Juan Cole

Death Toll of 52 as Constitution Talks Fizzle The Iraqi Parliament did not actually meet Thursday to vote on the draft constitution. Edmund Sanders of the LA Times reports ” Thursday’s talks at the Green Zone residence of Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani broke down around 10 p.m. when Sunni negotiators walked out, according to participants. […]

At Least 34 Dead, Dozens Wounded Guerilla Platoon Attacks Police in Baghdad Bloody Shiite on Shiite Clashes in the South Forty guerrillas in Baghdad launched a coordinated attack on police that included suicide bombings, killing 15 and wounding 56. It is always worrisome when you see a whole platoon of guerrillas operating openly in daylight […]

Steven Vincent Case I am reposting here with commentary my comments of 8 August about Colin Freeman’s story in the Telegraph concerning the murder of art journalist Stephen Vincent in Basra. Below, I also reprint part of the Freeman article. I am clarifying my remarks because Vincent’s widow is circulating a misleading characterization of them. […]

23 Dead in Violence Sunni Arabs Threaten Popular Uprising over Constitution Al-Hayat: Guerrilla violence left 23 Iraqis dead on Tuesday, among them 16 policemen. In addition. guerrillas bombed an American-Iraqi [military] Coordination Center in the northeastern city of Baqubah, leaving 2 Americans dead and as many as 9 other persons wounded. Reuters has some details […]

Coup in Baghdad Unfinished Constitution Presented, vote Delayed According to the interim constitution, the permanent constitution should have been presented to parliament and passed by August 15. There should have been two readings of it, two days apart, before the vote. Otherwise, parliament should have been dissolved and new elections called. Parliament avoided this fate […]

Achcar on Cole Proposals for Withdrawal of US Ground Troops ‘ Dear Juan, As a regular reader and occasional contributor to your blog, which I believe is doing a real service to all those concerned with the situation in Iraq, and as an activist in the antiwar movement, I feel it necessary to comment on […]

Ten Things Congress Could Demand from Bush on Iraq The Washington Post notes that the Democratic Party is deeply divided between those who want US troops out now and those who fear the consequences and think it best to stay the course. The article might as well have noted that the Republicans are also divided […]

Another Constitution Cliffhanger Muqtada urges Followers to Register to Vote Al-Zaman: Informed observers close to the negotiations on the constitution are saying that it is likely parliament will be asked for another one-week extension because some issues are still unresolved. Al-Jazeera says that Adil Abdul Mahdi, the first vice president and a member of the […]

Whither Foreign Investment in Iraq under Islamic Law? Doug Ireland covers how the US media covered the story that the Bush administration acquiesced in enshrining Islamic canon law in the Iraqi constitution. What is amazing to me is that no one has brought up the issue of commercial law. Islamic law has three parts: 1) […]