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The War in Iraq, Five Years Later


PUBLISHED: March 20, 2008

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:

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.

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Kevin McFadden (VABook!)'s picture
There will be a program approaching this topic at the Virginia Festival of the Book in Charlottesville. URL in the website section: Fri. March 28th, 6:00 PM Depravity, Upheaval, and the “Good War” Five days after the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, writer Dave Griffith (A Good War is Hard to Find), L.A.-based painter Sandow Birk (The Depravities of War), and composer Judith Shatin (Songs of War and Peace) will reflect on how artists address the most pressing social and political issues without resorting to cliche and didacticism. William Cleveland (Art and Upheaval) moderates Hosted by Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and Second Street Gallery.
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