Patrick Cockburn

Patrick Cockburn is a Middle East Correspondent for the Independent. He has written four books on Iraq’s recent history—The Rise of Islamic State: ISIS and the Sunni Revolution, Muqtada al-Sadr and the Fall of Iraq, The Occupation, and Saddam Hussein: An American Obsession (with Andrew Cockburn)—as well as a memoir, The Broken Boy and, with his son, a book on schizophrenia, Henry’s Demons, which was shortlisted for a Costa Award.

Trump De-Escalates With North Korea, Escalates With Iran

The Iran and North Korea crises are very different but in both cases Trump is behaving as if the US is turning into a stronger power when, thanks to his leadership, it is becoming a weaker one.

Patrick Cockburn
By Patrick Cockburn
Donald Trump | Iran

As a journalist, I have always dreaded reporting on meetings between world leaders billed as “historic” or “momentous” or just plain “significant”. Such pretensions are usually phony or, even if something of interest really does happen, its importance is exaggerated or oversimplified. But plus ca change is not always a safe slogan for the

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Despite Latest Massacre in Gaza, Israel Remains Immune From Criticism

So far, Israel has faced little criticism from an international media uninterested in the Gaza story, or else is happy to go along with Israel’s interpretation of events

Patrick Cockburn
By Patrick Cockburn
Palestinian mourners carry the body of 23-year-old Mojahid al-Khodari, who was killed early Thursday morning by an Israeli airstrike, during his funeral in Gaza City, April 5, 2018. A second man died from wounds sustained in a mass protest along the Israeli border. The fatalities bring to 21 the number of people killed in confrontations in the volatile area since last week. (AP/Khalil Hamra)

Thousands of protesters returned to the border last Friday, burning great heaps of tyres to produce a black smokescreen which they hoped would hide them from Israeli snipers. Gaza’s health ministry has said that five people were killed and 1,070 people were wounded on Friday, including 293 by live fire. The demonstrators know what to expect. A

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It’s Time to Call Economic Sanctions What They Are: War Crimes

Economic sanctions are like a medieval siege but with a modern PR apparatus attached to justify what is being done.

Patrick Cockburn
By Patrick Cockburn
Dr. Buthayna Shibel examines a girl at the Mahawil hospital in Babylon, Iraq, Dec. 23, 1998. Economic sanctions imposed by the United States left Iraqi hospitals critically short of medicine. (AP/Murad Sezer)

The first pathetic pieces of wreckage from North Korean fishing boats known as “ghost ships” to be found this year are washing up on the coast of northern Japan. These are the storm-battered remains of fragile wooden boats with unreliable engines in which North Korean fishermen go far out to sea in the middle of winter in a desperate search for

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The Smart Weapons Fallacy: Civilian Casualties From “Precision” Airstrikes in Iraq and Syria

The new face of war which governments try to conceal: a limited number of combat troops on the ground call in devastating airstrikes from planes, missiles and drones.

Patrick Cockburn
By Patrick Cockburn
Iraq | Mosul

The final elimination of ISIS in Iraq and Syria is close, but welcome though the defeat of these monstrous movements may be, it has only been achieved at the cost of great destruction and loss of life. This is the new face of war which governments try to conceal: a limited number of combat troops on the ground call in devastating airstrikes from

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We Know What Inspired The Manchester Attack, We Just Won’t Admit It

The US and UK governments will look in any direction except Saudi Arabia when seeking the causes of terrorism, lest they risk their lucrative relationship with the Gulf monarchy.

Patrick Cockburn
By Patrick Cockburn
Saudi Arabia Salafist top cleric, Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh, listens to a speech of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia at the Consultative Council in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)

In the wake of the massacre in Manchester, people rightly warn against blaming the entire Muslim community in Britain and the world. Certainly one of the aims of those who carry out such atrocities is to provoke the communal punishment of all Muslims, thereby alienating a portion of them who will then become open to recruitment by Isis and al-Qaeda

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Prince Mohammed Bin Salman: Naive, Arrogant Saudi Prince Is playing With Fire

A German intelligence memo shows the threat from the kingdom’s headstrong defence minister.

Patrick Cockburn
By Patrick Cockburn
Saudi King Salman, left, speaks with his son Prince Mohammed bin Salman as they wait for Gulf Arab leaders ahead of the opening of a Gulf Cooperation Council summit, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. On Wednesday, April 29, 2015. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

At the end of last year the BND, the German intelligence agency, published a remarkable one-and-a-half-page memo saying that Saudi Arabia had adopted “an impulsive policy of intervention”. It portrayed Saudi defence minister and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman – the powerful 29-year-old favourite son of the ageing King Salman, who is

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