AlterNet's Ten Most Important Iraq Articles from 2006

Here are ten AlterNet articles from 2006 that really conveyed the tragedy and chaos of the American occupation of Iraq.

10. The Rise and Fall of a War Profiteer

By Sarah Anderson, AlterNet

Just months ago, bulletproof vest-maker David H. Brooks was living large, having raked in millions selling the military body armor. But it was his last hurrah.

9. CACI: Torture in Iraq, Intimidation at Home

By Joshua Holland, AlterNet

Dogged by serious allegations of human rights abuses in Iraq, a leading profiteer from the Iraq war engages in intimidation campaigns against journalists in America who seek to expose its practices.

8. Iraq's Sectarian Bloodshed 'Made in the USA'

By Erik Leaver and Raed Jarrar, AlterNet

Iraq never had a history of sectarian conflicts. U.S. policy choices provided a perfect road map for starting one.

7. I Was A PR Intern in Iraq

By Willem Marx, Harper's

In this astonishing confessional by an Oxford graduate who worked in the green zone of Baghdad, we see the perversity of the American version of a 'free press' in Iraq.

6. Rape, Murder, and the American GI

By Robin Morgan, Women's Media Center

We must not forget the death of Abeer, who was allegedly stalked, raped and killed by American soldiers. Abeer was 14 years old; her name means 'fragrance of flowers.'

5. A Wave of Sexual Terrorism In Iraq

By Ruth Rosen, Tomdispatch.com

Behind the rape and murder of an Iraqi girl and her family lies a far larger story of what's happened to women in Iraq since they were 'liberated' by the Bush administration.

4. Active Duty Soldiers Call for An End to the Occupation of Iraq

By Marc Cooper, TheNation.com

For first time since Vietnam, hundreds of active-duty military personnel have organized to oppose a war that they are fighting.

3. The Hatred Behind 'Hadji Girl'

By Sheldon Rampton, Center for Media and Democracy

A videotaped recording of a Marine singing about a shootout with an Iraqi family has war critics up in arms about U.S. troops' open hostility to Muslims and Arabs.

2. When AWOL Is the Only Way Out

By Peter Laufer, AlterNet

As explained in a new book, Mission Rejected, the sight of U.S. troops kicking the heads of decapitated Iraqis around 'like a soccer ball' made Army soldier Joshua Key desert to Canada.

1. Bush's Petro-Cartel Almost Has Iraq's Oil

By Joshua Holland, AlterNet

Even as Iraq verges on splintering into a sectarian civil war, four big oil companies are on the verge of locking up its massive, profitable reserves, known to everyone in the petroleum industry as "the prize."