Iraq War

The Drowned Cities A novel Paolo Bacigalupi Little, Brown., 439 pp.: $17.99, ages 14 and up Whether it's a conscious or subliminal reaction to U.S. military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, war is an increasingly common theme in modern young adult literature. But its horrors are rarely so thoroughly detailed as in Paolo Bacigalupi's "The Drowned Cities. " One of the more graphically violent young adult titles of late, "The Drowned Cities" reads like a dystopian mash-up of the Vietnam War and modern geopolitics, where survivalism battles personal loyalties in a brutal and chaotic world.

A Riverside County jury convicted a parolee Friday of first-degree murder for shooting a Riverside police officer in 2010, a brutal slaying that occurred after the officer pleaded with the killer. Earl Ellis Green, 46, faces a possible death sentence for the murder of Officer Ryan Bonaminio, an Iraq War veteran who had been on the force for four years. The jury deliberated for about three hours before returning with the guilty verdict with special circumstances that would make Green subject to execution.

As an Iraq war combat veteran and a newly minted officer in the Los Angeles Police Department, Gabriel Medina knows a few things about strategy and planning. The Lakewood resident wants to use that knowledge to plan his financial future, though he needs some help. He is looking for a way to buy a house while socking away as much as possible for retirement -- and still have enough to take his girlfriend on a vacation to Italy this summer.

In a short video produced by LA Louver in advance of Ben Jackel's solo show, one encounters the artist taking an ax, quite literally, to one of his sculptures. He's chipping away at a block of Douglas fir to form an enormous replica of the head of a pole-mounted weapon called a halberd, in a style traditionally carried by the personal guards of the elders of Saxony around the year 1600 - as he quickly clarifies when I mistakenly call it a spearhead. The piece, which, at 131/2 feet tall, would clearly do damage if it fell on you, is titled "Pay Attention.

Touring Vietnam in 1965, Michigan Gov. George Romney proclaimed American involvement there "morally right and necessary." Two years later, however, Romney -- then seeking the Republican presidential nomination -- not only recanted his support for the war but claimed that he had been hoodwinked. "When I came back from Vietnam, I had just had the greatest brainwashing that anybody can get," Romney told a Detroit TV reporter who asked the candidate how he reconciled his shifting views.

The amount of U.S. money spent on the Iraq war will surpass the cost of Vietnam by the end of the year, making it the second most expensive military conflict in American history, behind World War II, according to Pentagon figures provided Friday. If Congress approves the supplemental funding request submitted this week by the Obama administration, the cost of the war will rise by $87 billion for 2009, including a previous supplement approved during the Bush administration.

The English estate that director Paul Greengrass took over to make his Iraq war thriller "Green Zone" is hardly humble. The 40,000-square-foot Updown Court mansion outside of London has 103 rooms, a 50-seat cinema and five swimming pools. Listed for some $140 million, the never-occupied property practically asks aloud: Who needs restraint? Greengrass is making a slightly less immodest -- yet far more provocative -- statement with his new movie: Everybody might say pricey movies about combat in the Middle East are a fool's errand, but ultimately one of them has to work.

For most of America, the war in Iraq officially ended last week with a speech-laden ceremony in Baghdad. But for Karen Mendoza and the other 2,000-plus widows of U.S. military personnel killed in Baghdad, Fallouja, Ramadi and dozens of other cities and towns, the war in Iraq will never truly be over. "Being a widow is a full-time job," said Mendoza, whose husband, Marine Maj. Ray Mendoza, 37, was killed in November 2005 when he stepped on a land mine while leading Marines from Camp Pendleton into combat near the Syrian border.

Most Americans seem ready to consign the Iraq war to history. They've watched tank convoys leave Baghdad, and they've heard the president underscore his campaign promise to draw down U.S. forces, leaving roughly 50,000 in the country as of Aug. 31. Moreover, Iraq and the U.S. have agreed that the remaining U.S. troops will be gone by December 2011. But history suggests that unless the U.S. is willing and able to remain committed to Iraq's security and prosperity — and Iraqis know it — the country is at risk of spiraling back into civil war. Civil conflicts like those we have seen in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion often recur when parties to a conflict fail to dedicate themselves to a peace process.

A 23-year-old former Marine who some say was distraught after combat service in Iraq has been named a suspect in the serial killings of four homeless men in Orange County. Itzcoatl Ocampo of Yorba Linda was chased by bystanders Friday after the most recent stabbing death behind a fast-food restaurant in an Anaheim shopping center parking lot. Ocampo remained in police custody without bail Saturday and is expected in court on Tuesday. "We are extremely confident that we have the man who is responsible for the murders of all four homeless men in Orange County," Anaheim Police Chief John Welter said at a news conference Saturday.

The Drowned Cities A novel Paolo Bacigalupi Little, Brown., 439 pp.: $17.99, ages 14 and up Whether it's a conscious or subliminal reaction to U.S. military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, war is an increasingly common theme in modern young adult literature. But its horrors are rarely so thoroughly detailed as in Paolo Bacigalupi's "The Drowned Cities. " One of the more graphically violent young adult titles of late, "The Drowned Cities" reads like a dystopian mash-up of the Vietnam War and modern geopolitics, where survivalism battles personal loyalties in a brutal and chaotic world.

Texas U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, the only Republican candidate for president who did not appear today before an annual gathering of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, revealed on CNN this evening what he might have told the group. And it's clear from his position -- that Iran is most definitely not a looming nuclear threat -- that his view not only would have been deeply unpopular among the pro-Israel lobbying group, but it also sets him far apart from his rivals, all of whom have embraced the idea that Iran is a top-tier threat to Israel and by extension, U.S. national security.

For the better part of the last century, three Arab states - Egypt, Iraq and Syria - dominated Middle East politics in matters of war and peacemaking and shaped the region's relations with the great powers. The kings of Jordan and Morocco - and, of course, Saudi Arabia (and the Persian Gulf states) when it came to oil - had their say too. But it was the three pseudo-republics, authoritarian military regimes really, that threw their collective weight around. Not anymore.

A 23-year-old former Marine who some say was distraught after combat service in Iraq has been named a suspect in the serial killings of four homeless men in Orange County. Itzcoatl Ocampo of Yorba Linda was chased by bystanders Friday after the most recent stabbing death behind a fast-food restaurant in an Anaheim shopping center parking lot. Ocampo remained in police custody without bail Saturday and is expected in court on Tuesday. "We are extremely confident that we have the man who is responsible for the murders of all four homeless men in Orange County," Anaheim Police Chief John Welter said at a news conference Saturday.

A troubled veteran of the war in Iraq suspected in the fatal shooting of a park ranger was found dead Monday near a steep, snowy slope not far from Mt. Rainier, ending an intense, 24-hour manhunt that left tourists locked down in fear at a visitors center while 200 law enforcement officers combed the wilderness with dogs and planes. "They believe it was one person, and that one person has been found dead. So as far as that goes, it's over," Mt. Rainier National Park spokeswoman Lee Snook said.

For most of America, the war in Iraq officially ended last week with a speech-laden ceremony in Baghdad. But for Karen Mendoza and the other 2,000-plus widows of U.S. military personnel killed in Baghdad, Fallouja, Ramadi and dozens of other cities and towns, the war in Iraq will never truly be over. "Being a widow is a full-time job," said Mendoza, whose husband, Marine Maj. Ray Mendoza, 37, was killed in November 2005 when he stepped on a land mine while leading Marines from Camp Pendleton into combat near the Syrian border.

After nearly nine years of war, the loss of more than 100,000 lives and hundreds of billions of dollars spent, the U.S. military mission in Iraq has formally ended. But violence continues to roil the Mideast nation, and its political destiny is far from certain. Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and other top U.S. officials conducted a low-key ceremony on a military base at the Baghdad airport Thursday, furling the flag to signal the official conclusion of one of the most divisive wars in American history.

Ron Paul did it again. The libertarian-minded Republican separated himself from the pack of candidates at tonight's debate by urging restraint in response to a possible Iranian nuclear threat, saying the U.S. can ill afford a repeat of its now-concluded war in Iraq. Paul said there was "no U.N. evidence" that Iran is developing a nuclear weapons program, calling claims to the contrary "war propaganda. " "To me the greatest danger is that we will have a president that will overreact, and we will soon bomb Iran," he said.

As the United States completes its withdrawal from Iraq, it is worth pausing to remember the determined peace activists who opposed the war from the start, including one who embraced their cause and became president. On Friday, some of them will gather in Chicago at the Federal Plaza, where in October 2002 Barack Obama, then a member of the Illinois Senate, stepped onto the stage to oppose the looming Iraq war. The plaza should be remembered as the place where the long march to peace began.