Juan Cole

Wrangling over the Future of Kurdistan Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani, a member of the Interim Governing Council, announced Sunday that the Kurds would not be satisfied with provincial federalism in Iraq. It was not enough that each of the 18 provinces retained certain privileges not granted to Baghdad. He wants the Kurdish regions to be […]

Al-Hakim in Damascus Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, president for December of the Interim Governing Council, visited Damascus and announced that he was seeking a security agreement with Syria that would guarantee “cooperation in preventing terrorist operations and prohibiting illegal infiltration,” since “the problem of security is one that Syria may face, just as Iraq does.” [Was […]

Steps toward Trying Saddam in Iraq According to al-Hayat, the court judge, Dara Nuruddin, a member of the Interim Governing Council, announced that 20 judges will be appointed to look into the crimes of Saddam’s regime, in preparation for trying him. He predicted that the investigation, gathering information and evidence will “take months.” He said […]

Vigilanteism in Karbala: Curfew Announced Basil Abdul Majid reports in az-Zaman that a curfew has been announced in the city as a result of threats against the provincial authorities and police chief. The Phalange Militias of Revolutionary Karbala Youth have threatened to purge the officials, alleging a worsening of administrative corruption and bribe-taking in the […]

Saddam Trial May Backfire The following interview appeared in the Ann Arbor News on Sunday. In it I take a contrarian stand. I know that there are lots of good reasons to try Saddam in Iraq, but I have a very bad feeling about this. My wife, Shahin Cole, pointed out to me that Saddam […]

Wave of Assassinations Against Baathists in Wake of Saddam’s Capture Even before Saddam was captured on Dec. 13, a wave of assassinations of former Baathist officials had begun in Baghdad (following on a similar campaign in summer and fall in Basra). The assassinations appear to have accelerated now that the former Baathist leader is in […]

2 US Soldiers Wounded; 3 Iraqi police Killed by US Troops According to MSNBC, attacks on US forces and Iraqi police in the past few days have killed more than dozen persons in the Sunni Arab heartland. On Friday morning, guerrillas set off a roadside bomb northwest of Baghdad, wounding two US soldiers, according to […]

Lessons of Libya: War isn’t always Necessary Hawks in Washington will attempt to make the argument that Libya’s sudden willingness to give up its weapons of mass destruction programs is a dividend of the Iraq war. For those who know anything at all about Libya, however, an entirely different interpretation is obvious. Libya proves that […]

Coalition, Iraqi Police Extensively Infiltrated by Oppositionist Spies Chris Marks of the Scotsman reviews the ways in which the Coalition military and the Iraqi police were extensively infiltrated by Baath agents. This was a story, the skeleton of which ABC news broke a couple nights ago. Some 162,000 Iraqis work in security-related positions, and many […]