Juan Cole - July 5, 2005

Bahrain Diplomat Wounded in Baghdad
Bombing Near Iran Embassy

The Bahraini charge d'affaires in Baghdad was shot in the hand while he was on his way to work Tuesday morning. He was taken to Yarmouk Hospital. This was likely an assassination attempt by guerrillas. Guerrillas also set off a bomb that targeted a US convoy but missed, near the Iranian embassy. They kidnapped the chief Egyptian diplomat in Iraq this past weekend, but have yet to present any demands.

British Operations in Southern Iraq

A British reservist writes:

With regard to your recent comment regarding the South of Iraq:

"Most of that area has fallen into the hands of religious Shiite militias anyway, and I doubt the British get out of their barracks all that much."

Legalistic War

A US military reader in Iraq writes:

You wrote

"These incidents show a benefit to the guerrillas of their car bomb attacks on US convoys, insofar as they create an atmosphere in which US soldiers and marines tend to shoot first and ask questions later, alienating ever more Iraqis by killing innocents".