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'The Spymaster of Baghdad': How journalist Margaret Coker captured the bravery of Iraqis in new book thenationalnews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thenationalnews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Book excerpt: ‘The Spymaster of Baghdad’ Margaret Coker The Spymaster of Baghdad by Margaret Coker. (Harper Collins) From ancient Mesopotamia to modern times, military commanders and political leaders have relied on the stealth, patience, and guile of spycraft to defend their homelands and achieve military victories. During the recent wars fought in Iraq against Al Qaeda and the Islamic State, this conventional wisdom has never been more apt. By award-winning investigative journalist and former New York Times bureau chief in Baghdad Margaret Coker, “The Spymaster of Baghdad: A True Story of Bravery, Family, and Patriotism in the Battle against ISIS” is the dramatic yet intimate account of how a covert Iraqi intelligence unit called “the Falcons” came together against all odds to defeat ISIS. The Falcons, composed of ordinary men with little conventional espionage background, infiltrated the world’s most powerful terrorist organization, ultimately ....
Two weeks ago, the Falcons Cell was one of the Iranian-backed factions’ most-prized assets in Iraq. The elite intelligence unit, hailed as Iraq’s “most dangerous” spy network, is CIA and MI6 trained. It boasts hundreds of successful operations against militant operatives, and rivals all other Iraqi intelligence services in its scope and prowess. Yet in one swoop, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi has changed its leadership and snatched this prize from his Shia rivals, securing for himself an organisation that gives him knowledge and power that his political enemies will find deeply troubling. Iraq s Kadhimi responds to Baghdad attack by sacking security officialsRead More » ....
Iraq announced Jan. 28 that its US-trained Counterterrorism Services in coordination with national intelligence had conducted an operation leading to the killing of the commander of Islamic State remnants in the country, in an "insurgent-infested" valley of the oil-rich, disputed southern Kirkuk province. ....