MetaFilter posts tagged with iraq and War

How An American Soldier Is Made

Effigy2000 — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:29:03 -0800

This is how an American soldier is made. A fascinating photo essay that details 27 months in the life of new US Army recruit Ian Fisher. It chronicles his recruitment, induction, training, deployment and finally, his return from combat.

How To Run a B&B in Baghdad

reenum — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 07:07:17 -0800

Adam Davidson, of Planet Money fame, was a reporter in Iraq. While there, Davidson decided to rent a house. To pay the rent, he decided to sublet rooms out to other journalists. You can read about his misadventures as a landlord in Baghdad here, and listen to the account on this episode of This American Life

Women at Arms: In Their Own Words

gman — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 14:27:11 -0800

Three female US soldiers talk about their experiences in the military. (sound starts automatically) Related: G.I. Jane Breaks the Combat Barrier

The Poet's Obligation

adamvasco — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 12:31:49 -0800

Exit wounds: - It is the poet's obligation, wrote Plato, to bear witness. With the official inquiry into Iraq imminent and the war in Afghanistan returning dead teenagers; Carol Duffy, recently elected UK Poet Laureate invited a range of her fellow poets to bear witness, each in their own way, to these matters of war. More about the poets inside: The Poets: - Clare Shaw; Jane Weir; Jo Shapcott; Carole Satyamurti; Sean O'Brien; Robert Minhinnick; Daljit Nagra; Alan Jenkins; Matthew Hollis; Ian Duhig; Amanda Dalton; Gillian Clarke; Fred D'Aguiar; John Agard; Carola Luther; and Paul Muldoon It's getting dark, but not dark enough to see An exit wound as an exit strategy.

"High Value Detainee #1"

amyms — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 08:38:58 -0800

Just released: Saddam Hussein Talks to the FBI. FBI special agents carried out 20 formal interviews and at least 5 "casual conversations" with former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein after his capture by U.S. troops in December 2003, according to secret FBI reports released as the result of Freedom of Information Act requests by the National Security Archive. Via this Washington Post article.

war profiteering in Iraq

nickyskye — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:15:47 -0800

It is fitting that today’s deadline for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq’s cities coincides with a meeting in Baghdad to auction off some of the country’s largest oil fields to companies such as ExxonMobil, Chevron and British Petroleum. It is a reminder of the real motives for the 2003 invasion and in whose interests over one million Iraqis and 4,634 American and other Western troops have been killed. However, today's bidding was not the bonanza that was expected. Iraqis in Baghdad celebrate the withdrawal of US troops from the country's cities and towns yesterday. Bidding war for Iraq's huge oil contracts sputters into life.

Saddam's Palaces

homunculus — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 18:06:27 -0800

Breach. Photographer Richard Mosse's pictures of Saddam Hussein's palaces.

Jesus killed Mohammed: The crusade for a Christian military

chunking express — Fri, 29 May 2009 11:35:30 -0800

Jesus killed Mohammed: The crusade for a Christian military.

The Sunni Awakening

homunculus — Tue, 19 May 2009 20:08:08 -0800

Heads in the Sand. "The so-called Sunni Awakening, in which American forces formed tactical alliances with local sheikhs, has been credited with dampening the insurgency in much of Iraq. But new evidence suggests that the Sunnis were offering the same deal as early as 2004—one that was eagerly embraced by commanders on the ground, but rejected out of hand at the highest levels of the Bush administration."

General Disarray

cal71 — Mon, 11 May 2009 11:08:01 -0800

The U.S. replaces the top General in Afghanistan after he'd held his post for less than a year. General McKiernan is being replaced by Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, who came under some criticism in the past for the treatment of detainees by his Special Operations forces under his command. He is credited with the death of Al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab Zarqawi in 2006, and the Obama administrations hopes he will bring unconventional thinking to the use of force in Afghanistan. He is already working on some new ideas in military civilian collaboration, but does he play poker? Will he embrace the population-centered warfare approach? Will this General, a prominent figure in Bush's war on terror, be an effective tool in the use of Smart Power, or just make matters worse?

Deaths of Children and Noncombatants in Iraq, 2003–2008

homunculus — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 17:20:19 -0800

Iraq air raids hit mostly women and children. "Air strikes and artillery barrages have taken a heavy toll among the most vulnerable of the Iraqi people, with children and women forming a disproportionate number of the dead. Analysis carried out for the research group Iraq Body Count (IBC) found that 39 per cent of those killed in air raids by the US-led coalition were children and 46 per cent were women. Fatalities caused by mortars, used by American and Iraqi government forces as well as insurgents, were 42 per cent children and 44 per cent women."

“There’s culture shock, and then there’s the culture shock of moving to a country that started a war in your home.”

wander — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 18:49:47 -0800

"The war has uprooted 4.7 million people from their homes. So where are they?" With the election of Obama and the economic crisis, the topic of Iraq has fallen by the wayside. As hard as things may be right now, Iraqis have been going through far worse for years now. If you're curious about what they have to say, hear them tell it in their own words. Iraqi Refugee Stories. Lest we also forget the war's toll on soldiers: The Life and Lonely Death of Noah Pierce. If you're asking, "What can I do about any of this?" Go here. And if you feel you can't manage to do any of that, then be good to yourself, and your neighbors. Go out of your way to do one nice thing for someone, or challenge one of the preconceptions you might have about someone else. You don't have to save the world, but you can at try least make it just a little nicer than it was. If you know any Iraqis affected by the war (or have worked closely with them yourself), or even know of some through someone else, encourage them to share their stories here.

Iraq’s War Widows

homunculus — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 00:08:47 -0800

Iraq’s War Widows Face Dire Need With Little Aid. [Via]

Rape as a War Crime Against Your Own

davidstandaford — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 13:49:16 -0800

Iraq: "A woman suspected of recruiting more than 80 female suicide bombers has confessed to organising their rapes so she could later convince them that martyrdom was the only way to escape the shame."
Algeria: "Evil al-Qaeda chiefs are raping young male converts to shame them into becoming suicide bombers, it emerged yesterday. "

to take brass and fire into his mouth

batmonkey — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 21:21:09 -0800

Army reports highest rate of soldier suicides for three decades in 2008. Even the up-and-coming are at risk. Stars & Stripes mentions that leadership may bear some blame. Will twice the money for family programs help? [title: line from "Eulogy", PFC B. Miller 1980-2004]

A Guardian interview with Lynndie England

nthdegx — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 06:26:57 -0800

A Guardian interview with Lynndie England (of Abu Ghraib notoriety).

Sixth generation warfare: boner pills.

mek — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 21:07:12 -0800

The little blue pill goes to war.

Friendly fire coverup

homunculus — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 23:58:27 -0800

New friendly fire coverup: Army shreds files on dead soldiers. "Hours after Salon revealed evidence that two Americans were killed by a U.S. tank, not enemy fire, military officials destroyed papers on the men."

A mass-casualty exercise EVERY SINGLE DAY

delfuego — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:14:38 -0800

Join Devin Friedman at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, a city of broken men. During the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany has blossomed into the hub of one of the most amazing and miraculous wartime medical systems in modern history. Each week sees 14 flights into and out of the medical center, delivering dozens of war wounded from the battlefield and back out to the more specialized care centers back stateside; the rapidity of care and transit from the war fronts to stable medical care has decreased the mortality of serious wartime military injuries to just ten percent, from the high-20s/low-30s of previous wars. This is an incredibly nice look at the Landstuhl system from the perspective of a single planeload of injured soldiers.

UAVs over Sadr City

odinsdream — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 11:31:23 -0800

A sanitized look at the use of UAVs 1.9 miles above Sadr City, Iraq. [print version] 60 Minutes is granted access to information about the use of Unmanned Arial Vehicles (UAVs) over Sadr City as part of Ray Odierno's counterinsurgency strategy. The video includes footage from both unarmed and armed drones used to provide so-called "persistent surveillance" of the city and to execute direct attacks on groups identified and tracked over hours or days. Other parts of the strategy include a nearly two-mile long concrete wall separating the city:

"It seals off about a quarter of Sadr City and it's been beautified, with local artists painting murals of peaceful, happy scenes, that have to be approved by the U.S. Army. To get from one side of the wall to the other, the locals have to go through "entry points" and are checked when going back and forth."

~~Awakening Councils~~ ~~Concerned Local Citizens~~ Sons of Iraq [mefi], another component in the strategy, have had their salaries reduced from $300 per day the U.S. was paying, to about $250 to be paid by the current Iraqi government. 2008 per-capita income is approximately $1,200.

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 ).

The Wars of John McCain

homunculus — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 19:30:30 -0800

The Wars of John McCain. "John McCain believes the Vietnam War was winnable. Now he argues that an Obama administration would accept defeat in Iraq, with grave costs to American honor and national security. Is McCain’s quest for victory a reflection of an antiquated pre-Vietnam mind-set? Or of a commitment to principles we abandon at our peril? Is there any war McCain thinks can’t be won?"

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]

We regret to inform you.

lullaby — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 13:10:13 -0800

In Their Boots is a new online "magazine show" about the impact of the wars on US servicemembers and their families. The latest episode features the founder of the American Widow Project, a new documentary and an organization dedicated to helping out other war widows across the country.

Don't Ask, Don't Tell -- Kill

digaman — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 09:15:12 -0800

The Surge is working [tm] -- but for gay Iraqis who face a murderous new spate of violence by theocrats and militiamen, notsomuch. "More than 430 gay men have been murdered in Iraq since 2003... [but] many officials say they feel that in a country at war, there are more pressing concerns than gay rights."