Sammorra Iraq: A Short Story

. . fire . . . At this time I was between the soldiers and the mob,

The Marines had been sent to Lebanon as peace-keepers, trying to bring some peace to a civil war that was ongoing in Lebanon. Military observers subsequent to that horrific event have suggested that this terrorist assault was the beginning of the reign of terror that radical Islamic would continue to perpetrate on Americans through the next twenty years.

haunts me. Every time I close my eyes an image of a dead soldier or someone shooting a gun blares

different than any other day on the job. As the marines made their way down the dirt road nothing looks out of place. We make our way around a bend then bang! First there is a blinding light followed by a deafening sound that was preluded by a ringing that traveled throughout your head. A roadside bomb also known as an IED has just been detonated just

Some days are just plain bad. For 1st Lieutenant Edwin Ramsey of the 26th Cavalry Regiment (PS), Friday, January 16, 1942, was one such day. Having just finished a grueling reconnaissance mission with G Troop Ramsey was supposed to take his men to the rear area for rest. But as young lieutenants are prone to do, he spoke before thinking, volunteering to lead another unit to a village called Morong where things really went to hell.

As the war continued, the United States Army was fighting the Mahdi Army. They pushed the Mahdi Army into Sadr, but the White House didn’t want to risk destroying the mosque so the Army was ordered to cut a deal. The deal was to have their militia not oppose the Americans. The United States

Among the Ruins: Syria Past and Present by Christian Sahner is a narration of Sahner’s viewpoints of the conflicts that besiege Syria today with their accompanying historical basis. He highlights the effect that this is not just another “Arab Spring” or sectarian brush fire that suddenly appeared but instead is deeply rooted in cultural tensions that have boiled over. Sahner provides examples of sectarianism and its impact upon Syria throughout history but also supports his thesis that the conflict extends beyond sectarianism, which he supports through historical illustrations. Furthermore, his prolific usage of first-person experience and writing breathes life into historical notions. One example is Sahner’s quote of a Syrian

In Marjane Satrapi's word-specific panel about refugees fleeing north on page 89, she indicates the perilous situation of the war through taxis escaping flaming iconography. The bombing of border towns in the Iran-Iraq war forces residents to abandon their homes and belongings in the hope of finding refuge in the northern cities. The foreboding, chaotic scene underscores a period of turmoil in Iranian history. The words of the panel state, “After Abadan, every border town was targeted by bombers. Most of the people living in those areas had to flee northward, far away from the Iraqi missiles.” Satrapi sets the backdrop of warfare with intense, slightly militaristic words such as “targeted,” “flee,” and “far away”. This being a word-specific panel, the graphic

The area named “is made up of seven sites: three archaeological sites and four wetland marsh areas in southern Iraq,” Unesco said.

Iraq is essentially split between two different forms of Muslims, with the majority being Shias and the minority being Sunnis. The Shias, being less strict about following Islamic laws directly from the Quran, whereas the Sunnis are more firm with following and enforcing all Islamic law as described in the Quran. However, the foundation of both group’s beliefs are the five pillars of Islam, and believing in the prophet Muhammad. The separation between the two groups lies predominately with the succession of the prophet

threatened to bomb baghdad unless Saddam Hussein and his two sons left Iraq within 48 hours. However, they did not leave And baghdad was bombed. After the bombing the U.S. led seven raids on Baghdad and eventually in April and took control with very little resistance. U.S. soldiers tore down the statue of saddam Hussein that stood in the center of the city. For a short while there was period of peace before looting went rampage and the streets of Iraq became unsafe for thousands of people. On top of all the chaos in the country, Saddam Hussein was still not accounted for and still needed to be

Heavy bombardment at about 11am. Heard a fearful crash. The next dugout to ours blown to blazes, and

In November 2004, coalition powers drove by the US Marine Corps blockaded the town of Falluja in Al Anbar Province, utilizing extraordinary shelling with supporting airstrikes to decimate the Sunni extremists' fortress there. Up to 20 percent of Falluja's structures were devastated, and one-half to 66% of those remaining experienced remarkable harm rockets, airstrikes and tank fire. (The assaults review the notorious remark a war journalist ascribed to an anonymous source in 1968, who said it was important to wreck the South Vietnamese town of Ben Tre so as to spare it.) After the battling stopped and uprooted inhabitants gave back, the rubble of destroyed structures and different debris of war were bulldozed to the bank of the Euphrates

This departure of the American forces was a major triumph for Hezbollah. They had pioneered a new effective weapon, the suicide bomber. More important though, they had chased off an imperialist invader and by doing

Iraq is one of the most eastern Arab countries. Boarded by Turkey to its north, Iran