The War in Iraq, Five Years Later

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Today is the fifth anniversary of the American invasion of Iraq. We’ve got a special article for the occasion, from David J. Morris. A former marine, Morris contributes Entries from The New Combat Contractionary: An Exercise in Interpretive Lexicography Relating to the Recent Hostilities, which provides the reader with definitions for such terms as “combat slumming,” “Operation Nostalgia,” and “gift guilting.” You ought to know Morris for “The Big Suck: Notes from the Jarhead Underground,” “The Image as History: Clint Eastwood’s Unmaking of an American Myth,” and “Trophy Town,” all of which have appeared in our pages in the past year.

Of course, we’ve covered the president’s adventure in the Middle East extensively in the past five years. Here’s some of our coverage:

• “Inside Saddam’s Spider Hole,” by Chris Hondros, Spring 2004
• “Capturing Saddam,” by Carleton J. Phillips, Spring 2004
• “The Big Suck: Notes from the Jarhead Underground,” by David J. Morris, Winter 2007
• “A Window on Baghdad,” by Chris Hondros, Summer 2007
• “Someone Won’t Be Coming Home Tonight,” by Carolyn Cole, Summer 2007
• “Last Photographs,” by Ashley Gilbertson, Summer 2007
• “Art Born of the Need to Tell,” by Daniel Heyman, Winter 2008
• “Trophy Town,” by David J. Morris, Winter 2008

The New York Times is also taking this opportunity to look back, with their “Five Years In” series. Richard A. Oppel’s “Iraq’s Insurgency Runs on Stolen Oil Profits” looks at the unlikely source of funding for the insurgency, Michael R. Gordon’s “Fateful Choice on Iraq Army Bypassed Debate” looks at the effects of Paul Bremer’s decision to disband the Iraqi army, and Solomon Moore’s “In Mosul, New Test of Iraqi Army” examines the successes and failures of the nation’s fledgling army.

Finally, Reuters is also earning accolades with their Bearing Witness: Five Years of the Iraq War commemorative website. They combine video, still photos, interview audio, maps, graphs, and a detailed timeline to create an impressive resource for looking back at our nation’s half decade in Iraq.