Juan Cole

Negotiations Continue on Formation of Iraqi Government Al-Hayat: A Fallujah notable, Khalid Fakhri al-Jamili, said Monday that the Americans were engaged in a large-scale set of attacks on cities in Anbar province such as Ramadi, Hit, Hadithah and Aana, which had the prospect of reducing them to Fallujah-like states of destruction. He warned that the […]

Dawa Party Background Aaron Glantz gives an overview of the Dawa Party of Ibrahim Jaafari since 1980. One thing I would quibble with is that the dispute in the late 1980s was not over how close to be to the Iranian regime. It was over whether to keep the party autonomous or meld it in […]

Breaking News: Lebanese Government Resigns in Face of VideoClip Revolution Futur television satellite news is reporting that the Lebanese government has resigned. For the last few days, I was watching the crowds assembled at Martyrs’ Square in Beirut (a place significant in the anticolonial struggle against the French), and noted the ineffectual attempt of [now […]

Breaking News: Bloodbath in Hilla with 120 Dead, 200 Wounded Guerrillas drove a carbomb into the midst of young Shiite men standing in line to get physicals for service in the police or national guards, in the southern city of Hilla, and detonated it. CNN is reporting at least 120 dead and over 200 wounded. […]

8 Dead in Mosul UIA visits Sistani Threat of a Deadlock Guerrillas detonated a bomb in Mosul on Sunday that killed 8 persons and injured at least two more. The Syrians found Saddam Hussein’s half-brother in Beirut and handed him over to the US. (If there is an Arab city where US intelligence ought to […]

Mubarak and elections, Egyptian President Husni Mubarak is going to allow multiparty competition for the presidency. But note that only offically recognized parties can field candidates. This step excludes the Muslim Brotherhood, probably the only serious competitor with Mubarak’s party. Will blog more on this later . . . I’m really sleepy and it is […]

sBook Review on Islam and Iraq Paul William Roberts reviews a number of books about Islam and/or Iraq, and has some kind words about my Sacred Space and Holy War.

Pipeline Sabotage, Baghdad Bombing Ten people were killed and 11 kidnapped in Iraq on Saturday. The current Marine offensive against guerrillas in Ramadi killed 3 and wounded 15. Al-Hayat reports this as a major US campaign in Anbar province. Guerrillas blew up a northern pipeline on Saturday. Other guerrillas exploded a bomb in Baghdad, while […]

5 US Troops Die Sistani Blesses Jaafari Ibrahim Jaafari, the candidate for prime minister of the religious Shiite coalition, met Friday with Grand Ayatollah Sistani,who “blessed” (i.e. endorsed) his candidacy. This blessing will help Jaafari with the some 30 members of his United Iraqi Alliance coalition who are said to be wavering in their support […]