Dahr Jamail

Dahr Jamail has reported from inside Iraq and is the author of Beyond the Green Zone.

After False Promises, the Heat Is On

BAGHDAD – Iraqis promised development with the ouster of Saddam Hussein and the arrival of the U.S. are now suffering lack of development as never before. And where it hurts every moment is through the collapse of power supply. More than seven years into the U.S. occupation, most Iraqis lack electricity, leading to demonstrations in … Continue reading “After False Promises, the Heat Is On”

Baghdad Imam’s Assassination Sparks Fears of Violence

BAGHDAD – The assassination of Sheikh Ghazi Jabouri, a prominent Sunni Imam in the al-Adhamiya district of Baghdad, has raised fears of renewed sectarian violence in the wake of the March 7 elections. Tensions have been reported in the area following the assassination last Wednesday. At least two gunmen killed Sheikh Jabouri, 42, as he … Continue reading “Baghdad Imam’s Assassination Sparks Fears of Violence”

Women Miss Saddam

BAGHDAD – Under Saddam Hussein, women in government got a year’s maternity leave; that is now cut to six months. Under the Personal Status Law in force since Jul. 14, 1958, when Iraqis overthrew the British-installed monarchy, Iraqi women had most of the rights that Western women do. Now they have Article 2 of the … Continue reading “Women Miss Saddam”

Court-Martial for Soldier Who Wrote Angry Song About Stop-Loss

MARFA, Texas — Army Specialist and Iraq war veteran Marc Hall was incarcerated by the U.S. Army in Georgia for recording a song that expresses his anger over the Army’s stop-loss policy. Now he waits to be shipped to Iraq to face a court martial. Stop-loss is a policy that allows the Army to keep … Continue reading “Court-Martial for Soldier Who Wrote Angry Song About Stop-Loss”

Soldiers Forced to Go AWOL for PTSD Care

With a military health care system over-stretched by two ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, more soldiers are deciding to go absent without leave (AWOL) in order to find treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Eric Jasinski enlisted in the military in 2005, and deployed to Iraq in October 2006 as an intelligence analyst with … Continue reading “Soldiers Forced to Go AWOL for PTSD Care”

Whistleblower Psychiatrist Warns of Soldier-on-Soldier Violence

MARFA, Texas – Kernan Manion, a psychiatrist who was hired last January to treat Marines returning from war who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other acute mental health problems borne from their deployments, fears more soldier-on-soldier violence without radical changes in the current soldier health care system. Working for a personnel-recruiting company which … Continue reading “Whistleblower Psychiatrist Warns of Soldier-on-Soldier Violence”

Army Underreporting Suicides, Says GI Advocacy Group

According to a soldiers’ advocacy group at Fort Hood, the U.S. base where an army psychiatrist has been charged with killing 13 people and wounding 30 in a Nov. 5 rampage, the official suicide figures provided by the Army are “definitely” too low. Chuck Luther served 12 years in the military and is a veteran … Continue reading “Army Underreporting Suicides, Says GI Advocacy Group”

Army Sends Infant to Protective Services, Mom to Afghanistan

U.S. Army Specialist Alexis Hutchinson, a single mother, is being threatened with a military court-martial if she does not agree to deploy to Afghanistan, despite having been told she would be granted extra time to find someone to care for her 11-month-old son while she is overseas. Hutchinson, of Oakland, California, is currently being confined … Continue reading “Army Sends Infant to Protective Services, Mom to Afghanistan”

‘War Comes Home’ with Ft. Hood Shootings

PHOENIX, Arizona — While investigators probe for a motive behind the mass shooting at the Fort Hood military base in Texas Thursday, in which an army psychiatrist is suspected of killing 13 people, military personnel at the base are in shock as the incident "brings the war home." "Fort Hood is pretty much a ghost … Continue reading “‘War Comes Home’ with Ft. Hood Shootings”