re: Jim in Belleville

Ameriphobe socialist eh? I suppose you prescribe to the whole "us or them" doctrine. War is so engrained in American society/culture as a whole your comments aren't that shocking, even though they are disturbing.

Although this documentary showed what a bad job the American did and are still doing in Iraq, I found it to be poorly done.

It failed to show the different points of views. It portrayed lies about the present democratically elected government. It showed it as a death squads militia government. What a lie!!

A good documentary presents wide scope views of all the parties involved. This kind of documentary makes me loose my trust in the network that shows it. I found it to be biased and one sided with no much truth.

An exception was the young doctor, Dr. Ali. I am sure if he knew that you were going to use him in this edited version of your documentary, he would have refused to participate.

Saddam was the iron fist that prevented Shias and Sunnis from getting at each other?? Give me a break?.find the truth people. What a naive statement. It was Saddam and his followers who started the sectarian issue in Iraq.

People from all the different ethnic and religious background lived and still live in peace with each other. If you don't have something good to present to the public, don't show anything.

US President Bush had anticipated the massive chaos and murders in Iraq before he invaded that country.

Don't forget that George Bush earned a Bachelor's Degree, with major in History at Yale University. He fully understands that the Sunnis and the Shiites do not see eye-to-eye for generations. He expected that Iraq would plunge into civil war if a dictator like Saddam Hussein is removed. But he went ahead to remove Saddam Hussein.

What were his motives to take the Iraqis into such an age of horror? There are many possible reasons. One thing is for sure: Bush has been a close friend to many in Israel. While the Sunnis and the Shiites are busy killing each other within Iraq, Israel has not been threatened by Iraq for several years.

President Bush should be honored for a Nobel Peace Prize.

John Burns says we can't leave Iraq now, but doesn't answer the question if we have enough men, material and MONEY to continue the fight. Our army is virtually crippled, our great-great grandchildren will be paying the bills for this war and the American people (who were duped into this conflict in the first place) will replace any politicians who talk of prolonging the struggle. These people can't even fix New Orleans after Katrina. How can they fix a battle which has gone on since 632 A.D> between Sunnis and Shias?

This is a very powerful piece. Battle for Baghdad is a sobering review of what has happened in Iraq thanks to woeful ignorance and unrestrained hubris.

The American people were duped by what seems increasingly to have been a delusional leadership. It is very disturbing that they came in and made this mess without heeding the advice of the international community and the UN ... it is more disturbing that the people of Iraq, who suffered enough under Saddam's regime, will soon be abandoned for slaughter as America cuts it's losses and gets out, realizing that this little venture isn't going as well as they had hoped, no cakewalk, no flowers.

And then they wonder, "why do they hate us?" .... People hate America because of policies like this ... like what has been done to Iraq, the hell that they have unleashed, stumbling into a delicate situation as they have in the name of "spreading democracy" ... so foolish as to ignore the history of the region, ignore the warnings coming from critics in their own country.

American people, like any people, do not deserve to be hated, but at some point, one has to ask -- YOU voted for this administration (twice)! (or abstained) YOU sat idly by while the reins of your country were taken by such irresponsible people.

Interesting documentary, although the idea of a US withdrawl from Iraq will lead the country into complete chaos is wrong because the real leaders of Iraq are not in the Green Zone, and have never called for sectarian civil war in the first place. This entire notion that "if the US leaves, all hell breaks loose" just feeds into the racist perception that Muslim and Arabs are unable to live in a real democracy in peace. I deplore the old age neocolonialist mentality and attitude in the news media and by "pundits" and "editorialists" in several major Canadian, British, and American newspapers regarding Iraqis and of what they are actually capable when it comes to self-governing.

I believe that once foreign troops leave, and that the United States withdraws on every level (political, military, economic and corporate) Iraqi insurgents will be willing to negotiate into laying down their arms because they will know with certainty that Washington is not in the background to call the shots. The other parties that have credibility among all Iraqis regardless of their sect, will most likely to follow on that note.

But as long as the US occupies Iraq with its 'Divide and Conquer' formula, there will be more bloodshed and chaos, making the situation into an even bigger disaster because the occupation is what actually drives this entire mess.

One doesn't know how much more Americans are willing to pay in blood and funds for this No-Win War, when the arms industry and the oil industry consider that Iraq is too big of a strategic issue to simply let go when other competing economic powers are standing in the aisle, which is the real reason for the war from the get-go.

Unfortunately, it's the Iraqi people and US soldiers being misled by the Bush administration, who are all paying the price because the body count keeps on mounting with no end in sight.

I fled Iraq with my family back in 1987 because we feared for my father's life as he was forced to serve in the Iran/Iraq war. This war initiated by US/Britan was poorly thought out...you cannot go into a country and try to impose your own beliefs and not involve the Iraqi people/government to help rebuild from the onset. It is a shame to see all the civilian casualties along with American/British deaths.

I don't even know if there a solution that can be implemented anymore. The superpowers need to re-think their strategy and the bastard terrorists flooding Iraq from neighbouring countries need to be demolished. It's a little too late to secure the borders. Perhaps someday the Iraqi people can rebuild their beloved country...someday.

I think there were a lot of things missing from this documentary. Basically it did not show any of the horrible things that the U.S. soldiers are doing to the people of Iraq. This documentary...if I can even call it that...made it seem that it is only the Iraqi soldiers and extremists that are doing the damage. If you want a story of what one U.S. soldier saw read The Deserter's Tale: The story of an Ordinary Soldier who walked away from the war in Iraq. By Joshua Key and Lawerence Hill.

Programs like this are what the folks who dreamed up TV hoped it could be. Thank you for presenting something other than the spin and the lies the Bush administration lives on. I cannot express the sorrow I feel for the Iraqi people. Please continue this kind of reporting. Of course the catastrophy in the Middle East is part of the West's political catastrophy, made possible by the "dumbing down" of the people in North America. Public education is become the servant of the military industrial complex and Walmart reigns!

Powerful institutions and powerful people must do all they can to turn this boat around. It is so too late for multitudes already.

Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it. I was in Vietnam ... It's DEJA VU all over! I worry about the polarization that the right wing in my country (along with the extreme left doing their share) has done to separate this country AGAIN. We had NIXON and Johnson ... and now it is Bush and (perhaps Clinton2 will have a SECRET plan to get us out of Iraq). If Canada is smart (and they have traditionally been smarter than the government in USA), they will not get sucked into this truly internationally distablizing conflict.

What is this? The US as peacekeepers that just haven't been able to make the peace? I find the way this documentary sympathizes with the occupiers really disturbing.

Before they hung Saddam, I often imagined the Americans swinging open the doors to his prison cell, exchanging his defendant's suit for a crisp pair of his old army fatigues. Shave that beard. Put that Koran away. Do you want your old job back? Here, have a cigar. By the way, no hard feelings about your boys.

Admit it, you've all thought it. Iraq was a better place under Saddam. Iraq has always needed an iron fist. It still does.

The Bush Administration has the right idea with a troop surge. If left alone to work it out themselves, Iraq's factions will recreate Rawanda.

Arab's have a saying: "1000 years of tyranny before a day of anarchy." Install another freindly dictator. It worked for 30 years. Hell, in another 30 we'll put in a new one.

So Iraqis won't get a democracy. We tried. We failed. Sorry.

Fact is, we are winning the war on terorism, regardless of what the Ameriphobe socialists at CBC think.

We (the West) didn't start this war, but we must win it.

It's too bad more Canadians don't bother to think for themselves.

The surge is working ? Yes and Saddam had WMDs and was working with Al-queda. Good news doesn't come from a illegal war that has claimed thousands of innocent lives, all for no reason. Whats good to report? That the US is building 14 permanent bases in Iraq? That 2 million people have fled the country since the invasion? That an average of 100 or more people die every day from violence? That children can't even go to school for fear of attack or injury?

Tim of Indiana:

For every soldier who is outraged at the media for the stories they tell, there are 100 soldiers who are outraged at politicians for started this carnage based on a pack of lies.

You have to stop thinking that more battalions, more US guns and bombs, will stop the violence in Iraq. US soldiers are not the solution - they are the PROBLEM. A vast majority of Iraqis think that it is okay to attack US soldiers. Get the soldiers out of there now and let the Iraqis decide their own future.

What went wrong? The US invaded (illegally, immorally, unthinkingly) - that's what. End of story.

The surge is starting to work! And only 2 of the 5 battalions are there in Iraq - why doesn't the media report the GOOD news in Iraq? Has ANYONE noticed why the only news seems to be BAD all the time??? Why is that? I just talked to a soldier who just came home from Iraq and he is outraged as to why the media is painting such a doom and gloom scenario all the time!!