Iraq vets reflect on a war Americans have largely put behind them
The U.S. invasion of Iraq 20 years ago gripped the entire nation. Today it is far from the minds of most Americans, though not for the veterans who served there.
Iraq
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.
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.
What is the legacy of burn pits? For some Iraqis, it's a lifetime of problems
The PACT Act provides new access to services for American veterans struggling with the health effects of exposure to burn pits. But in Iraq, civilians who were exposed are still on their own.
In Iraq's Mosul, art springs up from ruins almost 5 years after the ouster of ISIS
This vibrant street art is a sign of the spirited rebuilding going on in the northern Iraqi city, after ISIS was defeated in 2017.
A life in limbo for the wives and children of ISIS fighters
Most of the residents of the Hassan Sham camp in northern Iraq feel like outcasts, with nowhere else to go. And conditions are getting worse as funding for food, education and health care dries up.
Why Baghdad will be one of the cities hardest hit by global warming
Iraq's capital city is already seeing record heat — up to 125 degrees Fahrenheit. A report predicts more 120-plus degree days to come. And the "urban heat island" effect will make things even worse.
Iraq has enough doses of COVID vaccine for everyone. But many Iraqis don't trust it
The vaccination rate is only 17%. People are scared and skeptical for many reasons. Now government health workers are trying to up the numbers. One strategy: vaccination booths in the mall.
Iraqi Kurds are learning Mandarin to take advantage of jobs from Chinese companies
Dozens of contracts signed in recent years ensure China's growing footprint, even as major Western companies, including the U.S., plot their exit.
The final, anguished years of a warrior-scholar who exposed torture by U.S. troops
Ian Fishback was a Green Beret who exposed torture by U.S. troops in Iraq. After serving four combat tours and earning a Ph.D. in philosophy, Fishback died last month in a nursing home. He was 42.