Juan Cole’s Modest Proposal (emphases mine):

I don’t try to start an internet campaign very often, because the blogosphere has its own priorities and logic that are democratic and should not be forced. But here is a plea for everyone in the blogging world to help force congress to save our diplomats.

[…]

The US embassy in Iraq should be closed.  Read more 

The Gonzales coverage on Morning Edition was just appalling. First, they lead with a quote from Spector. No Democrats quoted at all. That’s been a continuing pattern—you’d think that Leahy wasn’t the committee chair and that the Republicans, led by Spector, were the ones bringing Gonzales to heel.

Worse, the Republicans, as usual, are using the incompetence dodge for the framing, when the framing ought to be perjury. But you’ll never hear a peep from them about that, and NPR doesn’t mention

Then, Juan Cole Williams covers the “voter fraud” angle, note the quotes, and that’s even worse:  Read more 

I was waiting to see what Juan Cole had to say about this matter from yesterday, as he is The Source on the ins and outs of politics in this entire region. He did not let me down:

King Abdullah followed up on these harsh criticisms of the US by cancelling his planned appearance at a White House dinner in April. The Saudi royal family is fit to be tied that Bush gave Iraq away to fundamentalist Shiite parties that have close ties to Iran.

Although the Saudi statement is remarkable for its brutal frankness and coldness toward the United States, its real significance is its slam of the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. Abdullah has not only said that the US presence is an illegal occupation, he has said that the al-Maliki government is nothing more than Shiite sectarian hegemony. The Saudis are known for their behind the scenes diplomacy and their public discretion. King Abdullah is hopping mad, to talk this way.  Read more 

Here is a useful discussion that drives home a couple points I like to make whenever we discuss what “our options” are in Iraq, and in dealing with emerging Islamic powers around the world. Here is a sample, I encourge you to read the whole thing:

It is a familiar situation: News of an exciting military victory for our side against the dangerous Islamists, touted by the readily-available NYT, and a less-exciting account, often not circulated at all in America, having to do with the actual alignment of political forces, which you really have to hunt for. Only if you put the two accounts together can you grasp the way in which the Bush administration is confirming and strengthening the anti-American, pan-Arab view, which is that Somalia is being added as the fifth Arab nation to be attacked in this way, after Iraq, Palestine, Lebanon, and Sudan, just for being Arab and Islamic. Ali Muhammed Fakhro, writing on the Al-Quds al-Arabi opinion page yesterday, warned people in other Arab states not to be complacent in 2007: this could happen to your country too.  Read more 

Chicago Dyke had confidence in the integrity of academia, but as it turns out, not so much:

Juan Cole, one of the country’s top Middle East scholars, was poised for the biggest step of his career.

A tenured professor at the University of Michigan, Cole was tapped earlier this year by a Yale University search committee to teach about the modern Middle East. In two separate votes in May, Cole was approved by both the sociology and history departments, the latter the university’s largest.  Read more