MetaFilter posts tagged with iraqwar

"There will be plenty of time to edit and stylize it later."

timsteil — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 12:18:09 -0800

His Horse Was Named Death: The Iraq War Diary of 1st LT Tim McLaughlin, USMC McLaughlin is a walk-on to history. His diary begins at the Pentagon on the morning of the 9/11 attacks, jumps to his deployment in Kuwait, follows him into battle during the invasion of Baghdad, and recounts the moment his own American flag was draped over the statue of Saddam Hussein in Firdos Square -- an iconic image of the U.S. invasion. But the diary is much more than just a retelling of the early days of the Iraq war: It's at times wryly funny, tragic, brutal -- and, above all, honest.

The reporter, his foreign-minister father and the war that consumed them

KokuRyu — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 10:23:59 -0800

The reporter, his foreign-minister father and the war that consumed them Ten years ago, Canada made a bold decision to stay out of the Iraq War. Many of us may forget how agonizing the process was. Patrick Graham was a reporter in Baghdad in 2003. His father Bill Graham was Canada’s foreign minister. Today, in an intimate conversation, they remember the months that changed the world, the nation and their own lives

We, The Aliens.

The Whelk — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 13:15:11 -0800

In Defense Of Spielberg's War Of The Worlds

Now I’m home and I’m blind and I’m broke/What is next?

spitbull — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 07:13:50 -0800

"Hell Broke Luce" -- a surreal anti-war video from Tom Waits for his powerful song based on the harrowing story of Lance Corporal Jeff Lucey, a 23-year old Iraq war Marine veteran who committed suicide in 2004. From Waits' 22d album Bad As Me (2011, AntiRecords) Lucey was also one of the subjects of a Frontline documentary called "The Soldier's Heart." (His case significantly complicates our current understanding of the horrors of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder for veterans.) Song lyrics at LyricsWiki. Commentary on "Hell Broke Luce" at Common Dreams. An alternate video to the song using images from Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket. And from the first user comment on YouTube: I'm an Iraq vet. This song evokes an amazing emotional reaction in me. So much of this is directly applicable to my experiences. Shit, Tom. Shit. Thank you so much for this. NPR First Listen on Bad As Me. Sasha Frere-Jones on Bad as Me. Of course, this is not Waits' first powerful anti-war song. (I recommend reading the description under this YT video.)

Putting away the dishes at the end of the Iraq War

Brandon Blatcher — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 12:22:56 -0800

With official end of the Iraq War comes the matter of returning Saddam Hussein's plates.

An End to Endless War in Sight?

saulgoodman — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 10:23:02 -0800

Obama Announces Full Troop Withdrawal from Iraq by Year's End. Confirming reports that emerged last week that the US does not plan to maintain a residual troop presence in Iraq, the US will pull out of Iraq completely by the end of 2011, bringing to a close a bloody chapter in international history that first began in March 20, 2003. With other recent reports that the administration is considering a faster withdrawal from Afghanistan in the aftermath of Osama Bin Laden's death at the hands of US special forces in May of this year, an end to America's longest running military conflict also seems likely to come soon.

"Guys, just stop." "Stop what?" "Dancing."

eugenen — Sat, 28 May 2011 23:17:24 -0800

Adam Kokesh served in Fallujah as a Marine, then got in hot water for appearing at an anti-war protest in uniform. This weekend, he was brutalized by US Park police for silently dancing at the Jefferson Memorial as part of a small flash mob. The event was captured on video, which is fascinating and surreal.

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whimsicalnymph — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 15:45:35 -0800

Today is the 8th Anniversary of the beginning of the War in Iraq. Protesters around the country are trying to bring attention to our nation's continued involvement.

"I couldn't justify shooting an unarmed civilian. I said I wasn't going to do it . . ."

IvoShandor — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 12:49:55 -0800

In December 2010 Slate posted an interview with Iraq War veteran and conscientious objector Josh Steiber Stieber has figured into the Wikileaks saga in the past.

Pilgrim’s Progress

shii — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 16:58:31 -0800

I didn’t really appreciate the concept of becoming ‘unstuck’ in time until I returned from war. Matt Gallagher gives words to the discomfort of life after 15 months in Iraq.

"I guess that makes me a part of history, Neocon Blunder #291280. It’s great to be so significant, but actually I’d rather have some of that sweet AUI-S vastly-overpaid money."

Sticherbeast — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 23:12:40 -0800

John Dolan remembers teaching at - and getting fired from - the American University of Iraq - Sulaimani, a conservative, English-language university in Iraq. Former Interim Provost and Chancellor of AUI-S John Agresto responds to Dolan's article. Dolan responds to Agresto. More on AUI-S from Counterpunch.

The Iraq War: the path to war

russilwvong — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 07:01:33 -0800

The Iraq War: was there even a decision? "Perhaps most revealing ... is what is missing--any indication whatsoever from the declassified record to date that top Bush administration officials seriously considered an alternative to war. In contrast there is an extensive record of efforts to energize military planning, revise existing contingency plans, and create a new, streamlined war plan." The National Security Archive at George Washington University has released a set of documents from the US and British archives related to the Iraq war: Part I, Part II, Part III. Political scientist Russell Burgos (who served in Iraq):

... there is indeed a kind of inevitability about the confrontation, but it was an inevitability created by domestic politics rather than 9/11. In my estimation, the origins of the "path to war" are found in the Republican Revolution of 1994; I will suggest that from 1996 to 2000, Iraq policy was not about Iraq - it was about an increasingly strident partisan attack on President Bill Clinton in which "Iraq" was not a subject of deliberate policy but was a synecdoche for "Clinton's failure."

Historian Robert Jervis also comments. Via H-DIPLO.

A useful subset of the entire internet

shakespeherian — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 07:03:58 -0800

On Wikipedia, Cultural Patrimony, and Historiography. "The Iraq War: A Historiography of Wikipedia Changelogs" is a twelve-volume set of all changes to the Wikipedia article on the Iraq War. The twelve volumes cover a five year period from December 2004 to November 2009, a total of 12,000 changes and almost 7,000 pages. The set is part of a project exploring history and historiography facilitated by the internet, and visualising information, opinion, narrative and discussion, by James Bridle.

Like Punk'd But With Real Bombs

PostIronyIsNotaMyth — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 19:40:24 -0800

Combat operations in Iraq are over! Except, the AP says "our content should not refer to the end of combat in Iraq, or the end of U.S. military involvement." Meanwhile, in Iraq, a new show has been airing since Ramadan that has been described as "Punk’d, Iraqi-Style, at a Checkpoint." You can watch 14-minutes of the show (in Arabic, no English subtitles), here.

Operation Iraqi Freedom Has Ended

mccarty.tim — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 02:18:01 -0800

The last combat troops have left Iraq. Civilian contractors are expected to continue the effort.

avenging Blackwater: 'worse than Hiroshima'

grounded — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 19:20:24 -0800

"To produce an effect like this, some very major mutagenic exposure must have occurred in 2004 when the attacks happened." Cancer, Infant Mortality and Birth Sex-Ratio in Fallujah, Iraq 2005–2009 (pdf) suggests the use of depleted uranium by US forces (who also used white phosphorous) might be the cause of soaring rates of cancer and birth defects among citizens of Fallujah. (more DU on the blue)

The Death of David Kelly

HP LaserJet P10006 — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 08:24:17 -0800

Lord Hutton made a request for the records provided to the inquiry, not produced in evidence, to be closed for 30 years, and that medical (including post-mortem) reports and photographs be closed for 70 years: evidence relating to the death of Government weapons inspector David Kelly is to be kept secret for 70 years, it has been reported (more here and here). Kelly was the UK weapons inspector whose suspiciously timed death in 2003, ruled a suicide, has remained a point of controversy ever since.

"Jesus Day" in Baghdad

ibmcginty — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:39:20 -0800

"Jesus Day" in Baghdad.

"It offers no explanations, no apologies and only a thin patina of regret."

liketitanic — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 20:39:02 -0800

Kathryn Bigelow's 2009 feature film The Hurt Locker, tells the story of a U.S. military bomb squad in Iraq. Hurt Locker has been critically praised as "the best American feature made yet about the war in Iraq." But historian Marilyn Young, who's written and spoken widely on the Vietnam War(s) and their similarities to the current conflict in Iraq, argues in a blistering review that the film is "a video game of a movie, or war as a video game." Bigelow wrote the film with freelance writer Mark Boal, whose 2004 article "Death and Dishonor" exposed the failures of military health care for veterans with PTSD and was adapted into a film, In the Valley of Elah,which Young sees as a much more persuasive and honest depiction of war. (Her critical essay is part of a series, Masters and the Movies, curated by the American Historical Association and published in its member magazine Perspectives on History.)

Onward Christian Soldiers

ericb — Sun, 17 May 2009 09:13:44 -0800

"In the days surrounding the invasion of Iraq, cover sheets...began adorning top-secret intelligence briefings produced by [former defense secretary] Donald Rumsfeld's Pentagon. The sheets juxtaposed war images with inspirational Bible quotes and were delivered by Rumsfeld himself to the White House, where they were read by the man who, after September 11, referred to America's war on terror as a 'crusade.'" "...Rumsfeld has always answered his detractors by claiming that history will one day judge him kindly. But as he waits for that day, a new group of critics—his administration peers—are suddenly speaking out for the first time. What they’re saying? It isn’t pretty."

I bet he gets all kinds of chicks

imperium — Thu, 07 May 2009 14:20:35 -0800

A short film about Andrew Gilligan and sock puppets. Prepared by Tim Ireland. I am not, nor have I ever been, Tim Ireland.

“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.

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).

Surge? More like... something that rhymes with surge.

Caduceus — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 14:52:08 -0800

The military surge in Iraq is failing. Sure, violence in the country is down significantly, but that's as much due to the Sunni Awakening, which began significantly before the surge got going in 2007. Unfortunately, everyone, particularly the McCain campaign, seems to have forgotten that the goal of the surge was to provide political stability, and it totally hasn't. For starters, the Maliki government is threatening the tribes of the Sunni Awakening, which are currently US funded. Even better, the Maliki government is also getting up in the face of the Kurds. Not to mention the militias following Moqtada al-Sadr, who are currently abiding by a cease fire, but who may well not continue should fighting break out between the government and the Sunni or the Kurds. McCain, while attacking Obama over Obama's opposition to the surge (with Bill O'Reilly's help), doesn't seem to remember that he was none too enthusiastic about it himself, or at least very confused. Even Petraeus, who ought to know better than anyone, is hesitant to agree with the McCain campaign's claims of surge success. Ultimately, whether the US stays there or not, it looks like we've only seen the beginning of war in Iraq.

West Point: Combating Terrorism Center publications

acro — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 08:10:15 -0800

The Combating Terrorism Center (CTC) at the United States Military Academy, West Point, has published another report in their analysis of captured al-Qa'ida documents: Bombers, Bank Accounts, and Bleedout: al‐Qa`ida’s Road In and Out of Iraq [pdf] (note to UK readers). The latest from CTS also introduces a host of new data, including: * Statistics on the exact number and nationality of foreign fighters held by the US at Camp Bucca in Iraq. * Contracts signed by AQI's foreign suicide bombers. * Contracts signed by AQI fighters entering and leaving Iraq. * Accounting sheets signed by various fighters that indicate funding sources and expenditures. * Several narratives describing AQI's network in Syria, personnel problems, and ties to Fatah al-Islam in Lebanon Past analysis of captured al-Qa'ida ducuments: Cracks in the Foundation: Leadership Schisms in al-Qa’ida from 1989-2006 The Militant Ideology Atlas Al-Qai'da's Foreign Fighters in Iraq: A First Look at the Sinjar Records Harmony and Disharmony: Exploiting Al-Qai'da's Organizational Vulnerabilities Al-Qai'da's (mis)Adventures in the Horn of Africa