MetaFilter posts tagged with Iraq and politics

WSJ's Middle East Real Time blog

mediareport — Thu, 09 May 2013 20:47:08 -0800

Since the end of March, the Wall Street Journal's new Middle East Real Time blog has written about Turkey's "unstoppable" export boom in soap operas, Saudi Arabia's "life after jihad" rehab program, the persistence of obviously fraudulent bomb detectors across Iraq, YouTube branding discussions among Syrian rebel factions, a rising media star Sunni cleric in Lebanon, a post-revolutionary Cairo arts festival, and attempts to overcome conservative objections and change the Saudi Thursday-Friday weekend to match the rest of the business world. Previous non-paywalled WSJ Real Time blogs include Korea, China, Canada, India, Brussels, Emerging Europe, Japan.

How the Bush administration sold the Iraq war

shivohum — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 09:04:09 -0800

“Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction,” Cheney said. “There is no doubt he is amassing them to use against our friends, against our allies and against us.” Zinni, sitting right next to Cheney’s lectern, says he “literally bolted” when he heard the vice president’s comments. “In doing work with the CIA on Iraq WMD [weapons of mass destruction], through all the briefings I heard at Langley, I never saw one piece of credible evidence that there was an ongoing program.” Rachel Maddow hosts Hubris: The Selling of the Iraq War, a documentary special, based on the eponymous book by Michael Isikoff and David Corn, that will air Monday, February 18 on MSNBC at 9 p.m.

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anigbrowl — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 20:15:00 -0800

Tomorrow marks the official end of the Iraq war. The Obama administration describes it as a 'promise kept'. The war resulted in a great many casualties. Although the final troop movement out of the country is not scheduled to begin for a few days, history will record December 15 as the end of the war, as the flag of the American military mission in Bagdhad is lowered and returned to the US. Scholars at Brown University estimate the total cost of the war at 265,000 dead and $3-4 trillion dollars. The main contenders for the Republican party's 2012 nomination both expressed approval and disapproval. Previously, 339 times.

Dubya and Me, profile of George H. W. Bush

Silo004 — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 00:26:45 -0800

Walt Harrington's profile of the 43rd POTUS, Dubya and Me.

Day of Honey, Day of Onions.

Ahab — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 05:39:25 -0800

Annia Ciezadlo, author of Day of Honey: A Memoir of Food, Love and War [r e v i e w s, excerpt] discusses Iraqi intellectualism, war and food, ancient Iraqi cooking, the Middle East's dependence on imported wheat, and the link between bread and civilian uprisings. Three more interviews on the book, one with author reading on NPR, one discussing the role of wheat imports and food generally in the Arab Spring on WBEZ91.5 (the "download" button works for me), articles by the same author, facebook page, a small selection of recipes from the book, and some links to food and recipe sites from the book's bibliography.

Kirkuk: Ignore It While You Can

kliuless — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 04:56:23 -0800

Kurds Move To Upend The Status Quo In Kirkuk - "In northern Iraq, Kirkuk has always been a flashpoint with Kurds, Turkmen and Arabs, who all claim it as their own. It has a special place in the new Iraqi constitution, but nothing has changed for years." Clashes in Iraq Fuel Debate on U.S. Departure - "Ethnic violence in Kirkuk has led some to believe that civil war could result if the United States sticks to its schedule." New governor elected in Iraq's Kirkuk, Arabs enraged‎ - "A new Kurdish governor and a Turkmen provincial council chief were elected on Tuesday in Iraq's northern Kirkuk, enraging Arab politicians in the disputed city who said they would boycott the council." Water - a new battleground between Kurds and Arabs - Samad believes that the Kurds are attempting to dry the river's waters to force Arabs to leave their land. 'This will make it easier to annex these lands to the Kurdistan region', he says." Turkish-Iraqi oil pipeline agreement concluded - electricity deals struck - "Iraq's deputy prime minister for energy affairs said on Monday that the pipeline running between the oil fields of Kirkuk and the Turkish port of Ceyhan is ready for operation after the two countries' parliaments endorsed amendments to the bilateral convention governing it."

“I had reached the point of no return. You finally get fed up … I finally wanted to speak the truth.”

zarq — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 10:47:40 -0800

Last year, the unofficial Dean of the White House Press Corps, Helen Thomas, spoke about the State of Israel on camera. (Previously) Her replies: "Tell them to get the hell out of Palestine," and that the Jews "can go home" to "Poland, Germany and America and everywhere else," sparked media outrage, prompted her to issue an apology and retire. After months of being out of the the public spotlight, she has now given her first long-form interview, which will appear in the April issue of Playboy Magazine. In it, she explains what she meant, tells us how she would like to be remembered and expands upon her positions regarding Israel, Jewish political influence, Presidents Bush and Obama, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I mentally seceded from the US in 2004

The Whelk — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 09:29:49 -0800

Cartoonist Tim Kreider (previously, previously) of The Pain talks about the last decade, our "disastrous decline" and his latest book of cartoons and essays, Twilight Of The Assholes. Part 1 - 2 - 3 - 4

Search and Destroy

Artw — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 12:42:30 -0800

Henry Rollins on touring with the USO, Black Flag T-Shirts, Vanity Fair and the Tea Party.

This is not the time to send out a signal like this in some personal fucking sodcast

Artw — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 15:51:12 -0800

For quite some time, I’d wanted to make a screwball comedy. A fast-talking, wildly acclerating ensemble comedy that gets stupider and stupider. I never imagined it would be about a war, and inspired by a very recent war at that. But Simon, Jesse, Tony and I all felt that the more we found out about the dysfunction in Washington and the naivety in London leading up to the Iraq invasion, the more obvious it was that the only way to deal accurately and fairly with this topic was as a screwball comedy. - The Oscar nominated script for In The Loop, with an introduction by writer Armando Iannucci.

Sixth generation warfare: boner pills.

mek — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 21:07:12 -0800

The little blue pill goes to war.

Isn't it a long way down?

adamvasco — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 04:32:33 -0800

Ain't this cute: The US State Dept. has outsourced a Private military contractor to investigate Blackwater. There are still some questions in the air for U.S. Investigations Services (USIS) regarding Ted Westhusing. There is Controversy In The Military; Will Anything Change? Remember that Military Rules Don't Apply when Outsourcing Fear. ( Related 1, 2, 3 ).

Baghdad Nights

homunculus — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 14:12:29 -0800

Baghdad nights: evaluating the US military ‘surge’ using nighttime light signatures (PDF). A team of UCLA geographers using satellite imagery to track the amount of light emitted in Baghdad at night found that electricity use in Sunni neighborhoods fell prior to the surge and never returned, indicating that ethnic cleansing by Shiite militias drove the Sunnis away before the surge began and was largely responsible for the subsequent decrease in violence. [Via Passport]

A Social History of the Surge

homunculus — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 18:46:03 -0800

A Social History of the Surge by Juan Cole.

...even after five agonizing years of the Iraq War, a summer blockbuster isn't prepared to say that not only is its action hero is corrupt, he's corrupt because America has become corrupt.

gerryblog — Fri, 16 May 2008 12:53:31 -0800

Iron Man, who represents an imperial America, can only win Pyrrhic victories. Spencer Ackerman of Tapped Online has a nice history of the Iron Man comics that reads the character's alcoholism, Civil-War overzealousness, and persistent blundering "into a hell of unintended consequences" as a symbol and subtle critique of American exceptionalism and what Jonathan Schell among others has called "impotent omnipotence".

$3 Trillion Shopping Spree

homunculus — Sat, 10 May 2008 12:40:08 -0800

The $3 Trillion Shopping Spree. "The occupation of Iraq will cost $3 trillion, America's most expensive conflict since WWII. Can YOU spend that money better? Here's your chance to go on a virtual $3 trillion shopping spree and prove it!" [Via Gristmill.]

Admiral Fallon

homunculus — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 16:59:59 -0800

The Man Between War and Peace. "As head of U. S. Central Command, Admiral William 'Fox' Fallon is in charge of American military strategy for the most troubled parts of the world. Now, as the White House has been escalating the war of words with Iran, and seeming ever more determined to strike militarily before the end of this presidency, the admiral has urged restraint and diplomacy. Who will prevail, the president or the admiral?" [Via Think Progress.]

The Myth of the Surge

homunculus — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 16:05:14 -0800

The Myth of the Surge: "Hoping to turn enemies into allies, U.S. forces are arming Iraqis who fought with the insurgents. But it's already starting to backfire. A report from the front lines of the new Iraq." [Via Devoter.]

I think we can all agree that this is bad.

Pope Guilty — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 22:48:26 -0800

Inside the world of war profiteers: From prostitutes to Super bowl tickets, a federal probe reveals how contractors in Iraq cheated the U.S.

The Saddam Sessions

kliuless — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 22:33:50 -0800

Saddam's Confessions - Given Saddam Hussein's central place in the American Consciousness over the last couple decades and particularly in recent years, I found 60 minutes' interview with FBI interrogator George Piro pretty fascinating.

Inside Iraq

homunculus — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:30:46 -0800

As Iraqis See It. "About a year ago, McClatchy Newspapers set up a blog exclusively for contributions from its Iraqi staff. 'Inside Iraq,' it's called, and several times a week the Iraqi staff members post on it about their experiences and impressions. 'It's an opportunity for Iraqis to talk directly to an American audience,' says Leila Fadel, the current bureau chief. As such, the blog fills a major gap in the coverage." Previously discussed here. [Via disinformation.]

Challenges Facing the US in the Middle East

homunculus — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 13:25:17 -0800

Top 10 Challenges Facing the US in the Middle East, 2008 Top Ten Myths about Iraq 2007

Big man with a big heart does his part

fearfulsymmetry — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 15:26:54 -0800

Mark Wallinger has won the Turner Prize for 'State Britain' his recreation of Brian Haw's Parliament Square peace protest. Although for the prize exhibition (this year out of London for the first time) Wallinger showed a video of himself dressed in a bear costume. The seems to be at least one critic's choice although not everyone agrees. Wallinger had previously been short-listed for the prize in 1995 for work exploring his interest in horse racing. Although he is probably best know for the Christ sculpture 'Ecce Homo', and religious themed videos he has produced an eclectic set of work including a TARDIS sculpture.

War in Iraq continuing to go to plan.... well, everyone else's plan but the Administration's

psmealey — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 13:04:05 -0800

Turkish MPs back attacks in Iraq. [BBC] The vote was taken in defiance of pressure from the US and Iraq, which have called on Turkey for restraint. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said the motion does not mean a military operation is imminent. But he said Turkey needed to be able to respond to a recent rise in bomb attacks blamed on PKK rebels from Iraq [Previously]. Also, [SeaTimes] Flourishing Kurdistan raises specter of war. Needless to say, this is giving the Bush Administration a four alarm Turkish headache on two fronts.

$9 billion missing

homunculus — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 15:15:27 -0800

Billions over Baghdad. "Between April 2003 and June 2004, $12 billion in U.S. currency—much of it belonging to the Iraqi people—was shipped from the Federal Reserve to Baghdad, where it was dispensed by the Coalition Provisional Authority. Some of the cash went to pay for projects and keep ministries afloat, but, incredibly, at least $9 billion has gone missing, unaccounted for, in a frenzy of mismanagement and greed. Following a trail that leads from a safe in one of Saddam's palaces to a house near San Diego, to a P.O. box in the Bahamas, the authors discover just how little anyone cared about how the money was handled."