Juan Cole

Police Stations Bombed, Airplane struck by Missile Powerful carbombs exploded at police stations in Baquba and Khan Bani Saad, northeast of Baghdad, early Saturday morning. A DHL plane landed back at Baghdad airport with one of its engines on fire after it was hit by a surface to air missile on taking off. It was […]

Bomb Kills 4, Wounds 20 at Liquor Store An assailant threw a bomb at liquor stores in south Baghdad on Friday, killing 4 persons and injuring 20 who happened to be in the street of the shopping district, according to officials of Yarmuk Hospital in the capital. One of the dead was an 11-year-old child. […]

Al-Yawir warns of lack of Transparency in Elections Meanwhile, the leader of the Sunni Shimr tribe, Ghazi al-Yawir [Yawer] (a member of the Interim Governing Council), warned of large-scale protests at the secrecy surrounding the processes for electing the members of the new transitional council. He called for “A de facto end to the coccupation, […]

Muqtada: The US is the Great Satan The radical young Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr accused the American administration in Iraq of pressuring Friday prayers preachers to cease criticizing the occupation. He described the US as “the Great Satan,” and referred to the Baath regime as having been the “little satan.” Speaking before thousands at his […]

Mortar Round lands Near Abdul Aziz al-Hakim Australia’s News.com.au reports that a dud mortar round landed near the mosque hosting preacher Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, leader of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq and a member of the US-appointed Interim Governing Council. The bomb struck a wall about 100 yards from the mosque, breaking […]

Telecom contracts Under Suspicion of Graft The Financial Times says that the Pentagon is investigating the interim Iraqi minister of communications and two officials of the Coalition Provisional Authority concerning charges that they had taken bribes in granting licenses to build and operate mobile telephone networks in Iraq. The Orascom contract is the one under […]

Poor US Military Intelligence in Iraq The Associated Press did a story on Friday on the US military’s lack of good human intelligence skills and assets in Iraq. This lack of Arabists and analysts familiar with Arab politics and culture helps explain the morass into which the US has fallen in the past six months. […]

Al-Hakim Faults Plan for Transition to Sovereignty Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, leader of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq and a member of the Interim Governing Council, complained this week about the US plan for handing over sovereignty to an Iraqi government by June. He said the process whereby this plan was worked out […]

Powerful Explosions Rip through Palestine, Sheraton Hotels Guerrillas fired rockets into the Palestine Hotel and the Sheraton in downtown Baghdad on Thursday. Several persons were injured. According to CNN staff, who are based in the Palestine, there was damage to the 12th, 15th and 16th floors of the 18-story building. The attack took place at […]