All twenty-seven voices

Praise for Mosul Eye

From the Pope's foreword and a former CIA director, through the Iraqi judges who tried ISIS, to a journalist's keen eye and a Mosuli musician — the full record of who has stood by this book.

General David H. Petraeus

CIA · Mosul 2003

What Mosul Eye produced matched the quality of the finest intelligence reporting — yet it came from a single individual, operating alone. He is my hero.

General David H. PetraeusFormer Director of the CIA

Hillary Rodham Clinton

U.S. Secretary of State · 2009–2013

A meticulous and unflinching work of witness — by a young historian who refused to let his city be destroyed in silence.

Hillary Rodham Clinton67th U.S. Secretary of State · U.S. Department of State

Audrey Azoulay

UNESCO · 2017–2025

Through his blog, a sentinel in the night, he transmitted to the world fragments of truth torn from the darkness.

Audrey AzoulayFormer Director-General of UNESCO (2017–2025)

General Abdul-Wahab Al-Saadi

CTS-ISOF · Iraq

This is the record Mosul deserves, and I am proud to add my name to it.

General Abdul-Wahab Al-SaadiHead of the Counter-Terrorism Service, Iraqi Special Operations Forces (CTS-ISOF)

Archbishop Najeeb Michaeel

Chaldean Archbishop · Mosul

Omar Mohammed has given Mosul a book that will outlast her captors, as our manuscripts have outlasted theirs.

Mar Najeeb Michaeel Moussa, O.P.Chaldean Archbishop of Mosul

Judge Raed Al-Muslih

Supreme Judicial Council · Iraq

Far more than a personal account — its contribution to the pursuit of justice was already apparent before liberation was complete.

The Hon. Judge Raed Al-MuslihPresident of the Nineveh Court of Appeal, Mosul · Supreme Judicial Council of Iraq

Karim A. A. Khan KC

ICC Prosecutor · UNITAD founding head

Omar Mohammed has been tested under fire. He is not only a scholar but also a hero.

Karim A. A. Khan KCProsecutor, International Criminal Court (ICC)
Founding UN Special Adviser & Head of UNITAD (2018–2021)

Dr. David Scharia

UN Security Council · CTED

On the ground and under constant threat of death, Omar Mohammed was the lone voice providing the world with “evidence from hell on a problem from hell.”

Dr. David SchariaUN Security Council · Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED)

Emma Sky

Yale · Adviser to Gen. Petraeus, Iraq

An extraordinary firsthand account of life under ISIS’s brutal occupation — the story of a man who refused to let his city’s suffering go unrecorded.

Emma Sky OBEDirector, Yale International Leadership Center · Author of The Unraveling

Tom Tugendhat

Former UK Security Minister

This book belongs alongside those chronicling the terrors of the last century. Omar did it in real time and at huge personal risk.

The Rt Hon Tom Tugendhat MBE, VR, MPFormer UK Security Minister · former Chair, Foreign Affairs Committee

Sir John Jenkins

UK Foreign Office · Middle East

There is physical courage. There is intellectual courage. And there is moral courage. All of these were in evidence in Mosul.

Lord Sir John Jenkins KCMG, LVOFormer British Ambassador to Saudi Arabia · Former Director-General for the Middle East, UK Foreign Office

Martyn Warr OBE

Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh

He risked his life every day to tell the terrible truth of ISIS’s occupation of Mosul through Mosul Eye.

Martyn Warr OBEHead of the Counter-Daesh Communications Cell · UK FCDO · Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh

U.S. Central Command Seal

U.S. Central Command

Omar is a treasure to Mosul, his city, and to Iraq, his country.

Charles J. Holt IIIU.S. Central Command

Tom Holland

Historian · London

Omar Mohammed is the bravest and most admirable man I have met — and this is a book fully worthy of him. It is at once a thriller and a meditation; a warning and a reassurance; a story that is both as dark as the darkest night and radiant with the light of hope.

Tom HollandHistorian and broadcaster · Author of Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World

Dr. Craig Whiteside

U.S. Naval War College

This book fills the gap in the story of one of the most dangerous and diabolical insurgencies in history.

Dr. Craig WhitesideCo-author of The ISIS Reader · US Naval War College

Dr. Tova Norlén

DSCU · Defense Security Cooperation

A lesson in history — because it shows that history is never forgotten.

Dr. Tova NorlénDefense Security Cooperation University (DSCU)

Sarina Simon Rosenthal

New York University

This book shows us the weight and incomparable value of documenting a place, a history, and a life through destruction, displacement, and rebuilding.

Sarina Simon RosenthalNew York University

Graeme Wood

The Atlantic

This book is an act of witness.

Graeme WoodStaff writer · The Atlantic

Margaret Coker

Author · Spymaster of Baghdad

Omar Mohammed’s chronicle reveals Iraqis’ moral defiance and extraordinary human bravery in the face of Islamic State’s terror.

Margaret CokerAuthor of Spymaster of Baghdad

Delphine Minoui

Le Figaro · Albert-Londres laureate

More than a witness — a voice for the voiceless.

Delphine MinouiAlbert-Londres Prize laureate · Middle East correspondent · Le Figaro

Kathrine Tschemerinsky

Weekendavisen · Denmark

His archive chronicles not only life during war, but the destruction of an ancient cosmopolitan city — buildings with people containing memories.

Kathrine TschemerinskyCulture editor · Weekendavisen

Riccardo Chartroux

RAI TV · Italy

Mosul in the hands of ISIS was a black hole of history. Then we discovered Mosul Eye.

Riccardo ChartrouxJournalist · RAI TV

Percy Kemp

Novelist · Intelligence & the Middle East

A Tale of a City and a Man — his network helped save scores of innocent lives.

Percy KempAuthor · Lebanese-French novelist of intelligence and the Middle East

James Bluemel

Emmy & BAFTA · Once Upon a Time in Iraq

His blog gave the people of Mosul something they thought they had lost — hope. It was an inspired gift.

James BluemelEmmy & BAFTA award-winning documentary filmmaker · Director of Once Upon a Time in Iraq

Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi

Emirati writer · UAE

A personal record that can salvage a city when its very voice is being silenced.

Sultan Sooud Al QassemiEmirati writer and academic

Pari Ibrahim

Free Yezidi Foundation

He has never hesitated to highlight the crimes committed against Yezidis and the need for Iraqis to do better.

Pari IbrahimFounder & Executive Director · The Free Yezidi Foundation

Ameen Mokdad

Musician of Mosul

Omar — the Ghost, Mosul Eye, the Dream — planted tree seeds that have grown shaded, housed, and fed many.

Ameen MokdadMusician · Mosul · The Musician in Mosul Eye

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