Juan Cole

3 US Troops Dead, 8 Wounded 18 Iraqis Killed Wire services reported that ‘ Twenty-two people including four US soldiers have died in a series of attacks in Iraq since Sunday evening, while a journalist, her son, and three men working for the US military have been kidnapped, according separate security sources and a statement […]

UIA Will Hold Secret Ballot Chalabi, Allawi Still in Running for PM The Shiite religious coalition, the United Iraqi Alliance, will hold a secret ballot within the list to decide on a prime ministerial candidate, according to AP. This move is a sign that neither Ibrahim Jaafari nor Chalabi could win by consensus. Jaafari should […]

Basra Council Dominated by Fundamenatlists Ash-Sharq al-Awsat: The results have been announced for Basra province. The city of Basra alone has 1.2 million inhabitants, so this is a major province, and is largely Shiite. Fundamentalist Shiite parties gained 85 percent of the seats. The United Iraqi Alliance won 20 seats, or 49 percent. The Islamic […]

Back Channels The US military has established back-channel negotiations with some of the leaders of the Sunni Arab guerrilla war, according to Time magazine. Earlier on, the US had refused such negotiations. Ahmad Chalabi was clearly angered by these talks, and said on US television on Sunday that the new Iraqi government would not be […]

Abu Ghraib in Brooklyn Larry Cohler-Esses of the New York Daily News reveals that Abu Ghraib has been going on in the United States itself. Five Israeli suspects and dozens of Muslim ones apprehended after September 11 were subjected to humiliation, stripped, left in the cold, and generally treated with cruelty. None of the arrestees […]

How Many Methods Are There to Enact a New Constitution in Iraq? Guest Editorial by Andrew Arato Many commentators keep repeating a fundamentally erroneous statement, namely that Sunni part of the population unrepresented in the National Assembly is to an important extent protected in the Iraqi political process because a new constitution can be adopted […]

Chalabi Interviewed by Stephanopoulos George Stephanopoulos interviewed Ahmad Chalabi on ABC’s This Week Sunday morning. Here are some excerpts from the press release issued with the transcript afterwards: ‘ · When Mr. Stephanopoulos asked why Prime Minister Allawi’s government failed to stop the insurgency and how the new government will deal with the same issues, […]

At Least 55 Dead, Over 100 Wounded In Ashura Bombings Eight suicide bombers struck at various sites in Iraq on Saturday, killing and wounding dozens during the commemboration of Ashura. This holy day is sort of like Easter Friday for Shiites, when they remember the martyrdom of Husain, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad. The […]

Present Conflicts, Looming Conflicts Reuters reports, ‘ Five U.S. soldiers were killed in separate guerrilla attacks in Iraq, the U.S. military said Friday, three in or near the northern city of Mosul, one north of Baghdad and the fifth south of the capital. ‘ The Financial Times points out that a conflict is brewing between […]