Juan Cole

Shiite Account of Visitation (‘pilgrimage’) to Holy Shrines of Iraq This is a fascinating account of an expatriate Shiite’s return to Iraq for religious visitation to the shrines. The narrative of bribing his way past the guards at the Syrian border for $200; the images of chaotic, heavy traffic and drivers driving on the wrong […]

Assassination attempt on head of Iraqi Turkmen Front This just came in: “IRAQI TURKMEN FRONT WASHINGTON REPRESENTATION On Sunday, March 14,th, 2004, there has an assasination attempt on the president of the Iraqi Turkmen Front Dr. Farouk Abdullah at Khalis, 50 Km north of Baghdad while on his way to Kirkuk. A remotely controlled roadside […]

6 US Soldiers Killed over Weekend, Shiites Protest Killing of Qazwini The Associated Press reports that 6 US soldiers were killed in Iraq in roadside bombings over the past weekend. Guerrillas also detonated a bomb on the Khalis – Kirkuk road that killed two Iraqi civilians. Nine US servicemen have been killed in the past […]

Heydemann Slams “Big Brother” Committee for Middle East Studies Steve Heydemann writes in the Chicago Tribune against “Warping Middle East Judgments,” referring to the Neocon campaign to get Congress to set up a Big Brother Committee to monitor professors of Middle East and International Studies. (Registration required). Heydemann writes, ‘The threatening intent of critics is […]

British Muslims Abandoning Labor; In Poll Show Mainstream European Attitudes The Guardian reports that British Muslims are turning against the Labor Party, which they traditionally supported, presumably over the Iraq War. How hard it is to interpret statistics in a vacuum is demonstrated by James Lyons’s story about the new poll of British Muslims (who […]

Blix: Iraq War Strengthened Terrorism Former UN weapons inspector Hans Blix told the Italian newspaper La Stampa, “The fact is that the war on Iraq, sought by the United States following (the) September 11 (2001 attacks), has not put an end to terrorism in the world . . . On the contrary, the result of […]

Sistani-Linked Groups begin Popular Campaign Against Interim Constitution AFP/az-Zaman On Sunday, Shiite clergymen, cultural figures and notables began an organized campaign against the newly signed interim constitution. It is believed that they are supported in this movement by Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani. They are encouraging Iraqis to reject the document, and to sign petitions that […]

Spain’s voters Reject Aznar’s Popular Party I was struck by the comment of a Spaniard in Charles Sennot’s Boston Globe piece on the Spanish elections. He quoted a voter who was disturbed by the way Aznar had manipulated information and public opinion, accusing him of lying about the threat posed by Iraq. He said that […]

Seeds of Gridlock in Iraq My op-ed, “How the US is sowing gridlock in Iraq” is available online at the San Jose Mercury News. I worry in it about the Rube Goldberg executive in the Basic Law or interim constitution, with its three presidents and a prime minister (the presidents have to make all decisions […]