Apologies to Juan Cole
Posted by Ilan Goldenberg
Yes. He should have been on the list. I left him off because I was pointing out high quality experts in the hated Washington think tank world. Anyway, it was a partial list off the top of my head.
Professor Juan Cole is an American treasure. His "Informed Comment" is just that. I send him a letter once in a while, usually when I disagree, signed "Your faithful student", and I always get a terse response like "Well, I made you think.--Cheers, Juan" (Don't tell me that it's probably from a grad student--leave me my illusions.)
Posted by: Don Bacon | August 20, 2007 at 01:05 AM
Yes. We need so many experts on the Baha'i of the 19th Century because that helps us understand force projection, the disparate ethnography of Iraq and how it can be bent to some sort of regional stability.
And since Cole famously supported the invasion of Iraq (despite his most recent declarations to the opposite), does he still fit on the "list?"
Posted by: SolderNoLongerInIraq | August 20, 2007 at 02:20 PM
Or, one could read the latest on making Cole-slaw of the region's history, past and present, at http://iraqpundit.blogspot.com/2007/08/cutting-edge-cole.html
Yes. He called the village "The Circumcision."
Expertise like that obviously is needed urgently!
Posted by: SolderNoLongerInIraq | August 20, 2007 at 02:52 PM