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Tension between Iran and Shiites In Iraq Iraqi Shiite Attacks on Iran Amit Paley and Saad al-Izzi at WaPo explore anti-Iranian feelings among Shiite sectarian groups in southern Iraq. Louise Roug of the LA Times profiles Sheikh Mahmud Sarkhi al-Hasani of Karbala. Too dangerous in Iraq to go to mosque, many Muslims in the center […]

Jumblatt Blasts Syria Hizbullah revs up Aid to Victims Majority in US wants Even-Handed Policy Anthony Cordesman surveys the military pros and cons of the way the war was waged. (PDF). This study provides important statistics and details I haven’t seen elsewhere. A majority of Americans wanted the US to be neutral in the Israeli-Lebanon […]

48 Killed, Dozens Wounded Basra Tribal Leader Threatens More Violence 2 US GIs Killed Two more US GIs were announced killed in Iraq on Thursday. Roadside bombings against US and multinational forces spiked during the last month. Some pro-guerrilla web sites have said that they wanted to punish the US for supporting Israel against Hizbullah. […]

Hizbullah Rejects Syrian Position Lebanese Army Begins reaching South DPA/ al-Zaman report that [Ar.] in Beirut, Hizbullah declined to adopt the position of Syrian President Bashar al-Asad in accusing the reformist politicians of standing against Hizbullah and the resistance in Lebanon. (Bashar has a feud with the 14 March group, but Hizbullah joined it in […]

The Blue Jinn: Cole in Salon on Iraqi Speaker My article in Salon.com on the controversy surrounding the Speaker or President of the Iraqi parliament, Dr. Mahmoud Mashhadani. By the way, a jinn or djinn is a genie as in genie in a bottle. I don’t actually think they are blue in the Thousand and […]

Marsh Arabs Attack Basra Governor 22 Killed, 93 Wounded in Baghdad Bombings Security Collapses in Mosul The Gulf Daily News writes that bombs killed 22 and wounded 93 in the center of Baghdad on Wednesday. Later reports put the deaths at 25. ‘ BAGHDAD: Three car bombs hit commercial districts of downtown Baghdad yesterday, killing […]

Battle of the Speeches Breaks out in Wake of Lebanon War Israel shot 5 Hizbullah fighters on Tuesday and Hizbullah fired ten rockets inside Lebanon at Israel troops. Emergency workers dug 38 bodies of civilians out of the rubble in Lebanon. But despite these provocations, the ceasefire more or less held. The Israelis were towing […]

Civil War Violence Reaches New Heights in Iraq Religious Group Clashes with Police in Karbala Bush Opposes Partition Faith-based civil war violence killed 110 civilians each day in July, a new report shows, which is a new one-month record. The deaths come in the midst of a new security program and extra checkpoints pushed by […]

Close: The Building War on Iran Ray Close, a retired CIA analyst of Arab affairs, writes: ‘ Despite vehement official assertions to the contrary, indications are increasing every day that the Bush Administration has already decided that conventional diplomacy will fail as a way to manage its confrontation with Iran, and that military action against […]