By Juan Cole Now On the June 30 anniversary of the determined masses gathered in their millions at Tahrir Square and in city centers throughout Egypt, demanding a recall election for then Muslim Brotherhood president Muhammad Morsi, Tahrir Square in Cairo was blocked off and deserted. Early on Monday, two bombs were detonated outside the […]
The Debacle of the Caliphates: Why al-Baghdadi’s Grandiosity doesn’t Matter
By Juan Cole Ibrahim al-Badri, a run-of-the-mill Sunni Iraqi cleric, gained a degree from the University of Baghdad at a time when pedagogy there had collapsed because of the Saddam Hussein dictatorship and international sanctions. After 2003 he took the name Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and turned to a vicious and psychopathic violence involving blowing up […]
Hyenas vs. Rhinos: Who could the NYT get to write an Op-ed on Iraq? Hmm…
By Juan Cole New York Times public editor Margaret Sullivan did a quick study and found that critics of the paper of record over its preference for Iraq War hawks as sources and commentators in the past two weeks are justified in their feeling that Iraq War critics have been slighted. This lack of balance […]
Baghdad Strikes Back: Al-Maliki Launches Battle for Tikrit
By Juan Cole Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki is fighting for his political life as well as for the territorial integrity of Iraq. On Saturday he launched a large military operation in an attempt to take back control of Tikrit (the capital of Salahuddin Province) just to the north of the capital, Baghdad. Al-Maliki has lost […]
Top 5 Reasons US Aid to “Moderate” Syrian Fighters is Quixotic
The Obama administration’s fruitless search for effective Sunni “moderate” fighters in Syria continues, with the announcement of a $500 million grant to them for training and weaponry. This policy seems in part to be driven by Saudi Arabia from abroad and by liberal interventionists, including Kerry, National Security Adviser Susan Rice and UN Ambassador Susan […]
July 1: Juan’s new Book, “The New Arabs” hits the Shelves
By Juan Cole For those of you who like “long reads,” my new book will be out next Tuesday. For those of you intending to buy it, let me suggest that you all purchase it on its publication date, July 1. The way the publishing metrics work, if you can get the book to a […]
Is Russia Replacing US in Iraq?
By Juan Cole Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Thursday told BBC Arabic that he was buying used fighter jets from the Russian Federation and from Belorussia. He said it had been a huge mistake to depend on the US for arms purchases, since the US arms pipeline is extremely slow and F-16 fighter jets […]
Iraq’s PM al-Maliki Rejects Gov’t of Nat’l Unity as Sunnis Demand he step Down
By Juan Cole Secretary of State John Kerry is an experienced and knowledgeable diplomat, but the difficulty of the situation in the Middle East right now is demonstrated by the repeated reversals he suffered during his trip to the Middle East. He asked Egypt to honor freedom of speech even as he brought news of […]
Iraq in last Throes as Kurdistan Seeks Independence, Syria & Iran intervene
By Juan Cole Former Vice President and unindicted felon Richard Bruce Cheney (they always give the criminals’ names that way, in full) once said that he was sure that the Sunni Arab resistance to the US in Iraq was in its last throes. Nobody in his own administration agreed with him then, and this allegation […]
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