Juan Cole

What does Muqtada al-Sadr Want? Tom Engelhardt asks hard questions at the indispensable Tomdispatch.com about journalistic language concerning the Iraq crisis. How do we characterize Muqtada al-Sadr? Our military operations in the country? What words to journalists use and how does that affect perceptions? Meanwhile, the Associated Press expresses confusion, both its own, and that […]

National Council Process Derailed Basra Delegates Withdrawn The national convention of some 1200 delegates to choose an interim national council was beset with several setbacks. It initially had to be postponed two weeks out of concerns that the country’s political chaos were unpropitious to success. Some in the UN thought it should be postponed even […]

Babylon and the Polish Troops 2 Dead, 5 Wounded in War-Related Accident Reuters reports that guerillas fired at a Polish convoy late Wednesday or early Thursday, so startling the drivers that an accident ensued, killing 2 soldiers and wounding five. A Polish-speaking reader shares the following summaries from Polish new sources about fighting in the […]

The Outing of Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan: State of Play Journalism is often defined as an attempt to “catch history on the run.” We historians, when writing history, most often have at hand a range of documents on an issue, and the luxury of being able to weigh them against one another. In trying to […]

Muqtada declines to See Delegation Marines Launched Attack without Approval Alex Berenson and John Burns of the New York Times make the explosive allegation that local Marines in Najaf launched the attack on Muqtada al-Sadr’s Mahdi Militia on August 12 all on their lonesome, without direction from the Pentagon in Washington. At most, they had […]

Readings on Iraq Readers often ask me to recommend books to read, which are fairly readable, on Iraq. Being an academic, I’m not sure I’m always the best judge of what is readable (specialists like a lot of detail, and get used to dealing with it). But let me try to step back and make […]

New Clashes in Najaf 3 US Troops Announced Killed 19 Iraqis Dead, 101 Wounded Dean Yates of Reuters reports that fighting broke out in Najaf again on Monday between US troops and the Mahdi Army militia. In the heart of Najaf, U.S. forces backed by tanks exchanged fire with militiamen entrenched around the sacred Imam […]

Harkin: Cheney is Cowardly Iowa Senator Tom Harkin has let Dick Cheney have it over Cheney’s questioning of John Kerry’s ability to understand the war on terrorism–calling the vice president a “coward”. CNN quotes him, “It just outrages me that someone who got five deferments during Vietnam and said he had ‘other priorities’ at that […]

Majority Report Have been doing a lot of radio, which I enjoy because often the discussion can get to the bottom of things. Will be on Majority Report at Air America with Janeane Garofalo & Sam Seder Monday 8/16 around 8-9 pm EST.