Gallery: 7 Years of War in the Middle East, Captured on Camera
Photo: Peter Van Agtmael01© Peter Van Agtmael
Mosul. Iraq, 2006. A suspected insurgent is interrogated after a midnight raid.
Photo: Peter Van Agtmael02© Peter Van Agtmael
Darien, Wisconsin. 2007. Raymond Hubbard with his children, Brady and Riley. Since his injuries, Raymond has become an avid collector of Star Wars merchandise.
Photo: Peter Van Agtmael03© Peter Van Agtmael
Ft. Jackson, South Carolina. 2011. A mannequin used in an Army combat life saving course. The mannequin pumps fake blood which only stops when enough pressure is applied from a tourniquet.
Photo: Peter Van Agtmael04© Peter Van Agtmael
Garmsir, Helmand. Afghanistan. 2009. An Afghan man in the courtyard of a small health clinic.
Photo: Peter Van Agtmael05© Peter Van Agtmael
Mian Poshteh, Helmand. Afghanistan. 2009. American Marines of Echo Company at Combat Outpost Sharp. The roads to the headquarters in Garmsir were heavily mined and nearly two-thirds of all resupply convoys were hit by IEDs.
Photo: Peter Van Agtmael06© Peter Van Agtmael
Mian Poshteh, Helmand. Afghanistan. 2009. Marine with a village elder from Mian Poshteh. The Marines asked locals why they wouldn’t tell them the location of the Taliban. The elders replied, “You go back to your base at night, while the Taliban are all around us. If we cooperate, they will kill us.” They went on to say that there was no fighting before the Marines came.
Photo: Peter Van Agtmael07© Peter Van Agtmael
Washington, D.C. 2009. The National Mall in Washington, D.C. after Barack Obama’s inauguration on January 20, 2009. 1.8 million people attended and it was one of the most watched events in the history of television. The day was frigid but sunny. As the crowd started leaving, a strong wind whipped up, blowing dust and garbage around the Mall.
Photo: Peter Van Agtmael08© Peter Van Agtmael
Garmsir, Helmand. Afghanistan. 2009. A Humvee destroyed by an IED in Helmand Province. In 2009, more than 60 percent of all coalition casualties were caused by the improvised bombs.
Photo: Peter Van Agtmael09© Peter Van Agtmael
Washington, D.C. 2009. Lieutenant Ryan Kules, (Left) talks to an injured soldier at a poker tournament fundraiser for the Paralyzed Veterans of America. Kules lost his right arm and left leg in a roadside bomb explosion in Iraq that killed two other men in his vehicle.
Photo: Peter Van Agtmael10© Peter Van Agtmael
Baghdad. Iraq. 2010. Two Bangladeshi contractors take out the garbage at an American base. As a cost-cutting measure, the military hired workers from South Asia and Africa. They worked in the food court in Popeye’s, Taco Bell, Burger King, and Cinnabon.
Photo: Peter Van Agtmael11© Peter Van Agtmael
Corinth, Mississippi. 2010. As the last light of day faded, hundreds of flowers were placed on Seth Ricketts’ freshly dug grave. A car drove up with his parents-in-law and three-year-old son Aiden. He posed on the grave as his grandmother snapped pictures.
Photo: Peter Van Agtmael12© Peter Van Agtmael
Baghdad. Iraq. 2010. Local Sheikhs arrive at the handover of a neighborhood from the Americans to the Iraqi Army. American TV news briefly heralded the transition from “Operation Iraqi Freedom” to “Operation New Dawn” as the end of the war. In December 2011, all American soldiers were withdrawn from Iraq.
Photo: Peter Van Agtmael13© Peter Van Agtmael
Fort Irwin, California. 2011. Mock courtroom. This training exercise simulated an Iraqi courtroom. An American Army lawyer put forth evidence to prosecute an “insurgent.” During the war, American lawyers were rarely obliged to argue their case in the Iraqi criminal justice system. Many detainees were held for long stretches without trials. No Americans were ever prosecuted by the Iraqi court system.
Photo: Peter Van Agtmael14© Peter Van Agtmael
Fort Irwin, California. 2011. Army instructors look at plans for a nighttime mock-attack on an American unit training for a deployment to Iraq.
Photo: Peter Van Agtmael15© Peter Van Agtmael
Houston, Texas. 2013. Bobby was an atheist before his injuries but his newfound faith has sustained him in the aftermath of the IED blast. He is still wary of religion, believing “the core of all religions is all the same. Each culture adds its own rules, what they think you’re supposed to be, what makes you perfect for God, but I think that’s stuff man just put in there. I want to help more people than the guy that blew me up can hurt.”
