iraqi civilians

Another U.S. Military Operation, More Unrest
Inter Press Service
By Ali al-Fadhily*

BAGHDAD, Aug 22 (IPS) - New U.S. military operations across Iraq appear to be worsening the situation.

On Aug. 13 about 16,000 U.S. and Iraqi troops began a massive new military operation north of Baghdad. According to the U.S. military, the goal of the operation, named Lightning Hammer, is to "target insurgents who have fled a crackdown in the restive city of Baquba."

The operation is part of a larger military offensive, Operation Phantom Strike, whose goal is "to disrupt al-Qaeda in Iraq and Shia extremist operations in Iraq."

Both operations have included extensive use of air strikes. Many residents speak with bitterness about the operations and the language used to describe tem.

Dahr Jamail: Into the Iraqi Diaspora

By Dahr Jamail
Tomdispatch.com
AlterNet

August 3, 2007
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This introductory note is by Tom Engelhardt, editor of TomDispatch.

After Reporting in Iraq, America Feels Like a Bizarre Disneyland
Dahr Jamail

By Dahr Jamail
Tomdispatch.com

July 20, 2007

"In violence we forget who we are" -- Mary McCarthy, novelist and critic

1. Statistically Speaking

Having spent a fair amount of time in occupied Iraq, I now find living in the United States nothing short of a schizophrenic experience. Life in Iraq was traumatizing. It was impossible to be there and not be affected by apocalyptic levels of violence and suffering, unimaginable in this country.