Author: Peter Maass

I was born and raised in Los Angeles. In 1983, after graduating from the University of California at Berkeley, I went to Brussels as a copy editor for The Wall Street Journal/Europe. I left the Journal in 1985 to write for The New York Times and The International Herald Tribune, covering NATO and the European Union. In 1987 I moved to Seoul, South Korea, where I wrote primarily for The Washington Post. After three years in Asia I moved to Budapest to cover Eastern Europe and the Balkans. I spent most of 1992 and 1993 covering the war in Bosnia for the Post.

Drexel University

Philadelphia, PA
Panel discussion with Gary Knight and Tim McLaughlin about our exhibit, Invasion: Diaries and Memories of War in Iraq, which will be on display at Drexel University’s College of Media Arts & Design. Discussion in the URBN Center Annex at 6 pm, followed by a reception ... (Read more)

Did the Iraq War Bring the Arab Spring?

The New Yorker
April 9, 2013

Guess what? The war in Iraq had a bright side. It created the Arab Spring.

That is the theory that proponents of the invasion are peddling on the tenth anniversary of the toppling of the statue of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad, on April 9, 2003. They are trying to persuade whoever ... (Read more)

A Diarist At War

The New York Times
March 14, 2013
(The following story ran on the NYT’s At War blog)

With the invasion of Iraq just weeks away, Lt. Tim McLaughlin began a military ritual that dates back to Homer. He started a war diary. It was not a blog or e-mails sent from his waiting-to-invade base in the Kuwaiti ... (Read more)

Invasion: Diaries and Memories of War in Iraq

The exhibit I have been working on, Invasion: Diaries and Memories of War in Iraq, opened last week at the Bronx Documentary Center in New York City. It features the remarkable war diaries of Marine Lt. Tim McLaughlin, excerpts of stories I wrote about the invasion, and photos by Gary Knight. ... (Read more)

Mirage: The Venezuela of Hugo Chavez

Crude World
2009
(Excerpted from “Crude World: The Violent Twilight of Oil” by Peter Maass)

The addictions of Hugo Chávez, president of Venezuela, are regularly
in full view. On his television show, Aló Presidente, Chávez sips espresso
from a white porcelain cup, and because ... (Read more)

Tufts University

Boston, MA
Panel discussion with Mowaffak al-Rubaie, Gary Knight and Tim McLaughlin on “Ten Years After the Toppling: The Fall of Iraq, the Media, and the US.” Organized by the Institute for Global Leadership at Tufts University, March 5, 2013 at 7:00 pm in Cabot Auditorium, 170 Packard ... (Read more)

A Private Battle for Baghdad

Sunday Times Magazine (London)
March 3, 2013

A few years ago, a former marine named Tim McLaughlin drove to New Hampshire in his red pickup to visit his parents’ farmhouse, which is where he stored his gear from Iraq, among which were his war diaries. A marine decal was on one ... (Read more)

Invasion, the Kickstarter

Nearly ten years ago, I drove into Iraq in a rented SUV to cover the invasion. Three weeks later, I was in Baghdad, watching the toppling of the statue of Saddam Hussein in Firdos Square. In March, on the tenth anniversary of the invasion, an exhibit I am co-organizing will open at the Bronx ... (Read more)

Invasion

Here’s a screenshot of the opening frame of the fundraising video for the war diary exhibit I’m co-curating. Exhibit launches in mid-March, on the 10th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. More posts coming soon.

“Zero Dark Thirty” and the Shadow of Embedded Filmmaking

Much of the pre-release debate about “Zero Dark Thirty” has focused on whether it portrays torture as effective, in the sense of prying information out of al Qaeda suspects. Yes, the movie conveys that view, and I think it’s inaccurate. Many experts, including key senators who oversaw ... (Read more)