This essay was first published in January 2017. It seems even more prescient 8 and a half years later. At that time I could not […]
Main Content
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 […]
Frontline on the Iraq War
Don’t miss part II of Frontline’s (PBS) special on the Iraq War tonight. Part I, aired last night, is or will be available in streaming […]
Sadrists’ Civil Disobedience Campaign
On Tuesday morning, major clashes broke out between government security forces and local Basra militias (including the Mahdi Army) that sent black smoke billowing in […]
Problems in Firefox with Text Blanked Out
Some readers have complained that occasionally postings are partially obscured when viewed with the Firefox browser. I haven’t seen this effect in Firefox myself, so […]
© 2025 All Rights Reserved