Juan Cole

No Smallpox Program in Iraq, Either US Secretary of State Colin Powell said in his UN presentation that Iraq had the capacity to produce smallpox, one of the reasons it had to be attacked immediately. A special team scouring Iraq for a smallpox weapons program came up empty. The building the CIA thought might have […]

US Soldiers Wounded AFP reports “four more soldiers wounded in two separate attacks on convoys.”

US Tempts Pakistan with Aid, in return for Troops in Iraq The US is putting pressure on Pakistan to send up to 10,000 troops to Iraq, using foreign aid and debt relief as a carrot, according to Reuters. Pakistan had owed the United States $3 billion by summer of 2001, but the article maintains that […]

CNN Star says US Media were Intimidated by Bush Christiane Amanpour said in an interview on CNBC that the US media had been intimidated into self-censorship in its coverage of the Iraq war. “I think the press was muzzled and I think the press self-muzzled.” I think she is being too kind. The US press […]

Zebari Rules out Turkish Troops in Iraqi Kurdish Areas Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari has categorically ruled out the deployment of Turkish troops in the Kurdish areas of Iraq. He expressed a preference for finding other foreign troops besides the Turks, just because countries neighboring Iraq were more likely to have their own agendas. He […]

Two US Soldiers Wounded, One Albanian Killed, Iraqis wounded In Mosul, guerrillas wounded two US soldiers on Monday. In a separate incident, they fired grenades in front of City Hall, killing one Albanian soldier and wounding several Iraqis. There are 70 Albanian troops in Iraq as part of the US “coalition of the willing.” The […]

Iranian Pilgrims set to come to Iraq Iranian television announced that Iran would open its borders next week to Iranian pilgrims who wish to visit the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala in Iraq, according to al-Sharq al-Awsat. (There are already many illegal pilgrimages, but some have died trying to sneak through rugged territory, which […]

Cheney and Halliburton Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) “said public records show that Cheney, former chief executive officer of Halliburton, collected $367,000 in deferred salary from the company in 2001 and 2002, and is scheduled to receive sizable payments this year and in 2004 and 2005. In addition, the New Jersey Democrat said Cheney’s financial disclosure […]

Border Alerts against Infiltrators US forces are attempting to patrol Iraq’s huge borders with special care these days, reports al-Sharq al-Awsat. From all accounts, it appears that the US military had some sort of indication that infiltrators are trying to get into the country to carry off some large attack. The day before yesterday, the […]