Has the Shrine been Looted? The shrine of Ali was not only a tomb with an attached mosque. It was also a museum. Since being […]

Threats to Academic Freedom This important article on the current assaults on academic freedom is a must read.

Continued Violence in Iraq Major violence wracked Najaf again on Saturday. Mahdi militiamen launched mortar shells at US military positions, and they fired back, starting […]

Class, Generation and Neo-Khomeinism Khaled Yacoub Oweis of Reuters has an excellent piece today in which he points out that even if the U.S. can […]

Explosions in Najaf: Situation Unsettled Reuters is reporting four loud explosions in Najaf early Saturday morning. Heavy fighting continued in both the south and the […]

Breaking News: Mahdi Army Departs Shrine Al-Jazeerah and the American cable news shows are reporting that Mahdi Army fighters handed over the keys of the […]

Could Najaf Cost Bush the Election? Even though the crisis at the Shrine of Ali seems to have passed, the U.S. military actions in the […]

US Attacks in Najaf, Sadr City Al-Hayat: The US military launched a two-pronged attack on the Sadrists on Thursday. They attacked in Najaf, but also […]

What does Muqtada al-Sadr Want? Tom Engelhardt asks hard questions at the indispensable Tomdispatch.com about journalistic language concerning the Iraq crisis. How do we characterize […]