Oakland, Ca. (Special to Informed Comment; feature) – The world’s most poorly kept secret is that Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu (Bibi) is escalating his state-sponsored […]
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Al-Maliki: Militias must Disarm; 25,000 Tribesmen Join Iraqi Army in Basra; Seek to Fight Sadrist Tribes
Al-Hayat reports in Arabic that the Iraqi National Security Council met on Saturday. The heads of the major blocks in parliament attended, including Nassar al-Rubaie, […]
Al-Maliki Freezes anti-Militia Operations; Al-Sadr Calls Million Man March
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki suddenly reversed himself on Friday, pledging a freeze on attacks on militias. Just a day before he had been saying that […]
Clashes Continue in Basra: Badr Militia Strengthened
Al-Hayat reports in Arabic that clashes continued to be fought in Basra on Thursday between Iraqi government troops and the Mahdi Army militia. It also […]
Army Invades Sadrist District in Basra; Violence Kills more than a Score
The Iraqi military made incursions into Sadrist neighborhoods in Basra on Wednesday, AP says. The show of force provoked fears of an outbreak of fresh […]
Badr Inducted into Army as Thousands fired for Mutiny;
Al-Zaman reports in Arabic that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Tuesday honored the militias of the parties in the United Iraqi Alliance, i.e. the Da’wa […]
Arjomand: Shariah Should be Voluntary; Muslims want Constitutional Rule of Law
Said Arjomand shared with IC this letter to the editor of the New York Times, which was not printed. It concerns Noah Feldman’s mid-March NYT […]
McCain: ‘Surprised’; Fighting Subsides in Baghdad, Basra; Analysts: Sadr Strengthened
My column, “Why al-Maliki Attacked Basra,” is now available at Salon.com John McCain said he was surprised that Nuri al-Maliki would abruptly launch an operation […]
al-A`raji: Arbitrary Arrests Continue (OSC)
The USG Open Source Center translates a discussion by Iraqis about Muqtada al-Sadr’s ceasefire with the government of PM Nuri al-Maliki, carried in Arabic on […]
Iran Brokers Call for Ceasefire; Bush reduced to Irrelevancy in Iraq; Fighting Continues
McClatchy provides a lot of important detail about Sunday’s surprising developments regarding the fight between the Iraqi government and the Mahdi Army. A parliamentary delegation […]
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