The enduring story of the battle of Fallujah, told by the people who lived through it.
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With this spring marking the 20-year anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, “Once Upon a Time in Iraq: Fallujah” tells the story of the battle to retake the key city of Fallujah from a violent insurgency that was taking root across Iraq after the U.S. ousted Saddam Hussein.
In this documentary from filmmaker James Bluemel (“Once Upon a Time in Iraq,” “Exodus”), U.S. Marines, journalists and ordinary Iraqis share their experiences of what would become the bloodiest battle of the Iraq War, and how its consequences have reverberated for two decades.
“Once Upon a Time in Iraq: Fallujah” is a Keo Films Ltd. production for GBH/FRONTLINE and BBC. Produced and directed by James Bluemel. The series producer is Jo Abel. The producers are Gus Palmer, Stewart Armstrong and Sally Brindle. The senior producer is Dan Edge. The executive producers for Keo Films are Andrew Palmer and Will Anderson. The editor-in-chief and executive producer for FRONTLINE is Raney Aronson-Rath.
Explore additional reporting on “Once Upon a Time in Iraq: Fallujah” on our website:
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/documentary/once-upon-a-time-in-iraq-fallujah/
#Documentary #IraqWar #Fallujah #USMarines
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FRONTLINE is produced at GBH in Boston and is broadcast nationwide on PBS. Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Additional funding is provided by the Abrams Foundation; Park Foundation; the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; and the FRONTLINE Journalism Fund with major support from Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation, and additional support from Koo and Patricia Yuen.
CHAPTERS:
Prologue – 00:00
U.S. Marines in Fallujah, Iraq, in November 2004 – 1:12
A U.S. Marine’s Family – 6:20
U.S. Marines’ Rules of Engagement in Fallujah – 12:30
What Happened to an Iraqi Family in the Battle of Fallujah – 23:20
Journalists Embedded with U.S. Marines in Fallujah – 29:15
Legacy of the Battle of Fallujah for Two Families — Iraqi and American – 44:56
Credits – 52:00
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The same senseless carnage that Russia is bestowing on the innocents people of Ukraine currently that's the same carnage that America bestowed on the innocent people of Iraq in the name of spreading freedom. Only a fool will believe the notion that America was fighting in Iraq to spread freedom.
This is very hard to watch.
This one was fantastic. Took me to Fallujah and made me really feel it.
Another fine product brought to you by the Military Industrial Complex.
Bush and the rest of the evil bastards responsible for all this death and suffering WILL received God's wrath of punishment unless they repent of their sins.
I wish all Frontline docs did voice-over translations, I tend to only listen instead of watch
I hope frontline goes on forever
Damn this documentary was deep! 2 parallels of two opposites & outcome of war. This was heavy.
Frontline does great work. However, the sequences about the sport killings in Texas of Deers and the family bragging…it just makes me sick. I guess these are the kind of people that enlist in the military.
For those unaware, PBS Frontline strangely edited the FULL documentary that originally aired on BBC that includes both this part and the previous "Once Upon a Time in Iraq" as an uncut FIVE HOUR documentary. The full-length version (narrated by Andy Serkis, interestingly) universally gets better reviews. Consider this and Fallujah the abridged versions that may leave out key details.
This was fantastic
This is like a bash video on the US Marines. Saddam should have done what he was told and swore allegiance to the United States Of America. He had plenty of chances to comply. Blame Saddam for all of it. They should have assassinated him in the 70’s.
The American men and women that died in Iraq and Afghanistan didn't die for our freedom. They died for the greed and power hunger of the few and the military industrial complex. I hope that dead marine kid's parents understand that one day.
Your scared lady. Try getting ready to jump 100 stories to concrete cause the building was on fire. Everyone in the Trade Centers was an innocent victim of war. Your one sided self sorrow is pitiful. We are victims of our beliefs. The only difference is you guys whine and cry more.
My only critique of democracy is the lack of accountability. Years later, I still often wonder who is responsible for all the pain we, Americans, collectively cause.
Sure, we are morally superior to the Mongols… but are we?
Republicans love wars
I know these guys thought this was intense at the time, but it is nothing compared to the battle happening right now in Ukraine. This war was not a war.
I understand how the families feel , however it was their people (insurgents) bombing us first what were we supposed to do?
I remember the videos that used to surface on file-sharing platforms like Limewire & Kazaa… videos of Iraqis beheading journalists and torture. Bloody mutilated bodies of soldiers being kicked and further desecrated by opposing sides. I was a teenager watching these gory videos from my comfy home in the suburbs (along with millions of other teens back then) while eating a bowl of cereal- not really absorbing the fact that these are real people. That singing/chanting from the Iraquis in the background while they were being murdered or after a grenade hit always stayed with me & just evoked a slew of new emotions while watching this. As an adult, it hits you different. Plus, I used to hear horror stories from people that came back from the Middle East during those years. This shows that those stories weren't exaggerated at all.
It’s so important to get the story of the lives we affected. But we didn’t fight for freedom we fault for Rumsfeld and chants war machine of profit
700 civilians? WTF. I didn't even know that
Remember the one's gone 🇺🇲🥷🏴☠️
Thank you Frontline for amazing work and journalism n always getting the truth out there God bless America
So those loser Journalists got a marine killed? What a fucking joke…Long live America and Long live the marines. Thank you for your service.
Please Frontline, can you use voiceover when the Iraqis are speaking? I usually listen when I m driving, I can’t read the subtitles. Thanks!
🇺🇸 🇺🇸
This is a powerful doco words cannot describe
War is horrible. Why is there so much?
What a waste. At least the Iraqis died defending their turf
ameriscum invaded a sovereign country that had nothing to do with 2001 attacks. invading savages had the nerve to call the people fighting the occupying force "insurgents." And that is why ameriscum are despised world over.
"Billy Pilgrim has come unstuck in time."
Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughthouse Five.
In reality, Vonnegut's "Billy Pilgrim" was based on a man that had died in the European Theater of WWII. Kurt gave him a fictional career, a wife, a married daughter, a son in Vietnam, Extra Terrestrial Mistress activity, and time traveling capacity. He was still long dead, sadly, but the film of the novel made great Latchkey kid fodder in Reruns for generations, and is now streaming everywhere. "Billy" seemed alive enough to conceive a baby in Alien captivity. With Miss Tesmacher yet! Lex Luthor knew! 😉 At least to the kids that had lost their Big Brother to Vietnam and wanted to give them some life. Like "Billy's" kids. I agree with the one legged kid, but the end of war does not seem as possible as it did in Kurt's days. He died in THIS war, being against war and having written a book about it. Like his "Billy" never could. Meanwhile Dubya still walks the earth before Matthew Perry's intelligence about what happened. Condolences to all survivors. What if we treated war like a global addiction? Make Dubya and his Dick into programmable bots. Friends!
Every american needs to have their taxes hiked to pay for these wars. Anyone can call themselves a patriot but if you start multiple wars and cut taxes the entire time I'll question your sincerity. Tax the american people and have a war tax right on their paycheck. Of course it won't happen because americans are decadent and care more about money than country
A boy who look like mom is usually a warrior
Should have just dropped white phosphorus over the entire city
Wow….a powerful documentary
Not a single person boycott the Bush family only a single mother camp in front of his place.
Complaining yes that what everyone does but to act not a single one.
But that single mother!!!!!
Fallujah is a place I won’t ever forget. I could still smell the air and it’s stench. A Marine never forgets.
Another VILE propaganda episode from contemptible Frontline!
This makes the operation seem noble, fighting against "evil terrorists" and so on instead of the brutal imperial destruction of a whole city in order to scare the Iraqis into submission. It was NO different than the Nazi destruction of Lidice except on a larger scale .
You can bet Frontline wouldn't frame the Russian operation in Ukraine that way.
But this is PBS. It's soothing pro-war propaganda for liberals who want to cheer the massacring of people overseas while acting superior to the "barbaric" right-wingers.
War always stays within you; even after you have left the battlefield.
no war. lovelove love love love!
40k views and only 300 comments
Fuk Elon and hit the like button.
I like watching Frontline videos. This is a new video of 2023. Never heard much about Fallujah & how much everyone went through & the loses of everything. It's really sad how long the Iraq war lasted. I was in 7th – 8th grade when Desert Storm started.
long live iraq 😭
That was the most intense documentary I have ever seen.
'My dream is for wars to stop' – Mustafa