Juan Cole - June 17, 2005

6 US Servicemen Killed at Ramadi
10 Iraqis Killed, 38 Wounded

Guerrillas near Ramadi detonated a roadside bomb on Wednesday as a Marine convoy went by, killing 5 Marines. A sailor attached to the Marines in Ramadi was shot down dead in Ramadi, as well. Altogether, Guerrillas killed nearly 60 persons in the past month.

Shiites Compromise with Sunnis over Constitution Drafting Committee

al-Sharq al-Awsat and AFP Jawad Maliki, the deputy leader of the Da`wa Party led by Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari, affirmed yesterday that the parliamentary constitution-drafting committee agreed to increase the number of Sunni Arab members to 25. Of these, 10 would be non-voting advisors. Initially, Shiites in parliament were offering the Sunnis only 2 voting members on the committee and another 13 advisory members. Maliki admitted that the 10 advisory members "will not play a big role in the discussions."

Friedman and Imaginary Troops

Tom Friedman, writing in the New York Times, makes several policy decisions with regard to Iraq. The first is to stay the course until an effective Iraqi force could be stood up. Another is to find ways of re-involving the United Nations in Iraq. Both of these ideas have things to recommend them, though Bush is highly unlikely to go for the latter.