Author and journalist Patrick Cockburn returns to the show to discuss his reporting on the heavy casualties in Mosul and why they’ve been underreported in the media. Cockburn explains how ISIS’s guerrilla war tactics increase civilian casualties, why the Syrian Kurds fighting against ISIS in Raqqa have considerable incentive to extend the fight against ISIS, and discusses his latest article for the Independent on al Qaeda’s power grab in Syria, “While defeat of Isis dominates global attention, al-Qaeda strengthens in Syria,” which details the divisions between ISIS and al-Qaeda, and how while ISIS is being defeated in Syria and Iraq, al-Qaeda is gaining in strength. Finally, Cockburn addresses Turkey’s complicated role in backing and opposing jihadists in Syria and the latest fear of the United States of a growing “Shi’ite Crescent” linking Iran to Lebanon.

Patrick Cockburn is the Middle East correspondent for The Independent and the author of “The Age of Jihad” and “Chaos & Caliphate.”

Discussed on the show:

• Mosul
• Daesh (ISIS)
• Howitzers
• “Liberation from militants leaves devastation in Mosul” (ABC News)
• “The massacre of Mosul: 40,000 feared dead in battle to take back city from Isis as scale of civilian casualties revealed,” by Patrick Cockburn (The Independent)
• Tikrit
• Fallujah
• Ramadi
• Raqqa
• Tal Afar
• Syrian Democratic Forces
• Kurdisk Protection Unit
• Damascus
• Al-Nusra Front
• Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
• Abu Mohammad al-Julani
• Idlib
• Ayman al-Zawahiri
• “An internal struggle: Al Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate is grappling with its identity,” by Charles Lister (Brookings)
• “Turkey Changing Track on Syria” (Al Monitor)
• “Tillerson Warns Russia on Syria, Saying Assad Era Is ‘Coming to an End’” (New York Times)
• “Syrian army breaks Isis’ three-year-long siege of Deir Ezzor” (The Independent)
• “Mutual suspicion frays historic US-Saudi ties” (Financial Times)
• Shiite Crescent 
• Hezbollah
• Alawites

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