On Thursday, June 26th, I witnessed the immediate aftermath of an Al-Qaeda suicide bomb attack. Several dozen people lost their lives... children, old men, civilians, police, and military men. The scene was horrific beyond words, even for someone like me who has a fairly high threshold for such things.
I found it nearly impossible to look through the viewfinder. What I saw was abhorently graphic, yet far too important for the world to ignore. I present images that provide an uncensored view of a terrible event, and some small measure of dignity to those who lost their lives.
WARNING: The images that follow are very graphic and include images of death.
We are on a patrol in an outlying suburb, or slum area of Fallujah. It has been home to many violent attacks recently. We are searching homes for weapons and information regarding Al Qaeda in Iraq, when a message comes over the radio. “We have one killed in actions (KIA), and two wounded in action (WIA)… stand by.”
The soldiers begin to talk amongst themselves when a commander runs in. “Let's move… NOW! LETS MOVE!!!!”
We grab our gear, throwing on our body armor, Kevlar helmets, gloves, goggles, and other proactive gear as we run out of the house.
© Zoriah/www.zoriah.com All rights reserved. No unauthorized use permitted.
We jog down the street as the soldiers aim their weapons at moving cars, screaming for them to stop.
I have nearly 70lbs. (31kg.) of equipment strapped to my body and, although I am in good physical shape, I feel the heat burning my lungs every time I inhale. We see people running down the street in panic.
© Zoriah/www.zoriah.com All rights reserved. No unauthorized use permitted.
The soldier who is running next to me glances onto the pavement at the same time as I do. There is an ear on the ground. About five feet away, we see a chunk of scalp with hair on a palm sized piece of skull. We look at each other, realizing that we are walking into true madness …and this is just the beginning.
© Zoriah/www.zoriah.com All rights reserved. No unauthorized use permitted.
Turning the corner off the main street towards the entrance to the building we walk into a staging for the dead and watch as Iraqi’s carry the bodies and parts of bodies out of the doors in sheets, often slipping on the blood that is covering the tile stairs.
© Zoriah/www.zoriah.com All rights reserved. No unauthorized use permitted.
When the body bags run out, bed sheets are used to cover and move the bodies.
© Zoriah/www.zoriah.com All rights reserved. No unauthorized use permitted.
© Zoriah/www.zoriah.com All rights reserved. No unauthorized use permitted.
Another dirt parking lot houses growing number of bodies.
© Zoriah/www.zoriah.com All rights reserved. No unauthorized use permitted.
© Zoriah/www.zoriah.com All rights reserved. No unauthorized use permitted.
We walk through the front door of the building and into nightmarish scene. The courtyard is filled with bodies and limbs. An elderly man is sitting dead in a plastic lawn chair directly in the center of the commotion as if asleep during an afternoon nap.
© Zoriah/www.zoriah.com All rights reserved. No unauthorized use permitted.
There are dying people strewn around like limp dolls along with lifeless bodies of all ages. People are screaming and crying running as if they have something important they have to do, only they can’t figure out what that important thing could possibly be. The air smells of burnt flesh and sweat is pouring off of my body. My lungs are still on fire from the run and I have to concentrate to see through the sweat coating my ballistic goggles and dust on my camera’s viewfinder.
© Zoriah/www.zoriah.com All rights reserved. No unauthorized use permitted.
I continue shooting pictures as fast as I can. I know the soldiers do not want me in the building photographing their dead friends. I also know that, in case of a secondary blast, my time to document the scene will be extremely limited. It seems like the building is packed with bodies and people are literally frantic removing the dead, as if their pace may bring some of them back.
© Zoriah/www.zoriah.com All rights reserved. No unauthorized use permitted.
© Zoriah/www.zoriah.com All rights reserved. No unauthorized use permitted.
I turn around and face the courtyard and notice an Iraqi soldier who was obviously in such a state of shock he could barely function.
© Zoriah/www.zoriah.com All rights reserved. No unauthorized use permitted.
I aim my camera one more time to snap a shot of some of the dead American Marines, before being told by one of the soldiers that they are under orders to remove me from the scene.
© Zoriah/www.zoriah.com All rights reserved. No unauthorized use permitted.
They claim it is for my own safety and take me out to one of the armored vehicles. I watch out the window as U.S. soldiers collect body parts from the street and place them in a tarp.
© Zoriah/www.zoriah.com All rights reserved. No unauthorized use permitted.
After a total of not more than five or ten minutes with my camera out, my chance to take photos was gone. Whatever I was able to capture in that chaos will be the only photographic documentation of this event.
© Zoriah/www.zoriah.comAll rights reserved. No unauthorized use permitted.
Click here to return to page one of this post.
Click here to return to this blog's home page.
Zoriah's Photography Portfolio
THE ATTACK ON JUNE 26th AS REPORTED BY THE NEWS MEDIA:
New York Times: click here
Associated Press: click here
Washington Post: click here
ATTENTION: Sign up for a FREE SUBSCRIPTION to this blog and receive new posts via email. It is completely free, takes only a few seconds to set up and will let you follow Zoriah as he travels and documents stories around the world. Just follow this LINK and select Get ZORIAH delivered by email or, if you prefer by your favorite blog reader by clicking HERE
Your work brings a twisted and uncomfortable beauty to the horrors of the world. You have a demanding job and I have no idea how you do it but the images you shoot will last forever and will keep me grounded. Thank you and stay strong!
Posted by: Amina Khan | July 01, 2008 at 11:19
these images truly are horrific. i can only hope that the innocent dead are in heaven now.
you must have alot of courage to carry on taking these photo's, i don't think i could do it.
Posted by: zorra | July 01, 2008 at 16:21
this is true photojournalism at its best. thank you for this post and for you standing to make a better world thru your real photos depicting what true war is all about. thank you
Posted by: unxpektd | July 01, 2008 at 17:39
Your courage in covering events that so many wish to pretend is not happening is beyond my words to describe. I can only tell you that there are many praying for your safety, and the world at large owes you a debt of gratitude beyond what any monetary recompense could ever approach.
Posted by: mark Aleshnick | July 02, 2008 at 12:13
Your lack of discretion and disregard for the rules that you agreed to abide while assigned to cover military operations in Iraq is unbelievable. You should be ashamed of this post. God forbid that your family ever see images of you in similar circumstances.
Posted by: Maj Eric Dent | July 02, 2008 at 18:45
sometimes these things need to be seen. so much of the time, we in the US (and the rest of the coalition) only see names and bootcamp pictures of our dead soldiers and a little blurb on where/when they died. to actually see them like this should be a wake up call to all those who only see them as names mentioned briefly on the nightly mainstream media. while i do understand what major dent stated, and i might say the same if it were my friends or relatives...sometimes...just sometimes...it should be seen. while i hope that those that caused this horrible atrocity do not propagandize this for their benefit, i do hope that all free people in the world reflect on these few photos and realize what price (not dollar amount) is being paid to bring freedom to iraqis and eventually the entire middle east. also remember how each free country had to fight for their freedom, whether a decade ago or 200 yrs ago. may freedom peace and come soon.
Posted by: anthem boy | July 03, 2008 at 04:20
I'm not sure what rules the photographer agreed to abide by were broken. It strikes me that there were no photos of Americans badly injured (particularly any that could be identified). What is Maj. Eric Dent's beef?
If there is something here that is inappropriate, so be it. As Sherman said:
War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it; and those who brought war into our country deserve all the curses and maledictions a people can pour out. I know I had no hand in making this war, and I know I will make more sacrifices to-day than any of you to secure peace.
Posted by: gerg yrrab | July 03, 2008 at 05:34
The world needs to know the horrors of war that our brave military face every day and you are one of the heroes to photograph and publish these stories. Thank you does not begin to express the gratitude that is due you. but all I can say is Thank You so Very Much!!! Freedom is Not Free! not for us and not for them. The Iraqis are paying and our military is paying.
Posted by: Ruth Taylor | July 03, 2008 at 05:45
"rules"? "inappropriate"?? give me a f*&^ing break!
As if little kids and their moms don't see dead bodies on a daily basis in Iraq! Let people outside of Iraq see what really is happening there. You can't sugar-coat war!
Posted by: Mondi | July 03, 2008 at 22:22
If Americans could see this every day it would help get the political process moving to GET THE US OUT OF IRAQ. What are we doing there, except aiding and abetting a vicious war of attrition? And all based on a LIE from the Bush White House. Bush and Cheney and their entire administration needs to be charged with war crimes. And now the oil companies are going in their with their "no-contract" bids!!! And utter and complete TRAGEDY. My condolences to the Iraqi people.
Posted by: Concerned American | July 04, 2008 at 03:55
thank you for posting the photos. too many people believe the lies that everything is getting better, when we know it isn't.
Posted by: annie robbins | July 04, 2008 at 06:04
That major Dent (or whatever) is just too scared that it will become too commonly known what a farking mess they're making in a country where they shouldn't be at all.
Major Dent does not want you to show where he and his army buddies are sending your kids into.
Major Dent does not want to shatter your USA-dream of being the Powerful Nation, still unable to defy death.
War isn't pretty, Major. I guess you never realized that, majors are seldomly found at the front lines. But let me tell you: war isn't pretty. And these photo's prove that. As they should.
Whether you like it or not. And in this case, where the US Army is upset about these pictures coming out, I'd say: "the less you like it, the more important it is that the public sees them." - You have too much to hide by now, Major Dent. You and your buddies, lead by that trigger-happy guy you call "president".
Posted by: Venema | July 04, 2008 at 12:30
My comments from the Netherlands: very brave of this ohotographer to show the naked truth. Very stupid of the US Army to abandon him. Now his pics get even more attention that before he was abandoned. Which is good. The terrible situation in Iraq should come to an end as soon as possible.
Posted by: Reykjavik | July 04, 2008 at 13:07
I want to start with my condolences to all people that are involved with these tragedy's, all soldiers and all non soldiers
Now all Americans can see with their own eyes what the war is realy about, dont blame the messenger, blame ur self. You voted for another Bush, for another oil minded president.
Posted by: | July 04, 2008 at 13:10
You open our eyes when others wants them closed. I think you are a great example of what freedom of press is all about and if that means showing the horrible truths of a war than so be it. Thanks for sharing your images with us.
Posted by: Gilles | July 04, 2008 at 13:26
WOW !!! shocking and realistic.....
respect for your courage by being there and do your job.
Keep up the good work and stay real !!!!!
The truth is cruel sometimes.....
Posted by: Gilbert | July 04, 2008 at 13:26
This sort of media is all over the internet just look at websites such as liveleak Ogrish or Goregasm.
Plenty of graphic media of dead people and body parts.
I have to say your pictures are not something new or unique for anyone who has a slight interest in what warfare actually means.
Also pictures will never ever be capable of conveying the absolute horror of such events.
For people who say that the US government doesn't want people to see this, they can't control it.
Especially because the Iraqi resistance groups often videotape their own operations and then distribute this media on the internet.
I wouldn't be surprised if somewhere before this event happened there was a Iraqi insurgent videotaping it all while mumbling the usual Allah Ackbars.
Posted by: Durendal | July 04, 2008 at 14:08
Good to show the world the truth,it proves that people didn't learned a thing from their mistakes in the past.
Posted by: Rudy | July 04, 2008 at 14:27
I am not a American. I am born in the Netherlands. Now 36 years old and a Bosnia Herzegovina and Rwanda veteran. I used to serve as a warrant officer in the Royal Netherland Army during peace keeping and peace enforcing mission.
It doesn't matter where te pictures are taken. The blood, the panic, bodyparts al seems to give the same picture. (i am a amateur photographer) I have similar pictures in my archive. My first rule is never to publish pictures with these kind of images. As respect for those you stayed you time with but especially for the family and all those who stay behind. As an observer who unattended walked by this scene you can get away with it. But you walked, slept and ate with them. Making you one of them !
And now you're publishing them at their sadest and painfull moment. A bit more respect would have been the better thing to do....
But who cares, i am only a European. And somehowe the last years it seems only Americans may have an opinion as soon Muslims Fundamentalists are involved........
Posted by: Paul | July 04, 2008 at 17:55
Respect for the dead in any of these pictures is not an issue. To say it disrespectful is a pretense of morality. They are dead and in pieces. There was no respect for them when they were alive. Respect for the living is not an issue either. These pictures show no respect for those who were alive. Those of us who are left alive do not deserve the kind of respect of being denied the reality of war. These pictures ought to be shown to show the world, to show us, the repugnance of war. There is never any good reason for war except in defense. Those who wage war against a people for any self-serving gain are evil human beings and must be opposed in defense. That opposition may be either pacifistic without weapons or with armed physicality. Either way is justified. Either way there will be killing. But human consciousness must never ever deny or be denied the reality of the horror of war.
Posted by: Shenonymous | July 04, 2008 at 19:53
The truth will set us free, right?
Posted by: Jud | July 04, 2008 at 20:16
The reality of war we are not supposed to see in America? Because our now monopolistic TV stations barely even mention the war, much less the carnage of war, the whole thing has become something irrelevant and remote to the point that we rarely think about it any more...much less know what is going on.
I have heard that CNN world news (that we don't get here in the US) actually is much more complete than what we are fed by CNN.
Px speak much louder than words. Thank you.
Posted by: evergreen | July 04, 2008 at 20:52
The photos are not half as disturbing as the censorship of them. War is the root of all these atrocities; torture, rape, suicide bombings, looting, etc. For the 'greatest nation on earth' to have indulged in a war of choice is the most disgusting of things to have happened in the last two centuries. I have nothing but contempt for those who defend bush and his sycophantic mass murderers.
Posted by: Skippy | July 04, 2008 at 23:12
Some have posted that these were disgusting. Why is it fine to fly flags of glory into war, but disgusting to show us the consequences of war? Americans like me need to see more of these pictures of the carnage we have created.
Posted by: Physicscitizen | July 05, 2008 at 01:57
Thanks for documenting the suffering in Karmah.
Al Qaeda and its allies should stop attacking people like this.
I hope that events like this galvanize the world to unite and deal with AQ linked networks.
United we stand. Divided we fall.
Posted by: anand | July 05, 2008 at 02:59
Dang.
Posted by: sarah | July 05, 2008 at 07:03
The pictures speak for themselvesand are typical of potos from a war zone since photography was invented. Yhey say very little about the causes of their deaths from a political viewpoint and I find the "blame America" crowd very naive and disingenuous. Where were their voices when the Israelis were getting slaughtered on their buses and in their homes? Where were they in Uganda, Rowanda? Where now in Zimbabwe.The only reason that the Americans are in the middle east at all is because the world at large was too cowardly to act in political ways while it was still easy. We have now this mess by default and it will get worse because almost everyone wants America to do what they have not the moral courage to do and then have the shameful nerve to criticise when our actions fail to meet their miserable expectations. The communists had a term for folks like you: "Useful Idiots"
Posted by: Joseph Adams | July 05, 2008 at 08:25
The Bush Administration doesn't want the people who live in the US to see the reality of war, especially one started by them. If the average american were to see the carnage that is the result of their support of the Bush/ Blair invasion, regardless of its source, be it the Iraqi people's resistance to the foreign Occupation, the US military's relentless bombings and shootings which hardly rank a mention in the US corporate media or much less often, the Saudi extremists known as Al-Queda, then perhaps they would protest and exercise their right to overthrow that awful regime. I blame the current US administration for the terror that is the US occupation of Iraq. As the big 5 Oil companies prepare to reenter Iraq and start their drilling in the rich fields, any attempt to suggest that America's goals were somehow knoble and "freedom-loving" or "liberating" is laughable.
Posted by: john lee | July 05, 2008 at 08:35
During the Civil War, famous photographer Matthew Brady caused a public stir when he chose to exhibit graphic images of dead soldiers taken after the horrific battle of Antietam. The public had never seen the effects of war on the dead before.
As unpleasant as it can be, the public needs to be reminded that war is ugly. As long as pictures are sanitized, we could care less. But looking at the dismembered figure of a young soldier snuffed out in his prime or an old man blown to bits, puts things in perspective.
Posted by: Aimee | July 05, 2008 at 09:41
Congratulations for having the coiurage, perseverance and fortitude to bring your photographs of this horrific war and its aftermath to the public's attention.
Obviously the current neo-con administration would rather not acknowledge their complicitness in this madness and keep these most uncomfortable, distressing and disturbing images away from the public.
Your faith in living up to your high moral standards should be acknowledged by your peers who have been so cowed by the administration as to lie down and shirk this responsibilities.
Kudos to you Zoriah.
Posted by: David | July 05, 2008 at 16:58
YES! just like you said "united we state, divided we fall"...seems like there is alot of division going on here in the US. look at some of the posts..'bush lied!'... 'oil man president'...'carnage we have created'...get over it. no president is EVER going to be liked by everyone and EVERY president does plenty of things wrong...either by action or IN-ACTION! you have turned this post of human tragedy into a political soap box. wars happen, thats they way it is. if you think that you would never wage war on someone, guess what? that doesnt mean someone wont wage war on you.
Posted by: anthem boy | July 05, 2008 at 17:22
a post above says: 'The Bush Administration doesn't want the people who live in the US to see the reality of war'
thats absolutely wrong. the american public doesnt want to see it.
Posted by: anthem boy | July 05, 2008 at 17:27
As an American Soldier currently serving in Iraq I think that you posting the pictures of the courageous and brave Marines on this page was selfish and disrespectful both to the Marines themselves, and their families. Because you can clearly see that they are American Marines, you first should have waited until the Marines notified the families and you received permission to publish such photos.
I do like your website, and your writing and photographs very well portray how Iraq is now. BUT, I do think that you did cross the line with this one.
- A Comment to Katherine from Zoriah -
Katherine, you need to take a look the posting date which is stamped on this blog post. I am happy to accept critique of my taste and judgment, but I refuse to allow people to say that the post was made before families were notified, or even soon after. You will find that I waited for three days after the families were notified to post the images which have no features that anyone could recognize. I made the post after consulting several marines who were on the scene and friends of the dead and they felt the timing was appropriate and the images were in good taste.
Posted by: Katherine Christian | July 05, 2008 at 20:36
Rudy: You're absurd.
Zoriah is neither responsible for why these U.S. soldiers were in Iraq, nor why they were killed. He documented this to show people what happened. This is called "journalism."
You should be familiar with it. I'm sure the Netherlands has something along the lines of a real journalistic news source, something that reports accurately in order to help inform a wider audience. We in the U.S. unfortunately have been having issues with this very aspect of our media, but that is not up for debate. Apparently, claiming Zoriah isn't being "respectful" is.
To hold him to the light as somehow accountable for the existence of these actions is absurd.
Take a step back for a sec, dude. The world is not only kids playing and sunflowers at sunset. These things happen and it's a shame you can't rise above the petty to see what historic documentation this photographer is doing day in and day out.
Posted by: helly | July 05, 2008 at 21:35
Quote from John Berger "About Looking" Uses of photography.
For the photographer this means thinking of her or himself not so much as a reporter to he rest of the world but,rather, as a recorder for those involved in the events photographed. The distinction is crucial.
Posted by: Christopher Livsey | July 05, 2008 at 23:27
Coming soon to a U.S. neighborhood near you. We cannot help but be next. It's like a current taking us slowly, inevitably to an island. A Bad Place.
Posted by: JMarra | July 06, 2008 at 15:00
Your a Disgrace, you violated your agreements you signed. At the least the Families have the right for the Casualty Notification Teams to tell them of their Loss without them having to see their Loved Ones smashed faces & bodies on the news.
But Hey, you think your a big man now hoping for a Pulitzer no doubt.And the Typical America Evil crowd has jumped in about how we created this. Any Apology to the terrorist scumbags rather than rebuking them. You people remind me of the Vichy who sold their Countrymen an women down to the Fascists
See if any Unit will ever allow you near them if they have the choice
Posted by: S. Gilday, SSG. USA | July 06, 2008 at 17:37
No cause is worth that kind of chaos. At some point after all the killing has been done, people will have to sit, talk, and write agreements. Until then, its sad to know that this same event will occur every week.
Posted by: | July 06, 2008 at 22:27
Major Dent does not mention in his comment that he is often a spokesman for the USMC:
http://www.google.com/search?q=Major+eric+dent%2C+USMC+&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
This information is relevant in that he should know specifically of the "rules" that he mentioned and none were ostensibly broken. Major Dent must also know that this war is a concern for all Americans, not just of members of US armed forces, or their families. In this respect, these photos help the rest of this country, and the world, understand the sacrifice of the immediate protagonists of this war, and the consequences of the politics in play in this country.
Posted by: Carroll | July 06, 2008 at 22:29
George Strock's picture of three dead Marines on Buna Beach was published in Life Magazine in September, 1943, the first published picture of American war dead. The reason for the media's caution in showing such an image was to protect public support for an increasingly bloody war. They had reason: two months later, Marine casualties at Tarawa those incurred taking Guadalcanal... and in only 72 hours. American outcry at such casualty rates was such that the island-hoppping strategy was questioned, and there was far worse yet to come. Public support was vital because that war was funded by bonds purchased by the public.
There is virtually no public support for this war, nor has it ever mattered to those waging it.T here is largely apathy. News coverage has dropped substantially and many news organizations have pulled out altogether.
War is an awful, hideous business and decision to begin this one was made by men with no combat experience whatsoever. There are no rules in modern war. Anyone who has experienced war firsthand would never consider was to be the answer for anything except sanity.
Front-line combat pictures and footage need to be widely distributed to remove any romantic ideas about war. Graphic imagery is hideous and horrible, but if Americans protect themselves from it they will continue to have an inaccurate picture of its destruction and horror.
Posted by: Josh Carrollhach | July 07, 2008 at 02:12
I believe that the proper reaction by all freedom-loving people to these candid photos of death by Zoriah that capture another massacre committed by a suicidal al Qaeda murder monkey in al Anbar Province, Iraq, on Thursday, June 26th, should not be one of recoil and retreat from the horror of war, and like-wise it should not be taken as an opportunity to illogically blame America for al Qaeda’s atrocities; rather our reaction should be a renewal of our resolve to continue helping Iraq stand up--as it clearly is doing--against these vile, counter-Islamic, terroristic fascists. Our response to al Qaeda’s cowardly assassinations of innocent Iraqis should be steadfast support of the good Iraqi people until these all these vermin are captured or destroyed.
The eventual defeat of these Islamist thugs (both in Iraq and around the world) is certain. Why, because good Muslims everywhere have seen the evil of the international jihad face-to-face, and they are rejecting it, both privately and publically. The majority of Muslims are decent people and they are embracing the “awakening” that arose among the Sunnis of al Anbar and emboldened them to fight. That spirit of resistance to and rejection of Qaeda is spreading across the Muslim world. The “awakening” movement will ultimately rid the demonic pestilence of radical Islam from their midst. Iraq is now the model of how all the governments of the Middle East can someday operate in a new way that both protects individual liberties and respects their Islamic heritage within a secular democracy.
Although gruesome, Zoriah's photos are no longer shocking to us because we have seen these scenes of blood and bodies too many times in the photos from the Civil War between the States, WWI, WWII, Vietnam, etc., up until even today. Let's not get stupid over them. We have to keep our goal in mind.
Most importantly, do not let al Qaeda to get its filthy hands on photos that show close up the faces of our injured or killed warriors, because they will exploit them to our determent. I think that responsible imbed photo journalists, such as Zoriah, do their best to capture the reality of war at the risk of their own lives. For your bravery I thank you, Zoriah. But I would request of you (and all American photojournalist) that you, please, protect the honor of our fallen by keeping private images that could identify them, or that could be used by al Qaeda (or by subversive, anti-Americans here at home) for propaganda purposes. Instead, deliver those photos secretly to their next of kin, if they would want them. Let's neither aid our enemies nor demoralize the weaker citizens among us.
In war there are just three outcomes: victory, defeat, or stalemate. The latter, protracts the war, and foists it upon following generations. So, as repulsive and costly as the jihadists’ war in Iraq (or Afghanistan) appears in your photos, let these images not weaken our generation’s resolve to finish of al Qaeda in our time. Let us focus more decisively on defeating al Qaeda and its Iranian allies where ever they choose to fight, otherwise they will hit us again, but with a nuclear bomb next time. We must not leave our grandchildren the grim task of eradicating these misled, brainwashed nihilists who believe that bringing darkness to the world is doing Allah's will.
Posted by: | July 07, 2008 at 03:15
The War Prayer
by Mark Twain
It was a time of great and exalting excitement. The country was up in arms, the war was on, in every breast burned the holy fire of patriotism; the drums were beating, the bands playing, the toy pistols popping, the bunched firecrackers hissing and spluttering; on every hand and far down the receding and fading spread of roofs and balconies a fulttering wilderness of flags flashed in the sun; daily the young volunteers marched down the wide avenue gay and fine in their new uniforms, the proud fathers and mothers and sisters and sweethearts cheering them with voices choked with happy emotion as they swung by; nightly the packed mass meetings listened, panting, to patriot oratory with stirred the deepest deeps of their hearts, and which they interrupted at briefest intervals with cyclones of applause, the tears running down their cheeks the while; in the churches the pastors preached devotion to flag and country, and invoked the God of Battles beseeching His aid in our good cause in outpourings of fervid eloquence which moved every listener.
It was indeed a glad and gracious time, and the half dozen rash spirits that ventured to disapprove of the war and cast a doubt upon its righteousness straightway got such a stern and angry warning that for their personal safety's sake they quickly shrank out of sight and offended no more in that way.
Sunday morning came -- next day the battalions would leave for the front; the church was filled; the volunteers were there, their young faces alight with martial dreams -- visions of the stern advance, the gathering momentum, the rushing charge, the flashing sabers, the flight of the foe, the tumult, the enveloping smoke, the fierce pursuit, the surrender!
Then home from the war, bronzed heroes, welcomed, adored, submerged in golden seas of glory! With the volunteers sat their dear ones, proud, happy, and envied by the neighbors and friends who had no sons and brothers to send forth to the field of honor, there to win for the flag, or, failing, die the noblest of noble deaths. The service proceeded; a war chapter from the Old Testament was read; the first prayer was said; it was followed by an organ burst that shook the building, and with one impulse the house rose, with glowing eyes and beating hearts, and poured out that tremendous invocation:
God the all-terrible! Thou who ordainest,
Thunder thy clarion and lightning thy sword!
Then came the "long" prayer. None could remember the like of it for passionate pleading and moving and beautiful language. The burden of its supplication was, that an ever-merciful and benignant Father of us all would watch over our noble young soldiers, and aid, comfort, and encourage them in their patriotic work; bless them, shield them in the day of battle and the hour of peril, bear them in His mighty hand, make them strong and confident, invincible in the bloody onset; help them crush the foe, grant to them and to their flag and country imperishable honor and glory --
An aged stranger entered and moved with slow and noiseless step up the main aisle, his eyes fixed upon the minister, his long body clothed in a robe that reached to his feet, his head bare, his white hair descending in a frothy cataract to his shoulders, his seamy face unnaturally pale, pale even to ghastliness. With all eyes following him and wondering, he made his silent way; without pausing, he ascended to the preacher's side and stood there waiting. With shut lids the preacher, unconscious of his presence, continued his moving prayer, and at last finished it with the words, uttered in fervent appeal, "Bless our arms, grant us the victory, O Lord and God, Father and Protector of our land and flag!"
The stranger touched his arm, motioned him to step aside -- which the startled minister did -- and took his place. During some moments he surveyed the spellbound audience with solemn eyes, in which burned an uncanny light; then in a deep voice he said:
"I come from the Throne -- bearing a message from Almighty God!" The words smote the house with a shock; if the stranger perceived it he gave no attention. "He has heard the prayer of His servant your shepherd, and will grant it if such be your desire after I, His messenger, shall have explained to you its import -- that is to say, its full import. For it is like unto many of the prayers of men, in that it asks for more than he who utters it is aware of -- excpet he pause and think. "God's servant and yours has prayed his prayer. Has he paused and taken thought? Is it one prayer? No, it is two -- one uttered, and the other not. Both have reached the ear of Him who heareth all supplications, the spoken and the unspoken. Ponder this -- keep it in mind. If you would beseech a blessing upon yourself, beware! lest without intent you invoke a curse upon your neighbor at the same time. If you pray for the blessing of rain on your crop which needs it, by that act you are possibly praying for a curse on some neighbor's crop which may not need rain and can be injured by it.
"You have heard your servant's prayer -- the uttered part of it. I am commissioned by God to put into words the other part of it -- that part which the pastor -- and also you in your hearts -- fervently prayed silently. And ignorantly and unthinkingly? God grant that it was so! You heard the words 'Grant us the victory, O Lord our God!' That is sufficient. The whole of the uttered prayer is compact into those pregnant words. Elaborations were not necessary. When you have prayed for victory you have prayed for many unmentioned results which follow victory -- must follow it, cannot help but follow it. Upon the listening spirit of God fell also the unspoken part of the prayer. He commandeth me to put it into words. Listen!
"Lord our Father, our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth into battle -- be Thou near them! With them -- in spirit -- we also go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved firesides to smite the foe. O Lord our God, help us tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with their little children to wander unfriended in the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames in summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it --
For our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimmage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet!
We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of Love, and Who is the ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts. Amen.
(After a pause.) "Ye have prayed it; if ye still desire it, speak! The messenger of the Most High waits."
…
It was believed afterward that the man was a lunatic, because there was no sense in what he said.
Posted by: anonymous | July 07, 2008 at 03:22
What a moving personal account, complete with pictures to illustrate the horror. My only question is: why isn't the MSM eating this up? This should be front-page news, photos that stick in the American consciousness for decades, not merely an internet blog.
But thank you, Zoriah, for having the courage to do what you can.
Posted by: Caleb | July 07, 2008 at 03:58
and this is one event, out of 5 long years of events just like this taking place on a daily basis. It boggles the mind. I feel so much for the soldiers, for the Iraqi's, and for you and those like you who are trying to report the reality. I'm sure it is a hell no human being should have to endure, but every single one of us need to see. Thank you so much for showing us who we are.
Posted by: Stillcool | July 07, 2008 at 04:23
Thank you for having the courage to run these pictures, and to allow yourself to lose your position in order to present them.
To Paul from the Netherlands, I can only say that I don't know what it's like to live where you live, but living here in America is more and more like some freakish parody of the former Soviet Union. We have just finished our national holiday where we crowed about "freedom," yet our government does not let us see ANY images of this six year war. It is NOT disrespectful to show these images, because these images are the consequences of what we American citizens are allowing to happen - and we allow this to happen in our names because we allow ourselves to be censored, we allow ourselves to not know, and we allow our rights to be stolen.
To Paul in the Netherlands, I don't know what image you have of America, but it's probably completely wrong. The reality for everyday working people is that our economy is collapsing but our government won't admit it; our jobs are drying up but the job figures are fixed to hide the fact; we earn less than we did a generation ago but most of our workers defend cutting taxes for the very wealthy; and our war has caused thousands of needless deaths, but he never hear ANYTHING about it.
Did you know, Paul, that in America-the-land-of-the-free it is illegal to show photographs of the coffins of returning solders? THAT is disrespectful, Paul - they died supposedly "defending our freedom," and we are not free to recognize their sacrifice. Did you know that we NEVER see footage of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan here?
We're not entirely stupid here, Paul. Most of us know that our elections are rigged, our Constitution is being dismantled by our politicians, and our economy and national reputation are in the crapper. But we keep working within the system to try to fix things.
Photographs like these forbidden pictures show us what we're trying to stop. They are not disrespectful, unless you think it is respectful to pretend the dead have not died.
Thank you for risking blacklisting to publish your photographs. The only way that the American public can ever know the truth in Iraq and Afghanistan is for courageous people like you to defy the unAmerican censorship imposed upon the truth.
Posted by: Albatross | July 07, 2008 at 04:49
From what I've read, you've been kicked out of the country for the photos you've taken. My deepest appreciation and thanks for the courage to publish. If only Americans could see how life is, maybe we'd be a little more reluctant to invade countries for no apparent reason. Decisions have consequences.
Posted by: jhill123 | July 07, 2008 at 06:53
If pictures like yours were on the front page of the daily papers and the nightly news, the war would have ended in weeks. War has been sanitized and romanicized in this country and it is crime. It betrays the soldiers and civilians.
Posted by: xargaw | July 07, 2008 at 09:03
Why should the army be afraid for the truth? Nobody told that war is just a game.
Fear for truth is the end of democracy. Independent journalists are essential for this world. Hope this will never happen in Holland.
Posted by: vreeswijk | July 07, 2008 at 10:18
War is indeed hell and we can see it so clearly thanks to these photos. Thank you. We must believe that, in the long run, the truth will indeed set us free.
I can not let the comments of Rudy go without comment. A Dutch peace keeper who served in Bosnia Herzegovina asking for more respect? C'mon. You lost all respect at Srebrenica. A sense of shame rather than outrage is more appropriate.
Posted by: Tinshed | July 07, 2008 at 12:00
It is shocking that so many are surprised at the graphic nature of these images. No one suspected? No one knew that this was what it meant to go to war?
That to me is terrifyingly ignorant. Americans seem more and more like children every day.
Posted by: Claire | July 07, 2008 at 16:30
Thanks, for showing the reality !!!
Posted by: Henko | July 07, 2008 at 16:54
Albatross, Please move to Paul's country since you find America a "freakish parody of the former Soviet Union". I find your comparison freakish. Obviously, you have no clue about what oppression is truly like under a serious police state, where you could disappear in the middle of the night for having joked about the dictatorial regime. In laughable contrast, here in the United States of America, the target of mad Islamists bent on destruction, you can march around the Whitehouse in support of the terrorists, wishing them much success while denouncing President Bush as a war criminal all day long. You can even send President Bush vulgar letters and e-mails telling him to f*** off (as long as you do not threaten violence) without the slightest concern for your liberty. Even the terrorists held at Gitmo are treated like royalty in comparison to the stark brutality that Castro's political prisoners endure in the dark, filthy cages where they are held up to 25 years for merely protesting his murderous regime. This very day in Cuba, where summary executions were normal for enemies of the state, people still whisper their complaints against the communist government because the police tap their phones and neighbors report their negative sentiments to the secret police.
Don’t you grasp what nonsense you have written? While the radical Mohammadists have declared total war on the United States and the free world, too, with the demonic goal of forcing extreme Sharia upon everyone, including you, as they blow up scores of innocents through suicide bombings, you denounce America! Perhaps you sympathize with their destructive goal. I don't think that Americans need continual pictures of coffins and gore to appreciate the cost of war.
Unfortunately, it appears that a majority of Americans have already been brainwashed by the leftist anti-war propaganda that permeates our free press and media such that opinion polls reveal they disapprove of Operation Iraqi Freedom. However, I think that what most Americans really disapprove of is how long it is taking. The opinion polls never ask the question: “Do you prefer that the United States military remain in Iraq until it achieves victory over al Qaeda, the Mahdi Army, and Iranian terrorist there, or do you prefer that we withdraw our combat forces from Iraq regardless of the carnage, chaos, and collapse of the Iraqi democracy that will unleash?” Wars never run on schedule, and the enemy has a vote on how long it lasts.
Underlying all this, I believe, is the disingenuous concern that anti-war protesters pretend to hold for our troops. Albatross, you sound like an anti-war protester, and I don’t trust that you really care about the welfare of our troops. If you honestly cared for these heroes, who have sacrificed and died to protect us from the murder monkeys, you would contribute your time and money to help some wounded warriors and their families. Have you done that? It seems to me you only seek to exploit the images of our fallen to bolster your anti-war propaganda.
The United States of America has, under the leadership of President Bush, liberated over 50 million Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan who suffered immeasurably under the police states of the Taliban, So-damn-insane, and al Qaeda. That is what you and I ought to be celebrating. Our warriors are citizen volunteers and they do not want our pity but immense respect and honor for what they have done. They want to achieve the victories they set out to accomplish. Just get out of their way, and stop undermining their cause with cowardly drivel. You are only helping the enemy.
Posted by: OSoccer | July 07, 2008 at 17:48
It is a sorry era in our history when Americans "embed" reporters with our troops, instead of letting them go where they will and report what they find. Thank you, Zoriah, for your courage. We hear too little truth in America these days, and you have addressed our truth deficit with your words and your photographs.
It will take tremendous acts of courage on the part of more Americans if we want to change this approach to governance. More acts of courage like yours are needed to help more Americans realize the false picture of Iraq our government has painted for us. The Iraq conflict has had a negative impact on both Iraq and America. Iraq has suffered great losses and a disrupted society. Many Americans don't understand how warring in Iraq has grievously undermined our own economy and our society.
If your pictures could be more widely viewed, their power would change many people's opinion of our presence in Iraq. But our government disrespects us by disallowing us to see the truth. I thank you for your window into events in Iraq.
Posted by: Bonnie | July 07, 2008 at 18:48
remember during WWII they purposely showed images of the dead bodies so Americans knew the REAL sacrifice of the soldiers. Imagine the Images of D Day playing now. Thank you for this b/c we all need to see it, and it should be ILLEGAL for the Govt to try and censor you PERIOD. People who don't want to see, or others to see miss the point that these brave soldiers will keep dying for no reason in future wars if we don't realize what the hell is happening now.
Posted by: J. Johnson | July 07, 2008 at 20:29
Americans need to get over themselves and realize that war is not a picnic. Thanks for the pictures and keep them coming. Don't let the right-wingers, rethugnicans, and other assorted "patriots" bother you - they're 98% ignorant anyway.
Posted by: TWriter | July 07, 2008 at 23:11
Thanks for the photos and they truly moved me. I believe less than one percent of the American population has seen first hand the gruesome pictures of death in Iraq.
It is in the government's interest to keep the reality of war away from Americans. There claims against you are bogus and truth will always win out.
Do not let the war mongers/right wing bloggers get under your skin.
Posted by: Mac G | July 07, 2008 at 23:27
Impressive pictures. Showing them is not disrespectful to the marines, it shows the circumstances they dealing with. It shows the brutality of the terrorists (killing in the name of god?). It shows the face of war. We need to know these pictures, to make a choice whether this war is good or bad. The reactions shows their value.
In times of war, the first victim is the truth.
Posted by: Smg | July 07, 2008 at 23:35
There are no words for this atrocity. The photos inevitably speak for themselves. Thank you for having the courage to stand by your convictions to submit them as well the courage to continue clicking amid these horrors.(( It begs the saying....When they came for others I said nothing because it was not me....When they came for me, there was no one left.))I just wish our soldiers would use their RIGHT to NOT follow orders to do this lest they are subject to punishment like in Nuremberg. UNJUST ORDERS can be denied by a soldier...THEY must stand up to power, if not they will be tested again to control the streets of America. The powerful DO NOT care about human life..they are too busy counting and reaping. But they will reap what bad seeds they allow to be sown in the MiddleEast.
BE BLESSED ZORIAH!!!
Posted by: meohmy | July 07, 2008 at 23:52
To the anonymous poster on July 07, 2008 at 03:15 AM. You said:
"Let us focus more decisively on defeating al Qaeda and its Iranian allies where ever they choose to fight, otherwise they will hit us again, but with a nuclear bomb next time."
You do undestand the Iranian leadership is Shiite, and Al Qaeda are radical Sunni extremists? And that the idea of them cooperating, let alone the complete lack of evidence there of, is absurd on its face?
Speaking of Al Qaeda, they make up a fraction of the forces fighting in Iraq. In the multitude of different factions and militias contributing to the violence in Iraq they are quite literally a blip on the radar. A gullible and passive press core dutifully drummed up these Salafi Jihadis (not even related to the Bin Laden faction) as the main threat against Iraq's stability.
Meanwhile the Iranian's are supporting Maliki and the Dawa party. Both America and Iran agree on one thing, Maliki is their guy. Funny how that works?
Posted by: Benjamin Caesar | July 07, 2008 at 23:56
Welcome to the reality of war.
This sort of violence would happen far less often if the people paying for it (taxpayers) got to see what it looks like close up.
Keep up the good work.
Showing the real violence of war to joe public is far more important than worrying about respecting the dead or their families. If respect for the dead stay the #1 priority, then the killing will just go on and on, hidden from the public.
Posted by: Drew Gardner | July 07, 2008 at 23:57
It's unfortunate that some people want to criticize your photographs. But who are they to be offended when the people in the pictures are dead or dying? Screw them and I sorry if they're relatives but these deaths are occuring in my country's name. I have a right to know what's going on under the 1st Amendment.
One of the so-called "lessons" the military and establishment thinks they learned from the Vietnam War was to control the news and don't let the public see the real truth and consequences of the wars they wage. Make it a TV show.
War is hell. Tell it like it is and maybe we won't have so many of them. Either that or make the politicians who want to fight do the fighting themselves or send their kids.
Posted by: republicanSScareme | July 08, 2008 at 00:38
Osoccer..." people being grabbed and disappeared into the night" Where has that happened lately? The good o' freedom lovin' US of A. Ever read anything but your patriotic tripe? Stop singing the Star Spangled Banner and look around. We have black sites where we put people we kidnap in the middle of the night. Do they have trials? Have we beaten people to death with no trial? None other than general Taguba has acknowledged this. We have violated our judicial principles at GITMO and on and on. Take a look, it's not so hard to see.
Posted by: Cl Oregon Girl | July 08, 2008 at 01:12
I am a bit torn about your decision to post these pictures. One, it's disrespectful to the people you lived with to further your career by showing the world pictures of their death. But at the same time the world should know not just the brutality of war, but the brutality of the muslim terrorists who infect Iraq and much of the middle east.
As for those who keep congratulating the photographer on his courage, please spare me. The courage shown is by the Iraqis who brave death threats and horrible incidents such as this to help their country and our soldiers who put themselves at great risk to help them do the same. They have risked, and in this case, lost everything. They were not satisfied to take pictures of the world around them, they were doing something about it. And now they are dead, and luckily there will be other courageous men and women who will take their place.
Personally, if I was in that unit and you showed the world my dead friends to further your own career, you would not be safe. For that reason, I think it's best you thank the military for your opportunity to become a hero and martyr to the hate America crowd and leave Iraq.
If you want to show some real courage, take off under your own without hiding under the umbrella of protection provided by the same soldiers you chose to show dead.
Posted by: Jack Burton | July 08, 2008 at 01:28
Osoccer said:
"t appears that a majority of Americans have already been brainwashed by the leftist anti-war propaganda that permeates our free press and media such that opinion polls reveal they disapprove of Operation Iraqi Freedom. However, I think that what most Americans really disapprove of is how long it is taking."
Last time I looked this was a democracy. The majority of people in the US don't want to be in Iraq. Just because you don't believe it or agree with it yourself, we are brainwashed. How convenient for you. I could make the same argument -- you sound like you drank the whole pitcher of Koolaid. Your whole response sounds like something out of the cold war. We could remove the word Muslim and replace it with commies and I would feel like I was living in 1955.
Posted by: cl-Oregon Girl | July 08, 2008 at 01:51
Americans need to see this. I remember watching the Vietnam footage on the evening news and, as a teen, getting very bored at it all. Then, there was color tv. Now there is both color and B/W, in this photography. Not composed; real. War looks like this. Zoriah, my humble thanks for your courage. You focused very well on war.
Posted by: mary 77 | July 08, 2008 at 03:14
learn respect
Posted by: none | July 08, 2008 at 03:47
Thanks for having the courage to report and document this war...and the courage to publish these pictures. Most Americans hope that your small contribution can accelerate our exit from Iraq. I am ashamed that our country has used our troops as pawns for Big Oil contracts. I am ashamed that our reputation has been laid to waste along with millions of innocent deaths and casualties. When we finally rid ourselves of these criminals, many of us will continue to demand our government hand over these people for trial at the Hague.
Posted by: Robert Lockhart | July 08, 2008 at 03:54
Buna Beach. Look it up.
Matthew Brady and Alexander Gardner. They photographed American war dead in the Civil War.
We took photos of Japanese war dead in the war all the time, but our own war dead weren't given a voice in photography until '44 when pictures of Buna Beach were finally released. They were taken in '42.
It smacks of insecurity in cause or weakness in strength to be unwilling to allow images of the blood shed for your cause to be taken. Or perhaps one wants to deny the reality of the truth on the ground, that young men and women are dying and rather treat it as a movie or videogame. War is much easier to stand when it is reports and footage from a gun-camera or LANTIRN pod.
It is more honorable to record the events that lead to their death, the tragic and brutal and heroic ways that their lives come to a abrubt end, record the painful or painless end to their dreams and honor them in totality.
It is a disgrace to their name, their lives and their service to this country and be just another report released by a CENTCOM or puzzle palace briefer.
American citizens were able to view images of American dead on battlefields here, on American soil, and were convinced in the righteousness of the cause. If the American public view these images and cannot continue this war, then perhaps it is not a righteous war, a just war.
Posted by: Brandon Clark | July 08, 2008 at 05:24
Your story and your pictures are what this horror is all about. Peace to you and power to your truth.
Posted by: bonesy | July 08, 2008 at 06:04
Your story and your pictures are what this horror is all about. Peace to you and power to your truth.
Posted by: bonesy | July 08, 2008 at 06:05
As a 13 year Marine Corps veteran who was medically discharged due to combat injuries I think we should see more pictures of dead Americans and others to bring home what this war is all about. this was was brought about because of the lies and greed of a bunch of chickenhawk politicians who refused to serve themselves but are only too eager to snuff out the lives of others.
Posted by: Terry | July 08, 2008 at 06:29
We all know that war is not pretty and I agree with the Marines when you were removed. The fallen soldiers or the civilians should not be photgraphed and if you insist on photographing these scenes then maybe permission from the immediate family members should be sought to display their loved ones in this public manner.
Posted by: Art | July 08, 2008 at 06:40
Thank you.
Posted by: cicero z legume | July 08, 2008 at 07:00
Is the money or the theft of Iraqi oil worth this price? Jimmy Carter called the energy crisis "the moral equivalent of war".
Today it is war. War for the corporate machine that now controls "we the people.."
Can I tell you how much I hate these immoral directors controlling the actions of the actors on the stage?
Rulings now made by a Supreme Court entirely driven for the end goals of corporate malfeasance... and murder worldwide. A "person" has the right to confront their accuser in court. The "corporation" ordered a hit it was overheard and reported before the act to the police who recorded the information...and the individual who was the focus of the report was suspiciously murdered. Inadmissable in court will say the Supreme Court.
What the hell is wrong with us that we continue to bargain in blood for natural resources and enforce our "interests" the corporate rule with all of those bases overseas? Ask McCain, ask Obama if this is the world we need to live in? Will you end the corporate military control of our government? If you won't, then go to hell..just don't take me with you.
Posted by: Stephen | July 08, 2008 at 08:34
As a military member I have to say we need more pictures like this every now and again just to remind the cheerleaders for war who always stand on the sidelines as other fight, that war is Hell. And if I believed in that sort of thing I would have believed I slipped into the 9th ring of it when I was in Ramadi. But there is no God so I'm glad that is the closest to hell I'll ever get. Let America see it and let it sink in.
Posted by: MDByrne | July 08, 2008 at 10:21
When I lived in the Middle East, some of my students would shove photos of dead babies under my nose to illustrate some obscure political point. Other teachers I knew had the same experience.
The loved ones of these dead Americans can know that these images, which are not write protected in any way, will be passed around the Middle East, not in sadness with an attitude of shared humanity as they are presented here, but with joy and gloating as corpse porn.
These images will be used by extremists as proof of their success to recruit more suicide bombers.
Posted by: Nijma | July 08, 2008 at 15:55
I WANTED TO LOOK AT YOUR PHOTOGRAPHS BECAUSE I THOUGHT OF IT AS MY DUTY. I CANNOT FATHOM THE HORROR THAT ALL WHO ARE MIXED UP IN THIS MISCONCEIVED WAR WITNESS EVERYDAY.
SOMEONE NEEDS TO ANSWER FOR ALL OF THIS HORROR AND IT IS THE AMERICAN. GEORGE BUSH AND COMPANY. IRAQ IS IN RUINS AND SO IS THE HEART AND SOUL OF AMERICA.
Posted by: Karen Haggerty | July 08, 2008 at 16:45
Just so you know you dont even have a clue you say that its showing the american populace what they want to see but and the govt. tries to hide, you are absolutely wrong the american public cant handle it just the same as you because none of them have endured the training or been put into this situation. I was there the day you took thesr pictures and I had you removed because you were demorilizing my brothers in arms. You cant even consider yourself a man if this is what you have to do to get attention you pice of shit. God forbid this happen to you or anyone close to you, you fucking hippie
Posted by: night walker | July 08, 2008 at 16:54
It takes two armies to fight a war - what we are doing in the Middle East is not "fighting a war."
This is an illegal invasion and occupation of a sovereign country that posed no threat to us, other than their sand was covering our oil.
Posted by: ::mwah:: | July 08, 2008 at 16:57
I am old enough to remember the nightly news coverage of the Vietnam war and the lists of dead.
We need coverage like that every night for the Iraq war. Thanks for posting your photos. Plus making some of them black and white, good B&W photos are actually harder to take.
I am a photographer plus a volunteer firefighter & EMT.
Posted by: nigeldh | July 08, 2008 at 17:38
Sorry, but I'm not at all impressed with these photos. What are you shooting with? What's with the high contrast, noise, desaturation, quirky compositions, and faux vignetting? Seems like you'd rather be doing artistic photographer than photojournalism. Can't even figure out what I'm seeming in many of these shots. Your "style" gets in the way. Hopefully they will replace you with someone who can take better pictures.
Posted by: max | July 08, 2008 at 18:30
you sir are pathetic.putting these pictures online before the families of the Marines have even been notified. i hope that day haunts you for the rest of your life. i've been on two combat deployments and have seen much more then you could imagine, im sure you would love to so you could take your little pictures of Marines misfortunes and make money. you are a liberal fuck who has no respect for the dead or the living. im currently in karma and im glad they kicked your sorry ass out of the god damn city. do you even know the names of the Marines who died that day or that they have families, im sure they wouldnt like to be searching the internet and find pictures like this of their loved ones. but hey that doesnt matter to a person like you as long as you make your dollar. god help you if i ever see you around a marine corps base or say south camp, i will not hesitate to walk up and smash your face with your camera.
Posted by: Buddha | July 08, 2008 at 19:56
Having served as a combat infantry officer in Vietnam in 1968, the photos are not anything I haven't witnessed first hand. I believe ALL Americans over the age of 15 yrs. who are not mentally unstable should be made to see the results of armed conflict, particularly this illegal occupation based on lies and greed.
Perhaps then, Americans of intelligence and compassion will stop their religious rhetoric, chauvenistic greed mongering and political posturing (esp. from a jerk who did 20 hrs of "combat" flying and then got shot down)and demand the US get out of Iraq immediately, relinquish the criminal oil profiteering, prosecute the thieves in government(specifically Bush/Cheney/Feith/Wolfowitz, etc.) and corporations who have enriched themselves with blood money from this cluster fuck.
War isn't like the movies, even the realistic ones. It isn't like these pictures either, but at least one sees a small reality though without the smell, sounds and stares of the shell shocked.
Shame!
Posted by: Peter L. Everts | July 08, 2008 at 19:57
You. You seneselessly deluded ignorant avatar. This is how you thrive? Where's your sense of compassion? How can you thrive by advocating the "truth" by portraying the mutilated remains of people ACTUALLY fighting for the cause, your "truth"? How can you laud yourself when you come back from a combat zone bearing photos of the bodies of those who died to give you that right? You feel you've sufferd? You claim to be wronged, oppressed, by being forcibly removed from the site of the blast? You were removed for utilizing the situation as an opportunity. You are a grave robber. Never before have I seen something so low, so vile, as the way you displayed and portrayed the events of the 26th. No memorium. No mention of those dead. Just your unjustified indignation. Burn. I hope you burn. You deserve nothing better. To those of you who support this approach to exposing a "truth" in a political bout that does not exist - you can burn with him. You know absolutely nothing. Get off your soap boxes. Your vaunted perspectives are objective grandeur.
This is tabloid journalism. You have manipulated grievous deaths into a career benefit. Zoriah, Huminatarian photojournalist? You've no humanity. You. Are. Scum.
Posted by: Bowser | July 08, 2008 at 23:14
Your a commy liberal prick. I know the best damn marine out there and yu decide to post pictures of the ones he knows! the ones he has lived with and fought by there side. without there parents' knowledge. You have no sympathy for those fighting over there. This is a wake up call to us Americans? You cant call your self American if your not willing to know what being an American is all about. It is our duty to know what is going on at all times and stand by the sides of those who fight for our rights!! You have disgraced the face of the marines and posting there pictures was wrong. Sure we need more pictures of Americans being dead but not if your in it for money and your not going to notify all involved before. It is right of the marines to kick you out of Iraq. I have been told by my marine family that they all believe you should be hung or sent back to Iraq and left there alone.
Posted by: Carlee | July 08, 2008 at 23:39
Powerful stuff, Doubt you will read this. but if you do.
I've been wanting for ages to be in your shoes. For a while now, i've been putting together a similar blog. Even though i am a intern in South Africa, at The Herald newspaper, i see my fair share of mayhem. If you've got a minute could you please check out my blog, a little feed back would be awesome. its
www.jjmcnab.wordpress.com
I've been wanting for ages to be where you are. I hate being stuck behind a desk all day, with nothing interesting or worthwhile to report on. I feel that my photos and articles make little difference in the world. But I keep on taking them and up load them when ever something happens. If you can take a chance, could you please contact me via the blog so we can get talking about how it would be possible for me to get over to Iraq. Cos South Africans have little to no idea what is really going on over there.
Thanks for your time. Keep up the good work and please keep safe.
Justin McCabe
Posted by: Justin McCabe | July 08, 2008 at 23:58
I think it's rather telling of what is really going on when a country that claims it has "free speech" silences an award winning photographer.
Posted by: EccentricCanadian | July 09, 2008 at 00:00
We cannot defend freedom overseas when we desecrate its principles behind the excuse of sensitivity, dignity and respect.
We cannot honor those fallen when we want to treat them as just another news report...
War is a tragic, heroic endeavour and to attempt to isolate yourself from its imagery is an attempt to deny the reality of the situation.
To deny the humanity of those marines and civilians killed that day and treat them as another statistic released by a CENTCOM or Puzzle Palace briefer is a slap in the face.
If anyone really gives a damn about those who die over there, they will view the images and remember.
If anything, taking a picture elevates the dead out of the quagmire to be seen. It gives them their humanity back when it was taken away in a brutal fashion.
However, shame on you for using those images in the pursuit of professional advancement, monetary gain or advancement of an idea or political cause. Dead in war deserve to be treated a heck of a lot better then use as a propaganda tool or just another news report...
But let us not forget what we are fighting over there. An ideology of mysogyny, theocracy, bigotry, totalitarianism, supremacy and terror.
And if they win, we won't have to worry about pictures of our war dead on foreign soils because our warrios will be dying here, on American soil. Maybe not now, maybe not tomorrow, maybe not in the next 30 years...
Posted by: Brandon Clark | July 09, 2008 at 02:08
i am a TRUE american. if more images like this were to permeate peoples minds, maybe more of my brothers and sisters of other tribes would still be...well, around! and i mean other tribes, like in rwanda, and bosnia and every other horror that has stolen honor and truth from the human soul. i HAVE seen photos (there are SO few) of MY family, with american army bullets in their heads!! being in the category, there is NO disrespect being done to my mind. war, and the killing of innocent people will ALWAYS be ugly. but what shocks me more, the idea that this horrible act, should be hidden.
what is hidden, shall be forgotten.
peace.
Posted by: navajo woman | July 09, 2008 at 03:14
After viewing these images, I find myself musing over my cousin Donnie's death in Vietnam in 1964. He was a young man cut down in a senseless, pointless war in similar circumstances before I was even born. Yet my family spoke of him often enough as if it had just happened in recent memory. So it will be for the loved ones of these Marines, as they spend generations trying to attach meaning to the deaths of these men in a war that should never have happened.
This war has become too clean, if not in fact sanitized, in the minds of our countrymen. A volunteer military, coupled with a Pentagon cognizant of maintaining the spin control they couldn't manage in Vietnam is allowing Bush's Folly to go on far too long by not allowing our people to see the price of Bush's lies.
Mark Twain said it was the duty of every patriot to defend his country from his government, and this photographer was doing a patriotic duty. Bush should have these photos laminated to his desk so that he has to stare at them every morning, not that anything like regret might dart about his reptilian brain.
George Washington warned us in his Farewell Address about the danger of entangling foreign alliance, foreign wars, and large standing armies. I would urge all of you to look it up on Google. Before this war started, if we as a country had read it with Mark Twain's sense of skepticism about the lies of politicians of all stripes, then these men would be alive today and we would not be having this tragic discussion. We were collective fools for repeating the Vietnam mistake. Let's not do it again.
Posted by: Dave in Idaho | July 09, 2008 at 06:23
One of the main reasons given by the US for this WAR in Iraq was to bring FREEDOM to the country.
One of the primary FREEDOMs we are supposed to treasure here in the west is FREEDOM of the press. That should also include the FREEDOM to depict the WAR exactly as it is - brutal, bloody and indiscriminate.
I think it's hypocritical to only show the 'Approved' or 'Officially Sanitised' photos of these very real consequences of waging WAR. How else are people ever really going to know what WAR really looks like - if more people were able to see images like these it might help them form clearer opinions and make better informed decisions.
Furthermore I do not agree that photographing scenes like this 'disrespect' the dead (on either side of the conflict) they simply show exactly what was there on the scene. The truth often makes people feel uncomfortable, in particular those people not inclined to look for the truth, or those trying to hide the truth from others.
It's plain to see from the postings here on Zoriah's blog that he's putting himself into harms way to capture these images.
I get no sense from the photos or from his writing that he's in any way biased in his coverage, nor looking to sensationalise or titillate his viewers.
Posted by: Simon Narramore | July 09, 2008 at 11:56
The reality of war and conflict is truly horrifying. The reaction of the military higher-ups to the photograph of the U.S. victim reminded me of this quote by Irving Kristol, the founder of the neo-con movement now in power in the white house and for the past eight years:
"There are different kinds of truths for different kinds of people. There are truths appropriate for children; truths that are appropriate for students; truths that are appropriate for educated adults; and truths that are appropriate for highly educated adults, and the notion that there should be one set of truths available to everyone is a modern democratic fallacy. It doesn't work."
Please continue your work, all people should be aware of the truths of war.
Posted by: Crake | July 09, 2008 at 19:14
Though I disagree with the concept of dispassionate journalism, the world needs to see the horrors created by terrorists (simple cretins and murderers) who would have the world live in a medieval empire THEY run.
Posted by: Ednonymous | July 10, 2008 at 02:35
the pictures of our fallen marines should never be posted any where, not good job to you but disrespect. no one needs to see this and i dont appreciate those who feel he is doing right by putting them on tis site, your disrespecting the families involved. i suggest you remove this sh*t asap
Posted by: marine | July 10, 2008 at 09:13
The U.S. is pretty unique in the world; we are protected by geography so well that nobody living today has any idea of what it is like to fear destruction of your home, death of your family, by a force you cannot stop and had nothing to do with putting into motion.
Dead bodies, who used to be beloved people, in the streets, fire from the sky, fearsome noise, no place safe, are and have been reality for millions of people all over the world--but not us.
A lot of credit for ending the Vietnam war goes to the coverage that we saw every night on our television screens---GIs screaming in pain, crying over their dead buddies--and Americans learning what the supposed noble cause of stopping communism on the shores of Da Nang really meant.
God bless this photographer for allowing the dead to speak. Military regulations against what he did are political, to keep us from realizing how horrific war is instead of it being a backdrop for this administration to strut and plot and make money.
The soldiers' families are grieving and always will; the soldiers are gone and always will be. At least let them tell us that they didn't want to die, and that dying was painful and terrible. These photographs give them their voices.
Posted by: Cynthia Morse | July 10, 2008 at 11:46
I'm a little shocked at how many of you feel that the display of identifiable of dead Marines and Iraqis is acceptable, and that it is your right to see them. Yes, they are identifiable to those knew the Marines and the Sheiks that we work with. I agree completely that the American public should know everything that occurs over here, but to display the bodies of the dead, even after families have been notified, is just tasteless. It serves no journalistic purpose. America has changed the channel on this war, and Zoriah is merely trying to get himself back in the limelight but posting shocking images to satisfy America's desire for gore. Where are his images of the 3 school openings that occured the week prior to the bombing? those same dead Marines and Sheiks worked so hard for those school openings. Where are the photos of the cooperative medical engagements where hundreds of Iraqi men, women, and children received medical care from Iraqi, American, and other cooperative nation's doctors that they would not have received without the hard work and caring of these dead Marines? How about images of the several water treatment plants that have been opened in the greater Garmah area? How about the electrical system that has been refurbished and rewired to allow the greater Garmah area to receive electricity from the Haditha Dam. This is something that these dead Marines worked tirelessly for too. How about the months and months of training these Marines developed and implemented for the Iraqi Police, Iraqi Army, and Al Anbar Provincial Security Force so that they can police their own areas and keep their neighborhoods secure once Marines have left. None of these things and the countless other humane, civil affairs projects that these Marines and Sheiks planned and executed will ever be covered by Zoriah or any other reporter because they aren't shocking or interesting to mongers who believe that this is journalism. Zoriah has reduced these Marines, and the Sheiks who are our brothers and partners in our quest for peace, to pieces of meat used for shock value. How many of those that believe this is good journalism have the courage to come here and try to change anything? Few, if any. You'd rather sit behind your computer and pass judgment. There are hundreds of non-governmental organizations in Iraq doing great things, so don't wonder how you can help. Get off your rear end and do something. Words are worthless, deeds are priceless.
It isn't necessary to show identifiable photos to show the cost of war to the American people. It's tasteless, serves no valid purpose, and is disrespectful to their living friends and family.
Posted by: Garmah Marine | July 10, 2008 at 12:18
Thanks for the awesome cool pictures. I absolutly love looking at genuine violent and shocking "images of death" as you put it. They teach me not to take life for granted. They also remind me that anything in this crazy world is possible; therefore i should always be ready for anything. These are pretty tame actually compared other stufff on the internet. Don't let these idiots on here tell you that you are doing anything wrong. The people on here bitching have likely never had any balls in their life nor left their comfortable and safe house (safe thanks to our Men in the Forces).
Posted by: Fernando | July 10, 2008 at 16:39
Those who refers to homicide bombers in the context of "war" are fooling themselves. The savage depraved who perpetrate these sorts of acts against their own people have no reward other than the whirlwind.
May God bless the souls of the innocent departed and console their families in the knowledge that this struggle for a free Iraq--and potentially a free Middle East--is being bought by the best blood this generation has to offer--regardless of nationality.
Posted by: Cosmo | July 10, 2008 at 21:55
Hmmm...I wonder why my comments that were submitted yesterday have not been posted yet?
It has been almost 24 hours?
My comment contained no profanity and was more than respectful to all commenters from all points of view.
Perhaps it was the content of my post?
--- I'm sorry SGT. Zoriah is on the road. It appears that your comment was too long. Please state whatever your point was again more concisely. -- Laurel
I sincerely hope not...being that this is a website that considers it's self a champion of free and independent thought.
Posted by: A US Army SGT | July 10, 2008 at 22:46
Laurel,
My post was longer than the entire Twain piece that was posted earlier? I find that hard to believe. There are several comments that far exceeded mine.
Look, it's your thread and your prerogative...but forgive me if I am a little skeptical.
I followed all rules posted for comments, not once was how long or short a post mentioned as a stipulation. I neither made a scapegoat of Zoriah, or was disrespectful in any way, shape, or form.
I am not going to tell you how to moderate your blog, but let's be honest, the reason my comments were not posted had nothing to do with the length of my post.
Yet another victory for a free exchange of ideas on the net!!!
Posted by: A US Army SGT | July 11, 2008 at 04:51