It's still the same old story/A fight for love and glory
When I saw the this shot in the morning, my thought was: this might be the first and last emotionally-uncomplicated act these men will experience in their post-war lives, provided they even stay stateside that long.
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Somebody Please, Put A Brain In My Bullet
From the graphic and the main headline, the point seems to be that bullets are not the answer. The intimation I get (reading top-to-bottom) is that negotiation, clear expression, negotiation and consensus are more intelligent tools in future conflict.... Reading the intro and the main article, however, I think...
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Soldier In The Dark
This is a photo of Lt. Cmdr. Matthew Diaz, former military lawyer and Deputy Legal Advisor for the Army at Guantanamo. The image, along with his story, was featured this past Sunday in in the NYT Magazine. What is most tragic about this image -- besides the fact...
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Seeing The Enemy
It is easy to imagine the head of Blackwater as the Prince of Darkness, and the media have done a pretty good job of that. But what if Prince is a scapegoat for our collective sins and the all too easy willingness of the American public to allow their...
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More WTF: "Reported Progress" Edition
With the passage of time, we become more brutally capable of differentiating "progress" from "reported progress." As well, these two shots expose what Iraq became after 43 got his hands on it -- which was, and remains, a set.
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The McCain Payload
If the most interesting element in John McCain's new batch of ads is the footage of his Vietnam captivity, what is less apparent is the revised framing of what was formerly "The Iraq War."
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WTF
Not that Ashley's work, and his feelings for the war, didn't mature and harden as time went on. At the outset, however, it is an unusual thing that this venomous campaign -- built on a despotic neocon fantasy -- would be captured by a man child who, enabled by...
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For The Soldier Of Fortune Calendar. Plus: Helo A Situation
Given that the movement of U.S. diplomatic personnel in Iraq is completely dependent on Blackwater, it is no surprise the company is operating again. Give it another week, and most questions about the 25,000 to 100,000 "security contractors" (nobody seems to have a reliable count) will probably disappear also. ...
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Your Turn: Scotch The Notion
If Petraeus somehow did puncture the opposition's bubble and potentially forestalled a more systematic pullback, did somebody forget to tell the kid?
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Bush Hype And The Loss Of Sheikh
My question is, did George Bush effectively "off" an ally -- and even undermine his Anbar strategy -- for the sake of the "surge sale" and a single photo-op?
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Jim, Bring Back The Boots
The latest legislative strategy on the part of the Dems might look like "half a loaf" to the roots, but it represents a terrific challenge to the Administration's dominance over the war narrative. But beyond that, it offers all kinds of visual and symbolic opportunities if the Democrats were...
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Nancy's Pull To Give In
As profoundly upset as I am by all the tent-folding in advance of the much-touted Iraq War September showdown, I thought I'd briefly survey the visual consequences.
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Market Forces
I understand Media Matters' point that Katie was helpful. That's because, before she got there, traditional media had mostly taken the summer off from Iraq. Still, I've been going through Couric's last few reports on-line at CBS.com Video, and her reinforcement of Administration framing -- down to the indiscriminant...
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When You Stand On The Ground Here In Anbar
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/03/AR2007090300463.html "The president heard about this idea and instantly took to it and that's why we're doing it," Hadley said.
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BAG Past, Present And Future: An Old Half-Baked Idea That Might Finally Have Arrived
I offer you this "original" that appeared back in August of '04.
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More September Wallpaper: Ducks In A Row
the decision reached among Iraq's factional leaders to rescend a ban on former Baath party members was far less than meets the eye. The agreement -- restoring military and civil service privileges -- was not only the least significant issue dividing the warring factions, but even this agreement remains...
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Are You My Mommy?
What's with the outbreak of photos of injured and abandoned Iraqi children?
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