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Juan Cole

Uncategorized
Pentagon Quest for Wikileaks Mirrors Plot of Eisler Thriller

Pentagon Quest for Wikileaks Mirrors Plot of Eisler Thriller

Juan Cole

The Pentagon is pressuring wikileaks not only not to release more classified documents about the Afghanistan war but to take down the files already posted.. A reader at reddit.com said that the statement showed that the Pentagon does not understand how the Internet works. The CSM quotes a former FBI official who concedes that probably […]

Afghanistan
Dispute over Civilian Casualties Roils US-Afghan Relations

Dispute over Civilian Casualties Roils US-Afghan Relations

Juan Cole

Between 4 and 12 civilians were killed by US troops in a nighttime raid in Nangarhar province on Wednesday, NATO admitted today. Nangarhar has repeatedly been the scene of public protests against the foreign troop presence. In fact, the wikileaks Pentagon documents show that local protests against US and NATO troops have been widespread, routine, […]

Islamophobia
Mosque Building and Gay Marriage vs. Mob Rule by the Right

Mosque Building and Gay Marriage vs. Mob Rule by the Right

Juan Cole

The decision of a US district court to strike down Proposition 8, the California referendum item that made gay marriage illegal after it had earlier been legalized by the state assembly, was a blow for individual rights over a tyranny of the majority. In its form, it resembles the decision of the New York authorities […]

Uncategorized
Would an Assassination of Iran’s Ahmadinejad Have Really Mattered?

Would an Assassination of Iran’s Ahmadinejad Have Really Mattered?

Juan Cole

Although the Iranian government denies it, it seems likely that someone attempted to assassinate Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran’s president, while he was being driven to Hamadan to give a speech on Iran’s nuclear energy research program. Ahmadinejad recently faced strikes by the artisans, merchants, money-changers and shopkeepers of the bazaar or traditional marketplace. In some ways, […]

Uncategorized
Israeli and Lebanese Armies Trade Fire; at least 4 Dead

Israeli and Lebanese Armies Trade Fire; at least 4 Dead

Juan Cole

There is one sad thing and there are several surprising things about the border clash on Tuesday between Israel and Lebanon. The sad thing is that the firefight broke out over the removal of a tree. The Israeli army says it was their tree, which they wanted to remove to get a better view of […]

Iraq
Jiyad:  The Da`wa Party Dilemma and Gridlock in Iraq

Jiyad: The Da`wa Party Dilemma and Gridlock in Iraq

Juan Cole

Sajad Jiyad writes in a guest editorial for Informed Comment: The dilemma for Hizb al-Da’wa: A commentary on the issue of leadership in Iraq A friend recently said to me that the Iraqi mentality is to only respect the leader and to be outside the spotlight is to be outside full stop. This, according to […]

Iraq
US Military Mission in Iraq ends not with a Bang but a Whimper

US Military Mission in Iraq ends not with a Bang but a Whimper

Juan Cole

President Obama reaffirmed on Monday that the US would have all combat troops out of Iraq by the end of August. He said that the final 50,000 would all be out of Iraq within 18 months, in accordance with the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) negotiated by the Iraq parliament with the Bush administration in […]

Energy
Take that, Dennis Miller;  Climate Change is Real and Dangerous

Take that, Dennis Miller; Climate Change is Real and Dangerous

Juan Cole

I have a bone to pick with comic Dennis Miller. We all know about his famous shift to the political right after the September 11 attacks. Although I can remember an interview in which he said it went back further, to when he used to hear liberals complain about Mayor Rudolph Giuliani´s law and order […]

Afghanistan
Taliban influence Spreading in Afghanistan

Taliban influence Spreading in Afghanistan

Juan Cole

A former Afghan warlord who turned to supporting President Hamid Karzai and two others were blown up at a soccer match in the northern city of Qunduz by Taliban. A bus full of civilians on its way between Helmand and Qandahar provinces in the Pashtun south hit a roadside bomb, which killed 6 and wounded […]

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