Juan Cole

AIPAC Blitz on Capitol Hill The way in which the FBI investigation of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and Israeli links to the pro-Likud clique in the Pentagon may be derailed through AIPAC’s manipulation of Congress is laid out by Hans Nichols in The Hill. Past such charges with regard to AIPAC and its […]

Dual Loyalties Many readers have written me to express concern about my safety and/or reputation since I have spoken out frankly on the horrible Likud policies of stealing Palestinian lands and brutalizing them with occupation. I’m not a babe in the woods, and I know very well that saying these things is taboo in American […]

Italian Hostages Anne Aldridge writes from Italy: Here for your readers is the site of the Italian pacifist organization whose two volunteers, Simona and Simona, were kidnaped yesterday. It has some English pages. This is an opportunity for Al Jazira, Al arabiya or any other media to show their power to move Iraqi public opinion. […]

Heavy Fighting in Sadr City, Fallujah US Military Deaths Pass 1000 Jeff Gray of The Toronto Globe and Mail reports The U.S. military death toll in Iraq passed 1,000 yesterday, a statistic that Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry called a “tragic milestone” and that some analysts said could play an important role in the race […]

Cheney, Halliburton and Iraq: The Purloined Letter Why was Dick Cheney so eager to invade Iraq? Why did he repeatedly link Saddam Hussein to al-Qaeda after September 11, and why did he maintain that not only did Iraq have weapons of mass destruction but that he, Cheney, knew exactly where they were? Cheney clearly came […]

Sistani Holds Political Meetings in Najaf Guerrilla War Continues in Mosul, Baghdad, Kirkuk Hundreds of residents of Najaf mounted a demonstration on Monday, for the second straight day, against Muqtada al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army. Demonstrators shouted, “Take you hands off the city! The people of Najaf do not want you!” They also called the […]

AIPAC Spy Case involves Intelligence on Iranian WMD James Gordon Meek reports that both FBI investigations of leaks from the Pentagon concern in part secret US intelligence on Iranian weapons of mass destruction programs. The FBI suspects that this intelligence was leaked to AIPAC and the Israelis on the one hand, and to Ahmad Chalabi […]

Bombing Near Fallujah, Clashes in Najaf The Iraqi Guerrilla War of 2003-2004 continued apace on Sunday and Monday. Guerrillas detonated an enormous car bomb near Fallujah on Monday, killing 7 Marines and wounding a number of others, and killing 3 Iraqis. The rumors in Washington are that the Marines plan a major assault on Fallujah […]

Fighting in Tal Afar, Latifiyah1100 US Troops Wounded in August Heavy fighting raged in the northern city of Tal Afar, which lies west of Mosul, again on Sunday, according to ash-Sharq al-Awsat. The population of Tal Afar is largely Turkmen Shiites, and it is unclear why the US military is fighting there. [Actually they are […]