wbur.org
support wbur today!
Listen to this story
Three Years in Iraq
photo

By host Tom Ashbrook:

Three years after Pearl Harbor, the Allies were in Paris, Hitler was on the run, and the German army was playing its last big card in the Battle of the Bulge. World War II victory was in sight.

Three years after American leaders launched Rolling Thunder in Vietnam, the Tet Offensive exploded. American troops would slog on for five more long years.

Three years after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, it’s hard to know what to say. The cost in blood and treasure has been huge. President Bush says on to victory. William F. Buckley says call it a failure and move on.

Hear a conversation with New York Times Baghdad bureau chief John Burns about the costly, bloody mess of the Iraq war, three years later.

Guests:

John Burns, New York Times Foreign Correspondent.

Babak Deghanpisheh, Baghdad Correspondent for Newsweek.

 
 

Comments are closed.

On Point Today
After ‘No Child Left Behind’
Thursday, March 18, 2010

The Obama administration wants to rewrite No Child Left Behind. We’ll ask what’s coming for American education.

Comments [27]
 
The U.S.-Israel Blowup
Thursday, March 18, 2010

Top Pentagon brass complain the Israel-Palestinian impasse is undermining American interests. We’ll look at the US-Israel moment of crisis.

Comments [64]

Recent Shows
Jazz Great Sonny Rollins
Wednesday, March 17, 2010 (photo: sonnyrollins.com)

We’ll talk with tenor saxophone great Sonny Rollins about his six decades at the pinnacle of jazz.

Comments [21]
 
Ireland’s Epic Boom and Bust
Wednesday, March 17, 2010

For more than a decade Ireland boomed. It was Europe’s Celtic Tiger. Then it came crashing down. We’ll look at Ireland’s wild rise, and what went wrong.

Comments [23]
On Point Blog
IED’s in Afghanistan: Hard Numbers

The Department of Defense provided On Point with some statistics about IED attacks in Afghanistan, where there has been an increase in the use of such weapons over the past 14 months. It’s striking to see the spike in numbers — from 2,677 IED incidents in 2007 to 8,159 last year.

More » | Comments [2]
 
Christopher Hill: U.S. Troop Withdrawal ‘On Schedule’

U.S. Ambassaor to Iraq Christopher Hill spoke with On Point live from Baghdad today as early voting gets underway, part of the run-up to Sunday’s elections. “So far so good,” Hill said, despite scattered violence. Hill said that the plan to withdraw U.S. combat troops by Sept. 1, and to leave only a residual advisory force of 50,000 or fewer, remains “very much on schedule.” Observers worry that a spike in violence could derail that timeline.

More »
 
The Supreme Court’s Radio Silence

For radio listeners, a key element of our conversation about the Supreme Court gun-rights case was conspicuously absent: the audio recording of the oral arguments. Here’s why.

More » | Comments [5]