www.outsidethewire.com JD Johannes traveled to Iraq in 2007. This trip resulted in three documentaries ‘Danger Close’, ‘Anbar Awakens’ and ‘Baghdad Surge’. ‘Danger Close’ is an up-close, in-depth look at a complex attack by Al Qaida on small, distant US Army outpost on the edge of the Euphrates river valley. JD Johannes was the only reporter to witness the attack and followed the US Army paratroopers into combat–nearly getting himself killed. ‘Anbar Awkens’ shows the greatest turn-around of the Iraq War–the tribes of Al Anbar province joining with the coalition to fight Al Qaida–from the perspective of the Jumayli tribe. The Jumayli tribe–with no prompting from the Coalition–turned on Al Qaida and engaged in a serious gun-battle with Al Qaida before formally joining with the coalition. ‘Baghdad Surge’ is a look at the surge from asphalt level. This episode follows a US Army infantry Captain through a ‘day-of-the-surge’ and the modern three-block-war. The interviews with Soldiers and Marines were conducted at the Combat Outposts they lived and worked at by JD Johannes. With the exception of digital animations and brief clips of insurgent video–everything was shot by JD Johannes. Nothing was staged, recreated or rehearsed. The bullets, bombs, blood and bad guys are all real.
Video Rating: 4 / 5