saddam hussein
The World's Most Depressing Museum Is in Iraq, of Course
Most cities have monuments to the past, so it seems appropriate, given the bloody history of Iraqi Kurdistan, that Sulaymaniyah's main tourist attraction is a museum devoted to documenting torture and injustice.
Are Chemical Weapons Actually Useful in a War?
Bashar Assad gave the US an excuse to enter the war when he used chemical weapons against the Syrian rebels trying to overthrow him, but in this day and age such weapons aren't very effective ways of killing people.
High Dives and Manicures at Saddam's Presidential Palace
One morning in Iraq in 2003, our battalion chaplain came to our small firebase in Baghdad and told us that he had to go to one of Saddam’s palaces for meetings and wanted to take a couple of infantry squads with him so we could enjoy the facilities. He...
Mem'ries: Fighting Fires in a Burning Kuwaiti Oil Field
When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990, he set in motion a political conflict that resulted in a devastating man-made environmental catastrophe. He had sworn that if he was "evicted from Kuwait by force, then Kuwait will be burned," and it turned...
Thank You From Baghdad
Yesterday (I write this on 6 November 2006) I was handed my verdict in a trial that to me was more of a circus than anything else.