Mediaboss Marketing

American Sniper, a movie I loved, tried to do everything. It explored the hell of war and the essence of brotherhood. It followed the book by the Texas super sniper Chris Kyle, told a love story, and drew attention to the veterans we are neglecting.

It succeeded. Some critics had trouble appreciating the film too patriotic? but Sniper made more than half a billion dollars, half of it in the United States; the highest grossing film by Clint Eastwood. Its powerful story about heroism and the commitment to country and family spoke to millions, especially in the middle of America. They were the people fighting and supporting the wars that many all too comfortable others were protesting.

The Wall tries to do just one thing. A tense battle scene unfolds more or less in real time. This film features snipers too a couple of Americans (John Cena and Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and an unseen Iraqi (Laith Nakli) holding them hostage from afar with his long rifle.

Exhausted and dehydrated, the U.S. Rangers walk into a trap when they examine a horrific scene in the Absolute Middle of Nowhere, Iraq. Amidst the dead bodies of American soldiers and security forces they become victims too of the invisible shooter who has killed everyone they came to rescue.

Cenas character, Matthews, is soon shot and wounded. This gives Golden Globe winner Taylor-Johnson a chance to shine, just as he did brilliantly in Nocturnal Animals. As Isaac, he is dirty, thirsty, frightened and occasionally creatively courageous while he hides behind a crumbling wall.

At some point the Iraqi sniper played by the British actor Nakli manages to get on his radio frequency. As the two talk, Isaac tries to stay alive and take out his nemesis. The Iraqi just wants to chat when he isnt shooting. With sarcasm and anger in his voice he lists the wrongs of the Americans active in Iraq and other Muslim-majority countries. An intelligent way to give a voice to the rationale behind the deadly insurgent campaign against the occupation; the campaign that eventually grew into ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

Is this an anti-war film? Hardly. It does lack the overt heroism and patriotism of American Sniper. But like Eastwood, director Doug Liman and writer Dwain Worrell seem to have an objective more important than rehashing the old Iraq War argument. Instead they attempt to get into the worlds, into the minds of these forgotten fighters.

A former Ranger named Nicholas Irving nickname: The Reaper served as an advisor on the film. He must be good at his former and current jobs. The dialogue and action feel real, lean, even claustrophobic. That quality makes The Wall was both hard and thrilling to watch. Of course, Limans films are always thrilling. Just think of The Bourne Identity, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and Edge of Tomorrow.

The compact intensity of this film reminded me of Fury. While that was a tale about the biggest topic imaginable World War II Fury also stayed small by getting into the heads of a bunch of fighters led by Brad Pitts character. The brotherhood inside that tank battalion was as tangible as the bond between Matthews and Isaac in The Wall.

The debate about Iraq remains a touchstone in the debate about interventionism versus isolationism, about engagement by the indispensable nation (George W. Bush) versus leading from behind (Barack Obama), which meant the withdrawal of troops from Iraq just when the war seemed winnable. Im not sure Liman means it this way, but the guys in The Wall become the collateral damage of the poorly timed retreat. With no chance to win they are left to fend for themselves, unable to reach anyone for backup.

Through their despair we sense that this is a symbol for America turning its back on allies and its own soldiers, the forgotten men and women trying to stay alive, risking everything while their contemporaries worry about safe spaces.

We cant know what would have happened if the surge and the Iraqi uprising had been given a chance under Obama. Perhaps the characters in The Wall would not have ended up abandoned in the desert. Maybe the Iraqi sniper would have become a school teacher helping to rebuild his country.

But as moviegoers we would not have been able to enjoy The Wall.

We may not like the outcome of this film and what it says about American power in the Middle East. But as war movies go, this compact thriller deserves a spot up there with other strong, recent war films: Fury, Zero Dark Thirty, and American Sniper.

The rest is here:
Fear and Courage in Iraq, Mostly Fear - American Spectator

As Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan dominated the news agenda, Mexico's drug wars claimed 23,000 lives during 2016 -- second only to Syria, where 50,000 people died as a result of the civil war.

"This is all the more surprising, considering that the conflict deaths [in Mexico] are nearly all attributable to small arms," said John Chipman, chief executive and director-general of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), which issued its annual survey of armed conflict on Tuesday.

"The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan claimed 17,000 and 16,000 lives respectively in 2016, although in lethality they were surpassed by conflicts in Mexico and Central America, which have received much less attention from the media and the international community," said Anastasia Voronkova, the editor of the survey.

In comparison, there were 17,000 conflict deaths in Mexico in 2015 and 15,000 in 2014 according to the IISS.

The Mexican government lashed out at the report's writers. In a statement posted to its website, the government criticizes the report's characterization of Mexico having a non-international armed conflict, saying the military's policing of criminal gangs does not equate to what goes on in other countries. It also disagreed with the report's methodology.

The statement, from Mexico's interior ministry and foreign ministry, questions the number of killings in the report.

"The total estimate of intentional homicides at the national level in 2016 has still not been published by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), so it's unknown where the figure used in the report came from," the ministries said, according to a CNN translation.

There are other reasons for killings besides connections to drug gangs, the government said.

"In this sense, the report starts from a base that is erroneous and lacking in technical rigor," the statement said, adding that when figures are adjusted for population, many other countries are more violent than Mexico.

Voronkova said the number of homicides rose in 22 of Mexico's 32 states during 2016 and the rivalries between cartels increased in violence.

"It is noteworthy that the largest rises in fatalities were registered in states that were key battlegrounds for control between competing, increasingly fragmented cartels," she said.

"The violence grew worse as the cartels expanded the territorial reach of their campaigns, seeking to 'cleanse' areas of rivals in their efforts to secure a monopoly on drug-trafficking routes and other criminal assets."

Rivalries between the cartels wreak havoc on the lives of civilians who have nothing to do with narcotics. Bystanders, people who refused to join cartels, migrants, journalists and government officials have all been killed.

Jacob Parakilas, assistant head of the US and the Americas Programme at London-based think tank Chatham House, said part of the reason for the relative lack of attention paid to Mexico in the international media is "it's not a war in the political sense of the word. The participants largely don't have a political objective. They're not trying to create a breakaway state. It doesn't come with the same visuals. There are no air strikes.

There have, however, been significant arrests in relation to the Mexican drug trade in recent times.

Damaso Lopez Nunez, a high-ranking leader of Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel, was arrested on May 2 in Mexico City and could face charges in the US, authorities said.

The number of conflict fatalities globally edged down last year, from 167,000 to 157,000, according to the IISS.

This was the second successive annual drop -- 180,000 people were killed in 2014.

The number of deaths in Syria fell from 55,000 in 2015. But there were 1,000 more deaths in Afghanistan last year than 2015 and 4,000 more in Iraq.

Voronkova from the IISS said: "Civilians caught amid conflict arguably suffered more than in the preceding years. Between January and August, 900,000 people were internally displaced in Syria alone."

The internal displacement figures were 234,000 for Iraq and 260,000 for Afghanistan.

CNN's Catherine E. Shoichet contributed to this report.

Originally posted here:
Report: Mexico was second deadliest country in 2016 - CNN

As Iraqi forces continues to advance against ISIS militants in West Mosul, their defeat is inevitable, which raises the salient question about Iraq's readiness and preparation for administrating the city after the militants removal.

Analysts on Iraq, while worried, do believe there are some glimmers of hope that the city can be substantially stabilized after its completely pried from the caliphate's grip.

There are no real plans, it is all improvisation at the moment. Resources are being thrown piecemeal at needs as they become available, said Michael Knights, the Lafer Fellow at the Washington Institute and noted Iraq analyst.

A patchwork of road, water and electricity reconstruction is evident, he added.

When asked if Baghdad will be able to secure, stabilize and rebuild Mosul long-term after ISIS's removal Knights responded in the affirmative, but added that the long-term is a long way away.

Dylan O'Driscoll, a former analyst the Middle East Research Institute (MERI) think-tank in Erbil who now works at the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute (HCRI) at the University of Manchester, warned of ill-planning before the Mosul operation began. Political timetables in both Baghdad and Washington saw both powers overlook the importance of anticipating how to deal with the long-term situation in Mosul, as opposed to just the immediate military task of removing the militants.

Before the beginning of the operation last October he wrote a report on Mosul and the future of the wider Nineveh region published by MERI which outlined the shortcomings of current plans, or lack thereof, for that areas future. O'Driscoll compared this to the poor post-conflict planning following the 2003 American-led invasion of Iraq, and the instability which subsequently plagued the country ever since, and warned that if Mosul's liberation is devoid of long-term planning it will likely result in the resurfacing of a number of issues responsible for the rise of ISIS in Iraq in the first place.

I still share the same concerns I had when my report on the future of Nineveh was published before the military campaign began last year, O'Driscoll told Rudaw English. I don't see adequate preparation for the governance of the province post-ISIS and the necessary institutional restructuring is widely being ignored.

At the same time, there is very little development of coordinated localized security solutions allowing for the long-term security of the province. On the development side, things are also moving slow, particularly with regards to restarting the economy.

O'Driscoll fears that a combination of these factors will see Nineveh quickly becoming a geopolitical playground where multiple entities are competing for influence.

He does nevertheless see some positive indicators for the future of the region.

The resilience of the local people has been immensely impressive and in my opinion Haider al-Abadi has grown as a leader, O'Driscoll concluded.

Joel Wing, an Iraq analyst who runs the Musings on Iraq blog, is also anxious about the city's future. However, he already sees some positive developments on the city's east side, which was completely recaptured in January.

When east Mosul was freed some residents started complaining that they were not getting any help from the government to rebuild, Wing said. Nineveh officials told the press that they had a plan for reconstruction as well as Baghdad. Now that tune has changed. Nineveh officials admit that they are working on a plan right now, but they say there's no money for it.

Wing says this is a huge problem given the fact that Mosul is such a large city with so many needs.

East Mosul has some areas there were heavily damaged, but most of it looks pretty good, and already some services are being restored slowly, he added. The west however looks pretty devastated. If there's not a serious rebuilding plan that could cost Baghdad the support it has won from the residents for liberating them.

Wing also points out that stabilizing and rebuilding Mosul is a process which will have to include a large security component.

The contracts have to be policed and investigated because the Islamic State is going to try to exploit them to raise money and rebuild, he concluded.

Read the original:
Is Iraq prepared for the day after ISIS in Mosul? - Rudaw

BAGHDAD Just over 10 years ago, Qasim al-Araji was being arrested a second time by American forces in Iraq. The charges were serious: smuggling arms used to attack U.S. troops and involvement in an assassination cell at the height of sectarian violence that engulfed Iraq following the 2003 toppling of Saddam Hussein.

Now, he heads of one of Iraq's most powerful ministries.

With credentials that include training from Iranian special operators known as the Quds force and time spent as a guerrilla and militia commander, Iraq's Interior Minister al-Araji is now trumpeting his respect for human rights and support for the U.S.-led coalition in the fight against the Islamic State group. But the forces he now commands have a long history of Shiite domination and abuse, factors that partially contributed to the rise in support for ISIS in Iraq.

Back in 2007, al-Araji was held by the United States for 23 months. He spent most of his captivity at Bucca prison, including long periods in solitary confinement.

Today, at the head of one of Iraq's most powerful ministries, al-Araji laughs off questions about lingering hostility toward U.S. forces.

"That's life," he said in a recent interview with The Associated Press, his manner boisterous and unpolished as he shuttled between meetings at a small Interior Ministry office inside Baghdad's highly fortified Green Zone. "I was their prisoner and now I meet with their ambassador."

Al-Araji's office confirmed that he met with the U.S. ambassador to Iraq within days of taking office to express his support for the U.S. role in the fight against ISIS and to request additional support for his ministry and forces.

Following a controversial March 17 strike in Mosul that killed more than 100 civilians, al-Araji took a rare public position for an Iraqi politician: he defended the U.S.-led coalition and the use of airstrikes in Mosul on the floor of Iraq's parliament.

"My most important goal is to bring security to Iraq," al-Araji said, "and (to achieve that) Iraq is in need of the friendship of the Americans."

Under al-Araji, the Interior Ministry has already received more support from the U.S.-led coalition.

In the fight for Mosul, greater coalition air and ground support for Iraq's federal police who fall under the command of the Interior Ministry have allowed them to take a lead role in the city's west.

The U.S.-led coalition is also training and arming local and border police across Iraq, other forces that now fall under al-Araji's command.

But Iraq's police are some of the same forces who were accused of using excessive force, carrying out mass detentions of Sunni males and routinely torturing detainees in the lead-up to the summer of 2014, according to human rights groups and a 2013 State Department report on human rights practices in Iraq. The abuses contributed to Sunni resentment of central government rule and fueled support for ISIS extremists in Iraq's Sunni north and west.

Al-Araji, who spent years in exile in Iran, first traveled there as a teenager in the 1980s and was trained by Iranian special forces as a guerrilla fighter to resist Saddam Hussein's regime. In the Iran-Iraq war, he fought on Iran's side. Al-Araji describes his years in Iran as a fighter as formative.

After the fall of Baghdad in 2003, al-Araji and thousands of other fighters poured across the border into Iraq.

"We didn't have any military activities," he said of his first days back in Iraq, "but we were supporting the overthrow of the regime. The Americans didn't understand, we were both working for the same end."

On April 19 that year he was arrested by U.S. forces on suspicion of commanding militia forces, held for 85 days and then released on insufficient evidence. In 2004, following the fall of Saddam, al-Araji said he fully transitioned to politics, running for local office in Baghdad's Wasit province.

But three years later he was arrested again by U.S. forces. A secret cable from the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad on Jan. 19, 2007, published by WikiLeaks stated that U.S. forces "had good information based on multiple sources," that al-Araji was "involved in smuggling and distribution" of explosives that were being used to target U.S. forces and that he was "also suspected in involvement in an assassination cell."

After nearly two years, al-Araji was again released on insufficient evidence.

"I believe every difficult stage leaves something inside a human being," al-Araji said. "Being a prisoner taught me patience, it made me stronger."

Al-Araji returned to local politics, rose through the ranks of the Badr organization and became a parliamentary bloc leader.

After the fall of Mosul, Badr's military wing closely supported by Iran racked up a string of high profile victories against ISIS in 2014. In the months that followed, Badr and the group's leader Hadi al-Amiri rode the wave of those victories for political gain in Baghdad and secured de-facto control of the country's Interior Ministry.

Badr member Mohammed al-Ghabban was appointed to lead the ministry in October 2014, but was forced to resign in July 2016 amid mounting anger following a massive truck bombing claimed by ISIS in central Baghdad that killed more than 300 people.

Al-Araji appointed in January takes over the ministry at a critical time for the country's security forces who are under increasing pressure to eliminate the last pockets of ISIS control, prevent an insurgency from bubbling up in the wake of territorial victories, and repair their reputation in Iraq's Sunni heartland.

British Ambassador to Iraq Frank Baker told the AP he talks to al-Araji regularly. He described him as an "an Iraqi patriot" who "faces many challenges but is doing a very good job for Iraq and the Iraqi people."

Looking back at his career, al-Arajii says some things about him have changed.

"With my current position comes great responsibility," he said, explaining that because of that he considers the choices he makes carefully.

"But as a person, I have not changed, I'm the same."

Read more from the original source:
Former US prisoner now leading Iraq's Interior ministry - Military Times

After six years of civil war, Syria remains the bloodiest battlefield on the planet. But theres one other conflict zone whose violence in recent years has come to eclipse both the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the bloodshed is right on Americas doorstep.

Thanks to the rising tide of cartel violence, Mexico surpassed Iraq and Afghanistan to become the worlds second-deadliest war zone in 2016, according to the annual Armed Conflict Survey by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

The reign of terror wrought upon innocent civilians by Mexicos drug cartels accounted for 23,000 fatalities in 2016, according to IISSs study of ongoing conflicts around the world. Thats compared with around 16,000 deaths in Iraq and 17,000 in Afghanistan. (All three pale in comparison to the sixth year of the Syrian civil war, which took more than 50,000 lives last year.)

The rise of cartel violence in Mexico isnt surprising: Bloodied bodies turn up on the local news on a seemingly regular basis, usually as a warning to journalists and law enforcement to keep their distance.

But compared with the conflict zones in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria, Mexico is a bit of an outlier in one key respect. Bloomberg reports:

Mexico is a conflict marked by the absence of artillery, tanks or combat aviation, IISS director general John Chipman said in remarks at the surveys launch in London on Tuesday. Virtually all of those deaths were caused by small arms.

The largest number of fatalities occurred in Mexican states that have become key battlegrounds for control between competing, increasingly fragmented cartels, he said, with violence flaring as gangs try to clear areas of rivals so they can monopolize drug trafficking routes.

According to the Department of State, at least 163 Americans were killed in Mexico between December 2014 and December 2016 thats only including deaths that State officially classified as homicides.

Since December, the State Department has maintained a travel warning for travelers to Mexico, stating that gun battles between rival criminal organizations or with Mexican authorities have taken place on streets and in public places during broad daylight, while U.S. citizens have been the victims of violent crimes, including homicide, kidnapping, carjacking, and robbery in various Mexican states.

The irony, of course, is that the conflict raging just below Americas southern border often spills over onto American soil.

And thats not just because of heroin, which killed more Americans than guns in 2015: According to the Drug Enforcement Agencys 2016 National Drug Threat Assessment, Mexican cartels work with smaller local criminal groups and gangs across the United States for retail drug distribution and transportation in major cities like Chicago, Boston, and Washington.

Though the cartels U.S. associates generally refrain from inter-cartel violence that accounts for the high fatality rate in 2016 to avoid police scrutiny, its their ambitions and vendettas that are increasingly accounting for growing gang violence across the U.S., according to the DEA.

Its no surprise that the cartels have turned our southern neighbor into a battlefield on par with Iraq and Afghanistan. But the problem Mexico poses for the U.S. is similar to that posed by our faraway battlefields: What can America do to stop the violence, much less prevent its spread domestically?

View original post here:
Mexico Surpasses Afghanistan and Iraq As The World's Second-Deadliest Conflict Zone - Task & Purpose