Juan Cole

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Sistani Calls for Unity Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani called Friday “unity and solidarity among all Iraqis despite the attacks targeting the innocent.” He was referring to the horrific bombing of a Shiite funeral in Mosul. Weeping relatives held small family wakes for the dead, avoiding a large mass funeral that might again be targeted by […]

What do you Do if Democracies Defy You? The US and British support for democratization in the Middle East is a deeply contradictory policy, since Washington and London also want friendly regimes that agree with their policies and crack down on radicals. The contradiction was pitched ironically by Lebanese Speaker of the House Nabih Berri, […]

Democracy Now Transcript Here is a transcript of my interview this morning with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now. For Southeast Michigan readers: What would have to happen for WUOM or WEMU here in the Ann Arbor/ Ypsilanti area to carry the program regularly? Isn’t it odd that it is in 300 markets but not here?

Sadrist Funeral Targeted The funeral targeted by a bombing that killed 47 and wounded 84 in Mosul was for “Hisham al-Araji, the Mosul representative for radical Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr.” The bombing might have just been targeting Shiites, or it might specifically have aimed at the Sadr movement, which has some support in northern Iraq […]

Breaking News: Government to Be Formed Bombing at Shiite Mosque in Mosul Kills 36 It has been announced that the Shiites and the Kurds have reached sufficient agreement to elect a government when the parliament meets on March 16. If true, this is very big news. It wasn’t, however, a headline anywhere I looked on […]

30 US contractors Wounded, 26 More Corpses Found Guerrillas detonated another bomb near the al-Sadeer Hotel in downtown Baghdad on Wednesday, wounding 30 American contractors. Most of the wounds were reported to be relatively slight, but that the guerrillas can strike at will this way, twice in as many days, underscores how out of control […]

Huge Truck Bomb Kills at least 3, wounds Dozens Officials Assassinated A guerrilla detonated a huge truck bomb in downtown Baghdad early Wednesday morning, between the al-Sadeer Hotel and the Ministry of Agriculture, killing himself and at least three others, and wounding dozens. On Tuesday, guerrillas gunned down a high-ranking Interior Ministry official. In further […]

Hundreds of Thousands of Shiites Stage Pro-Syrian Demonstration in Beirut Hizbullah’s call for a huge pro-Syrian demonstration in Beirut was answered by hundreds of thousands of protesters on Tuesday. The largely Shiite crowds were huge compared to the smaller anti-Syrian demonstrations held for the past week. The anti-Syrian protesters had mostly been Christians, with some […]