Because No One Would Buy My Photos, Here They Are For Free. Mosul 2017

[IronLionZion]

As the Battle of Mosul rages on, so does the race between photographers trying to sell snapshots of the conflict to media outlets. Kainoa Little couldn’t find a buyer for his photos, but he decided to share them online anyway – and they tell a harrowing story of struggle and survival.

The Shoreline, Washington-based photographer specializes in war zones, and was in Mosul in April 2017 to document Iraqi Federal Police efforts to liberate the city from ISIL militants. Heavy clashes were underway in the Old City, and causing civilians to flee in mass numbers. Little’s photos capture a vivid range of emotions; the anguish of the refugees leaving their homes, the determination of the soldiers protecting them, and the sheer chaos plaguing all of those involved, to name just a few.

Though Mosul is not yet completely free, the Iraqi forces have made significant headway in reclaiming the ancient city from ISIL. We can only hope that an end to this brutal fight is near, and that Kainoa Little has better luck on the press photography market next time around. Check out his compelling photos below.

















http://www.boredpanda.com/armed-forces-refugees-photos-kainoa-little-islamic-state/

More pics, descriptions, and video at link. War is hell. It looks like they are defeating ISIS. I hope it's over soon.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

1. K&R. So much pain.

[heaven05]

2. WOW

how very, very sad our human state of affairs is in, worldwide...... so far, I hold on to hope....in a change of the human heart and how we ALL view each other..

[peggysue2]

3. Photo are stark, horrifying

We have to remember that this is what war looks like. Any and every war. The Iraqis have suffered terribly. On this 4th of July we should send our prayers and any funds we can spare for refugee relief. The faces of the children are heartbreaking.

These photographs need to be spread widely.

[Adrahil]

4. Those are yours? Remarkable.

Surprised no one wanted them.

[IronLionZion]

9. Not mine, I shared a link to the site

the photographer is named Kainoa Little. Much of America has forgotten there's a brutal war raging in Iraq and Syria.

[Adrahil]

12. Thanks for posting! NT

[NJCher]

5. so many lives ruined, destroyed

The Bushes. That is who I blame.

Many of us here protested and did all that we could to stop it, but george bush was hellbent on being a wartime president.

Your photographs really tell the story, IronLion. Thank you for letting us see them.


Cher

[IronLionZion]

10. not mine, the photographer's name is Kainoa Little

http://www.kainoalittle.com/mosul

[Coventina]

16. Yes, it all comes down to the criminal enterprise of Bushco.

Never forget, never forgive.

[B Stieg]

6. These are the kinds of pics people need to see! Thanks.

The shell casings in the streets seem as plentiful as the grains of sand...

[customerserviceguy]

18. What's there

that we haven't already seen? More fighting over chunks of scarred land that are just going to be taken over by a different faction in a couple of months or years. It's endless, and when the Saudis start fighting the Iranians, it's going to be even worse.

[IronLionZion]

22. Nevertheless, they persisted

[customerserviceguy]

34. In vain, I would argue

Pictures aren't going to change anything about the Middle East. I sincerely believe that nothing will, until they get tired of fighting each other, as the Europeans eventually did, and only after five hundred years from a religious schism.

[IronLionZion]

35. All Lives Matter!1!1!1

America's deadliest war was our civil war

Some people think they are culturally superior to others

[bdtrppr6]

7. war is hell

I'm sure MSM would like to avoid thoughts like that. Gotta help keep the body counts moving.

[retrowire]

8. Knr nt

[sandensea]

11. The Bush legacy.

With luck, he'll take these photos and make little watercolors out of them for us.

[NCTraveler]

13. "It looks like they are defeating ISIS."

Doesn't look that way to me.

[shadowmayor]

14. No fucking thank you Bushies

Lil' Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Rice own this massacre. The surge was just another "peace with honor" exit strategy (a la Nixon) whereby we armed and paid the Sunni warlords not to fight while we withdrew. That's who ISIS or al qaeda 3.0 is. They built it, they own it and why oh why aren't these war criminals on trial????

What in the hell did the Iraqi people ever do to the people of the United States?

[Coventina]

15. Beautiful, horrifying photographs.

He has the eye of a true artist.

Particularly the one with the sun beaming through the bullet holes in the building.

Amazing!

Thank you so much for posting.

[customerserviceguy]

17. No one would buy them?

Well, I have a couple of theories about that.

First, they're no different than anything we've seen since 2001, what with Afghanistan, then Iraq, then Syria. Maybe people are burned out after sixteen years. There's a sense that taking a bunch of pictures hasn't changed anything in that time, one more set of them won't do it, either.

Second, maybe we've seen too many photographers and reporters play hero by going to war zones and getting needlessly killed to get a story that won't change anything, and the public is not trying to encourage that sort of behavior any more.

[stollen]

19. Bush's never-ending clusterfuck

which was always the plan.

[roscoeroscoe]

20. Recommended:

'The Painter of Battles' by Arturo Pérez-Reverte. Very fine meditation for those who have witnessed suffering and are trying to fit it in with 'normal life.'

[Anonymous Bosh]

21. Wow. Powerful

Impressive. That they had no bites is indicative perhaps if the ubiquity of dramatic suffering. Sad

[Warpy]

23. They're surrounded at Mosul and nearly so at Raqqa

It looks like they'll stay drugged up, fighting to the death. The only question is how many civilians will be able to survive it.

It's unlikely their recycled Wahab doctrine will survive them for long. No one who has experienced their regime has a decent word to say about them. They could oppress but not govern.

[Ilsa]

25. It sounded like, from some reports on msnbc,

(maybe Nance and Engel) that ISIS fighters would probably kill themselves or each other at the very end, to prevent being taken by any group of of fighters. But in the mean time, they are doing as much damage as possible.

[Warpy]

26. Seems to be a classic case of "if we can't have it, no one can"

I'm waiting to see what is going to happen when the meth supply dries up completely and the guys at the bottom can't be controlled by the suppliers at the top.

Kicking meth is horrendous and some of their actions now can probably be explained by the hallucinations and extreme, agitated paranoia demonstrated by deprived meth heads.

So yeah, killing themselves and each other is a very likely outcome for these guys. Anything to stop the pain.

[Plucketeer]

24. Sitting here with my cold beer and a keyboard

I'm sure I have no real knowledge of what it's like to be a victim of these horrors.

Not to make light of these images, but I thought I'd share what came to mind when I saw the first of these photos - the one with three weapons-bearing guys in Camo.

I thought a possible alternative caption might read..... Independent militia fighters struggle to repulse U.S. military forces from White House grounds as president trump and staff hunker down in subterranean bunker - issuing orders to generals who just ignore them.

[democrank]

27. These photos, this pain and trauma in living color

makes me want to bend in half and cry my eyes out.

[Fluke a Snooker]

28. One person mainly responsible: GEORGE W. BUSH

Nothing more needs to be said. All the tragedy and doom you see in those pictures were started by that one despicable piece of human garbage.

[IronLionZion]

29. On this independence day, it's good to remember

why America is an independent and free country, and that other peoples around the world might also want to have independence and freedom from brutal regimes like ISIS.

By any measure, ISIS is one of the most oppressive overlords a people can have in modern times.

If the thought of people suffering and dying is too much for some, then by all means enjoy the picnics and fireworks here in the USA. I'm sure the picnics today would be less fun if some assholes were in our neighborhoods trying to kill us.

[samnsara]

30. beautiful shots! have a private showing!!!

[rocktivity]

31. Wish I'd known about this yesterday while working on the Chris Christie "BeachGate" meme

Last edited Mon Jul 17, 2017, 01:52 PM - Edit history (4)

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10661400#post3


rocktivity

[IronLionZion]

32. They've been reclaiming territory and driving ISIS out of many cities

the people living there have been resisting and disobeying their ridiculous rules and feel less afraid of punishment

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/07/05/isis-will-lose-mosul-and-raqqa-what-happens-next/?utm_term=.2f297d50a30b

[True Dough]

33. As the adage goes, each of those pictures speak 1,000 words

and most of those words are full of pain and sorrow.

Took real guts for that photog to get those shots.