"…the West, led by the US and Sunni states, saw the uprisings in the Arab world as a chance to get rid of regimes with whom they were at odds…but instead the war…may end up doing more damage to Iran's rivals such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the Gulf monarchies."

      – Patrick Cockburn, December 2015, The Independent

      Table of Contents

       FOREWORD

       MESSING-UP THE MIDDLE EAST (2003-2006)

       CHAOS AND RAGE

       THREE YEARS AFTER SHOCK AND AWE

       WAGING THE WAR ON TERROR (2007)

       SHE HEEDED AMERICA’S CALL AND PAID WITH HER LIFE

       ROADSIDE BOMBS ARE NOTHING NEW

       MAKING THE WORLD A MORE TERRIFYING PLACE

       FOUR YEARS SINCE LIBERATION AND DRENCHED IN BLOOD

       UNDER SIEGE

       DO NOT TRUST THE IRAQI POLICE

       STONED TO DEATH FOR ELOPING AND CONVERTING

       TEACHERS’ KILLINGS TURN SUNNIS AGAINST AL-QA’IDA

       WHATEVER HAPPENED TO AHMED CHALABI?

       IRAQ INVASION STRENGTHENED THE MILITANTS

       BUSH’S OPTIMISM IMPOSSIBLE TO SQUARE WITH IRAQ SITUATION

       DERBY MAN WHO CAME TO IRAQ TO WAGE WAR

       HUMAN TIDE SPILLING INTO NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES

       THE SURGE

       ONLY ONE THING UNITES IRAQ, HATRED OF THE US

       BRITAIN BOWS OUT OF A WAR IT COULD NEVER HAVE WON

       IS THIS THE BEGINNING OF THE END IN IRAQ?

       A WAR OF LIES (2008)

       OPIUM FIELDS SPREAD ACROSS IRAQ

       RETURN TO FALLUJAH

       SUNNI VERSUS SHIA

       A NEW DAWN?

       THIS WAR CONTINUES WITH LIE AFTER LIE AFTER LIE

       ‘GHOST CITY’ MOSUL BRACES FOR ASSAULT ON AL-QA’IDA

       SECRET DEAL FOR PERMANENT US OCCUPATION OF IRAQ

       OIL GIANTS RETURN TO IRAQ

       ALCOHOL RETURNS TO BAGHDAD

       VIOLENCE IS DOWN, BUT NOT BECAUSE OF THE SURGE

       CORRUPTION BLAMED AS CHOLERA RIPS THROUGH IRAQ

       THE DAY THE LAST US SOLDIER LEAVES IRAQ

       ENDLESS INSURGENCY (2009)

       ELECTION THAT WILL SHAPE IRAQ’S FUTURE

       HOW WELL WAS THE IRAQ WAR REPORTED?

       TORTURE PROBABLY KILLED MORE AMERICANS THAN 9/11

       DECODING PRESIDENT OBAMA’S CAIRO SPEECH

       HOW BRIBERY BECAME A WAY OF LIFE

       MISSION ACCOMPLISHED?

       ONLY TIME CAN HEAL SOME IRAQI WOUNDS

       BURNING HATRED OF FOREIGN OCCUPATION

       SAFER, BUT BY NO MEANS SAFE

       BOMBERS AIM FOR HEART OF GOVERNMENT

       GRIM STABILITY (2010)

       ‘CHEMICAL ALI’ IS EXECUTED

       VIOLENT, DIVIDED, BUT HOPEFUL

       AMERICA LOWERS THE FLAG

       TOXIC LEGACY OF US ASSAULT ON FALLUJAH

       US UNABLE TO ACCOUNT FOR BILLIONS OF IRAQ OIL MONEY

       GRIM STABILITY IS THE US LEGACY

       ECHOS OF EL SALVADOR IN TALES OF US APPROVED DEATH SQUADS

       THE US WITHDRAWS (2011)

       BEWARE YOUR ENEMY’S STUPIDITY

       CAN WE EVER BE TRULY SAFE FROM TERRORISM?

       BIN LADEN WAS THE REASON WE WENT TO WAR, RIGHT?

       AMERICA SILENCES A KEY AL-QA’IDA PROPAGANDIST

       ARAB AWAKENING WILL NOT SUCCEED EAST OF EGYPT

       FALL OF LIBYA WAS A PIECE OF CAKE COMPARED TO SYRIA

       IRAQ GETS READY FOR LIFE AFTER AMERICA

       ‘GREATEST STRATEGIC DISASTER’ (2012)