Iraq I feel like we (the US) wrecked and looted y'all and left the mess for you to clean up. I can remember being shocked at the start of that war and extremely skeptical about the pretext. Uneasy in general about the treatment of women there. I do think of the culture as so old, like the weight of history would lay heavy, and feel so bad about historical places getting smashed in war.

(Also so sorry for severe edit - my sleepy brain read Iran)

One thing that struck me as an adult is that I grew up learning about some ancient civilizations, but in school I never learned that Mesopotamia is a location in present day Iraq. It just feels weird that we could study about ancient cultures and not learn where they are on the globe today.

A neighboring country

Lovely people, amazing history, real shame about the politics. Also sorry about what my country did to yours. I hear your country is gorgeous.

I've heard Iraqi Kurdistan is a nice place to visit and is relatively safe compared to the rest of the country.

Honestly, I've heard or read very little about Iraq after the war, so I have no idea what happened there since then. Unfortunately I think the country is still mostly being associated with war and crisis here in Germany. I think it's a very interesting place especially for its ancient history though. Some of the first highly developed civilizations arose there. Would love to visit places like Ur, Babylon or Nineveh one day.

I LOVE the Epic of Gilgamesh, and the historic city of Uruk (Warka) is in modern day Iraq. In that way, I have a lot of respect for the history. However, I would be too scared to travel there, for example. I hope truly that now after ISIS war, things keep getting better for the people there. I don't hear many news from there anymore, though I wouldn't mind hearing.

I know very little about iraq.

Well, we don't get a lot of easy to find news on Iraq here in the US. You have to go looking for it.

That being said, with the little that I have gone looking for, it really seems like the people of Iraq are busting their asses to recover, and have shown incredible resilience in the face of so much destruction that hit them in the last fifty years. It's impressive as hell tbh.

One thing I know is. There's a lot of ruins. In Mesopotamia.

Gilgamesh

I'll just throw mine in to help confirm some of the general consensus coming from the states. Before 9/11, nothing really. A few brief mentions in history class etc, our education is horrible about human history but shoves American history down your throat. During the wars? Absolutely fucking horrific that any country is just allowed to attack an area like that. Every time I heard about some new operation I thought about how my family (if they were in that situation) would be huddle in the corner of a room just hoping to survive the night. Something that would make me want to lash out at anything because of the danger to my family, I never got why ANYONE thought this would "stop the terrorizing" by making more radicalized citizens.

After and currently, I'm completely blown away by the historical and cultural context of Iraq. In school there was never an emphasis on how important that country was to the civilization that we have now. Every documentary or book I read that touches on ancient history includes that area. I think if it was better taught in schools, the general consensus would've been more honorable towards finding a solution that worked for both countries.

I'm an American and a Texan. I feel shame, anger, guilt, worry, and pity.

Bush (a Texan) back in the day started a 10 year war with your country that my taxes paid and my generation died for. This was done with completely fabricated evidence. Bush Senior, about decade before, undermined the foundations of free speech and journalism to facilitate Desert Storm.

I'm part of a military industrial machine that kills people to make some of my country men rich.

I'm very different from a typical person from the middle east. I don't even abide or respect abrahamic religions. Those differences don't make me angry though, the world would be better to leave those different than me with peace and quiet. I want Iraqi people to be happy and content, for the selfish reason that I don't want to think about the region.

I'm extremely fearful that the powers that be in Washington will decide to invade Iraq again in a decade or so.

Since we really only hear what little our media publishes about military operations, and the coming and going of the military, can you please tell us a little about it?

I don’t think about Iraq. Should I?

Bossy militias... we call those cops here in the US. As for Iraq, I think of the people I have met from there and that area. All good people. As for the government... I don't know of a single government that I think positively of. Once you get enough people in one organization, it attracts the worst kind of people to join.

I think of it as a highly imperialized and exploited country full of workers trying to make it a better place for eachother. In short, a victim of empire who deserves our material support in their struggle. However, this is my position on a lot of places.

I don't know much about modern Iraq outside of how the US has affected it in all honesty. I know little about its current governmental structure or the major political forces at play. Would you mind giving me a brief synopsis?

As an American, sorry about the war that my country committed against yours for no good reason. And I'm sorry for all the innocent people that my country killed. I wish your country well, and hope you can achieve peace and stability for your people.

What little I know about about today’s Iraq comes from Hakim’s personal stories on The Deprogram podcast.

I think the US military can’t get out soon enough. I hope Iraq joins BRICS, dedollarizes, and has continued success with BRI. The neocolonial ^*^ imperial core^*^ is no one’s ally, and is in decline.

I personally believe I have zero right to hold any viewpoint or opinion aside from feeling like the western lines drawn for the middle east after WWII were bullshit.

Let that part of the world run itself and leave them all the fuck alone.

Are you an Iraqi in Iraq? I am an ex-iraqi but have lived in the Nordics majority of my life. People here don't talk much about the country, but the few tourists that go there go to Erbil and only have good things to say about it.

Would love to hear your own experience too.

Not heard of it since.

Which is good I suppose because it would have to be something horrific enough to push Russia-Ukraine or Israel-Hamas out of the media.

How is it nowadays? Getting better/worse/nowhere?

Some guilt over the war, hoping y'all don't become irans bitch.

I think US should honor request of Iraq to remove bases if that's an earnest request

I think its history, particularly ancient is fascinating.

I think Iraq has a similar climate to the desert where I live. Having grown up in the desert of the US, I have always wanted to visit other deserts to see how other cultures deal with the heat/dryness firsthand.

Beyond that and the obvious war news I do not know too much about Iraq.

I know almost nothing about it, but I find ancient Mesopotamia fascinating.