Thread: 2020 has been an awful year in so many ways. But it has also produced some brilliant, beautiful writing. Sharing here some of the best I've read this year, in no particular order:
First up: @warghetti on #Lebanon amid pandemic & economic collapse, from April, before the enormous port explosion: "I am certainly no longer elated. I am worried, and grieving, and yes, also angry again." https://lithub.com/letter-from-beirut-from-revolution-to-pandemic/
Letter From Beirut: From Revolution to Pandemic

Beirut, April 3, 2020 Dearest M, I was so happy to receive your email, and so happy to know you are healthy and managing, despite everything. That most unimaginative of all email openers: “I hope t…

https://lithub.com/letter-from-beirut-from-revolution-to-pandemic/
. @leloveluck & @Mustafa_salimb on hidden love & loss in Iraq: "23-year-old Rand & Saad had been neighbors before their relationship began. Saad worked at his local bakery. Rand had become an expert at finding reasons to visit." https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/02/28/when-iraqi-men-perish-ramparts-protest-women-they-secretly-loved-must-hide-away-their-grief/?arc404=true
When Iraqi men perish on the ramparts of protest, the women they secretly loved must hide away...

When young Iraqi men perish on the ramparts of protest, the women they leave behind are often forced to mourn in secret and alone.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/02/28/when-iraqi-men-perish-ramparts-protest-women-they-secretly-loved-must-hide-away-their-grief/?arc404=true
Maslawi @AliBaroodi in @newlinesmag on his city before & after IS: "There’s an Iraqi saying that translates as: “Walk by the wall.” It means stay off radar. Keep out of trouble. But when you grow up in #Iraq, as I have, trouble has a way of finding you." https://newlinesmag.com/photo-essays/walk-by-the-wall/
Walk by the Wall | Newlines Magazine

A Resident of Mosul Recounts Life Under Saddam, the Americans, and ISIS.

https://newlinesmag.com/photo-essays/walk-by-the-wall/
. @CathyOtten for @iraqoilreport on US & Iraqi failings at Balad airbase, where the F-16 fleet is in such a bad state that most jets are no longer fit to fly https://www.iraqoilreport.com/news/iraqs-failing-f-16-program-highlights-corruption-at-balad-airbase-42995/?fbclid=IwAR1DrVdmnhmtZGF4nv-6PrtQMGAEDQFHK6B6Pa1e3ZUiyNt54d_znKsO6rM
Iraq’s failing F-16 program highlights corruption at Balad Airbase

Once a proud symbol of military partnership with the U.S., Iraq's F-16 fleet can no longer fly combat missions.

https://www.iraqoilreport.com/news/iraqs-failing-f-16-program-highlights-corruption-at-balad-airbase-42995/?fbclid=IwAR1DrVdmnhmtZGF4nv-6PrtQMGAEDQFHK6B6Pa1e3ZUiyNt54d_znKsO6rM
Another by dream team @leloveluck @Mustafa_salimb on the Iraqi translators left behind by @CJTFOIR , & receiving threats from Iran-backed militias for their work with foreign troops. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/iraq-militias-contractors-translators/2020/11/12/2f2296e0-07d4-11eb-8719-0df159d14794_story.html
They served alongside U.S. soldiers. Now they fear that Iran’s allies in Iraq will strike back.

Hundreds of Iraqis fear they could be targeted for attack, after their personal information may have been compromised.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/iraq-militias-contractors-translators/2020/11/12/2f2296e0-07d4-11eb-8719-0df159d14794_story.html
. @JohnDrtrs @Reuters with a brill piece on the corruption & political infighting that means the Iraqi city of Mosul remains largely in ruins 3 years after the ousting of IS: https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/iraq-iran-mosul/
Inside the proxy battle that keeps a city on its knees

Three years after the war against Islamic State, a different contest is playing out in Mosul. It pits allies of Iran against those who favour the West.

https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/iraq-iran-mosul/
. @sommervilletv on the ISIS "diaspora," and the extremist group's global spread https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000f4s6
BBC News Channel - After the Caliphate: On the Trail of IS

Quentin Sommerville tracks down IS fighters, following the fall of the caliphate.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000f4s6
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