The Iraq War

The big players from Washington, London and Baghdad tell the inside story of the war in Iraq, revealing how they wrestled with the big decisions - and with each other.

Episode 1: Regime Change
The people at the top of the CIA and Saddam's foreign minister describe just how the US and Britain got it so wrong about Saddam's weapons of mass destruction before the invasion.
Tony Blair recounts how he flew to President Bush's private retreat at Camp David to go head to head with Vice President Dick Cheney. Colin Powell explains how he came to make his disastrous presentation to the United Nations. Foreign Secretary Jack Straw describes how he - and even President Bush himself - tried to persuade Tony Blair that to join in the invasion was political suicide.

Episode 2: After the Fall
In After the Fall, part two of this three-part series, key insiders describe the chaotic aftermath of the defeat of Saddam Hussein. Dick Cheney and Colin Powell come to blows over America's role as occupying power. General David Petraeus recalls the disastrous decision to disband the Iraqi army. The representative of Grand Ayatollah Sistani - Iraq's most senior Shia cleric - tells how Sistani forced the Americans into agreeing to elections in Iraq. One of the greatest challenges came from Muqtada al-Sadr and his Mahdi army. America and the new Iraqi government were able to defeat Sadr militarily, but it set the stage for sectarian war.
The producers in charge of the series were Norma Percy, Brian Lapping and Paul Mitchell, the team at Brook Lapping Productions who were behind the multi-award-winning documentaries Iran & the West, Putin, Russia and the West, The Death of Yugoslavia etc.

Episode 3: It's Hell, Mr President
The last episode in this three-part series brings the Iraq story up to date. Tony Blair and Dick Cheney describe how they responded as horrific sectarian violence overtook Iraq. Foreign Secretary Jack Straw tells how he and Condoleeza Rice compelled Iraq's prime minister to resign. Other key insiders reveal how they selected and supported his replacement.
With an exclusive interview with controversial Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, the programme tells how the war ended and why Iraq today faces the worst sectarian violence in five years. (forgalmazó hivatalos szövege)