Writer
Patrick Cockburn
Patrick Cockburn is the author of The Rise of Islamic State: ISIS and the New Sunni Revolution.
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The Forever War in Afghanistan is Far From Over
Simple-minded analogies with Vietnam in 1975 are misleading. The Taliban does not have anything like the military might of the North Vietnamese army. Moreover, Afghanistan is a mosaic of ethnic communities, tribes and regions, which the Taliban will struggle to rule whatever happens to the Kabul government…. Continue reading »
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Israel is making the same errors as Britain did over Northern Ireland 50 years ago
When I first visited Israel in 1976 after spending three years in Northern Ireland working on my second degree, I was struck by the similarities between the situations in the two countries…. Continue reading »
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Focusing purely on injustices in China and Russia with a Cold War mindset damages human rights everywhere
During the first Cold War between the West and the Soviet Union injustice and human rights increasingly became a central issue. This ought to have been a positive development, but it was devalued by partisan use and the issue turned into an instrument of propaganda…. Continue reading »
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When does incompetence become a crime? (Counter Punch Oct 20, 2020)
Instead of relying on experienced public health experts with a successful record in finding, containing and isolating people infected with HIV and TB, the government handed the project over to the private sector, pouring great sums of money into the creation of a new but, in Sage’s judgement, dysfunctional system…. Continue reading »
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Trump at the RNC: Echoes of Saddam (Counterpunch 31/8/2020)
The Republican convention was a nauseating performance even by the cess-pit standards of the Trump administration. In its cult-like obeisance to the supreme leader it reminds me of meetings of the Iraqi Baath Party that periodically endorsed Saddam Hussein as the national saviour…. Continue reading »
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The Decline in Power of the Oil States (Counter Punch August 17, 2020)
President Donald Trump is cock-a-hoop over the United Arab Emirates becoming the first Arab Gulf state to normalise its relations with Israel. He needs all the good news he can get in the months before the US presidential election…. Continue reading »
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War and Pandemic Journalism: the Truth Can Disappear Fast (Counter Punch August 7, 2020)
The struggle against Covid-19 has often been compared to fighting a war. Much of this rhetoric is bombast, but the similarities between the struggle against the virus and against human enemies are real enough…. Continue reading »
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PATRICK COCKBURN. Trump is Igniting a Cold War With China to Try to Win Re-election (Counter Punch 5.5.20)
“Go to China!”, a woman in Denver, Colorado, shouts at two hospital workers standing in front of her car to prevent her from taking part in a protest against the coronavirus lockdown…. Continue reading »
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PATRICK COCKBURN.- Trump’s Chernobyl Moment: the US May Lose Its Status as World Superpower and Not Recover( Counterpunch 31.3.2020)
The US may be reaching its “Chernobyl moment” as it fails to lead in combating the coronavirus epidemic…. Continue reading »
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PATRICK COCKBURN.-Covid-19 and the battle for the Saudi Royal Crown(CounterPunch 16.3.2020)
Trump is visibly self-isolating the US and undermining the hegemonic role it has played since the Second World War. Even if Biden is elected as the next president, the US will have lost its undisputed primacy in a post-pandemic world…. Continue reading »
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PATRICK COCKBURN.-The Real Modi: Do the Killings of Muslims Represent India’s Kristallnacht? (Counterpunch 3.3.2020)
President Trump said he was satisfied that Modi was working “really hard” to establish religious freedom…. Continue reading »
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PATRICK COCKBURN. The US and Iran’s Perpetual Almost-War is Unsustainable – and Will End Badly(Counterpunch21.1.2020)
The basis for a deal exists between the US and Iran, but that does not mean one will materialise…. Continue reading »
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PATRICK COCKBURN.-Blundering into War(LRB 2.1.2020)
What Trump doesn’t know about Iran… Continue reading »
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PATRICK COCKBURN. Iraq is in Revolt. (CounterPunch 7.10.2019)
Iraq is poised at a turning point in its modern history as its people wait to see if the government curfew and close down of the internet will end the ongoing demonstrations. … Continue reading »
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AMY GOODMAN and PATRICK COCKBURN. On the Turkish invasion of the Kurdish area in Syria. (Truthout 7.10.2109)
AMY GOODMAN: Let’s start with the surprise announcement, after the phone conversation between Erdogan and Trump, that the U.S. is pulling back its troops for Turkey to attack in northern Syria. Explain what you understand is happening and the significance of this. … Continue reading »
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PATRICK COCKBURN. Just as Iraq begins to find Peace, it once again becomes the battleground for an American proxy war (Counterpunch, 30 September 2019)
People in Baghdad are fearful that the next war between the US and Iran will take place in Iraq, which is only just returning to peace after the defeat of Isis. Alarm that Iraq will be sucked into such a conflict has increased here because of recent Israeli drone attacks on the bases of the… Continue reading »
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PATRICK COCKBURN. The Drone Strikes on the Saudi Oil Facilities Have Changed Global Warfare (Counterpunch 24-9-19)
The devastating attack on Saudi oil facilities by drones and missiles not only transforms the balance of military power in the Middle East, but marks a change in the nature of warfare globally…. Continue reading »
