Juan Cole

Sunni Constitution Drafter Killed; Chalabi in Iran Fakhri al-Qaisi of the National Dialogue Council was assassinated in Baghdad on Saturday. The Sunni politician had helped draft the new Iraqi constitution and was running for parliament. His group is part of a Sunni religious coalition that is running in the December 15 elections, a move opposed […]

Al-Libi Tagged as Liar by US Intelligence Bush Alleged Saddam-al-Qaeda Tie Douglas Jehl of the NYT reports that the Defense Intelligence Agency and other intelligence professionals strongly suspected that Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi was lying when he alleged, after his capture in Pakistan in 2001, that Iraq was training al-Qaeda in use of chemical weapons for […]

Sunni Cleric Calls for Participation in Elections NATO Rules out Iraq Role Al-Sharq al-Awsat/ AFP: The Sunni religious leader in the Association of Muslim Scholars, Shaikh Mahmud Mahdi al-Sumaidaie has called on Sunni Arabs to vote in the December 15 elections. The preacher at the Umm al-Qura Mosque in Baghdad said, “I call on you […]

Former UK Ambassador in Washington: Iraq War brought Terror to UK Sir Christopher Meyer, former UK ambassador in Washington, DC, admits that the war he supported increased the risks of terrorism in Britain, according to The Guardian. ‘ So what, two-and-a-half years after the invasion, do the president and prime minister have to do now? […]

Sectarianism Dominates Iraq in Run-up to Elections The December 15 elections are shaping up as a sectarian affair. The United Iraqi Alliance groups four of the five main Shiite religious parties: Dawa, the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, the Muqtada al-Sadr branch of the Sadrists, and the Islamic Action Organization, along with many […]

Billmon on the Zarqawi Myth Billmon does an excellent job of summarizing my argument that the Sunni Arab guerrillas (many of them rooted in the old Baath security forces) are attempting to provoke a civil war, and that they blame Abu Musab al-Zarqawi for their attacks on the Shiites. I think everyone has a reason […]

Libby Pleads Innocent I just saw that former vice presidential chief of staff Irving Lewis Libby has pleaded innocent of charges that he obstructed justice and lied under oath. If Libby sticks with this plea, it guarantees a messy and spectacular trial that Bush and Cheney obviously would have liked to avoid. How to read […]

Triangulating a Scandal The Italian parliament is again looking into charges that Italian military intelligence passed forged documents alleging Iraqi purchases of Niger uranium to the US. The charges were amplified in the Italian newspaper La Repubblica last week (check my October archives for the link. It occurs to me that if a new and […]

20 Killed in Mosque The guerrillas detonated a huge bomb outside a Shiite mosque on Wednesday at Musayyib south of Baghdad, killing 20 and wounding twice that number. Another four GIs were killed, in addition. The steady drumbeat of violence demonstrates that mere political developments such as the constitutional referendum or the preparations for parliamentary […]