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Iraq Vet Who Advocated For Others Kills Himself "Handsome and friendly, Clay Hunt so epitomized a vibrant Iraq veteran that he was chosen for a public service announcement reminding veterans that they aren't alone." - Clay Hunt died March 31 of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The article states he had been dealing with "survivors guilt" and frustrated by a difficult disability claim process from wounds received in Iraq.
posted by randomkeystrike on Apr 22, 2011 - 70 comments

"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. [more inside]
posted by wander on Mar 23, 2009 - 16 comments

For the past two months, Iraqi interpreters working with US forces have been forbidden from wearing masks. This decision was recently overturned. Ostensibly, this was because the security situation had become better. Some believe instead that this rule was instated to prevent asylum claims. Some think that it reflects traditional army FUBAR decision making. Personally, I think they are becoming more cautious because the back up plan is a piece of junk. [more inside]
posted by marmaduke_yaverland on Dec 6, 2008 - 22 comments

The State Department has promised Blackwater USA bodyguards immunity from prosecution in last month's murder of 17 Iraqi civilians. Richard J. Griffin, the head of the Bureau of Diplomatic Security which granted the immunity, announced his resignation effective last Thursday.
posted by Mr_Zero on Oct 29, 2007 - 27 comments

Iraqi Kurdistan - a flipbook style video of thousands of pictures taken in Kurdish dominated northern Iraq by photojournalist Ed Kashi.
posted by Burhanistan on Apr 19, 2007 - 8 comments

The Still Unsolved Stoffel Affair: How Is Known – but Not Who or Why Iraqi guerrillas calling themselves Rafidan – the Political Committee of the Mujahideen Central Command – have recently woken up and begun releasing a series of communiqués claiming to shed new light on the still unsolved deaths on December 8, 2004, of two Americans, Dale C. Stoffel, 43, whom they describe as “a CIA shadow manager in Iraq, close friend of George Bush,” and his associate Joseph J. Wemple, also 43.
posted by Postroad on May 10, 2005 - 8 comments

Poor little Daisy Moshammer... After a life of leisure, immortalized on the arm of her famous, eccentric papa, the little dog's troubles began on the tragic evening of January 13th in Grünwald. Alas, poor little Daisy was fast asleep in bed when strange man strangled her beloved fashion icon daddy to death with a telephone cord. As he was a huge celebrity in Germany, the country mourned.

"What will become of me without Daddy?" Daisy whimpered. "I've been carried around so long, I don't even know how to walk anymore..."

When the will was read, Daddy proved he loved her! But without him to carry her, Daisy's world began to spiral out of control. Suddenly wealthy and thrust into the spotlight alone without her beloved big-haired father... how will she ever fill the void? Sex? Drugs? Are you kidding? Daddy would've much prefer shopping!
posted by miss lynnster on Feb 9, 2005 - 15 comments

"When two Iraqis sit together to talk then politics will be there."

Quite a powerful weblog post by Baghdad citizen 'Mohammed' who tries to focus on the positive side of things against ever increasing frustration. Just one of a number of Iraqi weblogs that are beginning to pop up now that both the Internet and freedom of speech is available to the commoners.
posted by Jase_B on Jul 13, 2004 - 19 comments

Video Seems to Show Beheading of American in response to the Abu Ghraib torture photos. I wonder if Sen. James Inhofe will continue to be "more outraged by the outrage than we are by the treatment." [more inside, via kos]
posted by Ignatius J. Reilly on May 11, 2004 - 242 comments

A very bloody "democracy" is what we've managed in Iraq. Yeah, who counts? Well, some do!
posted by acrobat on Jul 9, 2003 - 51 comments

There was a spontaneity about the crowd that contrasted with the sullenness and silences of the Saddam years. Most converged in the centre from all directions and joined throngs marching up and down Ali Abbas and Hussein streets, next to the Shia Muslims' two holiest shrines. Others exercised the right to do nothing, to sit on doorsteps watching people pass, to play or to cook on open fires. They chanted that they had come to celebrate their martyrs in spite of all the efforts by Saddam to persecute their religion. In keeping with Shia tradition, some tore their clothes and cut themselves, drawing blood. Others flogged themselves with chains, to bring themselves closer to the pain of the martyrs.
Iraqi Shiites Show Their Fervor in City They Hold Holy.
U.S. Planners Surprised by Strength of Iraqi Shiites.
Why the Mullahs Love a Revolution.
The war was won as planned.
The peace was not planned quite as meticulously.
A Democratic Iraq May Not Be Friendly to U.S. (More Within)
posted by y2karl on Apr 23, 2003 - 22 comments

Where is Raed Salam Pax? Writing under the pseudonym 'Salam Pax' (words meaning 'peace', in both Arabic and Latin), a Baghdad resident provided a personal point of view on what was going on. However, the blog hasn't been updated since March 24th. Has the worst happened?
posted by robzster1977 on Apr 19, 2003 - 29 comments

BINCS is an online database of suppliers and identification numbers maintained by the Defense Logistics Information Service. It was used to look up the CAGE code on a fragment of the missile which allegedly hit a Baghdad vegetable market. This confirmed that the fragment was from a missile built by Raytheon Company, and was probably either a HARM or a Paveway. I wonder if the system will remain available online after this. Investors can rest assured that this incident will not affect Raytheon's standing in the Perpetual War Portfolio in any way.
posted by homunculus on Apr 2, 2003 - 8 comments

A teacher in Detroit notes the strange disappearance of an Iraqi student. "Even we are starting to notice that a few of our Middle Eastern students and parents and neighbors are disappearing. Another teacher said that my story made her realize she hasn't seen a certain Palestinian student for three weeks." Mass exodus? Detention? Deportation? Where are these students going?
posted by Hildegarde on Mar 25, 2003 - 23 comments

Operation Pretentious Platitude One of the awful aspects of "Operation Iraqi Freedom" is having to listen to this name used without irony.

"It all comes down to branding" ... "Don't waste a public relations opportunity -- remember that the operation name is the first bullet in the war of images." "Churchill ... warned specifically against using words that imply an "overconfident sentiment." He knew as well as anyone how history delights in throwing unforeseen ironies our way." Here's a list of mostly recent real names.

But how about "Operation Rouge-wearing Caliph"? "Operation Evangelical Fatwa"? "Operation Expect No Mercy From Our Privet Bush"? "Operation Overpriced Cannon"? "Operation Irate Economy"? "Operation International-law-ignoring Manticore"?. Try for yourself. (Here's how it's done).
posted by lathrop on Mar 22, 2003 - 34 comments

Believe who, again? "So twice a week, for US$3,000 a month, the Iraqi student says, under condition of anonymity, that he took a taxi...to a Boston-area recording studio rented by the Rendon Group, a DC-based public relations firm with close ties to the US government. His job: translate and dub spoofed Saddam Hussein speeches and tongue-in-cheek newscasts for broadcast throughout Iraq." And other machinations of the PR-industrial complex in this piece from the Asia Times (courtesy of prwatch). Not so much funny "ha-ha" as funny "Ahhhhh!!! Ahhhh!"
posted by chandy72 on Nov 13, 2002 - 12 comments

Salman Rushdie weighs in. (NYT) An Iraqi writer quotes an earlier Iraqi satirist: "The disease that is in us, is from us." A British Muslim writes, "Islam has become its own enemy." A Lebanese friend, returning from Beirut, tells me that in the aftermath of the attacks on Sept. 11, public criticism of Islamism has become much more outspoken. Many commentators have spoken of the need for a Reformation in the Muslim world.
posted by semmi on Nov 2, 2001 - 20 comments