The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "Iraq war" ...
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Lost to History: When War Records Go Missing
"Lost to History: When War Records Go Missing" revealed that military field records from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were never kept, destroyed or simply could not be found, leaving veterans with combat injuries or disability claims unable to prove they saw action. The widespread failure by the military to keep and preserve these records - records that have been kept since America's Revolutionary War - leaves war historians in the dark about the granular details that, when woven together, tell larger stories hidden from participants in the day-to-day confusion of combat. “Lost to History" showed that dozens of Army units and U.S. Central Command lacked adequate war records, how Pentagon leaders had years of warnings but never sufficiently addressed the problem, and how commanders failed to take record keeping orders seriously. The stories vividly narrate the personal costs of this failure. The lack of field records forced Spc. Christopher Delara to struggle for years before receiving treatment he was entitled to for post-traumatic stress syndrome. And the missing material deepened the grief of Jim Butler, who searched for years to find the truth about his son’s death in combat.
Tags: War; war records; Iraq; Afghanistan; veterans
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Other People's Wars
The book is the story of a close US ally's role in the wars and international politics of the decade after September 11, 2001. Nearly everything about New Zealand's post 9-11 military and intelligence roles was kept secret from the New Zealand public, while news was controlled through an intense military public relations campaign.
Tags: New Zealand; Iraq; Afghanistan; War on Terror
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The Baghdad Job: Iraq's Missing Billions
Revealing that every one of the billion dollar cash airlifts the NY Fed sent to Baghdad was met by the same man. He handled as much as 40 billion dollars in cash in the war zone between 2003 and 2008. On one occasion -- to dupe the insurgents who frequently attacked his currency convoys -- the courier placed a billion dollars in the back of a garbage truck and rolled it down "Route Irish," the unnamed military designation for what was the most dangerous road in the world. The courier accused unnamed Iraqi officials of being involved in theft of millions of dollars of the cash that he delivered into their vaults.
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Following the Bloodshed of America's Wars in the Muslim World
The book examines the Iraqi civil war, its causes and how it came to an end. It provides the persepective of Iraqi militiamen, Iraqi security forces, Iraqi civilians, and American soldiers, officers and officials.
Tags: Middle East; counterinsurgency; Iraq; Taliban; Aghanistan; War on Terrorism
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"Brain Wars: How the Military Is Failing Its Wounded"
NPR and ProPublica teamed up to investigate the "medical system for America's troops and veterans." Brain damage caused by "shock waves" from roadside bombs have become the "signature wounds" of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The military promised to improve the health care for this type of injury, but reporters found a lack of diagnosis and treatment for the brain damage, as well as "bureaucratic indifference."
Tags: Iraq; Afghanistan; roadside bombs; military; Walter Reed Army Medical Center; TBI; brain injury; Fort Bliss; Pentagon; Building 805
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Killings At The Canal: The Army Tapes
War crime by American soldiers in Iraq is something that has never been seen before, until now. Four Iraqi detainees were killed and no one knew why, until the videotapes of the interrogations were found and everything was revealed. Also, the rules of the Army led the American soldiers to kill these detainees, as written in a memo.
Tags: Baghdad; sergeants; military; crime; Joshua Hartson; mission; murder; weapons; federal government
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"The Lonely Soldier"
In her book, author Helen Benedict reveals what it is like to be a female in the military and serving overseas. She shares stories of sexual abuse and "discrimination against women and people of color." Female soldiers also suffer from health problems caused by the "lack of adequate medical care for women." Benedict also looks at the lives of women after they return home who suffer from isolation and "multiples traumas of combat and sexual assault."
Tags: Iraq war; female soldiers; National Guard; Afghanistan; Dept. of Veterans Affairs; Post Traumatic Stress Disorder; Military Sexual Trauma; Air Force; Marines
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Untested in Battle
“New military medical technologies were often rushed into use in Iraq with little oversight and little evidence of their effectiveness”. Many of these were discarded by doctors after learning of their deadly side effects. Additionally, many of these same technologies were banned by the military after the discovery of the problems involved with these technologies.
Tags: US Army; medical care; war zone; battle; injury; combat; troops; medics; clinical; innovations
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Soldiers At Risk: Iraq Water Investigation
With temperatures rising up to “130 degrees or more” a day, why would the military be rationing water to only 2 liters a day per person? The answer is a water shortage. As a result, some soldiers are reporting from “serious physical problems with their kidneys, nerve degeneration, and even serious brain damage”. Further, some of these conditions went on for up to a year.
Tags: Iraq; Wars; medical professionals; officers; Army; Veterans Administration; defenders; troops
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"A Lonely Path"
SPC John Fish told the Army that he was depressed and had thoughts of suicide when he returned from his first deployment to Iraq. Despite his mental health, he was to be deployed a second time. Before he left, Fish shot himself in the head. This story takes a look at how the Army handles the mental health of soldiers and questions the motives of redeploying troops who may be emotionally unfit for combat.
Tags: Iraq; Afghanistan; U.S. Army; New Mexico; Fort Hood; suicide; depression; war