Iraq & Afganistan Wars

In Liza Johnson's drama, Return, Linda Cardellini plays a vet who returns from her time overseas with no way to make sense of where she was and what it meant. Critic David Edelstein says the film's lack of a traditional story arc makes it seem even more real.

Brian Castner commanded two Explosive Ordnance Disposal units in Iraq, where his team disabled roadside IEDs and investigated the aftermath of roadside car bombings. He returned home a completely different man, which he details in his memoir, The Long Walk.

In the early days of the Iraq War, during a firefight in Baghdad, Lu Lobello's Marine unit mistakenly opened fire on a family of civilians, killing three. Years later, and after enlisting the help of reporter Dexter Filkins, Lobello reached out to that family for forgiveness.

Qassem Suleimani is the chief of a powerful branch of Iran's Revolutionary Guard. He is considered to be responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American during the Iraq War, and now he is helping to prop up Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime.

Roy Scranton and Jacob Siegel edited and contributed to the collection of short stories by veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. They tell Fresh Air about how soldiers cope with the fear of death, and why many soldiers feel conflicted about sharing their experience with a larger audience.

Kayla Williams and Brian McGough met in Iraq in 2003. Williams' new memoir, Plenty of Time When We Get Home, describes their homecoming after McGough suffered physical and cognitive injuries in an IED explosion.

In his short story collection, former Marine Phil Klay takes his experience in Iraq and clarifies it, lucidly tracing the moral, political and psychological curlicues of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

New Yorker writer Dexter Filkins finds an increasingly authoritarian prime minister — Nouri al-Maliki — sectarian violence, and concern for the future. Iraq holds parliamentary elections Wednesday.

Clinton's new memoir, Hard Choices, outlines her four years as secretary of state under President Obama. She talks about her vote for the Iraq War, women's rights and political "gamers."

In 1988, Ajami spoke with Terry Gross about an essay he'd written about how political catastrophe came to Beruit, Lebanon, and how the city where he grew up became a land of cruelty and hatred.

The journalist who covered the war in Iraq, and its aftermath, details the militant Sunni Islamist group, the power it has in Iraq and Syria and how its war is destabilizing neighboring countries.

In her new book, Angela Ricketts writes about raising three kids while her husband deployed eight times over 22 years. Each separation "kind of blackens your soul," she says.

The New York Times Baghdad bureau chief Tim Arango has been reporting from Iraq for five years and has watched the rise of the Islamic State militants. He gives Fresh Air his take on the situation.

James Risen could face prison for refusing to reveal his source for a story about a botched CIA operation intended to sabotage Iran's nuclear weapons program. His new book is Pay Any Price.

Journalist David Wood says "almost everyone" in war has suffered a violation of their sense of right and wrong. As a result. Wood tells Fresh Air, veterans deal with grief, numbness and grief.

Phil Klay served in Iraq from January 2007 to February 2008. He recently won a National Book Award for his collection of short stories.

While embedded with troops in Iraq, David Morris almost died when a Humvee he was riding in ran over a roadside bomb. His book explores the history and science of post-traumatic stress disorder.

The film about a Navy SEAL whose service in Iraq made him a mythic figure has become a cultural lightning rod. But the squabbles are too simple for a low-key movie striking in its lack of stridency.

As the film's depiction of the Iraq War has come under scrutiny, Cooper, who portrays Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, says the discussion is moving away from "the fact that 22 vets commit suicide each day."

Phil Klay served in Iraq from January 2007 to February 2008. He recently won a National Book Critics Circle award for his collection of short stories. Originally broadcast Nov. 25, 2014.