This is the warrrr that will never end, Yes, it will go on and on my friend...
Topic: Iraq-a-palooza
Having this much downtime may have been bad for this blog but good for my 'summer reading list.' This August I decided to really try and aquaint myself a little more with what has been happening on the ground in Iraq. I have read a number of great books on this and I wanted to be sure to share with you some of the good work about a really bad thing.

For one, Iraq is a smelly, awful, craphole that appears to simply be an un-winnable situation. No dis to the troops as they are doing hard work to the best of their well trained ability. It's the situation that is killing them and that is not their fault. We are really not that welcome there and while there are definite comparisons to Vietnam possible it really isn't like Vietnam. In fact, it really isn't "like" any other war we've been involved in. Read these:

The Last True Story I'll Ever Tell by John Crawford is more or less a series of essays and reflections written during and shortly after his over one year stint in Iraq. He was in a Florida unit of The National Guard and was called up during his honeymoon and two credits shy of completeing his degree. A good honest look at a grunt's life there.

The Freedom by Chris Parenti. Parenti is a writer for The Nation so you can expect a liberal bend on this book. However, he also goes further and farther into Iraq than most journalists as he manages interviews with Iraqis, insurgents and more. Definitley the most comprehensive tome about the first year over there I have read yet. It is also connected to John Crawford's book as Parenti meets him while writing the Freedom...Small world.

Next was Generation Kill by Evan Wright, who I believe writes for Rolling Stone. This one is a detailed account of the Marine's First Recon who more or less spearheaded the initial invasion in 2003. It is gritty, dirty and crass and written in the common language of combat. Not all to political and a bit 'Hoo-Rah' but to strong effect. Demonstrates that the troops are doing their job in a the shittiest of circumstances.

Naked in Baghdad by Anne Garrels deals with the before, during and after of the initial invasion from the Baghdad point of view. Garrels did the war coverage for NPR and seems to lean left but definitely wortks hard to remain objective as she wrestles with the tyranny of Saddam Hussein vs. the Tyranny of a foriegn invasion. She too goes above and beyond the call of duty by doing her best to get the actual Iraqi perspective in all of this.

So, there's your homework kiddies...They are all good reads though now with the aftermath of Katrina, perhaps reading about our other awful, neverending problem may not be your first choice of fun right now. CONSTANT VIGILENCE! We have to find our way out of this hole someway and maybe better to face it head-on than to view it inidirectly through the pop-culture prism?