Only Iraq's clerics can win against Isis

Ispent last week in Karbala and Najaf, the Shia holy cities south-west of Baghdad, which I have always found to be among the wonders of the world. There is something entrancing and even magical about the sight of their golden domes and minarets rising above the roofs of the houses around them. I first saw the Shrine of Imam Ali in Najaf from the outside in 1977, but I was with a Baathist official who did not dare open the great wooden doors leading to the outer courtyard.