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Archives: January 2006

Top Ten Things Bush Wont Tell You

Top Ten things Bush won't Tell you About the State of the Nation1. US economic growth during the last quarter was an anemic 1.1%, the worst in 3 years.2. The US inflation…

Bombings Of Churches Bush And Blair

Bombings of Churches Bush and Blair Plotted to Ignore Security Council Who woulda thunk it? Bush and Blair plotted to go to war against Iraq even if the UN Security Council declined…

Beeman Guest Editorial Us To Blame For

Beeman Guest Editorial: US to Blame for Iranian Nuclear ProgramUnited States Instigated Iran's Nuclear Program 30 Years AgoWilliam O. BeemanBrown University' The White House staffers, who are trying to deny Iran the…

Over 30 Killed In Guerrilla Violence

Over 30 Killed in Guerrilla Violence Sadrists Demand any Prime Minister Call for US Troop Withdrawal AP reports on the ambitions of the Shiite religious parties to retain control of the Ministry…

Achcar On Hamas Guest Editorial First

Achcar on Hamas: Guest Editorial'First Reflections On The Electoral Victory Of Hamas by Gilbert Achcar; January 27, 2006 1. The sweeping electoral victory of Hamas is but one of the products of…

Iraq Round Up Al Zaman Afp Report That

Iraq Round-Up Al-Zaman/ AFP report that [Ar.] the fundamentalist Shiite United Iraqi Alliance is awaiting the arrival in Baghdad of Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani at the beginning of the coming week for…

Sistani Calls On Iraqis To Turn In

Sistani Calls on Iraqis to Turn in Terrorists Sadrists Call for Sunnis to Fight ZarqawiAl-Zaman/ AFP report that Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the Shiite spiritual leader, called Friday on his supporters to…

Victory Of Hamas And Miseries Of Bushs

The Victory of Hamas and the Miseries of Bush's Policies My article about the victory of Hamas in the Palestinian elections is out at Salon.com.Excerpt:' Hamas, or the Islamic Resistance Movement, a…

Minister Of Industry Almost Killed Us

Minister of Industry Almost Killed US Tilting to Sunni Arabs? Assassinations in Kirkuk, a near-death of the minister of industry (and actual deaths of his bodyguards), the death of a GI and…

Split In Sunni Guerrilla Movement

Split in Sunni Guerrilla MovementGilbert Achcar kindly shares this translation of an article from al-Hayat on splits in the Sunni Arab guerrilla movement.' The AMS: We Are Now Waging Two Battles: Against…

Pipeline Blasted Again Sunnis Want

Pipeline Blasted Again Sunnis want Federalism postponed until 2009 Guerrillas blew up pipelines again on Wednesday, halting Iraqi petroleum exports through Turkey. There were some other bombings and shootings. Interior Ministry police…

Achcar On Basra British Gilbert Achcar

Achcar on Basra & BritishGilbert Achcar kindly writes:' Dear Friends, I searched a couple of British newspapers today and could not find any mention of the news item reported in today's Al-Hayat…

7 Troops Killed In 2 Days Sunni Arabs

7 Troops killed in 2 Days Sunni Arabs warn of Paralysis Guerrillas used roadside bombs to kill 7 US and coalition troops in the past two days in separate incidents.Sunni Arab politicians…

Rafsanjani Warns Against Us Policy In

Rafsanjani Warns against US Policy in Iraq Muqtada Demands Islamic Rule Former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said Monday as he met with young Iraqi Shiite nationalist, Muqtada al-Sadr, that the US…

Top Ten Mistakes Of Bush

Top Ten Mistakes of the Bush Administration in Reacting to Al-QaedaUsamah Bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri murdered 3,000 Americans, and they both issued tapes in the past week, blustering and threatening us…

Muqtada Pledges Defense Of Iran From

Muqtada Pledges Defense of Iran from US attack Iranian FM calls for US Troop Withdrawal from Iraq AP reports that guerrilla violence left dozens dead or wounded in Iraq over the weekend.…

2 Marines Killed Uia Picks Up Some

2 Marines Killed UIA picks up some smaller parties Two US Marines were reported having been killed on Friday. Newsweek details how the guerrilla movement has denied Iraq the oil income that…

Iraqi Election Results Shiites Near

Iraqi Election Results: Shiites Near Majority in ParliamentShiite clerical leader Abdul Aziz al-Hakim narrowly avoided being assassinated as the election results were announced in Iraq on Friday.The Shiite fundamentalist coalition, the United…

Iraq Minorities Among Most Threatened

Iraq Minorities Among most Threatened Al-Hakim Warns on Sunni Arab Violence Iraqi minorities are among the more endangered in the world, according to Minority Rights Group International. The group's web site is…

50 Dead In Wave Of Violence Petroleum

50 Dead in Wave of Violence Petroleum Industry, Electricity Generation Paralyzed The Washington Post reports that guerrillas killed 50 Iraqis on Wednesday. In Salahuddin, they kidnapped and executed 25 persons they suspected…

Guerrillas Kill 18 Sunnis Offered Only

Guerrillas Kill 18 Sunnis offered only 6 Cabinet Posts The newly elected Iraqi government is planning to offer Iraqi Sunni Arabs only 6 cabinet posts. They had 17 MPs in the last…

Taliban Kamikazes Kill 26 Motorscooter

Taliban Kamikazes Kill 26A motorscooter suicide bomber in Spin Baldak and a car bomber in Qandahar killed 26 persons and wounded dozens in twin attacks on Monday in Afghanistan.Analysts suggested that the…

Cheney Will Ask Mubarak For Egyptian

Cheney will Ask Mubarak for Egyptian Troops for Iraq: al-Zaman Will Cairo counter Tehran?Vice President Richard Bruce Cheney will meet Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak on Wednesday. Al-Zaman ("The Times of Baghdad") says…

Only 1 Of Dec

Only 1% of Dec. 15 Votes Thrown Out by Commission Iraq Results Unchanged by Investigation The rash of helicopter downings, with another Apache shot out of the skies on Monday, may, worrisomely,…

10 Things Martin Luther King Would

10 Things Martin Luther King Would have Done about IraqEvery year we honor Martin, and we hear again his stirring speech, "I have a Dream." But in many ways, that speech is…

5000 Protest In Karachi That Was Worse

5,000 Protest in Karachi "That was worse than a crime; it was a mistake." --Talleyrand on Napoleon's execution of the Duc D'EnghienDawn reports that 5000 protesters rallied in the Pakistani port city…

Wave Of Attacks On Police Iraq Model

Wave of Attacks on PoliceIraq the Model: Guerrillas shot or blew up Iraqi policemen and soldiers all over the country on Sunday. At least 17 were killed or wounded if we include…

Iraqs Economic Doldrums With Reference

Iraq's Economic DoldrumsWith reference to my comment on Sunday about Iraq's economy being a mess, and my link to a Guardian article on the anxieties in the Amec Corp. about whether the…

Arab League Troops For Iraq Al Hakim

Arab League Troops for Iraq? Al-Hakim Rejects Tyranny of the Minority Rumors are flying in Cairo that the US is asking Arab countries to send troops to Iraq to prepare the way…

Strike In Pakistan Fails Pakistan

Strike in Pakistan Fails Pakistan Demands ApologyOoops. The bombing of a village in northern Paksitan, apparently done in hopes of killing al-Qaeda #2 Ayman al-Zawahir, missed its intended target. The idea had…

Us Helicopter Shot Down Sunni Arabs

US Helicopter Shot Down Sunni Arabs Cannot Block Formation of Government Guerrillas north of Mosul engaged Iraqi police in a firefight. When a US helicopter came up to support the police, the…

Bush And Caliphate Karl Vick Of

Bush and the Caliphate Karl Vick of the Washington Post does his readers an enormous favor by explaining the idea of the Sunni Muslim caliphate, its history, and why many Sunnis want…

Us Strike On Al Qaeda Safe House On

US Strike on al-Qaeda Safe House on Afghanistan Border ABC News is reporting that a US air strike on a village at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border may have killed 5 high-ranking al-Qaeda figures,…

Sunnis Insist On Trying To Change

Sunnis Insist on Trying to Change Constitution US Military Torture Investigations cut ShortOnly Agence France Presse among Western news agencies carries the Sunni Arab response on Thursday to Wednesday's remarks by Shiite…

Iraq Bloggers Souring Sheldon Rampton

Iraq Bloggers Souring?Sheldon Rampton of The Center for Media & Democracy kindly writes:"In case this hasn't crossed your viewfinder, you might want to check out recent developments with your old pals at…

Sharon As Jailer Cole At Salon

Sharon as Jailer: Cole at Salon.comMy article on Ariel Sharon's "gated community" approach to Israeli-Palestinian relations is out at Salon.com. Excerpt:"Even as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon stirs fitfully from his coma,…

British General Blasts Us Military On

British General Blasts US Military on Iraq Counter-InsurgencyBrigadier Nigel Aylwin-Foster has a trenchant critique of the US military's failures at counter-insurgency and doing ordinary politics in Iraq. He says that he found…

Al Hakim Warns Sunni Arabs On Changes

Al-Hakim warns Sunni Arabs on Changes to ConstitutionShiite clerical leader Abdul Aziz al-Hakim on Wednesday warned Sunni Arabs not to attempt to make substantive changes in the new Iraqi constitution. The charter…

Guest Blogger Sheridan On Dubai

Guest Blogger: Sheridan on Dubai Between Oil and ConsumerismIrish blogger Gavin Sheridan was moved by the recent death of Dubai emir Sheikh Maktoum to comment on the situation of the emirate, which…

20 Arrested In Spain Spanish Police

20 Arrested in Spain Spanish police broke up three recruiting cells for Iraq volunteer fighters in Spain, arresting 20 persons. The cells had connections to groups in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Algeria,…

Great Justices Installed By Bush As

Great Justices Installed by BushAs the Alito confirmation hearings begin, it is worth considering some of the judicial consquences of George W. Bush's various campaigns.When the US overthrew the Taliban and installed…

29 Dead 25 Wounded In Interior

29 Dead, 25 Wounded in Interior Ministry Bombing Two guerrillas with suicide bomb belts attacked the Ministry of the Interior in Baghdad on Monday during a celebration there of National Police Day.…

Guerrillas Who Came In From Cold Al

The Guerrillas who Came in from the Cold Al-Hayat [Ar.]: Sources close to the guerrilla groups in Iraq told the pan-Arab, Saudi-backed London daily, al-Hayat that new disputes have exploded between it…

17 Us Troops Killed In Iraq Baghdad

17 US Troops Killed in Iraq: Baghdad Fuel Blockade and Possibility of "All Out Civil War;" US Troops Storm Sunni Mosque A US military Blackhawk helicopter went down near Tal Afar in…

Kurdistan Government Unifies Two Major

Kurdistan Government UnifiesThe two major Kurdish parties fought a major war with one another 1994-1997, during which Massoud Barzani of the Kurdistan Democratic Party allied with Saddam Hussein and invited Baath tanks…

Kurdish Shiite Parties May Lack 23s

Kurdish, Shiite Parties may lack 2/3s Iraq War may Cost over $1 Trillion Revised.A Western diplomat with knowledge of the unofficial voting returns in the Dec. 15 election told the NYT that…

Shiite Crowds Protest Bombings Us

Shiite Crowds Protest Bombings, US Support for Sunni Arabs; 11 GIs KilledThe US military announced that Thursday was the bloodiest day for US troops since they entered Iraq in March, 2003. The…

Bremer Bush Administration Never Saw

Bremer: Bush Administration Never saw Iraq Insurgency ComingPaul Bremer, who ruled Iraq for a year after the fall of Saddam, was asked about his decision to dissolve the Iraqi army in May…

130 Killed Over 200 Wounded In Two

130 Killed, Over 200 Wounded in Two Huge Bombings, Other Attacks Al-Hakim Blames Coalition for Holding Shiite Commandos BackAl-Hayat [Ar.]: Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, leader of the Shiite Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution…

Guest Editorial End Of Sharon Era End

Guest Editorial: The end of the Sharon EraThe end of the Sharon Era, Time for a New Beginning?by Mark LeVineProfessor of Modern Middle Eastern History, University of California, Irvine' As Ariel Sharon…

Massive Campaign Of Violence Kills 68

Massive Campaign of Violence Kills 68, Wounds Dozens; Bush Says Guerrillas MarginalizedA horrific day unfolded in Iraq on Wednesday, with a massive bomb at a funeral, a daring raid that destroyed fuel…

On Removing Pro Baath Books From

On Removing pro-Baath Books from the Libraries in IraqAt the news on Wednesday that the Debaathification committee in Iraq will remove from university libraries all books positive toward the Baath party, Middle…

Abramoff And Al Arian Lobbyists

Abramoff and al-Arian: Lobbyist's "Charity" a Front for TerrorismThe guilty plea of fabulously wealthy and highly corrupt lobbyist Jack Abramoff raised the question of whether he would roll over on congressmen involved…

Human Rights Violations In Iraq Or

Human Rights Violations in Iraq Or, the Clay Feet of the ModelIraq The Model I: The US military observed guerrillas in Beiji planting a roadside bomb and kept them under surveillance as…

Cole On Air America I Will Be On Al

Cole on Air AmericaI will be on the Al Franken Show at 1 pm Wednesday. If you miss that (or are a glutton for punishment) I'll also be on The Majority Report…

Iraqi Military Delegation To Iran

Iraqi Military Delegation to Iran Carries US Message Secular Sunni Arabs cry Political Betrayal The sister of Interior Minister Bayan Jabr was kidnapped on Tuesday. Three months ago, his brother had been…

Ahmadinejad Clarification On Israel

Ahmadinejad Clarification on Israel An informed commentator writes:Regarding his views of the Holocaust and other issues that have been discussed on this forum, the IRI President has offered some explanations. Part of…

Sunnis Join Talks On National Unity

Sunnis Join Talks on National Unity Government; Guerrillas kill 19 AP correspondent Sinan Salaheddin reports that the Sunni fundamentalist National Accord Front [Accordance is not an English adjective] broke ranks on Monday…

Reconstruction Aid To Afghanistan

Reconstruction Aid to Afghanistan Halved; Or, "Don't Forget to Write!" Now that it has been announced that the US won't seek more reconstruction aid for Iraq. it also turns out that the…

Guerrillas Target Police All Over Iraq

Guerrillas Target Police all over Iraq with 13 Car Bombs on New Year's Day Over 2 Dozen Casualties Al-Sharq al-Awsat [Ar.]: Baghdad rang in the New Year with a sting of 8…

Ten Amazing Predictions For 2006 1

Ten Amazing Predictions for 20061. Al-Qaeda's Ayman al-Zawahiri, whom the Bush administration has failed to capture after all this time, and who was probably responsible for the July 7 bombings in the…

Sadrists Reject Allawi Coalition Al

Sadrists Reject Allawi Coalition Al-Hakim Seeks position of Party Overseer Al-Hayat[Ar.]: The fundamentalist Shiite coalition, the United Iraqi alliance, one of the leaders of which will be prime minister in the new…