Juan Cole

Sistani urges Iraqis to put aside Narrow Interests Al-Hayat, Ja`far al-Ahmar: The battle of Fallujah uncovered some of the fissures, contradictions, and crticisms that had not been admitted by any local, Arab or regional party. The reaction to the American assault on Fallujah has been muted among Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani and other major Shiite […]

Powell’s Resignation Colin Powell’s resignation as secretary of state may be a more important development than meets the eye. It could be argued that he has been so marginalized and ineffective that he might as well resign, and that it makes no difference whether he is in office or not. Powell wanted to devote great […]

Sunni Arab Regions in Flames Heavy fighting continued in Fallujah on Monday, according to Reuters, as some guerrillas there demonstrated that they would fight to the death. Meanwhile, police stations were attacked in Baqubah and Buhriz in the east, and in Suwairah south of Baghdad. The fighting in Baqubah was so heavy that the US […]

Fallujah and the Aftermath In Baiji on Sunday, clashes between US troops and guerrillas left 12 Iraqis dead and 25 wounded. Most Americans do not realize that Fallujah is celebrated in Iraqi history and poetry for its defiance of the British in the Great Rebellion of 1920. The 1920 revolution against the British is key […]

Member of Parliament Assassinated Bombs go off in Baghdad AP rounds up Saturday’s events in Iraq. Explosions went off in Baghdad and at the Green Zone, apparently not far from caretaker Prime Miniter Iyad Allawi. Guerrillas at Mosul detonated a car bomb as an Iraqi national guard unit from Kirkuk went by, injuring seven of […]

Regionalist Model for Iraq Fred Kaplan at Slate discusses the proposal of former Iraqi national security adviser Muwaffaq al-Rubaie for consolidating the 18 Iraqi provinces into 5– one Kurdish, two Sunni Arab, and two Shiite. As Kaplan notes, I myself dislike this idea. It has the advantage of possibly mollifying the Kurds, who really want […]

Mosul Chaos Al-Hayat reported incidents all over the country. A US Black Hawk helicopter was downed near Taji (20 km northwest of Baghdad), hurting 3 of the 4-man crew. Another US serviceman was killed in Baghdad. 8 Iraqis were killed in Hilla and 5 in Kirkuk. In al-Hawijah near Kirkuk, 5 persons were killed and […]

Sistani calls for Peaceful Resolution of Fallujah Crisis Az-Zaman: Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, th leading Shiite spiritual authority, called Friday for a peaceful resolution of the conflict in Fallujah. His representative in Karabala, Ahmad al-Safi al-Najafi, said that the position of the grand ayatollah toward the bloody events in some regions of Iraq is that […]

Dylan Still Subversive? It is a good thing that Bob Dylan has US citizenship, otherwise he might be in the same fix as Cat Stevens (a.k.a. Yusuf Islam). The mere singing of a 1963 song, “Masters of War,” at a Colorado High School brought in the Secret Police. Now we know why Usamah Bin Laden […]