Juan Cole

80 Killed, over 200 Wounded in Black Sunday Dawn estimates that mortar attacks and bombings in Iraq killed 80 persons on Sunday. Other sources suggest the number of wounded may exceed 200. Some 52 of the dead were killed by carbombings at markets in Shiite Sadr City, east Baghdad. The violence is aimed at provoking […]

Quran Verse of the Day on Peace Chapter 25 of the Quran, “The Criterion” (al-Furqan), came to the Prophet Muhammad when he was still a preacher in Mecca (circa 610-622 AD), before the Meccans became so hostile and bloodthirsty that the Muslims had to leave for the nearby city of Yathrib, which became known as […]

Breaking News: Massive Bombings in Baghdad A string of carbombings in Baghdad Sunday killed three or four dozen people and wounded over a hundred. Two of the big blasts targeted the poor Shiites of Sadr City, who have proven in the past especially willing to engage in reprisal killings against Sunni Arabs. It seems likely […]

Khalilzad to Muqtada: ‘You Owe Us.’ Sunni Arabs meet Shiites A director of state-owned al-Iraqiyah television was assassinated on Saturday in Baghdad. There was also a bombing near a mosque in the small northern town of Yathrib that killed 2 and wounded 1. In the wake of this further killing of a journalist, the journalists’ […]

Quran Quote of the Day on Peace The Muslims say “hello” with the phrase “as-Salamu `alaykum”– “peace be upon you.” Once the pagan, polytheistic Meccan tribes started attacking the Muslims and trying to wipe them out, the question was raised of how to repond when a pagan not connected to the Meccans greeted a Muslim. […]

Peace and Love in the Quran A list of postings from Informed Comment on this subject. Quran 25:63. Quran 28:55 Quran 5:82. Quran 4:90 Quran 4:94 qqqq

20 Killed in Guerrilla Violence Al-Enzy Warns US on Interference Mariam Karouny of Reuters reports that Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani of Najaf played a central role in keeping the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance together during the recent Kurdish/Arab/US attempt to fracture its unity and unseat its candidate for prime minister, Ibrahim Jaafari. Steve Negus of […]

Quran Quote of the Day on Peace Speaking of the revealed scripture, the Quran, that book says: [5:16] With it, God guides those who follow his good-pleasure to the paths of peace, and he delivers them out of darkness into the light, with his permission. He guides them unto the straight path.

11 Killed in Blasts Talabani Forced to Delay Opening of Parliament Aljazeera reports, One of the deadly blasts on Thursday targeted an Iraqi army patrol in al-Amariyah, a middle-class neighbourhood in west Baghdad, killing nine civilians and wounding six, according to Major Falah al-Mohammedawi of the Interior Ministry. At Yarmouk hospital in west Baghdad, a […]