“Until a few days ago, both these opposition groups kept on advancing more conditions for their participation [in the Referendum]; and when these conditions were accepted, they presented new ones. While I may understand the attitude of those who sought changes by resorting to armed conflict, I am very surprised by the naiveté of the other group who kept on manifesting a negative stance vis-à-vis the proposed Constitution. What do they hope to achieve by their persistent refusal to accept this Constitution?”  

“To continue on such a hazardous road will lead ultimately to one certain outcome: namely the inevitable partition of Iraq . Such a partition would satisfy the needs of some of the southern [Shi’ite] politicians, as well as the majority of the Kurdish politicians. Certainly, it would not benefit the people in the middle [of the country, i.e., the Sunnis]. Why then, do they persist in that direction?”  

“Simply stated, it is another manifestation of that Arabs’ predicament, namely, in their inability to face the political facts as they exist in the real world, so they engage in denial. A concrete form of that attitude manifested itself in the way Arabs have mishandled the Palestinian cause. We are still paying dearly for such mistakes.”  

“Those Sunni Arabs who oppose the Constitution have been deceived by the activities of their supporters [outside Iraq ]. So they fool themselves in imagining that they will always be receiving this support in the future; however this is nothing but a grandiose illusion!”  

“Today, the Opposition to the Constitution is definitely leading Iraq on the road to partition. Should the result of the Referendum be negative, as they hope it will be, there remains only one solution: partition. That prospect is dismal, for then they [Iraqi Sunnis living in the middle of the country] would be left to live with a barren desert, an area that is even less favorable than Somalia !”  

While the PBS program mentioned above presented four perspectives regarding the Referendum in Iraq , Professor Cole’s negative one attracted my attention. His resume is quite impressive. Besides being professor of modern Middle East and South Asian history at the University of Michigan , he heads the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), and edits the International Journal of Middle East Studies. These positions give him ample opportunity to influence young students who are specializing in the history of the Middle East at Ann Arbor .  

On 7 December 2004 , Jonathan C. Harris contributed an article for FrontPageMagazine on the ideology of Professor Cole. He entitled it: “Juan Cole, Media – and MESA – Darling.”  

“So why have so many media outlets turned to such as obviously perverse source? Seeing half the American public as beneath contempt may explain in part why Cole resonates with liberal media, even as they try in vain to understand the presidential election results. Perhaps also because Cole’s anti-Israel rhetoric is accompanied by anti-Bush tirades.”  

“Bush’s domestic policies are ‘Draconian,’ and he ‘has rampaged around the world alienating allies and ignoring vital conflicts.’ Anything Bush does Cole abominates. He dismisses the transfer of sovereignty to Iraqis, for example, as ‘public relations and manipulation of journalists.’ The Bush administration came into the White House ‘obsessed with Iraq ’ while Clinton ‘tried and tried hard” to get Bin Laden.”

I have watched Juan Cole several times on Jim Lehrer’s NewsHour, and have come to the conclusion that his ideology is not that different from the one popularized by Edward Said’s “Orientalism.” His lectures and his public assessments of Middle Eastern subjects do not reflect the real world of the Middle East . Rather, it is based on a warped historiography whose presuppositional stance is a loathing of the West. This may be considered chic in the ivory towers of some of our prestigious universities. I’d rather get my views of the Middle East in general and of the Iraqi Referendum from a national living in that area of the world, such as the objective and brutally honest, Mr. Al-Rashed.

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