I’m high in the mountains of northern Iraq. In a town called Ahmadiyya. This is the historic route into the land now called Iraq. This gate was built in the 14th century … Here is the start of the whole of Iraq. Adnan Sarwar, Journey in the Danger Zone: Iraq, BBC 2018
Reclaiming the streets of East Mosul … Mosul seems peaceful but there’s still a big military presence here. ibid.
The Isis tunnels revealed parts of old Ninevah that may not have been seen for hundreds if not thousands of years. ibid.
Kurdistan recently held a referendum for independence from Iraq. But the Iraqi government refused to recognise the vote. ibid.
Oil provides 99% of Iraq’s revenue. ibid.
The rubbish has been mixing with the oil to create toxic waste. ibid.
This minaret is like Iraq, it’s beautiful and seductive but it might kill ya. Adnan Sarwar, Journey in the Danger Zone: Iraq II, BBC 2018
We fought al-Sadre’s militia in Basra and I’m due to meet one of his lieutenants while I’m there. ibid.
This year, women must place their own votes for the first time. ibid.
250,000 Marsh Arabs have returned. ibid.
You haven’t changed. Please, take as seat. How is your sister? The one with the big tits. I one I always wanted to fuck. The Devil’s Double 2011 starring Dominic Cooper & Philip Quast & Ludivine Sagnier & Mimoun Oaissa & Raad Rawi & Mem Ferda & Khalid Laith & Pano Masti et al, director Lee Tamahori, Uday to Latif
We are all the president’s sons. ibid. Latif
Make sure you give me no reason to be angry with you. ibid. Saddam to Latif
I will not be part of this madness. ibid. Latif to Uday
Fallujah: In addition to heavy artillery and 2,000-pound bombs, American troops deployed the chemical weapon white phosphorous, which burns through human flesh like acid. Counter-Intelligence IV: Necrophilous, 2013
2003 and the Americans were about to invade Iraq and … I was a war correspondent … This was the first day I ever held a camera. Only the Dead, Michael Ware, 2015
In this car a teenage boy died shot by a nervous American soldier at a checkpoint near our house. ibid.
An armed resistance against the Americans was rising. ibid.
A suicide-bombing has just taken place at the Jordanian embassy here in Baghdad … It was the first suicide-bombing ever in Baghdad. ibid.
Fear like a virus was spreading. ibid.
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi: a Zarqawi contact knocked on my door DVD in hand … I felt he’d made me complicit somehow in his war. Now there could be no turning back. ibid.
The suicide-bombings kept coming even to our door. ibid.
Zarqawi’s world was one of unimaginable terror. ibid.
My first night in Baghdad, seven months after Bush declared the end of the war … According to the US government though I had nothing to fear. Mission Accomplished, Sean Langan, BBC 2013
There’s quite a lot of firing going on. ibid.
There’s already been a wave of massive suicide attacks on major targets in Baghdad and early signs of an armed Sunni resistance in the surrounding countryside. ibid.
America’s plans hadn’t extended to winning the peace. ibid.
It isn’t just petrol that’s scarce, it was a shortage of nearly all basic necessities. ibid.
What’s the point of freedom if it’s not even safe to walk the streets? ibid.
‘Where is the freedom Bush talks about?’ ibid. Iraqi
In the past 50 years the Iraqi people have endured three major wars, a coup and a bloody purge. As well as tyrannical repression, two insurgencies, invasion by the Islamic State group and a sectarian civil war. Iraq: A State of Mind, BBC 2019
‘I don’t know how to explain it. She’s [child] in shock … She lost her mind.’ ibid. mother
There is only one psychiatrist for every 300,000 people in Iraq … Al-Rashad is the only psychiatric hospital in Iraq, a country with a population of 38 million. ibid. captions
They were a bunch of do-gooders in a very bad part of the world doing very foolish things in my humble opinion and they were extraordinarily naive. Captive VIII: The Peacemakers, Iraq, former soldier, Netflix 2016
They took us one at a time into the house and they had us sit down … Every second was like an outrage. ibid. captive
The boredom was excruciating. We were just sitting in chairs … Like being in a thousand-degree furnace. ibid.
8 months after they were freed, the surviving captives were asked to testify at the Iraqi trial of their alleged kidnappers. ibid.
Iraqi armed forces backed by US military advisors are currently fighting to recapture Mosul, the largest city held by Isis. This is the story of their rise. Isis: The Rise of Terror, History 2020
They claim to live by the rules of 7th century Mohammad. They built an Islamic state in the heart of the ancient world. Their mission: kill those who don’t believe as they do wherever they may be. But say their war will continue until the end of days. But how did Isis rise and how long will their reign of terror last? ibid.
Khalifah: A terrorist nation that Isis have already built in Iraq and Syria. At least 30,000 foreigners have abandoned their own countries to begin new lives in the Islamic state. ibid.
Wives are a commodity whose rights can never equal their husband. ibid.
As Iraq descended into chaos, a small-time criminal seized an opportunity to make his dark vision come true. He created an organisation that would become the most feared terror group the world had ever known: Isis. ibid.
‘Removing Saddam Hussein from power was the right decision and rescued millions from unspeakable horrors.’ Once Upon a Time in Iraq I: War, George Bush, BBC 2020
The politicians have had their say. In this series the story of Iraq is told by the civilians, journalists and soldiers who lived through the 2003 invasion and the years of chaos that intervened to this day. ibid.
‘We sowed the seeds of Isis in 2003. We did.’ ibid. US soldier
At the start of 2003 over 300,000 coalition troops from mostly America and Britain had been deployed in preparation for the invasion of Iraq. And the whole country knew war was coming. ibid.
Despite 24 years of Saddam’s brutal regime, Baghdad was considered to be one of the most liberal and cosmopolitan cities in the Middle East. ibid.
‘That’s what Saddam actually provided proper to Iraq – it was safety and security from everything else, not from him.’ ibid. Iraqi
Oil had made Iraq rich; most of the people in rural areas were still living in poverty. ibid.
‘I felt like we had prised the doors off a mental institution … Oh my God, what are we getting into here?’ ibid. Iraqi
‘They [American soldiers] weren’t what I imagined them to be; they were slightly weirder. They were enormous and carried huge packs on their backs.’ ibid.
‘They [Iraqis] are looting everything, destroying everything.’ ibid.
‘The Ministry of Oil – that was the one Ministry immediately got protected by the American army. Everything else was free game.’ ibid.
I mean, it has to be worth it. What’s the alternative? ibid. US soldier
And the myth we were sold unravelled itself into this nightmare we are all stuck in. ibid.
May 2003: In the weeks following the invasion of Iraq American troops were welcomed on to the streets of Baghdad. Once Upon a Time in Iraq II: Insurgency
‘You see the best of people and you see the worst.’ ibid. soldier
A month after the invasion there were 150,000 troops across Iraq. ibid.
It was believed that if the army won the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people, security, democracy and reconstruction efforts would all fall into place. ibid.
Within days of his arrival, [Paul] Bremer issued two orders that irreversibly changed Iraq’s future. ibid.