In 2004, Waleed Nesyif, heavy metal musician, is forced to flee Iraq following death threats for working for American journalists as a translator. By the time America finally withdraws all its troops from Iraq in 2011, he is a Canadian citizen, happily married and university educated. A year later, he returns to Iraq for the first time since leaving. It is not the same country he left. Naori Al Maliki is in his second term as prime minister, and his Shia-led sectarian policies reignite long-held Sunni grievances. The door is open for Isis. The legacy of the 2003 invasion plays out in a most brutal manner.\n\nOmar Mohmamed, a university professor from Mosul, remembers clearly the night armed men invade his city, proclaiming they are the Islamic State. For the next three years, Omar lives under one of the most brutal regimes the world has ever known, witnessing daily executions, hand cutting and stonings. As the anonymous author of a blog exposing the atrocities committed by Isis, he risks his life to share the realities of life under Isis with the world.\n\nHe is not the only one to resist. Um Qusay risks her life by sheltering Shia soldiers in her house after they have escaped being executed by Isis. Seeing past sectarian differences, she explains, ‘I risked my life to help those boys because they were Iraqis’.
Source: BBC 4
Series 1: 5. Legacy
In 2004, Waleed Nesyif, heavy metal musician, is forced to flee Iraq following death threats for working for American journalists as a translator. By the time America finally wi ...
27-10-2021
BBC 4
Series 1: 4. Saddam
When Saddam Hussein is captured by coalition forces in December 2003, politicians in the White House believe this will be the turning point they need to bring democracy to Iraq. ...
27-10-2021
BBC 4
Series 1: 3. Fallujah
At the start of the Iraq War in 2003, over 600 journalists and photographers are given permission by the US government to follow the war as embedded reporters. Dexter Filkins an ...
26-10-2021
BBC 4
Series 1: 2. Insurgency
When Lieutenant Colonel Nate Sassaman arrived in Iraq in 2003, his belief in the task ahead - of delivering democracy and stability to the Iraqi people - was unquestioning. Sass ...
25-10-2021
BBC 4
Series 1: 1. War
Waleed Nesyif was 18 when George Bush gave Saddam Hussein just 48 hours to leave Iraq. He was, like many Iraqi teenagers at that time, infatuated by the West. But while many of ...
25-10-2021
BBC 4
Series 1: 4. Saddam
When Saddam Hussein is captured by coalition forces in December 2003, politicians in the White House believe this will be the turning point they need to bring democracy to Iraq. ...
27-10-2021
BBC 4
Series 1: 1. War
Waleed Nesyif was 18 when George Bush gave Saddam Hussein just 48 hours to leave Iraq. He was, like many Iraqi teenagers at that time, infatuated by the West. But while many of ...
25-10-2021
BBC 4
Series 1: 3. Fallujah
At the start of the Iraq War in 2003, over 600 journalists and photographers are given permission by the US government to follow the war as embedded reporters. Dexter Filkins an ...
26-10-2021
BBC 4
Series 1: 5. Legacy
In 2004, Waleed Nesyif, heavy metal musician, is forced to flee Iraq following death threats for working for American journalists as a translator. By the time America finally wi ...
27-10-2021
BBC 4
Series 1: 2. Insurgency
When Lieutenant Colonel Nate Sassaman arrived in Iraq in 2003, his belief in the task ahead - of delivering democracy and stability to the Iraqi people - was unquestioning. Sass ...
25-10-2021
BBC 4