Juan Cole - 09/19/05

One to Two Billion Dollars Missing at Ministry of Defense

Hannah Allam of Knight Ridder broke the story this past summer that a billion dollars was missing at the ministry of defense, according to a government audit.

Patrick Cockburn of the Independent now confirms that report based on his own sources, saying that actually between one and two billion dollars were embezzled from the Iraqi ministry of defense under Defense Minister Hazem Shaalan.

Member of Parliament killed
24 Bodies Found

The deputy speaker of the Iraqi parliament, Husain Shahristani, had the final text of the constitution "read" in parliament so as to meet a criterion for the validity of the process in the eyes of the United Nations. The parliament did not vote on the draft, contrary to what you will read in the US press.

The Egyptian Elections and Bush's War

My article, "Bush's war and the Egyptian elections", which argues that "Mubarak's rigged victory shows that right-wing predictions of an "Arab spring" were wishful thinking." - is out at Salon.com.

'The groundhog did not see its shadow in Egypt last week.