer Iraq” is needed for US investment. D’oh. But this article reminds me of all the politicians (of both major parties) and bloggers who keep saying that things are just fine in Iraq and that the bad news is exaggerated by the “liberal media” (oh mythic phoenix!). […]

Saudi Ambassador Calls on Palestinians to Use Gandhian Tactics Saudi Elected Parliament within the Decade? I heard the Saudi ambassador to the US, Prince Turki Al-Faisal, give this speech Tuesday evening at the US-Arab Economic Forum, and am excerpting a few key passages. He also made remarks in the afternoon. At one point he said […]

The Zarqawi Effect My article on the aftermath of the killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in the Muslim world is out in Salon.com. Excerpt: ‘ Whatever the meaning of the killing of Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi by a U.S. airstrike earlier this month, it has not lessened Iraq’s violent nightmare, or calmed tensions in […]

Civil War Violence Leaves 60 Dead over 100 Wounded 130,000 Displaced in Past 4 Months Bombings and other civil war violence took the lives of at least 60 Iraqis on Monday. In addition, guerrillas kidnapped 10 Sunni students who were attending a technical institute in Shiite East Baghdad. In the worst incident, guerrillas detonated a […]