Writing Worth Reading
Writing Worth Reading
Story of Robert Capa and Gerda Taro, and how they changed war photography forever. Radical activists, lovers, chroniclers of Spanish civil war. Both died on assignment. "If your pictures aren't good enough, you're not close enough"
Opposition to unmanned aerial vehicles comes from two main camps. "Oppenheimers" fear that drones will encourage American presidents to launch new wars overseas. "Orwells" fear that drones will enable more domestic surveillance
Concise evisceration of Obama's new wheeze. This body will justify its existence by promoting interventions. But does anyone think more, not less, US intervention is a good idea? And what about American (or Israeli) atrocities?
A medic in Afghanistan. "I was running a forward combat aid station as a general medical officer to a Marine Corps infantry battalion. Standard protocol is to gather the casualty's disembodied limbs and tissue as best you can"
A mere slip of a piece, and yet its commentary on war, and war reporting, is worth more than many longer ones. "May I ask you, I said, are you a Muslim or a Croat? And the answer he gave me still shames me as it echoes in my head"
Tipping the balance in favour of one side in a civil war requires deep, lasting commitment, of a kind the West does not have in Afghanistan. Pashtuns are too numerous and too opposed to American intervention. So here's what to do
Compared with the Global War on Terror, the Cold War was almost cosy. It made sense. "Who had the best symphony orchestras? Ballets? Chess masters? Decathletes?" We don't even understand Al-Qaeda's game, let alone how to win it
The number of American soldiers and Marines being killed in war is falling, but the number of surviving amputees has been rising. Some are finding a new challenge and camaraderie through golf
If you favour putting the arms race into reverse, chew on this: Formal arms reduction treaties can create perverse incentives and even be worse than doing nothing. Reductions happen more effectively if negotiators butt out
Decisions you take in the 10 minutes after detonation are the most important. Find shelter immediately; basements of tall buildings are good. Don't be tempted to flee. Fallout is at its most radioactive now but drops off quickly
America. "From Nuremberg on, no country has invested more in the development of international jurisdiction for atrocity crimes. And no country has worked harder to make sure that the law it seeks for others does not apply to itself"
A harrowing return. "To a casual visitor, Visegrad looks like any other sleepy town in the southern Balkans. But the past here is unforgiven, unforgotten, unresolved. The town is as it was at the end of the war"
Photo by Raymond Depardon
