“As the Iraqi security forces stand up, coalition forces can stand down,” George W. Bush said in 2005 with oracular brevity.
George W. Bush was a bad oracle.
As recently as 2005, Camp Bondsteel was purported to be a secret interrogation site for the American military. So why does predominantly Muslim Kosovo love it so much?
Taking cover from death, I live in a tomb. My CHU (Containerized Housing Unit) is tightly girded by twelve-foot-high concrete T-walls.
My Vietnamese name is Le Hoang Dung. My American name is Donald Lipscomb.
After the post-election glow, Baghdad is back in the real world. The streets are clogged with vehicles honking and people hawking.
A little video I did on leaving Baghdad’s International Zone.
Three days after Iraqis voted amid a barrage of bombs and Hollywood awarded Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker six Academy Awards (including Best Picture and Best Director), I’m at Baghdad’s General Counter Explosive Directorate, the center of Iraq’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal programs.
Under the quarter moon, in the high beams of their armored vehicles, US soldiers are gearing up for the most important day of the Iraq War.
Friday. A day for prayer. Two days before the national elections. Still warm and sunny.
Pickup trucks, SUVs, military trucks, Humvees, fire trucks, ambulances. Honking. Singing. It all looks like a big tailgate party.