I awoke to news today that Iraqi forces were claiming victory in Mosul. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi arrived in Mosul to personally deliver a message of victory to the world: ISIS had been driven out of the city in northern Iraq that had been the extremist group’s crown jewel. Victory. Yes. But at tremendous cost. The …
Continue reading “Iraq: Victory in Mosul, but at what cost?”
My heart breaks every time I read news from Iraq. So much so that I find myself clicking away or turning off the radio. Ramadi, the capital of al-Anbar province, has fallen to the Islamic State. I think of the people I met there during the height of the Iraq War and have to stave …
I had a dream last night. It was the same one I’ve had since August 20, when I learned of Jim Foley’s death. A man in black holds a small knife in his left hand. He is too cowardly to show his face. But he holds up Jim’s face. For the world to see. I …
Honoring the courage and fortitude of James Foley today. Rest in peace. I had intended to write more about him but words are failing me now. So I am posting a few links for you. I hope you will think about how so many journalists put themselves in harm’s way so that you may know …
Who are the Yezedis, the 40,000 people who are hiding in the Sinjar Mountains from the horror of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria militants? They are not Muslims. They are a people largely forgotten by the world. In 2007, I had the opportunity to spend time in Nineveh province in the towns and …
I met Mike when sectarian strife exploded in Baghdad in 2006. That was not his real name, of course, but it was what he went by in his job as a translator for American soldiers. Mike and I spent several evenings chatting at a coffee shop on the vast Camp Liberty complex. He was a smart …
I fought off tears as I read Sunday’s New York Times. The news from Iraq was horrifying. A vicious civil war seems imminent as fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) point their guns toward Baghdad. They are men who make al-Qaeda look like nice guys. And the Taliban, wimps. They have taken …
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