We Are Teetering on the Brink of War With Iran

Greg Wilpert / The Real News Network Sep 6, 2019 Sanctions are squeezing Tehran to death. If the EU can't salvage the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, things could escalate quickly. Dig deeper ( 6 Min. Read )

We Live in an Age of Disintegration

By Patrick Cockburn / TomDispatch Jun 30, 2016 Nowhere is the process of destabilization more evident than in the Greater Middle East and Africa, in places where it is possible to doubt that civilization will ever return. Dig deeper ( 11 Min. Read )

‘Chaos & Caliphate’: Sanctions, Revolutions and Sectarian War

Patrick Cockburn / Truthdig May 12, 2016 Excerpts from a new book chronicling a quarter-century of struggle in the Greater Middle East introduce us to a man who risks life and limb defusing land mines for a pittance, and to an idea about the best hope to stop the civil war in Syria. Dig deeper ( 5 Min. Read )

VIDEO: ‘Stunning’: Turkish President Erdogan Tightens Grip in Election Amid Violence and Fear

Staff / Truthdig Nov 2, 2015 Turkey’s Islamist Justice and Development Party has regained its parliamentary majority, helping President Erdogan strengthen a hold on power that critics say has become increasingly authoritarian and divisive. Patrick Cockburn, The Independent’s Middle East correspondent, comments. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Armchair War-Gaming Isn’t Helping Syrians

By Stanley Heller Oct 28, 2015 Leading lights of the left say we should be prodding great powers to force compromise on Syria. This is not our job. Our duty is solidarity with the oppressed and the tortured. Dig deeper ( 7 Min. Read )

Is Russia Trying to Defeat Islamic State — or Save Bashar Assad?

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Oct 1, 2015 Russia on Wednesday morning carried out airstrikes against Islamic State in Syria for the first time, and footage of Russian planes flying over anti-Assad rebels has emerged. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Looking Back on 2014’s Truthdiggers of the Week

Staff / Truthdig Dec 29, 2014 Every week the Truthdig editorial staff selects a Truthdigger of the Week, a group or person worthy of recognition for speaking truth to power, breaking the story or blowing the whistle. Here are 10 Truthdiggers from 2014 we think are worth reflecting upon at the end of the year. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Did the CIA Torture So Bush Could Invade Iraq? (Video)

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Dec 23, 2014 The Bush administration and the CIA tortured al-Qaida suspects because they wanted evidence that linked Saddam Hussein to 9/11 and could be used to justify the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Middle East expert Patrick Cockburn writes at The Independent.The Bush administration and the CIA tortured al-Qaida suspects because they wanted evidence that linked Saddam Hussein to 9/11 and could be used to justify the 2003 invasion of Iraq, says Middle East expert Patrick Cockburn. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Islamic State Strives Without End

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Nov 1, 2014 Unembedded Middle East reporter Patrick Cockburn describes the political and economic facts that enable Isis to continue its sweep through Iraq and Syria, and explains why a defeat for the group in the Syrian city of Kobani would not be the beginning of its end. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Iraqi Journalist Who Embedded With Shiites: U.S. Strategy Will Fail

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Oct 9, 2014 Two months after the United States began airstrikes in Iraq that expanded to Syria, Islamic State is poised to gain control of more than half of Syria's border with Turkey. Independent reporter Patrick Cockburn and Iraqi Guardian journalist Ghaith Abdul-Ahad discuss the "massive military failure" of the response strategy. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Truthdigger of the Week: Patrick Cockburn

BLANK Aug 31, 2014 The Irish reporter has written the definitive primer on the Middle East's most ferocious and ambitious new pretenders to power: the Islamic State. Dig deeper ( 6 Min. Read )

Patrick Cockburn: Islamic State Uses ‘Snuff Films’ to Promote Atrocities

Staff / Truthdig Aug 23, 2014 This week on Truthdig Radio in association with KPFK: Patrick Cockburn on James Foley's murder and the rise of the Islamic State, Dennis Kucinich on the militarization of police, and Joshua Rofe on the 2,500 teen lifers in prison. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )