Juan Cole

Fear Stalks Iraq as “Truce” Ends US Diplomat in Baghdad Implicated in Israel Spy Scandal Al-Hayat: The one-day total for deaths related to the guerrilla war in Wednesday ended up being about 55, with dozens injured (probably over a hundred). Iraqis perceived the massive bombings as the end of a “truce” of the past few […]

43 Dead in Wednesday Bombings Constitution Wrangling continues Guerrillas detonated three car bombs in central Baghdad Wednesday morning, killing at least 43 and wounding 73. In a separate incident, an American soldier was killed on Tuesday evening. Al-Hayat says that Shiites, Kurds and Sunni Arabs are pointing the finger of blame at one another over […]

It’s the Cities, Stupid An Iraqi reader writes in to complain about the tendency of Western analysts to focus on “tribes” in their political analyses. He says the action is in the cities, where urban elites are the future of the country. ‘ It is remarkable how the “experts” on Iraq ignore the most important […]

One-Week Postponement The Iraqi parliament voted to amend the interim constitution to allow the permanent constitution to be presented for a vote on August 22 rather than Aug. 15. That gives negotiators one more week to work out a deal. The one-week extension is clever, since it avoids the dissolution of parliament and it keeps […]

Now They’re moving the Goalpost Every indication is that a final text of Iraq’s permanent constitution just won’t be reported out of the drafting committee in time to have parliament vote on it on Monday. Now Iraqi politicians are talking about having parliament amend the interim constitution to allow a delay of say, two weeks. […]

Constitution likely Not Achieved 30 More Bodies of Police Found in Baghdad The prospect that Iraqi politicians might make some last-minute deal on key issues in the constitution receded Sunday evening. Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, the leader of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), declined to come to a planned evening meeting with […]

Guest Editorial: A Transitional Permanent Constitution? Guest Editorial by Andrew Arato,New School University With the ongoing marathon meetings of its political principals concerning the constitution, the round table of the leaders of major groups, Iraq has finally had its first genuine political negotiations of this sorry war and occupation period. How much blood and treasure […]

Constitution Cliffhanger 6 US Troops Killed Politicians and the parliamentary drafting committee in Iraq are meeting Sunday afternoon in an attempt to report out the new constitution to parliament in time for the August 15 (Monday) deadline for parliament to vote on it. Reuters is reporting as of late Sunday morning that a prominent Sunni […]

US attack on Mosque? It is so hard to tell what is really going on in Iraq now. A lot of Western reporters have left because of the poor security. So what do we make of this report in Al-Zaman (which is by no means anti-American)?– Ahmad Hamzah, reporting from Ramadi: “6 civilians were killed […]