Juan Cole

My column for Salon.com, “The hidden hand of Dick Cheney” is now out. Excerpt: ‘ don’t dismiss Dick Cheney as a fading punch line, or as tragedy reprised as comedy. While the Obama administration has adopted large numbers of policies that directly contradict Cheney’s positions, it would be a mistake to overlook Cheney’s continued influence […]

The best refutation of Dick Cheney’s insistence that torture was necessary and useful in dealing with threats from al-Qaeda just died in a Libyan prison. See also Andy Worthington. Al-Qaeda operative Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi was captured trying to escape from Afghanistan in late 2001. He was sent to Egypt to be tortured, and under duress […]

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced on Monday that he had fired Gen. David McKiernan. Time reports that Gates was impatient with McKiernan’s failure to take charge and solve logistical and tactical problems himself. The allegations may well be unfair to McKiernan, who maintained that his army was way too small for its task. But […]

Wanda Sykes Comedy @ White House Correspondents Dinner – 05/09/09, Part I: and Part II, which includes the destruction of Rush Limbaugh and a wicked remark on Dick Cheney: End/ (Not Continued)

King Abdullah II of Jordan revealed to the Times of London that the Obama administration may attempt a comprehensive peace treaty between Israel and the entire Muslim world. The latter would recognize Israel and grant El Al overflight rights. Israel in return would have to freeze settlement activity and move smartly toward a two-state solution […]

David E. Sanger, writing in the New York Times Book Review, reviews my new book, Engaging the Muslim World. Sanger, chief Washington correspondent of the NYT, is himself a highly experienced and award-winning observer of American diplomacy. So the positive review from his pen is especially gratifying. Engaging the Muslim World End/ (Not Continued)

In Pakistan, a suicide bomber hit a checkpoint near Peshawar on Monday morning, killing 10 The Pakistani military is claiming it has killed hundreds of militants in the fighting in the Malakand region of the North-West Frontier Province. The campaign against the Taliban there continues, and now includes bombing raids. That cannot possibly be good […]

Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s government is pursuing talks with Gulbadin Hekmatyar, an old holy warrior of the 1980s and 1990s who helped destroy Afghanistan. Hekmatyar went from being the biggest recipient of CIA black money in the 1980s to being leader of an anti-American guerrilla group from fall of 2001. His Hizb-i Islami or Pary […]

Afghan President Hamid Karzai demanded Friday that the US military cease its aerial bombing campaigns in Afghanistan, in the wake of a mistaken bombing alleged to have killed 120 civilians in Farah province south of Herat. This demand would be provocative if it really were a demand or likely to be paid any attention to. […]