Writing Worth Reading
Writing Worth Reading
Reflections on Iraq war. "We eliminated the very officials and institutions we should have been building on, and left thousands of the most highly skilled people in the country jobless and angry—prime recruits for insurgency"
A typically weird and wonderful Curtis blogpost, lavishly illustrated with video and all but uncategorisable. Here is your chance to discover the links between yoga, Barbara Cartland, and the modern history of Iraq
Concise, punchy, cut-out-and-keep guide. Read it now; even better, bring it out again when talk next surfaces that invading and trying to remake a foreign country would be a good idea. It very rarely is
Iraqi junior doctor describes dealing with female patients. Lots brought in after attempted suicides. Stopping them dying is beginning and end of treatment. Abused and damaged women are then returned whence they came
Shadid won his second Pulitzer in 2010, for his reporting for the Post from Iraq. This page contains links to those articles for which he was recognised, written in 2009 as US forces left and Iraqis struggled to shape their future
Security has improved, the economy is picking up, Iraq is open for business. Well, that's the Iraqi prime minister's message. But what do Iraqis themselves feel about Nouri al-Maliki and the future of their country? Good sit-rep
Horrifying, important account of corruption and lack of humanity in Iraq. "You pay $300,000 to buy a post as a security chief of a neighbourhood for a year and you have to get your money back. It's like an investment"
Nice mix of travelogue and political analysis as Sky returns to country she worked in as adviser to US army. A rounder picture of Iraq than one usually gets, with some cause for optimism. But fears loom over PM's power play
Well, it's partly that. But it's also a struggle for power that throws up plenty of intra-sectarian battles. Iraq's most senior Shia cleric won't talk to any Iraqi politicians now, so fed up he is with their shortcomings
At number one: The overthrow of Saddam Hussein helped inspire uprisings against authoritarian rulers elsewhere. Wrong. No Arabs see anything in Iraq they want to replicate. So who spearheaded the uprisings and who's benefiting?
One thing America got right in Iraq was to give Kurds real autonomy, without breaking Iraq apart. Kurdistan has a booming economy and a decent government. To stay ahead, Kurds should take Taiwan as their diplomatic model
Concise analysis of Iraqi PM, Nouri al-Maliki's moves against Sunni Arab vice-president and vice prime minister. We're heading towards a de facto majority government, in which Maliki and Shia colleagues isolate or exclude others
Image by Exothermic on Flickr
