There are some things that could hold it together, notably oil revenues. But at the moment, the much vaunted surge has had a measure of success primarily, to my mind, because Sunni and Shia Iraqis hate and fear each other… — Patrick Cockburn Copy Share Image
There are some things that could hold it together, notably oil revenues. But at the moment, the much vaunted surge has had a measure… — Patrick Cockburn Copy Share Image
Mosul stands rally at a sort of juncture of sectarian and ethnic differences. — Patrick Cockburn Copy Share Image
I don't think the whole of Iraq would be under al-Sadr, but I think he would be the predominant force on the Shia side. Quite contrary to his sort of maverick, firebrand image, he's shown a propensity to deal with the other side, to look for compromises, to negotiate. You might have a loose federation [in Iraq]. — Patrick Cockburn Copy Share
Young Shia who have been brought up with nothing, who are pretty anarchic, pretty dangerous. In 2004 when they came close to killing me,… — Patrick Cockburn Copy Share Image
Muqtada leads the only real mass movement in Iraq. It's a mass movement of the Shia, who are 60 percent of the population, and… — Patrick Cockburn Copy Share Image
But from the moment George Bush decided to overthrow Saddam, the people who were going to benefit here were the Shia, who are 60… — Patrick Cockburn Copy Share Image
Muqtada is radical in the sense that he wants the U.S. occupation to end and has always said so from the beginning. Secondly, his… — Patrick Cockburn Copy Share Image
Despite the fact that there's billions of dollars sitting in the Iraqi government reserves, somehow they are incapable of getting it out to the… — Patrick Cockburn Copy Share Image
You know, if you want to meet a lot of Iraqi leaders, the best places are the hotels in Amman or in London. In… — Patrick Cockburn Copy Share Image
There's a lot of expectation in the Middle East that post-Obama there will be a sort of tougher U.S. line on Assad, there will… — Patrick Cockburn Copy Share Image
Muqtada belongs to the most famous religious family in Iraq, which is the al-Sadr family. He's really the third in line. [Muqtada's father] drew… — Patrick Cockburn Copy Share Image
Turkey is saying that it wants to preserve Sunni dominance in Mosul. Obviously, there, the Kurds, the Shia, the Iraqi government have their own… — Patrick Cockburn Copy Share Image
![“Muqtada belongs to the most famous religious family in Iraq, which is the al-Sadr family. He's really the third in line. [Muqtada's father] drew his power from the first really important al-Sadr, Muhammad Baqir, who was executed by Saddam in 1980, together with his sister. So it's really a family…” quote by Patrick Cockburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/e65/patrick-cockburn-28053_als_muqtada-belongs-to-the-most-famous-relig_1789273.jpg)
