Juan Cole

Muqtada Plans Political Party AP reports that the young Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr has called on his followers to cease fighting American and Coaltion troops and Iraqi police. He plans, his aides say, to have the Sadr movement contest the forthcoming elections to parliament. Al-Hayat argues that Muqtada’s decision was a compromise between hawks and […]

Brown’s “Public Diplomacy Press Review A really useful compendium of news items related to public diplomacy and Middle East policy is sent out by email by John Brown, a former Foreign Service officer, in conjunction with the University of Southern California Center on Public Diplomacy. It deals with “issues pertaining to foreign public opinion, anti-Americanism, […]

Hollings on AIPAC I saw this in the press at the time, but a reader reminded me of it. Senator Hollings is retiring and speaking his mind. In my experience, this sentiment is very widespread on Capitol Hill, but politicians who are not retiring soon do not complain in public about it. Hollings said, ‘ […]

Johnson: FBI Furious at Leak Many thanks to Ken Henderson for the following: ‘ In a later broadcast on MSNBC, former CIA officer and NBC analyst Larry Johnson reported that for months he had been aware of an investigation that had led to tonight’s revelation, one that had originally focused on the source of a […]

Baldauf: Najaf Standoff Helped Muqtada CSM journalist Scott Baldauf, who has his ear to the ground in Iraq in a way that US officialdom seldom does, believes that Muqtada al-Sadr benefited politically from the recent standoff in Najaf. He writes, ‘ Six months ago, Sheikh Jawad al-Khalasi was what most would consider an Iraqi Shiite […]

Newsweek: Franklin Confesses AIPAC Under Separate FBI Investigation Laura Rozen directs our attention to the new Newsweek article by Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball, which has several new details on the Lawrence Franklin espionage scandal in the Pentagon. First, Franklin’s passing of confidential documents to AIPAC was discovered because AIPAC was already under FBI surveillance […]

Pentagon/Israel Spying Case Expands: Fomenting a War on Iran Here is my take on the Lawrence Franklin espionage scandal in the Pentagon. It is an echo of the one-two punch secretly planned by the pro-Likud faction in the Department of Defense. First, Iraq would be taken out by the United States, and then Iran. David […]

Israeli Spy in Pentagon Linked to AIPAC CBS is reporting that a Defense Intelligence Agency analyst detailed to Undersecretary of Defense for Planning Douglas Feith’s Office of Special Plans is under FBI investigation for spying for Israel. The person passed to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee confidential documents, including those detailing Bush administration policy […]

Thousands Stream into Shrine of Ali Muqtada orders Followers to Disarm CNN’s Kianne Sadeq continues her excellent reportage from Najaf. She and her team report that supporters of Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani streamed into the shrine of Ali in Najaf. After reaching an agreement with Sistani, Muqtada pledged to ask his men to leave the […]