There are 25 million Kurds throughout the world; they’re the world’s largest ethnic group without a nation. Quil Lawrence writes about the long Kurdish struggle for statehood and its place in Middle Eastern politics in Invisible Nation: How the Kurds' Quest for Statehood Is Shaping Iraq and the Middle East . Events : Quil Lawrence will be speaking and signing books Tuesday, April 22 at 2:30 pm Columbia University International Affairs Building, Room 1512 420 West 118th Street (at Morningside Drive) Quil Lawrence will be speaking and signing books Tuesday, April 22 at 5:30 pm Carnegie Council 170 East 64th Street (between 3rd and Lexington Avenues)
Haider Ala Hamoudi is the American-born son of two Iraqi parents. Many of his relatives still live in Iraq, and he himself returned to Baghdad to work on a USAID contract. In a new book, Howling in Mesopotamia: An Iraqi-American Memoir , he writes about what he’s seen recently in Iraq and his frustration with the situation there.
Now that he’s not hosting a talk show, Phil Donahue has directed "Body of War," a documentary about the life of Tomas Young , a young veteran who became paralyzed after less than a week in Iraq. Ellen Spiro is the film’s co-director and cinematographer. It opens Wednesday, April 9 at the IFC Center (323 Sixth Avenue). If you can't see the video click here var so = new SWFObject("http://www.youtube.com/v/j2ARzZVuGIo", "mymovie", "390", "321", "7", "#FFFFFF");so.addParam("wmode", "transparent");connect(window, 'onload', function() {so.write("ytcontent");});
General David Petraeus, the top American commander in Baghdad, testifies before the Senate today, and will likely face tough questioning from all three Presidential candidates. The Washington Post's William Arkin offers his analysis. Programming Note: WNYC and NPR are offering live coverage of the hearings available here .
On the 5th anniversary of the Iraq invasion, FRONTLINE has put together a new 2-part documentary special, "Bush’s War," chronicling the trials of the last few years …from the horrors of 9/11 to the recent troop surge. Michael Kirk is a veteran producer with FRONTLINE. Event : ”Bush’s War” will air on PBS Monday, March 24 from 9:00 pm to 11:30 p.m. and Tuesday, March 25 from 9:00 pm to 11:00 pm