History To Some, Coney Island To Others
With its sparkler effect, along with the minimization of the explosion(s) as compared to the expanse of still relatively smoke-free Iraqi skyline, this photo does not bring history into the present so much as perpetuates the original propaganda of the attack as a fireworks show.
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Iraq Looking Good, Part 1: Winning By A Dip Stick
Why is the perception of the Iraq occupation improving? It's because both parties are measuring progress in terms of reduced incidents -- and images -- of violence.
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With More Abu Ghraib Images Come More Dimensions
I don't remember which Senator, upon previewing the larger body of Abu Ghraib photos, insisted they must never be released. Psychologist Philip Zimbardo did, however, obtain additional images while serving as an expert witness for one of the AG defendents, Zimbardo, who is famous for his study revealing cruel...
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Thought To Be Believed To Be
Keeping track of the farce otherwise known as the Iraq occupation in yesterday's NYT Pictures of the Day, I was interested in this untenable photo caption accompanying Spencer Platt's image from Diyala.
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Swingin' With David Petraeus
Nice to see General Petraeus -- taking time out from putting Sunni's on the U.S. payroll -- celebrating the grand opening of a USO facility at the air base in Balad, Iraq.
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Propaganda Propaganda
What makes me upset is to see how al Qaeda uses videos of children to advance their propaganda aims. ...What also makes me even more upset is to see how the U.S. military mashes up al Qaeda videos to advance their propaganda aims.
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The Futility Of The Iraq War Picture (Or: Bombs Away, Far Away)
The more I look at and think about this image, accompanying a NYT war update a little over a week ago, the more questions it raises.
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War Of Perception
I'm sure the Reuters photographer, shooting this picture near Baquba in mid-December, was just looking to create a little interest. What he actually delivers, however, is a reminder of just how thoroughly the view of this war is a matter of perception.
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Scaring Up An Analogy?
Given what looks like a swastika, it's hard not to compare the threat of al Qaeda and the Taliban with the Nazis.
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Now Diyala
Typical of the home raid photos that were so prevalent in 2004-5, the ongoing hostilities north of Baghdad offer "more of the same" for a country experiencing basically the same rate of chaos as the year before last.... Why this pic trumps the others is because of how intensely...
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Murdering And Swashbuckling
The New York Times found 121 cases in which veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan committed a killing in this country, or were charged with one, after their return from war. In many of those cases, combat trauma and the stress of deployment — along with alcohol abuse, family discord...
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Iraq Still There
Sign of the times, here's another shot from Michael Kamber, taken in Ramadi on December 8th. He writes: "Found hanging on the wall of the marine base here--an old bare cold dirty building wtih no furniture, just bare brick walls." War Is Over--Say the Pundits (FAIR) In a Force...
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Lock, Stock And Barrel
Symbolically, it seemed pretty lame that the British hand off of Basra had to take place at the airport, the middle of nowhere.
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Iraqi Policewoman – An Oxymoron
The most telling thing about the photo is not its novelty -- visual evidence, perhaps, of Iraq's last policewomen ... at least those allowed to carry a gun)...
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Looking For Iranian Nukes? Try Reading The Pictures
What amazes me up is not the fact that yesterday's NIE report found that Iran stopped its nuke development in 2003, or that the government was aware of this for the past year, but that the information was discovered simply by looking at news photos.
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All Over But The Looting
The accompanying NYT article -- highlighting a guy running a car wash with water bootlegged from the public supply -- is meant to showcase the widespread corruption plaguing a city cited as the 3rd most corrupt in the world. But then, who are we to judge?
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Coming Upon The Cage
I found Michael Kamber's image, documenting the bombing in the Baghdad pet market last Friday, to be particularly moving.
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Baghdad Rebirth Slightly Fishy
One can't help but welcome the bright and well-illustrated reports, arriving yesterday in both the NYT and Newsweek, of signs of normalcy returning to Baghdad.
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