Somber Anniversary

Photographs by Peter Turnley

As you no doubt know, today is the 10th anniversary of Donald Rumsfeld's "Shock and awe," the beginning of the U.S. war in Iraq.

Our friend Peter Turnley has posted a portfolio of pictures from early in the war, called In Memory: The War in Iraq, Ten Years On. Take a look back with Peter....

Mike

[UPDATE: It's understandably difficult to discuss photographs like these without letting the discussion become dominated by the underlying issues. I waited until the "here's my opinion about the war" comments and the "that other commenter is an idiot" comments outnumbered the ones that were at least vaguely concerned with the pictures; then I closed the post. Thanks to everyone who commented, whether it was published or not; I hope you can understand that I didn't want the comments to the post to become completely dominated by arguments about American foreign policy, partisan politics, whether there were or were not Weapons of Mass Destruction, whether liberals are traitors, etc. As I always say, TOP isn't a forum. —Mike]

Original contents copyright 2013 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.
A book of interest today:

Part I of Kevin Phillips' book American Theocracy, subtitled "Oil and American Supremacy," is still the best basic primer of energy politics I've read in the past ten years. Phillips is a somewhat polarizing writer: he was one of the early founders of Movement Conservatism (he wrote The Emerging Republican Majority in 1969 and was one of the authors of the notorious "Southern Strategy,") but is now considered apostate.

"Oil and American Supremacy" is not available separately, but it's a quick read, only 95 pages long, and it's easily worth the price of the paperback. (The Kindle e-book is priced higher than the paper book.) Here's the U.K. link —and yes, it would definitely be of interest to non-U.S. readers.

I've read lots more about the subject, but this is my kind of readin': short, smart, and right to the point.

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Rick D: "Fine, gut-wrenching work. Thank you, Mr. Turnley, for bearing witness to the human face of war. (Has it truly been ten years?)"

Comments

[Stan B.]

Ten long years- a completely bogus, unnecessary war worth countless billions of dollars, thousands of innocent lives and untold human suffering. All so we could descend both countries further down the rabbit hole to make a few rich folk even richer.

[David]

Shock and Awe. In awe of what?

I had forgotten about that slogan and that was just fine

(puke in my tea)

So, Happy Anniversary!!! And now we will commemorate the trashing and complete destabilization of a nation halfway around the world based upon a handful of out and out lies. Parade anyone?

Shameful.

As dismal as Iraq might have been it was what it was..NOT OURS.

[Andre]

After ten years, what's left of the American presence in Irak?

Irak's ruling chiites now have close ties with Iran and Syria.

As for oil, China and Russia are getting plenty, the USA, not as much as was thought.

Canada's former prime minister says it was an error on thepart of the US and he doesn't regret Canada not getting involved.

[John Krumm]

I remember the lead-up to war vividly. I was teaching English in a high school in St. Paul, and before the war started there was a world wide protest that I think was the largest anti-war protest in world history. I gathered a collection of interesting protest images from the web, showed them with an lcd projector, and we had some good discussion. More than a little disheartening, but not unexpected, to see the president pretty much ignore the protests not much later.

[Manuel]

A very beautiful set of pictures, all very expressive and poignant. I particularly like the fact they're all in colour, as I'm a bit fed up with the black and white war scenario photographs that seem to be the norm these days.
As for the occasion, well... as you say, it's a somber anniversary.

[David Paterson]

Fine photographs; but hard to look at.

[PWL]

It was always painful to see my country fight the Vietnam war all over again, make the same mistakes...all over again...and suffer the same disastrous consequences...all over again. Do we Americans ever learn from our own history? I don't think so.

Sometimes the saddest words you can say are "I told you so."

[Steve]

The start of the U.S. war in Iraq was certainly a watershed event in our nation's history. My only contribution would be a quote by Stephen Decatur that I've always admired.

"Our Country! In her intercourse with foreign nations may she always be in the right; but right or wrong, our country!"

[ctein]

Dear Stan & PWL,

Make that TWO "completely bogus, unnecessary wars", one of which still ain't done with.

My sincere hope is that, as Vietnam did, it will disempower enough of the warmongers that it will inhibit US militarism for a dozen years or so.

Not counting on it, but hoping...

pax / Ctein

[Dennis Ng]

Very strangely I think the American weakness is its depend on its oil, not the other way round. In fact, once US is self sufficient on oil (quite soon in the next decade or so), US would go back to be isolationist.

The greatness of US is money (and its backup by war machines). If one has to, one may say that certain period US depend on its oil production but later, especially when the de-link with gold standard (by Nixon?), US is supreme here.

BTW, the Iraq is a totally unjust war. In some cases when EU is not working, when Iraq invade its neighbour, it did some good. Even the Vietnam has its point (about domino effect). But this Iraq war, sorry, cannot be in it. It showed when a country (or two, include UK) get it wrong politically without a check-and-balance by a good media, even democracy cannot save you.

Btw, the monkey case mentioned in the wikipedia is quite a good read. I do not know that the evolution is such an argument for so long still in US. (I thought it was settled down, you believe it or you don't in Christ. Compatible with a science theory or hypotheses or not ... may be too naive or do not talk politics and religion in dinner table/photo blog.)

[Dave Reichert]

"Mission accomplished!" My ass.

[Tom]

I fought in Iraq with the 82d Airborne Division.

We occupied an area near a huge lake called Lake Habbaniyah. When we arrived, we were puzzled why the quaint village on the shores of this beautiful lake seemed to have been unoccupied for years.

After a few weeks, people started moving into the village, and fishing. We talked to these people through interpreters. We learned that their families had lived there for countless generations as fisherman, but one day Saddam's sons declared the huge lake their own fishing reserve, and they murdered the fishermen who disobeyed, and left their bloated bodies floating in the lake as a warning. These men and women profusely thanked us for giving them back their ancestral home.

Most of what you think you know about the Iraq War is untrue or incomplete.

Ten years on, it still pains me to see the lies still spread about a war that once enjoyed the bi-partisan support of Congress and most Americans. The lies persist. Where are the photos of the Lake Habbiniyah fisherman? Their absence is another form of lie.

[m3photo]

"Oil and American Supremacy" is not available separately.

Take the quotation marks away and it Just about sums it up perfectly ...

[Nigel]

There's a very good article by James Fallows arguing that whatever lessons Iraq has to offer remain unlearned:
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/03/why-we-wont-learn-from-iraq/274140/

I think that the perspective in the UK is a little different. Iraq is regarded as a disaster by a significant majority. It is even becoming possible for politicians to discuss the futility of our engagement in Afghanistan - something widely regarded as 'betraying' our troops there only a few years back.

(Tony Blair is still loudly and publicly convinced of his, and the war's rectitude, so the impression overseas of UK opinion might be different.)

[Player]

Stunning propaganda from the left wing.

[You're accusing Peter of biased reportage? I'm not quite seeing how his pictures could be considered propaganda, or politically aligned one way or the other. --Mike]

[Doug Howk]

We keep repeating our mistakes. I had hoped that the folly of Vietnam would inhibit our war-mongering; but a new generation forgets.

I couldn't protest the proposed Iraqui invasion because I was a contractor to the Navy (web site programmer). But I was forced to say if I supported a proposed invasion. My honesty led to me being fired one week before the invasion. The McCarthyism & hubris rampant then allowed the neoCons to trash a nation; and, in doing so, effectively weakened our own both materially and spiritually.

Have we finally learned that we are not the world's policeman? Or will we again allow ourselves to be conned by self-serving leaders into supporting future wars? I'm not optimistic.

[D. Hufford.]

Thank you, Tom.

[Roger Bradbury]

Thank you Peter, for showing us how individuals are affected by this war.

Tom, I knew an Iraqi man who came to England to work. He told me about some of the dreadful things that happened under Saddam Hussein. He was unable to return home because as a holder of a degree he was considered a traitor for leaving Iraq.

But all that happened under Hussein did not justify an invasion which is still going on six years after Saddam Hussein was executed, and which has left Iraq in a mess.