Top 5 Iraq documentaries you should watch

This list is sure to change quickly as events and historical distance yield greater insight. Even if conflict is ongoing, a number of insightful documentaries about the War in Iraq and the politics in the U.S. and internationally leading up to it have been made.

My top of Iraq documentaries

1. The War Tapes (2006)
Winner of the Tribeca Film Festival's 2006 Best Documentary honor. Rather than embed herself with the military in Iraq and subject herself to censorship and biased guides, director Deborah Scranton gave cameras to soldiers who she kept in touch with online. The resulting film features a balanced and unfiltered perspective on the war.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3030987572930384032

2. Control Room
Jehane Noujaim's film makes it clear that the information war is as important as the war on the ground. "Control Room" shows Western reporters and reporters for the Arab news network Al Jazeera covering the early days of the war. As the military works to spin the news for both audiences, differences in coverage reveal the depth of the cultural divide - an understanding of which should frame your viewing of any other documentary about the Iraq War.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5468579280837866970

3. Iraq for Sale
An enraging glimpse of the corruption, waste of taxpayer dollars, and endangerment of troops and contractors lives taking place under contracts awarded to Haliburton, Titan, CACI, and others. Independent contractors represent a greater portion of the American presence in Iraq than in any other conflict, and these corporations are largely exempt from oversight. Iraq for Sale is Robert Greenwald's second documentary on the Iraq war (Iraq Uncovered examined the deception in the lead-up to the war).

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6621486727392146155

4. Iraq in Fragments
James Longley spent more than two years on the ground in Iraq where he got to know families in the Kurdish, Shiite, and Sunni regions. Divided into three chapters, the film stands out among the Iraq War documentaries released to date on the strength of its gorgeous cinematography. Though filming completed before 2006's escalation of internal conflict, the film makes clear the dramatic cultural divides Iraq faces.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3616899759152322530

5. Baghdad ER
HBO's documentary may have riled Army brass for showing too much U.S. blood, but the film – which depicts the heroism on display every day at the best front-line military hospital ever assembled - was among the most-decorated programs at the 2006 Emmy Awards. Directed by Jon Alpert and Matthew O'Neill.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-348783717621633926

Out of contest, just couldn’t not to mention
Uncovered: The Whole Truth about the Iraq war

The War on Iraq, filmmaker Robert Greenwald chronicles the Bush Administration's determined quest to invade Iraq following the events of September 11, 2001. The film deconstructs the administration's case for war through interviews with U.S intelligence and defense officials, foreign service experts, and U.N. weapons inspectors -- including a former CIA director, a former ambassador to Saudi Arabia and even President Bush's Secretary of the Army. Their analyses and conclusions are sobering, and often disturbing, regardless of one's political affiliations

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7371253996117324045