Iraq

We sit down with NPR correspondent Quil Lawrence. He's covering the issues faced by millions of Americans who are deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan as they transition to life back at home. We'll discuss the struggles faced by veterans, as well as his time as NPR's bureau chief in Kabul and 10 years of reporting in Iraq.

With ISIS in the headlines in this country after the Orlando massacre, we turn our attention to the civil war in Syria. Despite a major victory against ISIS this week when Iraqi forces took back Fallujah, there remains significant debate about what the US role should be in defeating ISIS, as well as ending Syria's civil war. We also discuss a recent  state department memo critical of the focus of US attacks on ISIS, and calling for strikes against Syrian president Assad. 

While these two Muslim groups have often co-existed peacefully over the course of history, in our time, sectarian differences have risen and boiled over, resulting in conflicts across the Middle East. Our guest is a longtime Middle East scholar who examines the religious, economic, and political factors involved.

The militant group ISIS continues to make gains in Iraq, taking several major cities, despite U.S. air strikes. That’s prompted heated debate over what this country should do next.  We’ll look into the options now under consideration, including President Obama’s plan to ramp up military assistance there.

We're talking with Pulitzer Prize winning Washington Post reporter David Finkel about his work covering the lives of Iraq War veterans -- their experiences in war and returning home, where they often face what Finkel calls the "after-war."

More than ten years after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the issue still dominates American foreign policy. We’ll speak with Retired Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, who was there from the beginning, serving as chief of staff to then Secretary of State Colin Powell. We’ll get his thoughts on the factors influencing American decision making in Iraq, including money.

In her new book, author Helen Thorpe tells the tales of three female National Guard members, who served in Afghanistan and Iraq.  Thorpe traces their stories: from their expectations joining the Guard before 9/11, to their experiences going off to war, and then troubles on the home front.

GUEST:

• Helen Thorpe - journalist and author from Denver, CO. Her most recent book is "Soldier Girls: The Battles of Three Women at Home and at War."

LINKS:

At the beginning of today's show, we checked in with the AP's northern New England correspondent, Rik Stevens. He has been covering the video released yesterday showing James Foley's beheading. (digital post by Faith Meixell)

HIGHLIGHTS:

A Nashua man who will be awarded the Medal of Honor next month says the recognition does not belong to him, but to his unit, and his fellow servicemen who died in battle.

Staff Sgt. Ryan Pitts will receive the medal during a White House ceremony next month.

He is quick to deflect any credit, and says the award is a memorial to those who have laid down their lives in battle.

A powerful group of radical Islamists has been overwhelming Iraqi cities and towns. The stunning onslaught has the capital Baghdad now girding for battle and the U.S. grappling with how best to deal with the threat. We’ll look at the situation there and at American options.

GUESTS:

This week on Foodstuffs, we connect the Granite State to the food traditions of Iraq.

Nawal Nasrallah of Salem is author of the book Delights From The Garden Of Eden, which not only includes Iraqi recipes but traces the history of the country’s cuisine. Saveur magazine named it one of the top 10 cookbooks of 2013.

A full decade into the drone war in the Middle East, we’re still asking questions: what does an unmanned military mean for the future of warfare?  Who chooses who lives and who dies? What does it mean to pull the trigger on a target half a world away?

And what is like being a veteran of the drone war?

Matthew Power is a freelance print and radio journalist and a contributor to GQ Magazine, where he wrote a profile of former drone operator and Airman First Class Brandon Bryant.

Drawing on Dietrich Bonhoeffer's concept of "cheap grace," Andrew Bacevich exposes the chronic defects in the current U. S. approach to waging war.  He explains why the world's most powerful military doesn't win and why the nation's reliance on professional soldiers has turned out to be such a bad bargain. When American soldiers deploy to places like Iraq and Afghanistan, what is the cause for which they fight?  The patriotic answer is this:  they fight for freedom.  Challenge that proposition and you’ll likely pick a quarrel.

In March of 2003, the U.S. began air strikes in what officials said would be a short war. Eight years later, our forces pulled out with a death toll of more than 4000 Americans and 100,000 Iraqis.  We’ll talk with Granite Staters who served in Iraq, what they experienced and their reflections a decade later.

Guests:

When we call dogs ‘man’s best friend’, we’re typically referring to their value as companions and protectors - but canines have a long history of helping people with affairs far more solemn that playing fetch.  For centuries, dogs have played a pivotal role in aiding the disabled, in hunting, for search and rescue operations, and for their service in police and military applications.  After a long hiatus, U.S. bomb-sniffing dogs were re-introduced to the battlefield in 2007.  There are now some six-hundred military dogs deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.