Juan Cole

Sunnis Opposed Early Direct Elections Both az-Zaman and Reuters highlight the opposition of many Sunni Arab leaders to Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani’s demand for open, direct elections in Iraq this may. It quoted “Sunni tribal leader Shaikh Abd al-Wahab al-Zawbaai” as saying direct elections are unrealistic: “We see the conditions now as totally unsuitable for […]

Provincial Election in Iraq According to az-Zaman, the 40-person provincial council of the province of Salahuddin has elected a new governor, Falah Hasan Mustafa al-Naqib. This story is of course a minor one, but I am paraphrasing it here because I think it sheds great light on provincial Iraqi affairs about which those of us […]

Bush appointeee Silberman has History of Scandal The Guardian complains today about Bush appointing Laurence Silberman to head up the commission looking into intelligence failures regarding Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction. Since this commission has no subpoena powers and won’t report until 2005, it is anyway window dressing. The Guardian story details Silberman’s role, when […]

One US Soldier killed, 5 Wounded on Sunday; Iraqi police Major among Insurgents AP reports that a roadside bomb exploded in a median in a highway south of Baghdad, killing one US soldier on Sunday afternoon. Earlier Sunday, a rocket propelled grenade attack at Mosul wounded three US soldiers, according to eyewitnesses who also saw […]

Chalabi meets with Sistani: “UN can be Convinced” Ahmad Chalabi, a secular Shiite member of the Interim Governing Council, met for 90 minutes with Grand Ayatollah Sistani and emerged to declare that he was sure the United Nations team now in Iraq could be convinced of the feasibility of direct elections. Chalabi had initially opposed […]

Militias and Terrorism; Terrorism and Militias The news from Iraq in the New York Times focuses Monday on terrorism and militias. Edward Wong of the NYT surveys the persistence of Shiite and Kurdish paramilitaries. I was struck by the tone of resignation on the American side; they appear to have given up on disarming these […]

Bush on MEET THE PRESS BUSH: I expected to find the weapons. Sitting behind this desk, making a very difficult decision of war and peace, and basing my decision on the best intelligence possible — intelligence that had been gathered over the years — intelligence that not only our analysts thought was valid, but analysts […]

Candidates Discussed for 3-Man Presidency Al-Qabas (Kuwait) reports that Iraqi sources close to the Interim Governing Council say that the IGC is now negotiating with the Americans about forming a three-man presidential council and announcing a new interim government. The sources say the prime candidates for the tripartite presidency are Adnan Pachachi, Jalal Talabani and […]

2 US Soldiers wounded Friday in Roadside Bombing AP says, “A roadside bomb exploded in Baghdad on Friday, wounding two U.S. soldiers. The explosion that wounded the soldiers took place about 3 p.m., the U.S. command said, without providing further details.” US forces captured 6 men they said were closely tied to the Baathist regime. […]