Juan Cole

al-Wafd: American Prison Guards are “Dark Angels of Hell” As public revulsion at the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghuraib prison by American guards circles the globe, a second scandal hit, this time concerning British soldiers who abused their captives. Most troubling of all, Afghan politicians are now suggesting that the prisoner abuse scandal could […]

British Clash with Mahdi Army in Amara al-Hayat: 4 American troops were killed Saturday in separate incidents. In Amara, British troops clashed with the Army of the Mahdi, loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, killing several militiamen and taking 10 prisoner. About 6 British soldiers were wounded in the over 7-hour gun battle. A British […]

Arab Reaction to Photos of Prisoner Abuse The sexual and physical abuse of Iraqi prisoners of war, a direct violation of the Geneva Conventions by US soldiers at the Abu Ghuraib prison, has naturally produced outrage in the Arab world. This is a big thing, folks. I saw the American rightwing talking heads Friday evening […]

Muqtada Condemns American Recall of the Baath According to AFP/al-Hayat, in Kufa Muqtada al-Sadr threatened “the Baathists” whom the Coalition had begun returning to the administration of the state. He said in his Friday prayer sermon that the Americans “are attempting to return the Baathists to the administration of the state. I will not permit […]

Wolfowitz Does Not Know How Many US Soldiers He has Sent to their Deaths In congressional testimony on Thursday, deputy secretary of defense Paul Wolfowitz, the major architect of the Iraq war, demonstrated appalling ignorance of the statistics on US casualties in Iraq. He said he thought that 500 US soldiers had lost their lives […]

Photographs of Abused Iraqi Prisoners Screen captures from the CBS 60 Minutes broadcast of photographs of abused Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghuraib prison are available at memory hole. Others are floating around the internet that are even more explicit. There was also apparently coerced male on male sexual activity. The genteel mainstream news reports of […]

Guest Commentary: Ray Close on ‘The Real Meaning of Fallujah’ Guest Commentary Ray Close ‘ The proposed plan to turn over control of the Fallujah security situation to an Iraqi force under the command of four retired generals is much more significant than might at first be apparent. On the strategic level, with regard to […]

10 US Troops Killed on Thursday Between a huge roadside bomb in Baghdad, a rocket propelled grenade attack in Sadr City, and an attack in the eastern city of Baqubah, guerrillas killed 10 US troops on Thursday. There were further airstrikes on the Julan district of Fallujah, but the day ended with a decision not […]

Stand-Down in Fallujah The US abruptly decided Thursday not to press the Marine assault on Fallujah. Instead, it is forming a 1000-man Iraqi unit to restore order in the city, led by a former Baath officer. There is controversy about who the commanding officer will be. Al-Hayat named Major General Jasim Muhammad Salih al-Muhammadi. Western […]