Occupation of Iraq

The news out of Iraq is especially powerful for veterans of the war there. Blake Hall served in Iraq in 2006 and 2007, in Mosul and Baghdad, among other places. He’s frustrated and sad.The news out of Iraq is especially powerful for veterans of the war there. Blake Hall served in Iraq in 2006 and 2007, in Mosul and Baghdad, among other places. He’s frustrated and sad.

When the war in Iraq was raging, Syrians came to the help of their neighbors. They took in refugees, in some cases even total strangers. Today, with their own country going through a bloody civil war, Syrian are looking for refuge — many in Iraq.When the war in Iraq was raging, Syrians came to the help of their neighbors. They took in refugees, in some cases even total strangers. Today, with their own country going through a bloody civil war, Syrian are looking for refuge — many in Iraq.

Today marks the formal end of the United States’ combat mission in Iraq, after almost eight years. What kind of presence will the U.S. have there in the coming years and is it realistic for the country to fully support itself by the end of next year?

In the spring of 2003, for a brief moment, many Americans bought the idea, that the Iraq war was over. But why didn’t the war end with the fall of Baghdad? And why were we programmed to think it might?

Two years after the bulk of US troops left Iraq, life there is hard. Violence is rising, health care is weak, and corruption is abundant. Yet an Iraqi journalist stays to rebuild a country she loves.