One of the problems with the media covering this place is that there are stereotypes of news, one of which is "war rages" and the other is "peace dawns." And there isn't much in between. When I talk to foreign… — 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.… — Patrick Cockburn Copy Share Image
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)
