Richard Cockett

Where Will It End?

ISIS: A History

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Princeton University Press 368pp £19.95 order from our bookshop

Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS

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Corgi Books 473pp £8.99 order from our bookshop

Blood Year: Islamic State and the Failures of the War on Terror

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Hurst 288pp £9.99 order from our bookshop

Despite its inordinate length, the very long-awaited Chilcot Inquiry into Britain’s role in the invasion of Iraq, due to be published on 6 July 2016, probably won’t deal with the rise of the terrorist group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). If it were to, however, it would conclude that the spread of ISIS was in part provoked by the chaos, instability and civil wars that ensued in Iraq and beyond after the toppling of Saddam Hussein. This was clearly Britain and America’s fault, the consequence of political arrogance and grossly inadequate planning for the postwar period, whatever Tony Blair might say to the contrary after the report’s release. 

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