Iraq War Resources

Wikipedia has a whole list of Iraq War documentaries, some more useful than others.

Ones I have seen include: Control Room a 2004 documentary film about Al Jazeera and its relations with the US Central Command (CENTCOM), as well as the other news organizations that covered the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Fahrenheit 9/11: an award-winning 2004 documentary film by American filmmaker Michael Moore. The film takes a critical look at the presidency of George W. Bush, the War on Terrorism, and its coverage in the American news media

Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers is a 2006 documentary about the ongoing Iraq War and the behavior of companies with no-bid contracts working in Iraq. The movie was made by Robert Greenwald and Brave New Films.

The film has a whole website with a wealth of materials on no bid contracts and corporate behaviour in Iraq. It also includes related articles such as the following by Robert Schlesinger "The shocking photographs of the torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison raise anew questions about the U.S. military's use of private contractors. Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba's report about practices at the prison contained information that two CACI employees "were either directly or indirectly responsible for the abuses at Abu Ghraib." Contractors from Titan International were also present during the abuses."

Amnesty international has become sufficiently concerned to have written a report arguing that "Outsourcing is Facilitating Human Rights Violations ...As the United States engages in military operations in two countries and conducts the global war on terror, the U.S. government is outsourcing key security and military support functions, particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan... they also serve in more sensitive roles, such as interrogation and translating during questioning of alleged terrorist suspects."

Iraq in Fragments is a documentary feature directed by James Longley. Longley shot the film in Digital Video on a Panasonic DVX100 miniDV camcorder. The film premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival.

Leading to War is a 2008 American documentary film composed entirely of archival news footage of the declarations of the United States President Bush and his administration explaining their reasons to attack Iraq in 2003. The film is presented as a historical record and highlights the rhetorical devices and techniques employed by a government to wage war against another nation.

The film website has sections on Rhetoric and Spin, Bush Administration Claims vs. The Facts and details on The Costs of War. Most useful perhaps is the full film transcipt, and details of related transcripts.

Its also possible to watch the entire film online.

No End in Sight is a 2007 documentary film about the American occupation of Iraq. The film marks the directorial debut of political scientist and former software entrepreneur Charles H. Ferguson. The film premiered January 22, 2007 at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. Theres an interesting section on the History of Iraq.

Taking Liberties (also known as Taking Liberties Since 1997) is a documentary film about the purported erosion of civil liberties in the United Kingdom and increase of surveillance under the government of Tony Blair. It was released in the UK on 8th June 2007.

Uncovered: The War on Iraq is a 2004 documentary directed by Robert Greenwald that deals with the media treatment of the developing push for an invasion of Iraq in the early 2000s and the eventual 2003 Invasion of Iraq.

This film contains interviews with Karen Kwiatkowski "a retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel whose assignments included duties as a Pentagon desk officer and a variety of roles for the National Security Agency. Since retiring, she has become a noted critic of the U.S. government's involvement in Iraq"

She has stated in a Salon article that:
I witnessed neoconservative agenda bearers within OSP usurp measured and carefully considered assessments, and through suppression and distortion of intelligence analysis promulgate what were in fact falsehoods to both Congress and the executive office of the president."

So many areas to consider. Duplicity and deception in the run up to war? Eneregy resources as an additional reason to engage in war? Human cost of war? Human rights abuses by corporations in Iraq? This latter point seems particularly interesting.