Juan Cole

5 US Troops Killed, 5 wounded New Accord in Najaf Five US troops were killed and five wounded on Friday while patrolling near East Baghdad (Sadr City) when their humvees were rocketed. It seems likely that they were targeted by the Mahdi Army, which US troops have been fighting for the past two months. Ash-Sharq […]

Al-Haeri’s Conditions ash-Sharq al-Awsat: Old-time al-Da`wa leader in exile, Ayatollah Kadhim al-Haeri, issued a statement Friday from Qom, Iran, on the caretaker government in Iraq. He said there were 6 things it needed to do to demonstrate its patriotic credentials and gain acceptance. These were 1. To recover complete sovereignty that is unconstrained and the […]

The situation in Iraq acutely threatens Israeli security From Friday’s Daily Star By Juan Cole Friday, June 04, 2004 As the American public gradually wearies of the Iraq crisis, some have begun worrying that the war could blow back on the US by creating the conditions for anti-American terrorism. Israel, however, is much closer to […]

Iran Leader Slams Caretaker Government in iraq Iran’s supreme jurisprudent, Ali Khamenei, spoke out Thursday against the new Iraqi government, saying that it was filled with puppets of the Americans, who remained in charge. He said that American home invasions and other irregularities only came about because the Shiite learned men had fallen silent. He […]

Iraq as failed State The Fund for Peace has an important new study on Iraq that warns it has become a failed state. . Newsday says: ‘ Dr. Pauline H. Baker, author of the report, describes a failed state syndrome as a condition in which a number of trends reinforce each other to produce spiraling […]

Clancy on Wolfowitz I just heard Tom Clancy on Deborah Norville’s show. She asked him about some persons he had met in the Defense Department. When she brought up Paul Wolfowitz, and asked his impression, Clancy said “Is he working for our side?” Clancy said he was involved in a red team exercise in the […]

Sistani’s Fatwa on the New Government Fatwa of Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani on the New Government trans. J. Cole “In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. From the office of his excellency Grand Ayatollah Sistani, may God extend his shadow. Peace be upon you, and the mercy and blessings of God. Many of […]

Tenet Resigns I have no inside sources on why George Tenet just resigned as director of the Central Intelligence Agency. But I can think of three reasons for which he ought to have resigned. First, it was announced on Wednesday that President George W. Bush had retained counsel with regard to the Plame investigation. Last […]

Shiites Disgruntled with Caretaker Government James Drummond reports for the Financial Times that al-Da`wa and the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) have expressed dissatisfaction at how the caretaker government was formed. These two major Shiite political groupings just got one post each. Ibrahim Jaafari of al-Da`wa is one of two vice presidents, […]