Iraq: US Occupation 2003-
(see also Iraq, Iraq: Saddam Regime, Iraq: Kurdistan, Iraq: Shi'ites, Gulf War, 1990-2003, Juan Cole & Anti-War Movement Today)
Basics
On the Web: Articles
A Fiction as Powerful as WMD. Sami Ramadani, Guardian (7/5/05). Civil war more likely under occupation than following withdrawal.
What I Heard About Iraq. Eliot Weinberger, London Review of Books (2/3/05). Collage of US official commentary on justification, conduct & consequences of US war against Iraq.
How US Missteps May Cloud Iraqi Vote. William O. Beeman, San Jose Mercury News [Truthout] (1/27/05).
Fallujah: Inside the Iraqi Resistance. Nir Rosen, Asia Times (7/15-23/04). Essential context for understanding November assault by US & Iraqi forces.
Paying the Price: The Mounting Costs of the Iraq War. Institute for Policy Studies (6/28/04).
Without Peace, Reconstruction Stalls. Economist (5/13/04).
UK Forces Taught Torture Methods. David Leigh, Guardian (5/8/04).
Iraq Prisoners Are at Least Survivors. Aaron Glantz, AntiWar.org (5/1/04).
Box Score for the War. Rod Nordland, Newsweek (4/17/04).
Ebb-Tide of the Occupation. Patrick Cockburn, CounterPunch (4/16/04). Seen on the ground by an "unembedded" reporter, things are even grimmer than they're cracked up to be back home.
Toll on US Troops in Iraq Grows as Wounded Rolls Approach 10,000. Roger Roy, Orlando Sentinel (11/28/03).
Baghdad's Future on Table in Madrid. Herbert Docena, Foreign Policy in Focus (10/03).
Career Officer Does Eye-Opening Stint Inside Pentagon. Karen Kwiatowski, Akron Beacon-Jouirnal (7/31/03). Retired Lt.-Col.'s critique of planning & execution of Iraq reconstruction.
Iraqis Grapple with Post-War Radioactivity. Scott Peterson, Christian Science Monitor (7/10/03).
Army of One. Take Back the Media (sum 03).
Fresh Doubts Over Iraq's Arsenal. BBC (6/6/03).
"Garden of Eden" in Southern Iraq Likely to Disappear Completely in Five Years Unless Urgent Action Taken. UN Environmental Program (6/03).
Recolonizing Iraq. Tariq Ali, New Left Review 21 (5-6/03).
Iraq's Untidy Postwar. Editorial, Washington Post (5/13/03).
When the Bombs Hit Home. Chrisanne Beckner, Sacramento News & Review (4/24/03):19-23. Three generations of women in an Iraqi family in Davis CA contemplate war.
US Plans Total Control in Rebuilding Postwar Iraq. Karen de Young & Peter Slevin San Jose Mercury News (2/21/03).
The Spoils of War: Be the First on Your Block to Make a Buck Off Iraq. James Ridgeway, Village Voice (10/15/02). Who stands to gain from proposed war, & how.
On the Web: Specialized Sites
Baghdad Bulletin. Independent English-language fortnightly, est. early 6/03.
Campaign for Innocent Victims of Conflict (Marla Ruzicka).
Center for Defense Information.
Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches. Unimbedded, independent journalist.
A Family in Baghdad. Blog written by Faiza al Araji & family.
Independent Journalists Online: Iraq.
Institute for War & Peace Reporting.
Iraq Coalition Casualty Count.
Iraq Foundation "Eden Again" Project. To restore marshlands & Marsh Arab settlements at mouth of Tigris/Euphrates.
Iraq Journal (Democracy Now).
Iraq Occupation & Reconstruction. Pro-occupation site
Juan Cole Informed Comment. Frequent updates by leading US scholar of Iraq & Shi'a Islam, now an astute commentator on Iraq under US military occupation.
Mudville Gazette. Window onto world of GI blogging from Iraq. Links to many blogs.
Operation Truth. Independent voice of US troops stationed in Iraq & Afghanistan.
Riverbend. Blog written in Baghdad since war by young Iraqi woman.
Take Back the Media. Animated critique of circumstances of Iraq veterans & soldiers still in Iraq.
Veterans Against the Iraq War.
In the Library: Articles
Anon “Searching for…democracy (editorial),” San Jose Mercury News (11/9/03):4P.
__________. "Iraq is not a lost battle," Middle East Report 228 (fall 2003). Interview with Isam al-Khafaji.
Ackerman, Spencer. “The weakest link,” Washington Monthly (11/16/03):16-19.
Alexander, Justin & Colin Rowat. "A clean slate in Iraq: from debt to development," Middle East Report 228 (fall 2003).
Anderson, Jon Lee. "Dreaming of Baghdad," New Yorker (2/03):57-69. Visit with Iraqi Shia opposition in exile.
__________. "Invasions," New Yorker (3/24/03). Iraqi memories of earlier conflicts.
__________. "The collapse," New Yorker (4/21/03):70-75.
__________. "Iraq's bloody summer," New Yorker (8/11/03):43-55.
__________. “Street crime,” New Yorker (3/29/04):38-39.
Antoon, Sinan. "Of graves & grievances," MERIP Report 227 (sum 03):34-37.
___________. "Monumental disrespect," Middle East Report 228 (fall 03).
Anon. “Searching for…democracy (editorial),” San Jose Mercury News (11/9/03):4P.
Asquith, Christina. “Turning the page on Iraq’s history,” Christian Science Monitor (11/4/03):11-13.
Bacon, David. “Saddam’s labor laws live on,” In These Times (12/03):20-23.
Benn, Tony & Colin Leys. "Bush & Blair: Iraq & the American viceroy," in L. Panitch & C. Leys (eds.) Socialist Register 2005: The Empire Reloaded (NY: Monthly Review, 2005).
Bowden, Mark. "Lessons of Abu Ghraib," Atlantic Monthly (7-8/04).
Broder, David S. "On the ground in new Iraq, the US challenges are great," San Jose Mercury News (4/23/03):11b.
Brooks, David. "Building democracy out of what?" Atlantic (6/03):28-29.
Brown, Drew. “Iraqi arms bunkers overflowing, U.S. says,” San Jose Mercury News (10/17/03):5AA.
Cassidy, John. “Beneath the sand,” New Yorker (7/14/03):64-75.
Ciezaldo, Annia. “A scholarly soldier steps inside the world of Iraq’s potent tribes,” Christian Science Monitor (12/30/03):10.
Cockburn, Patrick. "Diary," London Review of Books (5/19/05). Visit to Baghdad & North in 4/05.
Cohen, Stephen F. “Are we safer?” Nation (5/5/03):4-5.
Corn, David. "Now they tell us: postwar truths & consequences," Nation (5/19/03):11-13. WMDs? Plans for regime change?
Corn, David. “WMD? MIA?” Nation (6/2/03):4-5.
Danner, Mark. “Iraq: the new war,” NY Review (8/25/03):88-91.
Davis, Peter. “Ignited Iraq: a Baghdad journal,” Nation (9/15/03):9-22.
Dreyfuss, Robert. “More missing intelligence,” Nation (7/7/03):4-5.
Durkin, Tish. “Bad debt: settling accounts in the vacuum of postwar Iraq,” Atlantic (9/03):164-170.
Elder, Rob. “Freedom part II is the hardest,” San Jose Mercury News (5/18/03).
Epstein, Keith. "Riches of rebuilding," Tampa Tribune (3/16/03). Even before war breaks out, sharks circling to snap up lucrative contracts to rebuild Iraq.
Fallows, James. "The fifty-first state?" Atlantic (11/02):53-64. Problems that will face a US military administration in post-Saddam Iraq.
_________.“Blind into Baghdad,” Atlantic Monthly (1/04):53-92.
Fattah, Hassan. "New Iraqi school spans chasms between religions," Christian Science Monitor (10/7/03):1,11.
Fineman, Mark. “American adviser to Iraqi oil admits potential conflicts,” San Jose Mercury News (5/16/03):1AA-6AA.
Feldmann, Linda. "Bush support softens," Christian Science Monitor (9/18/03):1,13-14
Ford, Peter. "Iraqi schools battered, but opening," Christian Science Monitor (9/29/03):2-3.
_________. "Iraqi tribunal stirs fierce debate," Christian Science Monitor (10/1/03):6.
_________. "Iraq's pioneers of democracy listen but can't do much," Christian Science Monitor (10/2/03):10.
Georgian, Armen. “Crude maneuvers: the race for Iraqi oil is on,” In These Times (10/28/02):3.
Gerges, Fawaz A. "Understanding Iraq's resistance," Christian Science Monitor (9/11/02):11.
Glass, Charles. "Reflections on a war," Nation (5/19/03). There was no war; there is no peace.
Goodman, Ellen. “Everyone loves to win,” Santa Cruz Sentinel (5/16/03):A11.
Graham-Brown, Sarah. "Multiplier effect: war, occupation & humanitarian needs in Iraq," Middle East Report 288 (fall 2003).
Gray, Geoffrey. "Unfit to be king," Nation (4/28/03):5-6.
Grier, Peter. “Hunting Hussein grows more urgent for US,” Christian Science Monitor (11/18/03).
Gourevitch, Philip “Winning & losing,” New Yorker (12/22/03):53-56.
Hersh, Seymour M. “Lunch with the chairman: why was Richard Perle meeting with Adnan Khashoggi?,” New Yorker, (3/17/03):76-81.
_____________. “Moving targets,” New Yorker (12/15/03):48-55.
Hiro, Dilip. “The post-Saddam problem,” Nation (1/6/03):22-24.
Houppert, Karen. “Against the war but married to it,” Nation (11/10/03):11-16.
Hull, Dana. "Sewage clogs Iraqi rivers, causing illnesses," San Jose Mercury (6/8/03):16A
Kelly, Kathy. "Baghdad diary," Progressive (5/03):26-28.
Judah, Tim. “Welcome to al-Sadr City!” NY Review (5/29/03):30-32.
Kaplan, Robert D. "Five days in Fallujah," Atlantic Monthly (7-8/04). "Embedded" journalist's account of city's destruction. See also Nir Rosen's sharp critique in Atlantic Monthly (10/04):17-18.
Kelly, Kathy. “A school is looted, a song of peace lingers,” National Catholic Reporter (5/9/03):15.
Klein, Naomi. "Privatization in disguise," Nation (4/28/03). Early moves to divide up Iraqi economy between US corporations.
Krane, Jim. “Iraqis facing harsh market,” San Jose Mercury News (12/4/03).
Lafranchi, Howard. “Good will is fragile in new Iraq,” Christian Science Monitor (11/5/03):1-4.
__________. "Why anti-US fighting grows in Iraq," Christian Science Monitor (11/6/03):7,11.
Lemann, Nicholas. "Real reasons," New Yorker (9/11/03): 81-82.
_________.“Democracy hypocrisy,” New Yorker (12/8/03):43.
Liswood, Laura. “Find a role for women in rebuilding Iraq,” Christian Science Monitor (5/23/03):11.
Mahajan, Rahul. “Gunpoint democracy in Iraq,” Christian Science Monitor (9/03):23-26.
Marshall, Joshua Micah. “Practice to decieve,” Washington Monthly (4/03):29-34.
Mecham, Quinn. "Religion & power," San Jose Mercury (6/1/03):1P,3P. Shiite clerics are outpacing US efforts to establish basic services.
Murphy, Dan. "Jobless soldiers fuel anti-US riots in Iraq," Christian Science Monitor (10/8/03):7.
__________. "Iraq awash in military weapons," Christian Science Monitor (10/20/03):11.
__________."Baghdad's tale of two councils," Christian Science Monitor (10/29/03):6-7.
__________. “On edge, Shiites & Sunnis in Iraq try to talk it out,” Christian Science Monitor (1/6/04):8.
__________. “Sunnis feel chill in new Iraq,” Christian Science Monitor (1/8/04).
Negus, Steve. “Letter from Baghdad,” Nation (6/2/03):14.
Nissenbaum, Dion. "Iraq's clear, present danger," San Jose Mercury (6/8/03):1P,3P.
O’Connor, Michael Patrick & Sidney H. Griffith. “The lost heritage of Iraq,” National Catholic Reporter (5/9/03):8-11.
O’Rourke, P.J. “The backside of war: how I saved Iraq’s modern art & other confessions,” Atlantic Monthly (12/03):69-84.
Packer, George. “War after the war,” New Yorker (11/24/03):57-85.
Parenti, Christian. "An Iraqi family faces chaotic times," Christian Science Monitor (9/4/03):1,7.
__________.“Iraqi town revels in freedom,” Christian Science Monitor (9/12/03).
__________. “The progress of disaster,” In These Times (9/29/03):15-16.
__________.“Stretched Then, Lied to & Mistreated,” Nation (10/6/03):11-14.
__________.“Inside a group caught between three power,” Christian Science Monitor (12/31/03):10-11.
__________. “Afghanistan’s lessons for Iraq,” Christian Science Monitor (11/20/03).
Peterson, Scott. “Inside a group caught between three power,” Christian Science Monitor (12/31/03):10-11.
___________. “Afghanistan’s lessons for Iraq,” Christian Science Monitor (11/20/03).
___________. "Remains of toxic bullets litter Iraq," Christian Science Monitor (5/15/03):1.
Philips, David L. "Don't send Turkish troops to Iraq," Christian Science Monitor (10/22/03):11.
Pollitt, Kathy. “Weapons of mass delusion?” Nation (5/19/03):9.
Powers, Thomas. “The vanishing case for war,” NY Review (12/4/03):12-16.
Prusher, Illene R. "Latest Iraq threat: cash crunch," Christian Science Monitor (9/3/03):1,10.
_______. "Kidnapping in Iraq on the rise," Christian Science Monitor (9/10/03):5-6.
_______. “Five women confront a new Iraq,” Christian Science Monitor (7/16/03):1-13.
_______. “The man who would be king of Iraq,” Christian Science Monitor (6/27/03):7.
Reilly, Rick. "The hero & the unknown soldier," Sports Illustrated (5/3/04). Compares reportage on death in Iraq of two athletes-turned soldier, Todd Bates & Pat Tillman.
Richey, Warren. "Iraq's other disarmament challenge: small arms," Christian Science Monitor (5/2/03):3.
Ritter, Scott. “Defining the resistance in Iraq – it’s not foreign & it’s well prepared,” Christian Science Monitor (11/10/03):9.
Rosen, Nir. “Baghdad out of order,” Progressive (9/03):27-28.
_______.“Making enemies,” Progressive (12/4/03):25-27.
Rubin, Trudy. “Islamic state would pose problems for U.S.,” San Jose Mercury News (5/16/03):9C.
Said, Edward. “A mask for pillage,” Progressive (6/22/03):22.
Scherer, Michael. “K street on the Tigris: Washington insiders and their corporate clients are lining up to cash in on the world’s biggest reconstruction project,” Mother Jones (11-12/03):17-18.
Schmitt, Eric. “US forces in Iraq to exceed 100,000 til ’06 officer says,” San Jose Mercury News (11/22/03):A13
Shorrock, Tim. “Iraq (selling off): How to ‘privatize’ a country & make millions,” Nation (6/23/03):11-16.
Siegelbaum, Lewis. "The case of the phantom Soviet truck," Radical History Review 90 (fall 04):142-49. Intriguing note on Russian-Iraqi relations, car bombing in postwar Iraq, & problems of doing research on the internet.
Singh, Jai. “The price is right: bomb-resistant trashcans, cultural diversity training, & other tools for rebuilding Iraq,” Washington Monthly (1/04):12.
Slonaker, Larry. "Time away wearing on soldiers, families," San Jose Mercury News (10/1/03): 2B.
Sneider, Daniel. “Eerie echoes of Vietnam,” San Jose Mercury News (10/30/03):7B.
Stiglitz, Joseph. "Odious rulers, odious debts," Atlantic Monthly (11/03):39-45. Iraqi people should not be held responsible for debts acquired by Saddam Hussein.
Stohl, Rachel. “Iraq small arms are a big threat,” Christian Science Monitor (11/5/03).
Tyson, Ann Scott. "The simmering south," Christian Science Monitor (9/22/03):1,10-11.
Watenpaugh, Keith. "Fragile glasnost on the Tigris," Middle East Report 228 (fall 2003).
Wilkinson, Jeff. “US destroying homes of suspected guerrillas,” San Jose Mercury News (11/8/03).
____________. “Stealthy strategy demonstrates inventiveness of Iraqi guerrillas,” San Jose Mercury News (11/22/03):A13
Wilson, Joseph. "Republic or empire," Nation (3/3/03):4-5.
Williams, Ian. “Operation desert mirage,” In These Times (6/9/03):20-21.
Williams, Patricia J. "Taking the cake," Nation (4/28/03):13
Zalewski, Daniel. "A Baghdad blogger," New Yorker (3/31/03):33.
Zizek, Slavoj. “Today, Iraq. tomorrow…Democracy?,” In These Times (5/5/03):27-28.
In the Library: Non-Fiction Books
Ali, Tariq. Bush in Babylon: the Recolonisation of Iraq (2nd ed.; NY: Verso, 2004). Includes useful review of 20th-c. Iraqi history.
Anderson, Liam & Gareth Stansfield. The Future of Iraq: Dictatorship, Democracy, or Division? (NY: Palgrave/Macmillan, 2004).
Beeman, William O. Iraq: State in Search of a Nation (?, 2005?).
Bozarslan, Hamit. Violence in the Middle East: From Political Struggle to Self-Sacrifice (Princeton NJ: Markus Wiener, 2004).
Chehab, Zaki. Inside the Resistance: The Iraqi Insurgency & the Future of the Middle East (NY: Nation, 2005).
Goodman, Amy et al. Twilight Of Empire: Responses To Occupation (Santa Monica: Perceval, 2004).
Greenberg, Karen J. (ed.) The Torture Papers: The Road to Abu Ghraib (NY: Cambridge, 2005). Documents conscious post-9/11 abandonment by US government officials of international human rights standards regarding torture.
Jamail, Dahr. Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches from an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq (Chicago: Haymarket, 2007).
Kelly, Kathy. Other Lands, Other Dreams: From Baghdad to Pekin Prison (Petrolia CA: CounterPunch, 2005).
Khalidi, Rashid. Resurrecting Empire: Western Footprints & America's Perilous Path in the Middle East (Boston: Beacon, 2004).
Khosrokhavar, Farhad. Suicide Bombers: Allah's New Martyrs (London: Pluto, 2005).
Parenti, Christian. The Freedom: Shadows & Halucinations in Occupied Iraq (NY: New Press, 2004).
Pelletière, Stephen. America's Oil Wars (Westport CT: Praeger, 2004). Real reason for war in Middle East is to put a lock on its future energy supplies.
Riverbend. Baghdad Burning: Girl Blog from Iraq (NY: Feminist Press at CUNY, 2005).
Sifry, Micah L. & Christopher Cerf. The Iraq War Reader: History, Documents & Opinions (NY: Touchstone, 2003).
Shaw, Martin. The New Western Way of War: Risk-Transfer War & its Crisis in Iraq (London: Polity, 2005). New way of war, transfering risk to civilians as "collateral damage, is intrinsically counterproductive.
Steele, Jonathan. Defeat: Why They Lost Iraq (London: I.B. Tauris, 2008).
Weinberger, Eliot. What I Heard About Iraq (NY: Verso, 2005). "Montage of facts, sound-bites & testimonies" that "leaves protagonists to damn themselves."
In the Library: Fiction
In the Library: For Young Readers
In the Library: Poetry
In the Library: Drama
In the Library: Photography
CD & Audio
Film & Video
"Battle for Haditha" [2007], dir. Nick Bloomfield, ?m.
"Body of War" [2007], dir. Ellen Spiro & Phil Donohue, ?m.
"Fallujah: The Hidden Massacre" [2005], dir. Sigfrido Ranucci & Maurizio Torrealta, ?m.
"The Ground Truth" [2007?]. Focus Features.
"Gunner Palace" [2005], dir. Petra Epperlein & Michael Tucker, 85m. In video stores. Documentary on US soldiers holed up in bombed-out Baghdad palace from which they go forth to fight interminable insurgency.
"In the Valley of Elah" [2007], dir. Paul Haggis, ?m.
"Iraq for Sale: the War Profiteers" [2006], dir. Robert Greenwald, 75m. U.S. corporate contractors make a killing.
"Lions for Lambs" [2007], dir. Robert Redford, ?m. In video stores.
"My Country, My Country" [2006], dir. Laura Poitras, ?m. Documentary on consequences of war & occupation for ordinary Iraqis.
"Redacted" [2007], dir. Brian De Palma, ?m. In video stores.
"Rendition" [2007], dir. Gavin Hood, ?m. In video stores.
"Stop-Loss" [2007], dir. Kimberley Pierce, ?m. In video stores.
"Voices of Iraq" [2004], dir. ?, ?m. Documentary made by distributing cameras to ordinary Iraqis & asking them to film themselves.
"The War Tapes" [2006], dir. Deborah Scranton, 97m. Constructed from video footage made by National Guardsmen on duty in Iraq.