The sound of gunfire and explosions fill the air, summer has come, and once more war has come to Helmand Province. In one of the largest military operations seen in Afghanistan since the start of the war, Marines from the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade have launched a wide ranging operation deep into the Helmand River Valley, a major poppy producing region, and a hotbed of Taliban activity.

Operation Khanjar

The operation has been dubbed, “Khanjar,” and commanders are calling it the largest Marine action since the 2006′s battle of Fallujah, and the largest Marine airlift since Vietnam.…

The past few weeks have seen a surge of suicide bombings in Iraq’s major cities. The bombers seemed to have aimed for maximum casualties, and they have succeeded. The attackers have targeted large gatherings of Shiite Moslems and their intent seems clear – to reignite sectarian violence as U.S. forces proceed with plans to withdraw from Iraq’s cities.

After two years of steadily declining violence, is Iraq set to return to the “bad old days”? I believe it will not. Since we began our embed last August, Carlos and I have spent huge amounts of time in the streets of Iraq’s major cities.…

It is a scene familiar to any American: the sight of children walking home from school, an adolescent flood spilling out onto the streets, making their way home alone, or more often, in groups. But this is not America, this is Baghdad, and there are myriad differences to the scene that are sharp reminders of that fact.

Most noticeably, the students are all girls, students at a female school in Abu Ghraib, a city west of Baghdad. This would not be a remarkable sight under most circumstances—after all, there are single-sex schools to spare in the states—but the hijab covering most of the girls’ heads are a striking example of a culture very much apart.…

If Iraqi’s are trained to drive army transport trucks, perhaps that means fewer Americans are needed to do the job. If a man from Baghdad is taught how to load freon to a Humvee’s air conditioning system, maybe a U.S. soldier who did that job can come home. There are hundreds of other skills that Iraqi’s need to learn if they are indeed going to take over more control of their nation. The more they do, the fewer Americans they need.…

The Army used to call it battle space.  Now their war zone real estate is officially named the Operational Environment (OE).  It carries a much less kinetic connotation and that is precisely what the U.S. military wants to project.  By June 30^th, the status of forces agreement requires U.S. forces to stop combat operations in Iraqi cities unless Iraqi security forces request their help.

Last year at this time when the “surge” was at its zenith, there were 15 combat brigades, about 60,000 troops, operating in Baghdad alone.…

I’m exhausted, jet-lagged and back in my cubicle housing unit, or CHU, at Camp Liberty in Baghdad.  After being away for several weeks to set up the On The Line project, it was good to see Carlos again.  He stayed while I was away and held up better than I would have.

Coming back is always hard.  Any soldier returning from home leave tells the same story – taking that first step away from family and friends and back towards Iraq is painful.…

We joined the circle of soldiers, doing our best to remain unnoticed as we slipped between the gravel-colored men, trying our best to find a spot we could hear the platoon sergeant from. We settled for spots near the front of the crowd, listening carefully, the steady rumble of nearby engines filling the air with a dull bass pulse. We were in luck: the mission briefing had just begun, and I settled myself, laying my bags on the dusty earth, tucking my helmet under my arm, trying my best to not look like I just fell off the turnip truck.…