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Iraqi Sermons on the Sunni Withdrawal, Saudi Calls for Destruction of Shrines The USG Open Source Center translates select passages from Sunni and Shiite sermons from last Friday in Iraq. Many of the Shiite preachers condemned the recent fatwas of Wahhabi Saudi clerics calling for the destruction of Shiite shrines. (Wahhabi Islam, like radical Protestantism, […]

Candidates at Yearly Kos Reactions to Arc of Crisis Panel Alas, although I heard the Democratic candidates for president at Yearly Kos and attended the break-out meeting afterward with Sen. Barack Obama, the controversy over his and Sen. Hillary Clinton’s remarks about Pakistan never came up. So, nothing new to report on that score. Here […]

Cole Interview from Yearly Kos An interview with me at Josh Marshall’s Talkingpointsmemo from the Yearly Kos conference. (Top video frame.) Thanks to Josh’s staff for the good questions! Plus Yearly Kos in the headlines.

News from Yearly Kos The Yearly Kos netroots convention is celebrating grassroots democratic activism. The Sun-Times covers the events Thursday evening. Howard Dean spoke with perceptiveness and passion about grassroots democracy and the internet. I was even impressed by Dick Durbin’s appearance by video (he was leaving for Iraq and Afghanistan). He was on top […]

Quote of the Day “A major power can afford a military debacle only when it looks like a political victory.” – Friedrich Dürrenmatt

April 12, 2007 Destruction of Sarafiya Bridge, Baghdad My American readers often tell me that they have difficulty gauging the scale of death and destruction in Iraq or are numbed by the daily barrage of bombings and the dead and injured. My heart goes out to the people of Minneapolis (I talked at the University […]

142 Dead in Campaign of Violence 5 Coalition Troops Announced Killed Sunni Arabs Withdraw from Government The Associated Press reported that 142 Iraqis were killed or found dead in Iraq on Wednesday. The US military announced the killings of 4 US troops, and the British lost a soldier in Basra. Ned Parker of the LA […]

Yearly Kos Headed off Thursday to Yearly Kos conference in Chicago. Book signing Friday 2 pm – Napoleon’s Egypt. Our panel information is here, Friday afternoon. Alas, Professor Zarinebaf can’t be with us after all. But the panel is strong and among the few foreign affairs events at the conference. For those who cannot come […]

Cole on KPFK Rafsanjani/ Misbah-Yazdi Rivalry in Iran For SoCal readers: Will be on the radio with Jon Wiener this afternoon 4:20 pm PST. For the rest, streamed live at kpfk.org, 7:20 pm EST. At our group blog, a translated article on a fateful political rivalry in Iran, the outcome of which could help decide […]