Conditions in Iraq

To help Americans understand the actual situation in Iraq I have selected few video documentaries on living conditions in Iraq that are available on YouTube. Theses documentaries were shown on Al-Jazzera International and are in English language. In general it paints a completely different picture from what is being shown on US televisions.

American NPR had some good videos that will be posted at a later date. Leila Fadel, McClatchy's Baghdad Bureau Chief, was interviewed on the current fighting in the center of Baghdad it is worth seeing it. I suspect that similar fighting will be erupting in other places.

I have selected Al-Jazeera International because it is one of the few Arabic satellite stations that are broadcasting in English. It is one of the most important instruments to bridge the gap of misunderstanding and the overcome the language barrier.

I welcome your comments. It is only through dialog and exchange of ideas that we can achieve a better understanding that will lead to real peace.

City of Widows

Filmmaker Rashad Radwan follows Zahra, a Shia in Iraq, as day after day, she visits police stations, hospitals and morgues in a desperate search for her kidnapped husband, and in the face of disapproval from a society where widows are still expected to be invisible.
Click to see: Part 1 Part 2

Betrayed in Iraq

Leila Fadel, Baghdad Bureau Chief of McClatchy Newspapers speaks to Paul Jay about the recent escalation in violence in Iraq's capital. She says the former fighters termed the "Sons of Iraq" who have turned on Al Qaeda and joined the U.S. are now being persecuted by the Iraq government. She says the Maliki government is afraid of the power they've accumulated in the neighborhoods they were put to protect by the U.S. and many are now in exile or in hiding.
Click to see: Interview

Return to Iraq

Witness presenter Rageh Omaar returned to Iraq five years after reporting on the US-led invasion. He found much had changed and, as ordinary Iraqis told him, rarely for the better.
Click to see : Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

Iraq's healthcare crisis

Inside Iraq looks at the crisis facing Iraq's healthcare system. Experts say that as many as half of the estimated 655,000 civilian deaths in the war so far might have been avoided if proper medical care had been provided but billions of dollars intended for the reconstruction of the country's medical and hospital network have gone missing while 18,000 doctors have left the country and the remaining ones have been the targets of kidnappings and murder.
Click to see: Part 1 Part 2

Failing health care in Iraq

Five years after the invasion, Iraq's health care system remains in crisis. Hospitals have to deal with the aftermath of bombs and shootings on a daily basis. It is very hard for doctors to do their job. They often lack basic equipment and the necessary drugs to treat the injured. And many health workers have just been murdered or kidnapped.
Click to see: Health

Half of Iraq hit by cholera

Cholera is spreading throughout Iraq, with half of the 18 provinces affected, Kirkuk and Sulaymaniyah being the hardest hit. Over 3,000 people have been infected with the disease, according to the World Health organisation, but it's estimated that number could be much higher, and as many as 30,000 people could now be suffering from Cholera.
Al Jazeera's cameras have travelled to a remote area of Al Anbar province.
Click to see: Cholera

Iraq's Education System

The education system is now in a state of collapse after the US invasion in 2003.
Click to see: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

Iraq casualties

We examine the controversy surrounding civilian casualty figures in Iraq.
Click to see: The Listening Post

Ongoing struggles make Iraqi voters cautious

Iraq's provincial elections are seen as a test of the country's stability, ahead of a general election planned for later this year. However, many people hold out little hope of real change as they continue to struggle with shortages of electricity and water.
Click to see: Iraqi voters

War Without End: 2006

On May 1, 2003 George Bush, the US president, gave a speech on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln declaring an "end to major combat operations" in Iraq. Five years on, with violence continuing unabated across the country, Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel Hamid looks at the major events of the Iraq war. Each episode in this special five-part series will focus on one of the last five years - looking at the events, policies and people that helped to shape Iraq and its current chaos. As well as speaking to top policy makers from the US and UK, along with their senior Iraqi advisors, War Without End hears from ordinary Iraqis and US soldiers.
Click to see: Year 2003 (Part 1 Part 2) 2004 (Part 1 Part 2) 2005 (Part 1 Part 2) 2006 (Part 1 Part 2) 2007 (Part 1 Part 2)