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News Articles: Iraq war

A man places flowers in front of headstones in Section 60, which mark the final resting place of service men and women at Arlington National Cemetery on May 27 in Arlington, Va. Originally known as Decoration Day, Memorial Day began after the Civil War to commemorate soldiers who died in that conflict and now honors all Americans who have sacrificed their lives in all wars. (Photo by Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

Arlington National Cemetery’s Section 60 is a focus of controversy. What is the area?

Many U.S. servicemembers from Afghanistan and Iraq wars are interred in this solemn place. It made news after a cemetery official tried to prevent former President Trump’s campaign from taking photos.

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By:
  • Scott Neuman and
  • Quil Lawrence
A demonstrator holds a placard, after Stella Assange, wife of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, released a statement outside the Royal Courts of Justice, in London, Tuesday.

A U.K. court delays extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the U.S.

He spent seven years in the Ecuadorian Embassy and five years in prison, both in London. U.S. prosecutors want his next move to be to the U.S. But the High Court has delayed that.

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By:
  • Lauren Frayer and
  • Fatima Al-Kassab
Talib al-Majli, 57, lives in a poor area in Baghdad. He says his detention in Abu Ghraib prison left him destitute and too physically weak and psychologically traumatized to find a reliable job. Now he works odd jobs, sometimes putting up signs for companies, earning around $30 per week.

He says U.S. troops abused him in Iraq's Abu Ghraib and his life is still ruined

This Iraqi man says that 20 years after appearing in a notorious photo in U.S. detention in Abu Ghraib prison, his family lives in shame and poverty, never receiving U.S. compensation or apologies.

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By:
  • Ruth Sherlock and
  • Awadh Altaie
U.S. Marines take up positions in the area around the Palestine hotel in the center of Baghdad, April 9, 2003.

Before the U.S. rolled into Baghdad 20 years ago, Iraqis warned us what would happen

When the U.S. invasion of Iraq began, NPR's Mideast editor Larry Kaplow was a reporter in Baghdad. Looking back now, he writes that the signs and warnings of the chaos to come were all too clear then.

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By:
  • Larry Kaplow
Soldiers of the U.S. Army 3rd Infantry Division secure a field near Najaf, Iraq, at sunrise on March 23, 2003.

Capturing the sound of war as U.S. forces charged for Baghdad

NPR's Eric Westervelt was among the first Western reporters to reach Iraq's capital during the 2003 U.S.-led overthrow of Saddam Hussein.

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By:
  • Eric Westervelt
March 20, 2003: U.S. Marines prepare themselves after receiving orders to cross the Iraqi border at Camp Shoup, in northern Kuwait.

The start of the Iraq War 20 years later in photos

On March 20, 2003, the U.S. carried out its first airstrikes in Iraq.

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By:
  • Grace Widyatmadja and
  • Sarah Mosquera
U.S. Marine Maj. Bull Gurfein pulls down a poster of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein on March 21, 2003, a day after the start of the U.S. invasion, in Safwan, Iraq.

3 takeaways 20 years after the invasion of Iraq

Two decades ago, then-President George W. Bush announced the start of combat operations in Iraq. The bloody occupation that followed lasted longer and cost more in lives and money than anyone guessed.

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By:
  • Scott Neuman and
  • Larry Kaplow
Dr. David Kieran is associate professor and Colonel Richard R Halleck, distinguished chair in military history at Columbus State.

Iraq War Symposium in Columbus reflects on the conflict's purpose, impact

Twenty years ago this month, U.S. forces invaded Iraq. How has that conflict changed us as a nation?

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By:
Ray Odierno salutes during his retirement ceremony at Joint Base Myer-Henderson, August 14, 2015 in Arlington, Va. Odierno, who was the Army's 38th Chief of Staff, died on Friday, his family said.

Ray Odierno, Army general who led troops through Iraq War, dies at 67

Odierno led the Army division that captured Saddam Hussein in 2003, and went on to become a key architect of the surge. President Biden called him a "hero" and a "giant in military circles."

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By:
  • Deepa Shivaram
U.S. Marines take cover as they push into the center of Fallujah, Iraq, in November 2004. The battle for the city produced the heaviest urban fighting of the Iraq war.

Is It OK To Commemorate One Of Iraq's Bloodiest Battles In A Video Game?

Six Days In Fallujah is based on the fight between U.S. troops and Iraqi opposition forces in 2004. The project was shelved for a decade, but the creator says it offers a serious look at the battle.

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By:
  • Quil Lawrence