A Burger King surrounded by blast barriers in Baghdad in 2008. Photo by Donovan Wylie.
Image used to illustrate “How cities reshape themselves when trust vanishes” by Thanassis Cambanis.
“At root, cities depend on constant leaps of faith. Each act of violence—a mugging, a murder, a bombing—erodes that faith. Over time, especially if there are more attacks, a city will adapt in subtle but profound and insidious ways.”
(via architectureofdoom)
This day in history:
In a speech aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, George W. Bush announces the end of “major combat operations” in Iraq less than two months after the start of the Iraq War.
In a different announcement on the same day, Donald Rumsfeld announces the end of major combat activity in Afghanistan, stating “we clearly have moved from major combat activity to a period of stability and stabilization and reconstruction activities.”
May 1, 2003 - 9 years ago today.
This day in history:
President George W. Bush announces the commencement of military operations within Iraq, and thus, the beginning of the Iraq war.
March 19, 2003 - 9 years ago today.
This day in history:
Saddam Hussein is executed at joint American-Iraqi military base “Camp Justice” after being found guilty of the 1982 killing of 148 Shia Muslims in the town of Dujail, Iraq.
December 30, 2006 - Five years ago today.
“An Iraqi boy is taken away from a suspected militant who has been accused of killing his father at the height of the sectarian slaughter in 2006-07, during a presentation to the media at the Interior Ministry in Baghdad on November 21, 2011.”
Never forget.
BAGHDAD — The United States military officially declared an end to its mission in Iraq on Thursday even as violence continues to plague the country and the Muslim world remains distrustful of American power.
(2003 - 2011)
USMC soldier James Blake Miller, dubbed the “Marlboro Marine” by the media, smoking a cigarette while serving in Iraq during the Battle of Fallujah.
Upon returning to the USA from service in 2005 he married his fiancée, but he suffered from PTSD due to his service, which put a strain on their relationship.
A year after getting married they were in the process of a divorce.
Miller now suffers from depression and is involved in a motorcycle gang.
