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Civilians trying to flee the besieged Isis-held enclave in west Mosul are being shot dead by Isis and Iraqi army snipers as they try to cross the Tigris River
Patrick Cockburn
Patrick Cockburn is an award-winning Independent columnist who specialises in analysis of Iraq, Syria and wars in the Middle East. In 2014 he forecast the rise of Isis. He also did graduate work at the Institute of Irish Studies, Queens University Belfast and has written about the effects of the Troubles on Irish and British policy in light of his experience.
As a system of beliefs the new nationalism is much more appropriate to an English nation state than to a more diverse United Kingdom
As a system of beliefs the new nationalism is much more appropriate to an English nation state than to a more diverse United Kingdom
Yemen may soon join Afghanistan and Iraq as wars in which the US wishes it had never got involved
The groups who fought Isis may soon be fighting each other
The real situation in front line positions in and around west Mosul is unclear because the Iraqi government reports only successes and never mentions setbacks or defeats
There are an estimated 4,000 jihadi fighters defending the close-packed houses and narrow alleyways in the half of the city west of the Tigris River, which is inhabited by some 650,000 civilians
Richard Nixon may have felt persecuted by press and television, but he never counter-attacked with the same vigour and venom as Trump
The Iraqi armed forces will eventually capture west Mosul, which is still held by Isis fighters, but the city itself will be…
A confrontation will probably come in a year or two, when previous policies conceived under Obama have run their course. Trump may feel that he has to show how much tougher he is than his predecessor