Elliot Ackerman

Ackerman is the author of the novel Red Dress in Black and White and the memoir Places and Names: On War, Revolution, and Returning, as well as three other novels. He served five tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, received the Silver Star, the Bronze Star for Valor, and the Purple Heart.

Recent Articles

Ukrainians Don't Just Blame Putin For the War. They Blame Russians.

It was coming up on five a.m. and we were still at the casino. Our hotel in Lviv boasted a basement filled with card tables, slot machines, and a full-sized roulette wheel, which is where...

By Elliot Ackerman March 25, 2022

How NATO Pilots Could Help Defend Ukraine

This past week, it’s rumored that a pilot known as the “Ghost of Kyiv” defeated six Russian aircraft before being shot down and killed. If true, this makes him the first fighter ace of the...

By Elliot Ackerman March 2, 2022

The Last Person Who Believes in Western Intervention

I usually love the Olympics, but I have found these games difficult to watch. Whether it was the cynical use of a Uighur torchbearer by the Chinese, or that Russia seemed to be biding its...

By Elliot Ackerman February 21, 2022

More January 6ths Are Inevitable. How We React Is Crucial

Shortly after 9 p.m., on February 27, 1933, the Berlin fire station received an alarm: the Reichstag, the center of German government, was on fire. This was four weeks after Adolf Hitler had assumed power...

By Elliot Ackerman January 6, 2022

Afghanistan Withdrawal Exposes a Fault Line in Our Democracy

“The baby boomers’ turn is over,” said Marine Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Scheller in a video this past Friday. “I demand accountability, at all levels. If we don’t get it, I’m bringing it.” His post, which...

By Elliot Ackerman August 31, 2021

How We Could Sleepwalk Into a War With China

China and the United States today are on a collision course. No less an authority than Henry Kissinger said just over a year ago that the U.S. and China are in the “foot hills of...

By James Stavridis and Elliot Ackerman March 9, 2021

American Exceptionalism Blinds Us To Election Risks

Lieutenant Colonel Jabbar of the Afghan Commandos was good at chess. Like his namesake Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who played for the L.A. Lakers, he was also exceedingly tall and stood out in a crowd. In 2008,...

By Elliot Ackerman November 1, 2020

Why Comparing the Fight Against COVID-19 to War Is Ethically Dangerous

The risks physicians, nurses and other health care workers face, by reusing masks and gowns, resemble the risks soldiers faced over 15 years ago when patrolling Iraq in unarmored vehicles. A shortage of personal protective...

By Elliot Ackerman and Allan S. Detsky May 7, 2020

What Peace in Afghanistan Might Mean

Having fought in both Iraq and Afghanistan, I am often asked what I think distinguished the two wars from one another. The answer is imagination, and I believe this is the critical element upon which...

By Elliot Ackerman February 21, 2020

After Soleimani Killing, War With Iran Will Likely Continue as It Has for Decades

In 1981, at the outset of the Iran-Iraq War, Qassem Soleimani witnessed his country’s first use of human wave-style tactics. That costly practice would become one of the hallmarks of a conflict that would claim...

By Elliot Ackerman January 8, 2020
More from TIME
More From TIME