Juan Cole

The warmongers, imperialists, and just plain greedy who wish to use up U.S. troops to gain their ill-gotten goods love to use the word "appeasement." Anyone who stands against their expansionist ambitions will be tagged with this term. In the lexicology of the Rabid Right, it evokes British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s attempt to negotiate … Continue reading “The Crock of Appeasement”

A top secret British memorandum dated July 23, 2002 was leaked in the run-up to Thursday’s parliamentary elections in the UK (which Blair won, though his Labour Party was much weakened by public disgust with such shenanigans as the memo describes). It summarizes a report to Blair and others in the British government by Sir … Continue reading “The Smoking Gun”

Fareed Zakaria argues that Bush got one thing right. Zakaria writes: “Bush never accepted the view that Islamic terrorism had its roots in religion or culture or the Arab-Israeli conflict. Instead, he veered toward the analysis that the region was breeding terror because it had developed deep dysfunctions caused by decades of repression and an … Continue reading “Don’t Stop With Syria’s Occupation”

It is often pointed out that presidents get too much praise and blame for the economy, since the domestic economy has its own rhythms. We are now going to see everything that happens in the Middle East attributed to George W. Bush, whether he had much to do with it or not (usually not). What … Continue reading “Lebanon: Background and Forecast”

Muhammad Husain Adili, the Iranian ambassador to the United Kingdom, said Thursday that his government had lent substantial help to the United States in fostering a “calm atmosphere” for the holding of elections on Jan. 30 in Iraq. He revealed that Iran had contacted Sunni Arab groups with which it had influence and attempted to … Continue reading “A Shi’ite Iraq Emerges”

With 3.3 million votes counted from about 10 mostly southern provinces, the United Iraqi Alliance of mainly Shi’ite religious parties is so far garnering an astounding 66 percent of the seats in parliament (that percentage will fall as the northern, Sunni Arab, and Kurdish vote comes in, but it may not fall below 50 percent). … Continue reading “Sadr Marginalized … for Now”

Sometimes you have to go to the regional newspapers for the punchy editorials. The Pentagon’s announcement that the search for Iraqi weapons of mass destruction officially ended quietly in late December provokes the Virginia Pilot to observe, “And America is left with a seemingly endless war in Iraq, but without a rationale for it.” Well, … Continue reading “Absolutely?”

Osama bin Laden’s latest video was broadcast on al-Jazeera on Monday, in which he commanded Muslims to boycott the Jan. 30 elections in Iraq and expressed his approval of Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Zarqawi had been a rival of bin Laden’s in Afghanistan, and had earlier declined to share resources with al-Qaeda. But in … Continue reading “Bin Laden Strikes Out”

At least 12 persons died violently in the guerrilla war on Saturday in Iraq. There was a major battle over control of police stations in Khalis, and Marines found more bodies in Mosul. The U.S. military said that guerrillas had launched a major campaign of intimidation aimed at frightening Sunni Arabs into boycotting the forthcoming … Continue reading “Dead Wrong on the Iraqi Elections”

The Red Crescent has finally been allowed into Fallujah (its earlier exclusion was probably a violation of international law). Its spokesman is saying that less than 200 civilian families appear to still be there. If this estimate is true, it suggests that by the time of the U.S. assault, only about 5,000 persons were left … Continue reading “Iraq and Damned Statistics”