The Road to Damascus
U.S. Combat operations in Iraq are over. But for millions of refugees, former soldiers suffering injuries and PTSD, and an entire generation of young Iraqis, there's no end in sight. The tragedy of the war continues in shattered lives, displacement, violence and instability. What does life after the Iraq war look like in the Middle East, and in the U.S.?
CLP journalists reported from Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon and Syria in November and December 2010. Their journalism explores the human impact of our generation's war through experimental, transparent storytelling.
Postcards From Beirut
For years, Beirut was a synonym for chaos and destruction. But it has also been called the Paris of the Middle East. Today, the city retains vestiges of both those legacies, making it an enchanting — if disturbing — place to visit. For those unable to make the trip, we've compiled these postcards of the sights and sounds of Beirut. Press play to see the drawings come to life!
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Categories: Lebanon, Watch, Politics and Conflict
The Return One Marine's story of a mission accomplished, but not really over
The hotel room is dark and stuffy. Three twin beds with mismatched bedspreads fill the room, and in the farthest one, only Dan O'Brien's broad, pale back is exposed. His torso is scrawled with tattoos. A bulldog with cannons crossed behind it and a scroll of names that wrap around his rib cage — four Marines who died in a roadside-bomb attack outside Ramadi in 2007.
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Categories: Pacific Northwest, Iraq, Syria, Watch, Read, Politics and Conflict
Never Going Home Young Iraqi refugees dream of Seattle, wait in limbo in Syria
In 2003, Momo and Odesa were sweethearts at an art school in Baghdad. They loved rock music and hanging out with their friends and looked like they had promising careers ahead of them. But then came the U.S. invasion and ensuing sectarian violence. They were forced to flee to Syria, where they remain five years later, terrified to return home but slowly watching their dreams slip away.
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Categories: Pacific Northwest, Iraq, Syria, Watch, Read, Labor and Immigration, Politics and Conflict
The Waiting Room
Syria is home to the world's largest urban refugee population; hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have poured in since the 2003 invasion. Barred from joining the Syrian workforce, they attempt to navigate bureaucratic hurdles and find a new place to call home. Sarah Glidden's 21-page comic — part of the Road to Damascus project — offers a window into their lives.
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Categories: Iraq, Syria, Read, Comics, Labor and Immigration, Poverty and Development, Politics and Conflict
Syrian Rappers Get Serious
As demonstrations against the Syrian government intensified last month, a Syrian rap group called the Sham MCs released a song about the protests. It's called "From Syria." But the song isn’t pushing the demonstrators to rise up. It’s urging them to stop.
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Categories: Syria, Watch, Listen, Politics and Conflict
Syria Shows Facebook Doesn’t Automatically Equal Freedom
Syrians rushed to YouTube after the country's government loosened its Internet restrictions. But when it comes to a country's freedom and ability to mobilize, are we giving social media too much credit?
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Categories: Egypt, Syria, Watch, Read, Commentary, The Media, Politics and Conflict
Yossarian Jumped, Part 5 Forever enemies?
In his final video blog, Corporal Dan O'Brien reflects on his attitude toward Iraqis during his deployment, and the way that his return trip to the Middle East changed his perspective.
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Categories: Iraq, Syria, Watch, Listen, Blogs, Politics and Conflict
Yossarian Jumped, Part 4 Was it worth it?
Dan reflects on his reasons for joining the military in the first place, and on his travels in northern Iraq, and tries to reassess the U.S. decision to invade Iraq in 2003.
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Categories: Iraq, Syria, Watch, Listen, Blogs, Commentary, Politics and Conflict
Yossarian Jumped, Part 3 One story from a journey of many
Dan talks about the responsibilities and pressures of having the platform to publicly discuss the experience he shared with dozens of other Marines.
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Categories: Iraq, Syria, Watch, Listen, Blogs, Commentary, Politics and Conflict
The Quiet American Why my generation should listen to Iraqi refugees
“Welcome. I hate you. I never like you. I hate your country. I hate your government. I hate your soldiers. Welcome.” I'm standing in the Douma Center, a crowded UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) aid distribution warehouse a few miles outside of Damascus, Syria. This short middle-aged woman with a tan headscarf and dark, supernaturally arched eyebrows, currently jabbing a finger toward my sternum probably arrived at dawn.
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Categories: Iraq, Syria, Blogs, Commentary, Labor and Immigration, Poverty and Development, Politics and Conflict
Darkness on the Edge of Town
Iraq is booming. Well at least Northern Iraq (or more specifically KRG. Formal name: The Kurdish Regional Government. Informal name: The Other Iraq). It’s a stunningly hopeful place; its cities humming with construction sites, sleek new cars with import tags still hanging from the rearview and suburban housing developments named “American Village.”
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Categories: Iraq, Blogs, Poverty and Development, Politics and Conflict
Among the Faithful
It was the early morning of Eid al-Adha in Van, a Kurdish city in Turkey’s southeastern badlands. Eid al-Adha, which is observed throughout the Muslim world, translates from Arabic to the “Festival of Sacrifice” and marks Abraham’s decision to sacrifice his son Isaac (or in Islam, Ishmael) at God’s request. It’s a pretty big deal around these parts and is often celebrated with the slaughtering of a sheep, the meat of which is eaten and doled out to the poor.
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Categories: Turkey, Read, Blogs, Labor and Immigration, Poverty and Development, Politics and Conflict
Yossarian Jumped, Part 2 Survivor's guilt
Dan talks about the darkest day of his deployment to Ramadi, Iraq, and some of the feelings that come from members of his unit losing their lives.
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Categories: Iraq, Watch, Blogs, Commentary, Politics and Conflict
Iraq's Amusement Park
Iraq doesn't have much of a reputation for fun. But an evening visit to the amusement park in Sulaimaniya shows how removed the Kurdish controlled areas of the north are from the violence in southern Iraq. A dollar and a cursory pat-down at the gate gets you in to enjoy rides and snacks alongside Iraqi families spending an evening out.
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Yossarian Jumped, Part 1 A Marine's return to the Middle East
Daniel O'Brien, a Seattle native and former corporal in the U.S. Marines, is traveling with the CLP in order to blog, document, and remember what the climactic years of the war in Iraq were like. In his first video blog, filed from eastern Turkey, Dan talks about some of the good times he had while he was deployed, and explains why he's decided to return to the Middle East.
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Categories: Turkey, Iraq, Watch, Blogs, Commentary
Tea and Politics
I first visited the Middle East in 2003. My husband and I were living in New York, frustrated by our low-paying service jobs, our dirty overpopulated apartment, and the politics of fear and violence that defined that city in the first years after 9/11.
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Comic: All Aboard the Trans-Asia Express
Sarah Glidden is a cartoonist whose first full-length book, a graphic-memoir titled "How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less," was published by DC/Vertigo Comics in November, 2010. She's currently traveling with CLP journalists who will be the subject of her second graphic novel.
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Dawn in Istanbul
Before dawn, the call to prayer rings out, waking the fifth-largest and probably most beautiful city in the world. We woke up early and shot this footage around the Blue Mosque as the first worshipers arrived.
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Comic: Meeting Up With the CLP at JFK Sarah Glidden's first comic about the CLP's Road to Damascus reporting series.
Sarah Glidden is a cartoonist whose first full-length book, a graphic-memoir titled "How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less," was published by DC/Vertigo Comics in November, 2010. She's currently traveling with CLP journalists who will be the subject of her second graphic novel.
[more]
Categories: Turkey, Watch, Blogs, CLP Updates, Comics
Istanbul Walking Tour
After an early morning arrival in Istanbul, we burned off the jet lag with an epic 8 mile urban hike across the city. We met fishermen, pint-sized barbers and construction workers and stumbled across a demonstration of teachers demanding higher salaries. Here are some photos.
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Hitting the Road
This is a tough moment in America. Pinned down by two wars, floundering in the midst of an economic crisis and strained by political strife it’s easy to turn inward. And with U.S. combat operations officially over in Iraq it’s tempting to turn our backs on the violence, anger and instability of the Middle East. But as the consequences of the US invasion of Iraq continue to reverberate around the world, its clear that our futures are intertwined.
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