As I put this up, it shows only a thousand of the 6,026 American servicemen and women who have been killed in Afghanistan and Iraq. (I'm going to keep adding to it.) There have been no terrorist attacks on the American homeland since 9/11. Fifty million Muslims and others, previously living in two of the most oppressive and brutal regimes on Earth, are now free.... (read more)
• Female medic awarded Military Cross for bravery • Hitch on the Iraq Effect in the Arab Spring • Inside David Foster Wallace's Private Self-Help Library... (read more)
If you haven't already got a program, here's your concise guide to a few of the new Iraqi ministers (not a few of whom have pretty interesting and, in some cases heroic, backgrounds).... (read more)
"I happen to like Iraqis. They're different from us, but in their own way they're very special. They're worth everything we can do for them."... (read more)
"We are Iraqis. We have had it much worse than this."... (read more)
A few days from now, Fourth of July celebrations will be held in small towns and big cities all across America. At the same time, halfway around the world, 170,000 brave young men and women will demonstrate their patriotism in another way: by putting their lives at risk to defend everything America stands for.... (read more)
I've read kind of an enormous volume of military memoirs. Ditto military history and nonfiction and tech. Many of these books are nothing short of stunning.... (read more)
"At the core, the American citizen soldiers knew the difference between right and wrong, and they didn't want to live in a world in which wrong prevailed. So they fought, and won, and we all of us, living and yet to be born, must be forever profoundly grateful."... (read more)
"On the current course, nuclear terrorism is inevitable. Indeed, if the United States and other governments keep doing what they are doing today, a nuclear terrorist attack on America is more likely than not in the decade ahead. With a ten-kiloton nuclear weapon stolen from the former Soviet arsenal and delivered to an American city in a cargo container, Al Qaeda can make 9/11 a footnote."... (read more)
A belated message of congratulations and admiration and best wishes to the brave and long-suffering Iraqi people... (read more)
It's Christmas Day in the desert. You're on patrol. It seems Santa's been kidnapped by the Air Force.... (read more)
Back home it's morning... your wife and kids must be opening their presents without you. As you return to base you're in a bad mood. Surprise, the USO is handing out pre-paid phone cards so you can call home and for FREE!... (read more)
Today I was pleased to receive my copy of the UVa Alumni Magazine in the post - and to discover that the current cover story is about UVa alumni (graduates from 1976 - 2005) who have served, or are currently serving, in Iraq.... (read more)
In his most recent disptach, Michael Yon speculates that the war in Iraq may be winding down:... (read more)
Today, May 14th, is Israeli Independence Day. On this day, 60 years ago, the founders of Israel proclaimed a national homeland for Jews, a sanctuary from the slaughter in Europe, and an end to two millennia of wandering. So happy birthday, Israel - and here's to you... (read more)
Michael Yon has spent more time embedded in Iraq than pretty much anyone. He's got a new book coming out detailing what he saw: Moment of Truth in Iraq.... (read more)
Forty-two year old Pat Dollard is hurtling through the air in the exploding Iraqi night. An IED has just blown up at the back bumper of a Humvee he's riding in - killing the Marine sitting next to him, and sending him shooting 30 feet out of the vehicle, with a broken leg and shrapnel wounds.... (read more)
In part because I've been posting relentlessly gloomy political dispatches - pre-emptive capituation to sharia in Britain, heroic human-rights activist under death sentence, messianic dictator plans to kill all the Jews again - but mainly because it's important, and the mainstream media aren't doing it, here's a brief and digestible rundown of how great things are (finally) going in Iraq recently.... (read more)
Since the periodicity of my long-running quotations series has been getting asymptotic with infinity, here are the quotes that have been piling up since the last edition... (read more)
This is an essay that I've been writing in my head - and reciting bits of out loud at various intervals, in variously heated discussions - for five years. I write and publish it now for the following reasons:... (read more)
Happy Liberation Day to the brave and long-suffering Iraqi people. We stand with you.... (read more)
"The men of Normandy had faith that what they were doing was right, faith that they fought for all humanity . . . It was the deep knowledge - and pray God we have not lost it - that there is a profound moral difference between the use of force for liberation and the use of force for conquest."... (read more)
"It's strange for me to say it, but this process of change has started because of the American invasion of Iraq. I was cynical about Iraq. But when I saw the Iraqi people voting three weeks ago, 8 million of them, it was the start of a new Arab world. . . .... (read more)
"Defying the suicide bombers and head-hackers, courageous Iraqis went to the polls in huge numbers. Before the vote, the naysayers told us that the indelible purple dye on each voter's finger would mark them out for punishment by 'insurgents'. Instead, it became a defiant symbol of the country's freedom.... (read more)
"We wanted to be the first to vote here. This is our country. We have to do it. There should be no excuse for anyone not to come. These elections will decide the destiny of the country." - Amir Mahmoud Jawad, 18, Iraqi high school student... (read more)
Today is Veterans Day in the U.S. - and Remembrance Day in the UK. At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, the entire country stops, sits in two minutes of total silence, and remembers the men and women who died on their behalf.... (read more)
Happy 228th birthday, United States of America (from an American abroad). As previously noted, America - the only nation-state ever founded on the basis of a philosophy - is not a place nor a people, but a set of principles and ideals.... (read more)
