Orono, Maine (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – PM Benjamin Netanyahu has alienated many in Israeli society, some of whom now revile his leadership: The Times of Israel […]
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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 […]
Mahdi Army Unsubdued; Iran asks for End to Fighting
Iraqi Police surrendering to the Mahdi Army in Baghdad. Courtesy AFP via al-Hayat. Ned Parker of the LAT does a good job in clarifying the […]
Police Mutiny, Refuse to attack Sadrists; Clashes continue in Basra; Sadrists open New fronts throughout Shiite South
Mahdi Army Militiamen, courtesy Al-Zaman of Baghdad. Another US soldier was killed in Baghdad on Friday. The Times of Baghdad reports in Arabic that clashes […]
Mahdi Army Stands Firm in its Basra Neighborhoods; Demonstrations in Baghdad against al-Maliki
People are asking me the significance of the fighting going on in Basra and elsewhere. My reading is that the US faced a dilemma in […]
Dozens Dead in Basra Clashes; Mahdi Army Occupies Kut
There was heavy fighting Wednesday and Thursday morning in the Jumhuriya district of the southern oil port of Basra. That is a stronghold of the […]
Cole on Lehrer News Hour
I’ll be on the Lehrer News Hour, PBS, Wednesday evening March 26.
Sadrists clash with Iraqi, US forces in Basra; Curfews in Shiite cities
The truce between the Mahdi Army and the US military has broken down, putting a question mark over the future of the ‘surge’. Al-Zaman reports […]
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