IRAQ. Mosul. 2006. The aftermath of a violent raid. An American soldier had been wounded, an insurgent killed.
This boy, temporarily deranged by the sudden violence, leapt at an American soldier. His face
was smashed by a rifle butt, his hands were tied, and he was forced to kneel against the wall.
As the house was searched his eyes locked forward, his expression frozen in place. In the next
room a woman and two young boys were curled together, trembling. When I caught them in the
glare of my headlamp, they shrieked and moaned. An Iraqi interpreter went in to question one of
the boys. He whispered back, and the soldiers started digging in the garden. No weapons were
found but bomb-making instructions were discovered in the house.