Film Overview

The war in Iraq is arguably the most important issue in the United States today. It's legitimacy has polarized the country - both supporters and protesters have rallied passionately to sway public opinion, expose documentaries have hit the big screen as never before, and the labels liberal and conservative have each been used to dismiss the other. As a focal point in the 2004 presidential campaigns, the war has been showcased as both an example of American decisiveness and heroism as well as the catastrophic result of failed leadership, secrecy, and right-wing ideology. But beyond the debate, what is the reality of life on the ground in Iraq? Knowing from experience what happens overseas is always more nuanced than how it is portrayed, traveler Mike Shiley felt compelled to go to Iraq to see what was going on for himself. Shiley, who is not a professionally trained journalist, photographer, or filmmaker, managed to strike a deal with a local ABC-TV news station to act as a correspondent - a deal that would allow him access into the country. Armed with a Sony VX2000 digital video camera, a home-made press pass, and a single phone number written on a piece of paper, Mike Shiley began a two month journey inside Iraq beginning in December of 2003. Interviewing both American and Iraqi soldiers, talking to local citizens, and putting himself in situations of great personal risk, Shiley captures footage that details the reality of life on the ground in Iraq.

Shiley's excursions throughout the Sunni Triangle, the city of Baghdad, the northern Kurdish region and the Shiite-controlled south, put into deep personal context the stories we hear about in the news. The adjectives "good" and "bad" become too simplistic when describing people trying to live in a war zone and soldiers trying to carry out orders.

After giving us details of his life and his motivation for going, Shiley's journey begins in Amman, Jordan in a convoy racing at 100 miles per hour to get to Baghdad before sundown. Shiley tells of his driver's decision to break away from the protection of the pack in order buy cigarettes in Falluja, one of the most dangerous cities in the world. Shiley eventually reaches Baghdad and the ABC news compound where he meets his Iraqi guide, Heider. Without flak jackets or any other form of protection, the pair begin to walk the streets of Baghdad, going into markets and mosques to talk to ordinary Iraqis about their feelings towards the United States, their thoughts about the war, and what it's like to live day to day in Iraq.

A car bomb explodes and Shiley runs to the scene, camera in hand to capture the grim aftermath. Later he learns a typical strategy of suicide bombers is to detonate a second bomb after people gather in reaction to the first. The shock of experiencing this kind of violence doesn't go away easily or quickly, but Shiley continues capturing footage in Baghdad. He explores the city's infrastructure and details how it's been impacted by the war. He visits the Baghdad Technology College to see how the faculty can continue to teach when all their equipment has been looted, and he visits the city's surprisingly thriving Christian section, attending a Christian church service on New Year's Eve. Only months after Shiley returned to the United States, this same church was destroyed by a bomb blast during mass.

Since the fall of Saddam Hussein, illegal markets have sprung up. The sale of pornographic material has become a thriving industry, and at the local gun market, $25 will buy you a rocket propelled grenade launcher. Shiley explains that "the doors that opened in the name of democracy and freedom have also let in pornography, prostitution, drugs, and a thriving black market trade", and many Iraqi citizens revile this western influence. The situation is much different in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq, where Shiley finds staunch supporters of the American policy in Iraq. Persecuted under Saddam Hussein's rule, the Kurds newfound prosperity has created feelings of loyalty towards the United States.

Because of his position as a correspondent for ABC news, Shiley was given the opportunity to embed with the US military. At the Anaconda Base north of Baghdad, a soldier takes us on a tour of the barracks and shows us an X-Box video game he purchased for the troops to use. As one young soldier sucks on a candy cane, we're reminded of the age of the young people stationed on the front lines. We also meet an exceptional man, Major Mark Shull. Shull's respect for the local people and the decency with which he treats them defies the "bring 'em on" approach to relations with Iraq. And in an embed at the Baghdad International Airport in an assignment with the 671st Engineering Battalion, Christmas festivities turn into an attack from insurgents.

Word spread in the ABC news bureau there was a unit in the middle of the desert no reporter "in their right mind" would want to travel with because of the danger involved. Shiley takes the assignment and ends up going on patrol with the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment on the Syrian border, the "wild wild west" of Iraq where most insurgents enter the country. He becomes certified to operate the biggest gun on the Abrams tank, the 120mm artillery shell that fires out of the main turret. In a show-of-force operation designed to flush out insurgents called "harass and intimidate", the unit fires a barrage of weapons down the middle of a village thought to contain insurgents. In the aftermath, Shiley questions the consequences of an operation that terrorizes entire villages and sometimes causes homes to catch on fire.

We are also exposed to other realities of living in Iraq. From the road, a group of Iraqi's are working to clear land mines. Saddam's campaign of ethnic cleansing left Iraq the most mined country in the world, and these men risk their lives clearing mines out of the ground in order to earn the $10 per day wage they are paid. Later on in a land mine hospital we see first hand the brutal result of these mines on the bodies of the children caught in the middle.

In 1991 US-led Coalition aircraft dropped two bombs that tore through the thick concrete roof of the Al Amaria bomb shelter in Baghdad, burning alive the 408 people inside. The majority of these victims were children and women that lived in the local neighborhood. Along walls now lined with photographs of the dead, we see the imprint of bodies, big and small, fused into the concrete. After touring the memorial that now resides inside the shelter, Shiley then asks the question we should all consider. Wouldn't we call this terrorism if it happened to us?

But turn the corner, and we find a village where the US soldiers have made such a positive impact, the locals now refer to it as Peace Village.

The film also shows us how US troops are training local Iraqi men for the new Iraqi civilian patrol, and upon graduation the recruits dance in celebration because they now have paying jobs. But later we see the plastic and metal guns these recruits are supplied with and the flak jackets that can't stop bullets, sub-standard equipment that wouldn't be very effective against well-armed insurgents. We have to wonder at the commitment to and ultimate effectiveness of this effort.

Mike Shiley, who has traveled the world and whose experiences have given him a respect for other cultures, also considers himself a regular American. The questions he found himself asking as he traveled through Iraq come from a deep regard for both.

Rather than trying to push a political point of view, INSIDE IRAQ: THE UNTOLD STORIES lets Shiley's camera roll, catching a multitude of real-life moments that tell it like it is. Guided by his own narration and interspersed with cuts to the studio interview, we are shown Iraq as we've never seen it before, getting a raw look at what it's like to be a soldier and a civilian in Iraq today.

No matter how you feel about the war, INSIDE IRAQ: THE UNTOLD STORIES is bound to leave you examining your own beliefs about the U.S. military, the Iraqi people, and our future in the middle east.