Chaos and caliphate: the jihadi struggle for the Middle East

430 Pages·2016·2.514 MB·English

by  Cockburn, Patrick

C Cha“One ofo the best-sinformed on-the-ground
“Has anyone covered this nightmare [in the Greater Middle h journalists” —Sidne y Blumenthal
&
East] better than the world’s least embedded reporter, a
Patrick Cockburn? Not for my money.” o
s
—Tom Engelhardt

&

C
From 2001 to the present day, Patrick Cockburn’s reporting from the conflicts
that have roiled the Middle East and beyond has been peerless. Untrammeled Caliphate
a
by preconceptions but drawing on extensive first-hand experience of the region
l
and a deep knowledge of its history, Cockburn’s ability to make the correct call in i
p
the midst of often complex crises has been remarkable. Thus he anticipated the
h
unsustainability of the Western invasions in Afghanistan and Iraq, the likelihood
that rebels in Libya would end up fighting each other, and the spilling over of the a
Sunni rebellion in Syria into neighboring Iraq. Perhaps most strikingly, he reported
t
on the emergence of ISIS as a major force before even government intelligence e
agencies were aware of the threat it posed.
Presented in compelling diary form, Chaos and Caliphate draws together a
careful selection of Cockburn’s writings from the frontlines of the conflicts in
Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria, interspersed with thoughtful analyses and
contemporary reflection. What emerges is the fine grain and nuance of an unfolding
CP
tragedy. As Cockburn writes: “These are not black-and-white situations, good guys
oa
against bad, vile tyrant against a risen people like a scene out of Les Misérables. It ct Jihadis and the West in the
r
k
is astonishing and depressing to see Western governments … committing their i
c
b
countries to wars without recognizing this basic fact.” k
u
Struggle for the Middle East
The conflicts being fueled by such misunderstandings are today spilling over r
n
to cities in the West, provoking a backlash that learns little from recent history and
is likely only to make things worse. In this fervid situation, the measured, erudite
work of a writer like Patrick Cockburn becomes simply indispensable.
Patrick Cockburn
OR Books
www.orbooks.com
Cover design by Under/Over
C Cha“One ofo the best-sinformed on-the-ground
“Has anyone covered this nightmare [in the Greater Middle h journalists” —Sidne y Blumenthal
&
East] better than the world’s least embedded reporter, a
Patrick Cockburn? Not for my money.” o
s
—Tom Engelhardt

&

C
From 2001 to the present day, Patrick Cockburn’s reporting from the conflicts
that have roiled the Middle East and beyond has been peerless. Untrammeled Caliphate
a
by preconceptions but drawing on extensive first-hand experience of the region
l
and a deep knowledge of its history, Cockburn’s ability to make the correct call in i
p
the midst of often complex crises has been remarkable. Thus he anticipated the
h
unsustainability of the Western invasions in Afghanistan and Iraq, the likelihood
that rebels in Libya would end up fighting each other, and the spilling over of the a
Sunni rebellion in Syria into neighboring Iraq. Perhaps most strikingly, he reported
t
on the emergence of ISIS as a major force before even government intelligence e
agencies were aware of the threat it posed.
Presented in compelling diary form, Chaos and Caliphate draws together a
careful selection of Cockburn’s writings from the frontlines of the conflicts in
Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria, interspersed with thoughtful analyses and
contemporary reflection. What emerges is the fine grain and nuance of an unfolding
CP
tragedy. As Cockburn writes: “These are not black-and-white situations, good guys
oa
against bad, vile tyrant against a risen people like a scene out of Les Misérables. It ct Jihadis and the West in the
r
k
is astonishing and depressing to see Western governments … committing their i
c
b
countries to wars without recognizing this basic fact.” k
u
Struggle for the Middle East
The conflicts being fueled by such misunderstandings are today spilling over r
n
to cities in the West, provoking a backlash that learns little from recent history and
is likely only to make things worse. In this fervid situation, the measured, erudite
work of a writer like Patrick Cockburn becomes simply indispensable.
Patrick Cockburn
OR Books
www.orbooks.com
Cover design by Under/Over
CHAOS AND CALIPHATE
© 2016 Patrick Cockburn
Published by OR Books, New York and London
Visit our website at www.orbooks.com
All rights information: [email protected]
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or
by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any informa-
tion storage retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher, except
brief passages for review purposes.
First printing 2016
Cataloging-in-Publication data is available from the Library of Congress.
A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978-1-68219-028-9 paperback
ISBN 978-1-68219-029-6 e-book
Text design by Under|Over. Typeset by AarkMany Media, Chennai, India.
Printed by BookMobile in the United States and CPI Books Ltd in the United Kingdom.
CHAOS AND CALIPHATE
The Jihadi Struggle for the Middle East
PATRICK COCKBURN
OR Books
New York • London

CONTENTS
1. Introduction 7
PART I: AFGHAN PRELUDE
2. The Overthrow of the Taliban Afghanistan, 2001 27
PART II: THE OCCUPATION OF IRAQ
3. Iraq Under Sanctions Iraq, 1990–2003 43
4. Regime Change Iraq, 2003 53
5. Resistance Iraq, 2004 81
6. Bombs and Ballots Iraq, 2005 105
7. Civil War Iraq, 2006–7 129
8. Drawdown Iraq, 2007–10 161
PART III: AFGHAN REPRISE
9. The Return of the Taliban Afghanistan, 2009–12 185
PART IV: THE ARAB SPRING
10. Mission Creep Libya, 2011 209
11. The ‘Somalianisation’ of Libya Libya, 2012–14 235
12. Yemen in the Crossfire Yemen, 2009–15 243
13. Sectarian Venom Bahrain, 2011 257
PART V: SYRIA: REVOLUTION AND COUNTER-REVOLUTION
14. From Revolution to Sectarian War Syria, 2011–13 273
15. Syrian Catastrophe Syria, 2013–14 293
PART VI: BIRTH OF A CALIPHATE
16. Ten Years On Iraq, 2013 311
17. Iraq on the Brink Iraq, 2013–14 325
18. The Islamic State Expands The Caliphate, 2014 333
19. The Islamic State Remains The Caliphate, 2014–15 355
20. Life in the Caliphate The Caliphate, 2015 379
Afterword: Eight Wars 399
Acknowledgements 411
Index 413
About the Author 427
INTRODUCTION
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned.
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
—W. B. Yeats