Iraq
Spy if you must, but don’t give the game away
The Snoopers’ Charter. I ought to care about this. I’m a sort of libertarian. I believe in personal freedom. I’m…
The hardest man of all
From the unpromising and desperately unforgiving background that forged his iron will and boundless ambition, Temujin (as Genghis Khan was…
Why does no one blame Cameron for Libya?
Call me petulant, but I’m not sure Britain is getting enough credit for our fine, fine work in Libya. The…
Portrait of the week
Home A Bill to enable a referendum on whether voters wanted Britain to ‘remain’ in the European Union figured in…
How to defeat a caliphate
Private military contractors have done wonders against Boko Haram. They could against Isis, too
The will to fight
Isis have it. Who else?
Smash Isis now
Assassinate its leadership, destroy its sense of destiny
Away from the herd
As Kurdistan reaches for independence, its traditions are dying
Diary
Lunch with the man who hanged Saddam. My irrepressible old Baghdad friend Mowaffak al-Rubaie, Ealing neurologist turned Iraqi national security…
The Plame game
Scooter Libby’s conviction looks ever shakier – and a sign of the deep problem with America’s special prosecutors
A deadly silence
One Friday, 28 people were rescued by the Italian coastguard when the boat on which they were fleeing Libya capsized in…
The real Iran deal
While Obama talks centrifuges in Geneva, Iranian-backed militia are redrawing the map of Iraq
Seeing the elephant
There were great numbers of young men who had never been in a war and were consequently far from unwilling…
Raging towards utopia
The Sykes-Picot agreement will be 100 years old next year, but there will be no congratulatory telegrams winging their way…
Battle scars
The author of this primer to the long-overdue Chilcot report, a retired sapper (Royal Engineers) major-general, nails his colours to…
The hype jihad
Isis slaughters kidnap victims because it guarantees headlines. It's better at slaughtering innocents than it is at winning wars
When my enemy’s enemy is still my enemy
‘I’m pleading with you, with tears in my eyes: if you fuck with me, I’ll kill you all.’ When ‘The…
Thrown to the lions
Why are we abandoning Christians to Isis?
The ransom business
Islamic State commanders know exactly how to extract the greatest possible profit from their hostages. Some care about little else
I don’t care what you wear. I care what you believe
What sort of clothing do you wear when you go to the opera? I assume some of you do go…
The terror whisperer
Jonathan Powell’s stance on negotiating with violent extremists is consistently inconsistent and slippery
What’s an army good for?
In the case of America, the answer is now practically everything – except perhaps winning wars
Dogs of war
I’ve spent years in conflict zones. But the scariest thing that’s happened to me involved two bull terriers on a Norfolk beach
Portrait of the week
Home The Commons, having been specially recalled, passed, by 524 votes to 43, a motion supporting ‘the use of UK…
Whose side are they on?
Qatari money has flooded into London – but also into much less savoury places
