When a fiery oil well in Iraq becomes a playground for children

Children playing around a oil wells on fire in Qayyara, Iraq
Children playing around a oil wells on fire in Qayyara, Iraq (Photo Benedetta Argentieri)

 

Qayyarah, Iraq – Ayad leans against the black wall of a partially destroyed home, gripping an AK-47 in his hands.

He takes a deep breath and sprints across the road, between puddles of spilled oil, towards another house that he imagines is full of fighters. Ayad is followed by five fellow soldiers. Ahead of them, tongues of fire lick upwards from burning oil wells. The scene is apocalyptic.

Suddenly, a worker shouts towards Ayad and his group: “Get away from there, kids – it’s dangerous.”

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The Mosul dam shuffle

Workers at the Mosul Dam . Picture by Benedetta Argentieri
Workers at the Mosul Dam . Picture by Benedetta Argentieri

Between February and March the Mosul Dam, Iraq, captured media attention. At the height of the emergency it seemed the dam was about to break, but an Italian company was awarded $300 million to take care of it. After reading some articles and talking to some people I started to see a pattern of contradictions. What is going on here? The  opinions on how bad it was started to change dramatically. Is the Mosul Dam in danger or not?

Short answer: It depends who you talk to.

Particularly revealing were calls in Italy. Details of the story would change from one source to another. Often when asked for official comments  it would become another version or no answers at all. Nobody really wanted to talk about it in depth.

After a couple of months investigating the issue, I wrote an article for War is Boring. Please read and tell me what you think.

Keep Calm because Raqqa is not happening anytime soon

SDF commanders announced the Raqqa operation

While the drums of war are all over the internet, we should keep calm. Raqqa, the capital of the so-called Islamic State, is not happening anytime soon. “The current battle is only to liberate the area north of Raqqa. Currently there is no preparation … to liberate Raqqa, unless as part of a campaign which will come after this campaign has finished,” says Talal Silo,  spokesman for the U.S.-backed Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance to Reuters.

In other words, SDF is marching around the city, and most probably trying to cut off all the supply routes.

On Tuesday afternoon most of the media around the world announced the operation. Pictures of  YPG and YPJ preparing for the battle circulated widely. Morale was hyped up in every front. Finally the US could formally announce what the Obama administration was eager to accomplish in the war against ISIS. Many believes that the US president wants the two major ISIS cities (Raqqa and Mosul) to fall before he leaves office, and that is no easy task.

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The US military dealing with a Lost in Translation case in Italy

When in 2006 US Navy engineers started thinking where they should place the four ground stations for their bright new communications system, in their minds Italy was one of the best spots. Sicily, where the US military has a strong presence, is closer to Tunis than Rome. The MUOS would cover not just the Middle East but also Africa where the lacking of communications coverage made AFRICOM particularly vulnerable in that sector.

At the time, Italy was a also one of the US greatest ally. The close relationship between George W. Bush and the Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi made everything easier, smoother, as described in the Wikileaks cables. So the two governments signed a Memorandum to build the fourth ground station in Niscemi, where the US Navy had already a base. The then Ministry of Defense, Ignazio La Russa, acted as guarantor for the deal, although now he refuses to talk publicly about MUOS.

The US and Italian government didn’t expect  such a fierce opposition. NO MUOS activists they first stopped the work at the station and then started suing the government for a breach in the Italian laws.

I wrote about it for Quartz. And this is the link.  Enjoy

Benedetta Argentieri

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