Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

Anbar: the high cost of living

I often find RAND Corp. reports mediocre, usually just telling the military establishment what it wants to hear. But a new one that surveys the population of Iraq’s al Anbar province caught my eye. It notes, among other things, that 40 percent of 20 year olds have lost their fathers. “The coming of age of ...

By , a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy.
578113_091028_ricksglasskid2.jpg
578113_091028_ricksglasskid2.jpg

I often find RAND Corp. reports mediocre, usually just telling the military establishment what it wants to hear. But a new one that surveys the population of Iraq’s al Anbar province caught my eye. It notes, among other things, that 40 percent of 20 year olds have lost their fathers. “The coming of age of large numbers of fatherless young men in a society that puts a premium on revenge is a highly worrisome development for a region emerging from civil war,” it warns. Even worse, nearly half of all households reporting losing at least one member to violence. 

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Thomas E. Ricks is a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy. Twitter: @tomricks1

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