Juan Cole

Bush Outing of Khan and the Faustian Bargain David Johnston of the New York Times tried to get further details of the Bush administration outing of Pakistani double agent Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan. But he was stonewalled when he called his Bush administration contacts: “American officials contacted on Saturday would not confirm that Mr. Khan […]

Continued Shiite Clashes with US Najaf Since the recent round of fighting began in Najaf, 5 US Marines have been killed and 12 wounded in Najaf governorate. AFP reports that hundreds of Najaf families streamed out of the city on Saturday, terrified of the heavy warfare being fought all around them. The US has aerially […]

Sistani’s Trip to the UK Fayyad Likely Successor Ma`d Fayyad of Ash-Sharq al-Awsat reveals some of the background to Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani’s trip to the UK. He says that it has been in the works for some time, and that British authorities knew about the plan for the ayatollah to come to London as […]

Did the Bush Administration Burn a Key al-Qaeda Double Agent? Simon Cameron-Moore and Peter Graff of Reuters reveal the explosive information that the Bush administration blew the cover Monday of double agent Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan. On Sunday August 1, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge announced a new alert against an al-Qaeda plot concerning fincial […]

US Attack “Uncivilized”: Jafari Fresh Violence in Sadr City 15 US Soldiers Wounded, 3 Dead in recent Fighting Before I go over the details, here is my reading of what is going on in Najaf. The truce between the Mahdi Army and US/ Iraqi forces broke down because they had different ideas of what the […]

Italians Battle Sadrists in Nasiriyah Late wire services on Friday afternoon in the US report that Nasiriyah was quiet after fighting earlier. Reader Anne Aldridge kindly summarizes a recent ANSA report from Rome on the situation earlier Friday: Intense combat is under way at Nasiriya between the Moqtada al Sadr militia and Italian military that […]

Muqtada: US is “Greatest of Satans” Sistani in London for Treatment Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani has been flown to London for medical treatment for a heart condition, removing him from the Najaf scene at a time of continuing fighting between radical Shiites and the United States. Abdul Hussein al-Obeidi of the Associated Press reports that […]

17 Dead, Dozens Wounded as Iraqi South Erupts 2 US Troops Killed, 5 Wounded in Najaf Alex Berenson of the New York Times reports that the young radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has called for a jihad or holy war against Coalition troops. Heavy fighting broke out between Mahdi Army fighters in Najaf, where the […]

Clinton on the Five Threats Facing US Bill Clinton said in a radio interview on Thursday that the Bush administration had made a grave mistake by turning US security with regard to al-Qaeda over to Pakistan while concentrating its own efforts on a low-level threat like Iraq. The former president listed the security threats to […]