All this week on MORNING EDITION, we've been marking the 10th anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. That invasion was followed by years of war and reconstruction, the war and reconstruction taking place at the same time.
And today, to get a better idea of the monetary costs, we speak with Stuart Bowen once again. Since 2004, he has been the Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction. And earlier this month, he released the final report from his office.
Stuart Bowen is in Baghdad. Welcome back to the program.
It's been 10 years since the U.S. invaded Iraq. This week we're taking a look back, revisiting voices you first heard on NPR in 2007. We brought you the story of two sisters who had lost their parents. The older sister wore conservative clothes and recited poetry. The younger sister, just 13 at the time, appeared on the verge of becoming a prostitute.
Like so many stories in Iraq, especially sensitive ones involving shame and sex, this story has to be peeled away in layers, like an onion.
Dozens of people, including a prominent pro-government cleric, are dead in the Syrian capital following a suicide attack inside a mosque.
Syrian TV reported 42 people were killed and 84 wounded in the attack on the Iman Mosque. The pro-government cleric was Mohammed Saeed Ramadan al-Bouti, a longtime supporter of President Bashar Assad and imam of Damascus' Ummayyad Mosque.
On the 10th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, NPR is catching up with some of the people we encountered during the war. In 2006, at the height of the violence, we brought you the story of a woman who performed the Muslim ritual of washing and preparing the dead for burial. Kelly McEvers has this update on Um Abbas, who is now living in southern Iraq.
The Indian Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the conviction of Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt for his role in the 1993 Mumbai blasts that killed more than 200 people.
Originally published on Thu March 21, 2013 4:52 pm
Twenty years after multiple blasts ripped through India's commercial capital, Mumbai, killing more than 200 people, the country's Supreme Court has upheld the conviction of a leading Bollywood actor for his role in the attacks.
Two Italian marines are returning to India to face charges stemming from the 2012 deaths of two Indian fisherman, Italian officials announced Thursday.
As we recounted recently, disagreement over how to handle the case had resulted in a diplomatic confrontation between India and Italy.
Masked demonstrators show support for jailed Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan, in the southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir on Thursday. Ocalan called for a "new era" and a cease-fire in a battle against Turkey that's nearly three decades old.
Originally published on Thu March 21, 2013 3:57 pm
Kurdish rebels have been fighting for nearly three decades against Turkish forces in the southeast corner of that nation. But the most prominent rebel leader said from prison Thursday that it was time for a "new era" that includes an immediate cease-fire.
Abdullah Ocalan heads the Kurdistan Workers Party, the PKK. He was captured by Turkey in 1999 and has been imprisoned on an island off Istanbul.
Originally published on Thu March 21, 2013 12:08 pm
The universe is a bit older than we thought, according to a group of European scientists who say they've snapped the most detailed image to date of the afterglow of the Big Bang.
Sometimes, reporting on a war can be as difficult as being in one. Host Michel Martin speaks with former journalist, Abdulrazzaq al-Saiedi, about the moment during the Iraq War when he decided to leave journalism.
Originally published on Thu March 21, 2013 12:42 pm
The clock is ticking on Cyprus' fiscal cliff.
The European Central Bank has given the Mediterranean country just four days to come up with its own bailout plan, or a eurozone lifeline to its struggling banks will be severed.
Originally published on Fri March 22, 2013 9:01 am
NPR Science Correspondent Richard Harris traveled to Australia's Great Barrier Reef to find out how the coral reefs are coping with increased water temperature and increasing ocean acidity, brought about by our burning of fossil fuels. Day 3: Waiting for a boat to the next island, Richard meets some rowdy birds.
Weeds are not a true category of plant. A weed is simply a plant that's growing where a person wishes it weren't.
The responsibility for counterterrorism operations involving unmanned drones could soon begin shifting from the CIA to the Pentagon as part of Obama administration efforts to mollify critics who say the program lacks transparency, says NPR's Tom Gjelten.
A senior U.S. official tells NPR that while no decision has been made, the change is a "distinct possibility." The Daily Beast broke the story on Wednesday.
Not long ago, it seemed that China was on its way to owning the solar energy business. China was making solar panels far more cheaply than U.S. companies. Now things look a little more complicated. China's Suntech was forced into bankruptcy yesterday. It's one of the world's largest solar panel makers. Suntech has to reorganize after defaulting on a bond payment of more than half-a-billion dollars.
Its falls reflects problems in China's approach to the global solar industry. NPR's Frank Langfitt reports.
Egyptians use their mobile phones to record celebrations in Cairo's Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the popular revolt that drove Hosni Mubarak from power in 2011. Twitter was often used to record happenings during the Arab Spring.
It's hard to believe, but seven years ago no one had ever heard of a tweet. Thursday is the anniversary of the first tweet from Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey. It wasn't profound. He wrote:
Since then the social media company has been an important communication tool in everything from the Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street, to its use as a megaphone for celebrities. Over the years, its relationship to its free speech principles has changed.
David Clohessy, the head of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, holds a recent news conference in Rome. Clohessy says the newly installed Pope Francis needs to address the issue of sexual abuse by Catholic priests.
Originally published on Wed March 20, 2013 5:05 pm
Pope Francis has now been installed and the world's Catholics are looking to see where he will lead the church. But one man in Rome has been trying to make sure the Vatican also deals with the church's troubled past.
David Clohessy, who says he was a victim of sexual abuse at a young age by a Catholic priest, is the director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. By his count, he held 15 news conferences in Rome in the weeks leading up to the conclave at the Vatican.
From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Robert Siegel.
MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:
And I'm Melissa Block.
(SOUNDBITE OF ISRAELI MILITARY BAND MUSIC)
BLOCK: A musical greeting today for President Obama, as he arrived at the airport in Tel Aviv. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was there, along with a military band. Israel is Obama's first stop on a four-day tour. Today, the president declared that despite big changes sweeping the Middle East, the U.S. alliance with Israel remains eternal.
Free Jonathan Pollard - that's something President Obama is expected to hear in Israel. In the 1980s, Pollard was a young, Jewish-American intelligence analyst who spied for Israel. He pleaded guilty; and after an alarming victim-impact statement from then-Secretary of Defense Casper Weinberger, claiming how much damage Pollard's spying had done, he was sentenced to life in prison.
Ahmed, 10, was rocketed on Feb. 13., and lost his leg. There doesn't seem anything more mundane than drawing when you are standing next to a child that has lost his mother, his brother and his leg within the last 48 hours His father, Yassar's face, raked with worry sits in a clinic at Bab al Hawa. He keeps pulling his adult sized oxygen mask off his little face.
Credit Courtesy of George Butler
The border with Turkey near Cilvegozu, 24 hours after after a bombing that killed 14 people and wounded dozens more. At the time, the border remained shut; no aid could not get in, and people could not get out.
Credit Courtesy of George Butler
A peaceful demonstration in a village near Taftanaz, Idlib province.
Credit Courtesy of George Butler
Although they are in Turkey, many Syrian refugees are so scared of the regime that they will not allow their pictures to be taken; even drawing takes some persuading. I felt such compassion for these people, but none more so when they thanked me for drawing them. So generous and so brave.
Credit Courtesy of George Butler
Ibrahim is 24 and describes himself as a general in the Free Syrian Army. He was shelled last May in Idlib and is getting used to his new leg, which he has had for a month. He says he would like to return to fight Bashar Assad, the Syrian president.
Credit Courtesy of George Butler
Although the need for new limbs is huge, no one has an accurate estimate of how many. This clinic in Reyhanli has made and fitted 10 so far. The limbs are made from high-density polyethylene and are relatively cheap to manufacture. Molds are carved with kitchen knives, power tools and cheese graters. The results restore some of the patients' functionality and, most important, their pride.
Credit Courtesy of George Butler
Credit Courtesy of George Butler
Ahmed, 10, was hit by a rocket on Feb. 13 and lost his leg. There doesn't seem anything more mundane than drawing when you are next to a child who has lost his mother, his brother and his leg within 48 hours. Father Yassar — his face wracked with worry — sits next to Ahmed in a clinic at the Bab al-Hawa border crossing. Ahmed keeps pulling an adult-sized oxygen mask off his little face.
George Butler lives between two worlds. One is his apartment in London, and the other consists of conflict-ravaged places like West Africa, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan and Syria.
The British illustrator recently returned from his second trip to Syria, and his reportage illustrations are a powerful account of life in the country's north, where the fighting is heavy and rebels now control many areas.
The illustrations are not just about the sorrows and pain of Syrian refugees and the wounded, but often about Syrians' stubborn insistence that life will carry on despite the pain.
Credit Courtesy of Laila El-Haddad and Maggie Schmitt
Fatema Qaadan prepares fatta, a meal of buttery rice and griddle bread served with roasted meat.
Credit Courtesy of Laila El-Haddad and Maggie Schmitt
Members of the Zeitun Women's Cooperative prepare a meal. These women take catering orders for special events, using the proceeds to help support their families in an area with "nearly universal male under- and unemployment," the authors of The Gaza Kitchen write.
Credit Courtesy of Laila El-Haddad and Maggie Schmitt
Two men sell foods on the street. In Gaza, home foods are "almost exclusively prepared by women," the authors write. Restaurant food, they write, "is nearly always prepared by men."
Credit Courtesy of Laila El-Haddad and Maggie Schmitt
Fatema Qaadan prepares fatta, a meal of buttery rice and griddle bread served with roasted meat.
Credit Courtesy of Laila El-Haddad and Maggie Schmitt
Filfil Mat'houn is a paste made of red chili peppers conserved in oil and sold as a condiment.
Credit Courtesy of Laila El-Haddad and Maggie Schmitt
Zibdiyit gambari, or shrimp cooked in a clay pot. "Of all of Gaza's delicacies," the authors write, "this recipe is the one visitors most frequently request."
Credit Courtesy of Laila El-Haddad and Maggie Schmitt
At the Al Manar Factory, sesame seeds are roasted then ground between millstones. The paste is then bottled and sold as one of Gaza's best-known brands of tahini.
Credit Courtesy of Laila El-Haddad and Maggie Schmitt
Fatta, a meal of buttery rice served with roasted meat and griddle bread soaked in broth, is often made for guests.
Credit Courtesy of Laila El-Haddad and Maggie Schmitt
Members of the Zeitun Women's Cooperative prepare a meal. These women take catering orders for special events, using the proceeds to help support their families in an area with "nearly universal male under- and unemployment," the authors of The Gaza Kitchen write.
Credit Courtesy of Laila El-Haddad and Maggie Schmitt
Um Sultan and her family own a farm in the eastern Gaza Strip village of Bani Sayla. Before 1948, her family had owned farms near Jaffa, Gaza.
Credit Courtesy of Linda Quiquivix
A map of historic Gaza before the first major Arab-Israeli war in 1948.
Originally published on Sun March 24, 2013 7:21 am
When you think about the Gaza Strip, do you think "organic farming"? How about "family dairy"? Would you expect California pistachios to flavor made-in-Gaza baklava? Have you heard that Hamas has a 10-year plan to develop sustainable local agriculture?
Originally published on Wed March 20, 2013 12:25 pm
Who or what caused a takedown of computer systems at banks and broadcasters in South Korea on Wednesday is still a matter of speculation, but suspicion immediately and unsurprisingly fell on Seoul's archenemy to the north.
If true, it wouldn't be the first time that North Korea, often regarded as technologically backward, has successfully wielded the computer as weapon.
The red line is a form of ultimatum in diplomacy, one that's been used by kings, presidents, prime ministers to say do this and we will be forced to respond. Syria, as we mentioned, may have crossed one this week when chemical weapons reportedly killed dozens of people outside of Aleppo. Iran may cross another so-called red line this year over growing concerns the government is developing nuclear weaponry. A presidential threat carries grave weight. It also carries grave risk.
You can find our next guest on most Monday nights at the Laugh Factory in Los Angeles, where he is part of Comedy Bazaar and he offers his signature riffs on his particularly interesting cross-cultural dilemmas.
TEHRAN VON GHASRI: My name is Tehran. It's like the capital city of Iran. You're, like, wondering, what were my parents thinking, naming me Tehran, right? But I'm half black, half Iranian, which comes with a lot of advantages. I have a lot of fun at the airport. It's true. Homeland Security knows me on a first name basis.
It's been 10 years since the United States went to war in Iraq. And it hasn't been easy for soldiers to adjust to life back home. Host Michel Martin speaks with former Marine, Dario DiBattista, about some of the odd experiences he's had since returning — including meeting the widow of a solider he recruited.
Rap and hip-hop were both a driving force, and a coping mechanism, for people in the Middle East and North Africa during the Arab Spring. In particular, the music of Tupac Shakur resonates with Arabs, long after the U.S. rapper's own death. But why? Michel Martin looks for an answer, along with Khaled M, a Libyan-American rapper.
Um Ahmed, her husband, Abu Ahmed, and their two children sit inside a United Nations refugee registration center in Tripoli, Lebanon. They fled the northern Syrian city of Aleppo a month ago. "There was a lot of shelling," said Um Ahmed. "I wasn't thinking. I was just thinking of my children."
Credit Nicole Beemsterboer / NPR
Um Ahmed and her infant daughter wait to register at a U.N. center in the town of Al Mina, in northern Lebanon near the border with Syria.
Credit Nicole Beemsterboer / NPR
Syrians fleeing their country register with U.N. centers like this one in Al Mina, Lebanon, in order to receive monetary assistance for food and rent, medical care and items like blankets, mattresses and basic kitchen kits.
Originally published on Wed March 20, 2013 1:43 pm
Um Ahmed holds her infant daughter outside a United Nations registration center for Syrian refugees in Al Mina, a northern Lebanese city near the Syrian border. She is among a group of dozens of Syrians waiting for their names to be called.
Um Ahmed tries to coax her screaming infant daughter to take a bottle. The baby is hot — the slight brown curls of her hair are matted to her head with sweat, and the bottle offers no comfort. She keeps crying. She's been here before.
"The first time I came they didn't accept us," Um Ahmed says. "They told us I need documents."
Originally published on Wed March 20, 2013 8:40 am
Computer networks at South Korea's three main broadcasters and major banks crashed simultaneously Wednesday, leading to speculation that it was caused by a North Korean cyberattack.