This blog...WOW...Thank you

Man, i stumbled accross your blog with the Cedar Rapids post, and have been hooked since! Super foto's !!!!

There are some powerful contrasts in a number of photos here, and many make one think. Thank you.

Love this site.. I check it everyday.

thanks for the amazing insite

Leave Iraq in peace.
We have so much trouble in the world. The images are very shock.
USA have to leave and take care about yours ow problems.

these images are just mind blowing.

the one with the children jumping and the people rejoicing about the soccer win, help remind us that life still goes on...the sun also rises.

beautiful.

believe me, we'd love to leave you and go home to take care of our own problems, jonathan.

Actually, these are the first photos in awhile that make me think there's any progress happening there.

Every one of the sets you've published have been amazing. Thanks for sharing.

Bellissime foto, ma soprattutto belle quelle mani che dimostrano tutta la disperazione di un popolo che cerca di sopravvivere.

Good God. Such sobering photographs.

Beautiful, beautiful site. This site, along with CNN.com and BBC.com, is one of my new go-to sources for news. The images are breathtaking.

Thanks so much.

Bellissimo reportage, e grande blog .
complimenti

Such revealing images of the difficult role US troops
are having to cope with on a daily basis God willing
they will all return safely !Thanks for a super blog.

Terrific pics, this war is amazingly well covered as far as this sort of thing goes. Compare these shots to images you've seen of WWII or even Vietnam.

datter
http://finaldog.com/

Thank you so much for such a treasure trove of incredible images.

This website is wonderful ! Pictures are so beautiful. Does anybody know if it's possible to get the EXIF IPTC metadata ? It would be very useful to learn how the photograph took the picture.

"A boy carrying plastic toy weapons approaches a U.S. Soldier": that picture others implies so much about mankind, culture, wars... My heart sank just looking at it.

My first comment here but I'm a dedicated reader since the beginning, and always impressed by these stunning pictures. Fantastic work you're doing here.

I now stop here first thing every morning. It really keeps my spoiled, privileged butt in check. Thank You so much for bringing such realness to the average american person.

Merci pour ce blog, merci pour ces images qui valent mieux que cent mots.
JCMoriaud, France

Incredible photos.

The child holding guns.. powerful photo.

Best new blog of 2008, hands down - these photos in particular give you a whole new perspective on the war.

So much detail on the US soldiers and so little detail on the civilians that are the focus of this thread.

fantastic work

Absolutely wonderful site. Love the images and how they're not the typical images that are showcased. These tell a story, one side/both sides and a little bit inbetween. Love the images chosen, love how they're displayed and love reading the blurbs that tell us the story. Keep up the great work!

I can't echo the other comments loudly enough... thank you for an amazing blog and such incredible photography. I do a *lot* of web surfing but this was by far the most moving thing I've seen online in a long time. These pictures are my connection to the larger world so far away. So visceral! Posts on this blog have become a highlight of my day. :-)

This is such an awesomely good blog. Damn, I wish I'd found it earlier.

Thank you

Thank you so much for putting a face on those having to endure both the joys and hardships of their circumstances, as well as simply day to day living - for Americans (soldiers) and Iraqis alike. We all need to see a bit more humanity - more so than what words alone could possibly ever convey. Great photography. Keep up the good work

Go to www.1ad.army.mil/ to see what U.S. Soldiers do on a daily basis.
You can see 1-6 Soldiers at www.1ad.army.mil/2ndBde/2bcthome.htm

Such great photos. My son is in one of them. So moving for me to see him there.

This blog is definitely one of the BEST things I can read now in the Internet. Congratulations for the very high quality of your work !

I MUST visit this site daily. What magnificent photos.

Compliments for this incredible image.

http://davidlatache.blogspot.com/

Thank you for so many photos of the 1-6 IN that my husband is attached to. I never know what he is doing so its nice to see something. Your pictures bring joy and pride to my heart.

Thank you.

SO much ................ felling....

awesome. keep it up

Incredible photos. Thank you so much.

Does this look like peace? This is terrible, no one should have to live like this.

It illustrates the massive destruction we have rained down on these people and how their image of the USA is of men with guns. Too sad. We need to leave and do so quickly.

If the Iraqi government can finally get its act together, it can order us to leave as it is currently threatening to do. They can do for us what we cannot get our own government to do: listen to the will of the people.

First time commenting but I've seen all of these beautiful sets and I just wanted to say how incredible this blog is. The photos absolutely take my breath away.

You never see girls among the children there.

You don't see images like this anywhere else - thankyou! Absolutely amazing.

Best. Photo. Blog. Ever.

Addictive. Awesome.

As one of the photographers that has photos on this site, I appreciate the comments both good and bad. Our photos are suppose to invoke a feeling; therefore we are doing our job.
I just came across this site and I'm glad that I did. I will pass it on to one of the other photographers so that he knows about this site as well.
thanks again

These pictures help me understand what my boyfriend is seeing while there. He assures me that they are trying so hard to bring forth some comfort. I am so proud of him and all of the soldiers that work so very hard to make a difference. I now can see why he is so willing to lose sleep and work so very hard.
God Bless my BF and all of the soldiers willing to support those in need. These Images are amazing and I am glad I found them!

Al... wake UP! "Does this look like peace...??? the massive destruction we've rained down...???" Did you even look at any of these photos, like the ones of Jamilla Market? You think it looks bad now, you should have seen it 4 weeks ago before we bringers of destruction got there and started spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to help local business owners get their shops out of the slums. Honestly, you read all these great comments from viewers amazed at the emerging strength and beauty, and resolute determination these photos convey and somehow you still manage to see a pile of dung in a bed of roses.

This is horrible. Seeing the US invaders in this set of photos is disturbing. All war needs to stop. These people can take care of themselves without the US . The US needs to take care of itself, what goes on in other places of the earth is not our business.

Denmason--I pity anyone who needs help when you're the only one around.

Denmason--Do you understand the term 'globalization'? At this age, anything that goes on in the world affects us. Perhaps you have noticed a 'slight' increase in commodity prices.

Additionally, are you implying that 100's of thousands of people in Myanmar who are not receiving basic aid from their government should be ignored by our government?

In the future, you may want to take a more macro approach to your understanding of global interaction.

Superb images, thank you. Makes me think, and I like that.

Çàìå÷àòåëüíûå ôîòî! Æåñòêèå,ñèëüíûå,à ñàìîå ãëàâíîå -ïðàâäèâûå è îòðàæàþùèå ðåàëüíîñòü áåç ïðåêðàñ!Ñïàñèáî àâòîðó ôîòîãðàôèé çà òî,÷òî ïîäåëèëñÿ "ñâîèì " Èðàêîì ñ íàìè!

I happened on your blog while looking for photos of the flooding in the Midwest. Being from Cedar Rapids, Iowa it was great to see the photos and read the responses from other readers. It doesn’t seem like the flood has gotten much attention nationally. So thanks posting for those very graphic photos.

A picture says a thousand words; you add just enough information to put it into perspective. I have been telling everyone about your blog. Great job!!

Finally, God bless our soldiers. May they get to finish their job!

Thanks. Your images really do speak louder than words!

Beautiful pictures......
As far as the war, I have no doubt that 99% of the soldiers that are there have the best interests of the Iraqi people at heart. They are normal people like you and me, and are not there to inflict suffering (one of my best friends is over there right not, 3rd tour).
However, while the soldiers intentions may be good, lets not fool ourselves about the leaders of this war. We are there to ensure the uninterrupted supply of oil from Iraq's fields, period. The Pentagon couldn't care less about the welfare of Iraqi people. If they did care about injustices so much, we would have invaded Darfur
and any number of other places where worse atrocities occur daily. The only reason we went into Iraq was because they have something that we need.

These images are 100% skewed positive. There's not a drop of blood in any of them, and every person who looks unhappy is "about to receive aid" from either Americans or Iraqis.

One comment above said something like, "This is the first set of pictures that makes me think there's any progress going on over there". Damn right. That is exactly the purpose of this photoset. Unfortunately, they leave out anything resembling actual unhappiness. A bright sunny day in Iraq!

This was interesting -- a mainstream journalist criticism mainstream coverage of Iraq and Afghanistan, and it is perfectly fitting for this post:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/18/cbss-lara-logan-slams-ame_n_107914.html

On the other hand, I do generally think the posts on this blog are fantastic.

Thank you for the picture of the soldier on guard duty . Imagine my surprise when I look on this website and there's my handsome son! I am so proud of him. God Bless him and all of our troops, past and present!

All of these picture are stunning and thought provoking. The little girl in the hospital, the little boy with the toy guns, the childrens smiling in the streets with the armed soldier in the background, and the seized weapons. It makes me wonder how this generation of Iraqi children will remember their youth and the role the U. S. played in it. Will they thank us or blame us. We need not speculate. Only time will tell.

Like many others, I googled to see some flood pics and found a treasure trove of breathtaking photography and interesting debate. This is a wonderful site. Thanks and keep up the fantastic work.

I am glad to see photos from the armed forces photographers here in addition to work by "traditional" photo services. Both groups help to tell the story, and as a photographer, I am in awe of any shooter who risks their life to show the rest of us what is going on.

Here we go, this is what Iraq is like:

http://www.photojournalism.org/2007%20images/web/contest/singles/source/spot_news1.htm

It's graphic. Like Iraq.

Thank you for the pictures about the daily life in Iraq they are amazing. Glad to see they are making progress. I'm so thankful for our service men and women. I say a prayer for them everyday for protecting our freedom. I know they need to be in Iraq. I don't want to see another 9-11 Maybe Johnthan does.

For those who have loved ones there, my heart is filled with hope and prayers that they come home safe and soon.

My son, Sgt. Phillip Anderson was killed on March 3, 2008 along with two other soldiers and a civilian interpreter. He was 28. I cannot describe the pain of the loss of my boy. I cannot imagine living the rest of my life without him.

While I do not, nor have ever supported having troops there, I can say that my son believed he was doing something worthwhile and good for the people of Iraq. He was not a politician. He was a soldier. He did what he was told. He did it well. I am proud of him.

May not one more loss be suffered.

Mr. Crespo: I can't imagine the image you linked to is 'everywhere' and all the time in Iraq. Good things and bad things happen there every day.......wait for it......just like everywhere else. If you want to see tragic scenes of death and destruction, you have no farther than look at your nearest freeway. More people probably die from traffic accidents per year than every death in Iraq. Should we outlaw all roads?

I just don't understand sometimes why some people need to focus entirely on the negative. The happy pictures are just as 'real' as the negative ones and all should be displayed to show the complete picture of what's going on. Not just the ones that support your beliefs, attitude, or for the reaction you want people to feel about the war.

The good, bad, and the ugly. Life doesn't always have beautiful images to capture, but the images of life always capture us in some way.

Very moving webblog.

I second "Aitch"'s comment that your site helps give my privileged self a daily reality check. I regularly fend off all Web distractions, but this is one site I've adopted.

I was so sure the picture of the soldier on guard duty was my son, but he says its not, even tho it looks just like him! But I am grateful for the wonderful pictures you have of our troops and their way of life and what they are going through. As a mom of 2 soldier sons and 2 soldier daughter-in-laws, it is good to see the reality of their lives as they see it, so we know a little of what they went through when they return home safely to us! A special thank you and God Bless you to all the troops and to the military families who also sacrifice a lot while their loved ones are away.

Ah, sir James, two points. First of all, you said yourself that both sides should be shown to have a complete picture. My point was that the negative photos are never shown anywhere except on blogs written by individuals...and on Al-Jazeera, of course.

Second, according to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_motor_vehicle_deaths_in_U.S._by_year), the number of vehicle deaths averages about 42,000 per year, and estimates for the number of deaths in Iraq range in the hundreds of thousands over the past five years (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_Iraq_War)

Pretty close, no? I also don't understand why death in Iraq is okay as long as it happens here in similar amounts.

This is an awesome web page, the pictures are awesome.....

I I took have a son-in-law over in Sadr City. He was recently home foe the birth of his first child. We only hope he returns unscathed from this mess that we have gotten ourselves into. It is not always as it seems. He has been there for six months and when he was home he still looked for IED's when he was in a vehicle here in the states. How many more do we have to lose before this is over? God bless to everyone who has loved ones fighting for "freedom" This web site gives a somewhat idea what our loved ones see everyday.

Life is simply a series of moments strung together by our consciousness, and these photographs capture a handful of them beautifully. Their relevance can clearly be seen by the emotional comments posted here. It's unfortunate that some people don't appreciate how precious life is, and just how fast it can be taken from you. These photos offer a glimpse at the diversity of the human experience, and that transcends the politics of war. Most people cannot begin to comprehend the fear of a suicide bombing in our local market, or the strength required to get up every day and risk your life to protect complete strangers. Now try to imagine what that mother is feeling as she sits there with her child, or what that soldier is thinking as he stands guard; both of their lives precariously balanced on the edge of a razor blade. Is one life more important than the other?

Congrats!

Your site is wonderful! As a reportage photographer I can truly appreciate someone taking the time to give photos the space to run big, to allow them to breathe and yes, even have impact!

Congrats again!

thank you for the large and great quality photos

The great photos of Petros Giannakouris gives us the opportunity to look at a daily life in Baghdad zone with the American soldiers. None of us would like to be in their shoes but those brave American and Iraqi soldiers are doing the impossible. For the Iraqi people, from the oldest (hands of the woman in the 1st photo) to the youngest (baby at mother's hands waiting for food) life is also impossible and intolerable. We can only admire them on their daily struggle to survive in the chaos of Iraq.
To them I dedicate my photo at:
http://www.sxc.hu/photo/286003

Just awesome.

why dont we just leave the country....we cause destruction where ever we go!!! we the brits and americans!!!!!!!

Thought you might be interested in this site:
http://www.bpb.org.uk/2008
Memory of Fire: Images of War and the War of Images

It's a photo festival in UK examing the images of war.

i am in this area every day! it sucks monkey balls! the iraqi's like us for the most part tho.

Mr. Crespo - I'm NOT saying the deaths are 'ok'. The point I was trying to make is that the tragedy there isn't unique. The tragedy to the individual who loses someone close is life altering and the wound never completely heals regardless where it's at or why it's happened. Outside of dying of old age (cancer, body breaking down, etc), most death is 'avoidable' (too fat, car accidents, random shootings, trip and fall, so on and so on) and happens everywhere on the planet.

Now, about your Iraq deaths, I understand that the number is disputed quite a bit. If you go to http://www.iraqbodycount.org/, it shows the documented death count by (from the website): "Data is drawn from cross-checked media reports, hospital, morgue, NGO and official figures to produce a credible record of known deaths and incidents."

First notice the number is below 100,000. Now can this be disputed as well? Sure, and I'm sure there are many deaths that haven't been 'documented' but, me personally I'm assuming the true number is somewhere between the two. As good a job as Wikipedia does, I take ALL of it with a bit of salt as it's information comes a lot from outside (and quite possibly biased) sources.

And I disagree that only positive photos are shown outside of blogs. We are constantly hammered by the media (if it bleeds, it leads) about how much death and destruction go on daily over there. It's finally subsided a bit, only because I think since people are tired of it combined with the media trying to sell 'new' news, but for most of the last 5 years it's been a LOT of doom and gloom.

Finally, I like to focus on the positive more than the negative. Again for balance and truth you need to show everything, but it's shouldn't ALL be about the bad.

For those who think it is safer in the USA, look it up and you will find that we murder about 15000 people a YEAR in the USA. That is about 80,000 US citizens murdered by US citizens since the Iraq war started.

Desde mi pequeño paisito Uruguay, te agradezco por tus imágenes ya que ninguna noticia sobre la guerra me dio tanta información como ahora me aporta tus imágenes.

Eva, from Uruguay

http://eva-abismo.blogspot.com/

Why is it that people want to blame the US for civilian deaths in Iraq when the predominant cause of civilian deaths is sectarian violence. Sunni killing Shia, Shia killing Sunni, Sunni/Shia killing Kurds, Sunni/Shia killing their own, etc. Doesn't anyone question the logic behind a suicide bombing on a crowded marketplace or a police station? They're killing their own people in an attempt to destabilize the political situation in Iraq, and to provoke Coalition forces.

In one day, Aug. 14, 2007, four coordinated suicide truck bombs killed 796 Yazidi Kurds in Northern Iraq. That's over 25% of the number of people killed on 9/11, and yet there was no international outrage, or a massive show of support from the international community to the Kurds. Would Coalition forces have been deployed to Iraq if they weren't already there? The simple answer is no.

And let's not forget how the Sunni regime of Saddam mass murdered Shia's and Kurds following the first Gulf War, and the mass graves all over Iraq containing the bodies of not just men, but women and children as well. Murder has been the way of power in Iraq for decades, and those who were once victims of the brutality of Saddam are rising up and responding in their own brutal attempt to claim power. Unfortunately, the extremist minority does not reflect the views of the Iraqi people.

Removing Saddam from power should have opened up the opportunity for the people of Iraq, regardless of faith, to choose their path forward into an era of prosperity. The extremists instead choose sectarian violence in an attempt to dominate the will of the people, and despite the fact that they are a very small minority, fear is their most powerful weapon. Our Coalition forces are there to protect the people and combat that fear, and they put their lives on the line every minute of every day, without political agenda or selfish motives. All it would take for them to leave Iraq is for the Iraqi's to stop killing each other.

These photos (and this blog) are amazing. Helps us keeping contact with the rest of the world. Thank you so much, from France. MERCI BEAUCOUP.

Thank you so very much for sharing these beautiful images. As a wife of a soldier in Iraq, these photos help me understand and accept my husband's role in this war.

The one of the Iraqi's in the bar cheering for the soccer team is so heart wrenching. It was hard to look at without tearing up.

Excellent photos. Keep up the good work.

WOW! Thanks for the pics! My son is serving his 2nd deployment in Sadr City. He's with the 4ID, Special Troops. He is serving 15 months this time and handles it by getting into a routine and sticking to it. It helps the time pass and keeps him busy. People ask me why I am always looking for news & pics.....My response, I have a son over there. Thanks Jason! We love you..........be safe buddy!

Very nice, I love your site
Can I use this pics to my blog with your website link ?

I too am a soldier's mom. Just came across your site by accident and so glad I did. My son was deployed outside Sadr City for 15 long months, returning this past January. He was an infantryman with the army's 1st Cav, stationed at a small outpost just outside Sadr City. At the time they were not allowed to enter Sadr City, only monitor the area around it. It became extremely frustrating for them because they could not enter the city even if pursuing the enemy, who would then flee to safety within the city. My son is scheduled to return to Iraq this coming January once AGAIN...and sounds like to the same area. I really hope this area is calmer when he returns...especially compared to last year. And I hope this madness ends ASAP and the Iraqi people have hope for the future.

Haha I saw these pictures and I know all the places they are showing in each photo I used that same bank for cover from RPG attacks and RPK rounds. I built that wall running through sadr city when our own men that there main job is to build it said they wouldnt do it any more. They made the infantry do it. And for leave IRAQ in peace... yeah ok ... half these people want to figure out a way in to the states to try and blow up a store near you ... people in the states have no idea what we find or what intell we get. People just have no idea.

We can not police the world although we are always called on. If you don't want us to get the job done don't ask. It is hotter than heck here, we have had sand storms that would blow past ike. I have been in Kuwait for 5 yrs. it is by choice. I am so thankful to all our soldiers for sacrificing everything for our country. Keep up the good work. We love you and want everyone home safe and sound.