Juan Cole

36 Die in Bloody Sunday AFP reports that 36 Iraqis were killed in violence in that country on Sunday. Guerrillas detonated a bomb in a crowded market in the Bayaa district of southern Baghdad on Sunday, killing at least 6 and wounding 13. In Mosul, guerrillas fired mortar rounds at a US base, killing one […]

Bremer Still Writing Laws for Iraq Walter Pincus of the Washington Post reports that US proconsul in Iraq Paul Bremer has unilaterally issued more laws, this time attempting to limit the scope of operation of the new Iraqi intelligence agency (it isn’t to spy on legitimate Iraqi parties), and to place time limits on former […]

Bremer Still Writing Laws for Iraq Walter Pincus of the Washington Post reports that US proconsul in Iraq Paul Bremer has unilaterally issued more laws, this time attempting to limit the scope of operation of the new Iraqi intelligence agency (it isn’t to spy on legitimate Iraqi parties), and to place time limits on former […]

New Sunni-Shiite Political Grouping Several readers asked me what I thought of the al-Jazeerah article about the formation of a new pan-Iraqi, Pan-Islamic group that will work to end US occupation and refuses to recognize the Interim Governing Council or any government appointed by the US. My answer is that so far this is 500 […]

New Sunni-Shiite Political Grouping Several readers asked me what I thought of the al-Jazeerah article about the formation of a new pan-Iraqi, Pan-Islamic group that will work to end US occupation and refuses to recognize the Interim Governing Council or any government appointed by the US. My answer is that so far this is 500 […]

Coalition Battles Sadrists in East Baghdad, Amara, Basrah The Sadrist movement deliberately attempted to provoke the British on Saturday in Amara and Basra. Their provocative actions appear to me likely to be calculated. I think they are hoping that if the British feel insecure in the South, or feel that the Americans are endangering them […]

Some Senior Officers in Iraq Say: We’re Winning Battles, Losing the War George W. Bush’s elective decision to besiege Fallujah in revenge for the killing of four Western private commandos produced revulsion throughout Iraq. It is an example of how the US can win the battles but lose the war. And, some senior officers are […]

NATO to Bush: You Broke it, You Own it Paul Richter of the LA Times reports that NATO has had second thoughts about coming in to play a role in Iraq this summer. The ongoing insurgency, the overwhelming unpopularity of the American war in Iraq with the European public, and (probably) the breaking prison torture […]

Ongoing crisis around Muqtada al-Sadr Muqtada al-Sadr taunted US troops who are seeking to arrest or kill him. In his Friday prayers sermon in Kufa. Muqtada said, “What sort of freedom and democracy can we expect from you [Americans] when you take such joy in torturing Iraqi prisoners?” asked Sadr, demanding that the US guards […]