Al Jazeera Witness: SIX YEARS IN IRAQ

It has been six years since the US led invasion of Iraq began.  Those years have brought both hope and joy as well as death, destruction and despair for many Iraqis. 

Regardless of which angle you look at the country from, it is obvious that the people of Iraq have paid a heavy price for their so-called freedom during the last six years.

In a special series of films, Witness highlights some of the untold stories of the ordinary people trapped in the middle of the crisis.  SIX YEARS IN IRAQ recounts stories of pain and horror but also stories of courage and hope.

Witness airs Mondays at 8:00 pm Pacific and Wednesdays at 7:00 pm Eastern, on DIRECTV 375 and DISH 9410.  Watch this promo for a special introduction to "Six Years in Iraq" by Link TV's Mosaic producer, Jamal Dajani -->

Scroll down for more information about the war in Iraq. Find related videos, news, organizations, and other Link TV resources.

"Al Jazeera Witness: SIX YEARS IN IRAQ" Episode Guide:

	City of Widows Filmmaker Rashed Radwan follows Zahra, a Shia, on her search for her husband Ammar, a Sunni, who was kidnapped at gunpoint from their home in Baghdad in 2005.  Premieres Monday, May 18 at 8:00pm PT/ 11:00pm ET.		Fighter in Adhamiya Three-time champion boxer Farouk Chanchoun Jawad trains youngsters to box instead of fight in Baghdad's notorious battleground neighborhood, Adhamiya. Premieres Monday, May 25 at 8:00pm PT/ 11:00pm ET.
	Baghdad, City of Walls Watch as award-winning photographer and journalist Ghaith Abdul-Ahad returns to his home streets of Baghdad to find a city divided by security walls, and filled with homeless people and improvised cemeteries. Premieres Monday, June 1 at 8:00pm PT/ 11:00pm ET.		Accidental Hero In April 2004, a small-town oil terminal worker at Shatt Al-Arab waterway in Basra helped to prevent a massive economic and ecological disaster. Watch this fascinating story of the lives of the men and women who keep Iraq's oil flowing. Premieres Monday, June 8 at 8:00pm PT/ 11:00pm ET.
	Iraq in Lebanon Iraq in Lebanon is about the plight of Iraqi refugees who have fled their homeland in search of sanctuary in Lebanon.  Premieres Monday, June 15 at 8:00pm PT/ 11:00pm ET.		Guardian of Eden After the first Gulf War, Saddam Hussein began an aggressive drainage program which turned much of the Mesopotamian Marshlands - or the Garden of Eden - into desert, forcing 200,000 inhabitants to flee as refugees to Iran. Premieres Monday, June 22 at 8:00pm PT/ 11:00pm ET.

Accountability for Torture

Has America resorted to torture in the name of the "War on Terror"? Scenes from Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo made many question whether we have damaged our democratic values and humanitarian ideals. Now, with President Barack Obama sworn into office, there is a strong current of change in the air.  Will the new administration hold the perpetrators of torture - including those at the top who authorized water-boarding and other interrogation techniques - accountable for their actions?

Click here to visit Link TV's Accountability for Torture page.

Iraq: Stories You May Have Missed

Posted March 26, 2009 by Jamal Dajani

You may have missed it amid the AIG-bonus furor--even President Obama did not mention it during his recent press conference-- but last week marked six years since the start of the Iraq War.

After six years and more than 4,000 U.S. casualties, the Iraq War seems to have disappeared from the national conversation. Violence in Iraq is down sharply when compared to 2006 and 2007 levels; however, it still continues at levels that most countries would find alarming. This week at least 15 people have been killed and 30 wounded when a suicide bomber struck a Kurdish funeral tent northeast of Baghdad. Hours earlier, eight people were killed and 10 wounded by a bomb west of the capital... (full article)

The following organizations are working to improve and stabalize human rights, health and safety in Iraq:

On 6th Anniversary of 'Mission Accomplished'-How the Media Blew It (Huffington Post - May 1, 2009)

On May 1, 2003, Richard Perle advised, in a USA Today Op-Ed, "Relax, Celebrate Victory." The same day, exactly six years ago, President Bush, dressed in a flight suit, landed on the deck of the U.S.S... (full article)

UK combat operations end in Iraq (BBC News - April 29, 2009)

Soldiers have been packing up the armoured Warriors and other vehicles as they prepare to ship them out of Basra. Sgt Steve Denny and Rifleman Sameer Hassan talk about their time on duty and getting ready to leave the city... (full article)

Iraqis to U.S. after six years: ‘Get out’ (Workers World - April 18, 2009)

Eighty days into the new U.S. administration and Iraq is still with us. That is, U.S. troops are still occupying Iraq... (full article)

Six years after Iraq invasion, Jordan still playing host to thousands of Iraqi refugees (April 10, 2009)
AMMAN, JORDAN - Raida Ali was holding out hope for things to get better in Baghdad. But when her family was directly threatened, they decided it was time to get out... (full article)

Protesters Mark Milestone (Washington Post - March 22, 2009)

Thousands of demonstrators marked the sixth anniversary of the war in Iraq with an impassioned protest of the nation's military policies yesterday, demanding that President Obama bring U.S. troops home... (full article)

Protesting the Iraq War, Six Years Later (New York Times - March 20, 2009)

This week marks the sixth anniversary of the start of the Iraq war, and hundreds turned out throughout New York on Thursday to protest the continued involvement of the United States... (full article)

Six years in Iraq: three American stories (Christian Science Monitor - March 19, 2009)

WASHINGTON - For Staff Sgt. Todd Bowers, America's six years in Iraq have been an accomplishment and a tragedy best summed up in the life of a single man – an Iraqi he knew only as Moufid... (full article)

Iraq War 6 Years Later: Success But No 'Victory' (FoxNews.com - March 19, 2009)

The Iraq war has at last moved into America's outbox of national problems after six years and more than 4,000 U.S. casualties... (full article)

Iraq War Year Six: Our Long Goodbye to the Cold War (Huffington Post - March 19, 2009)

Now that America's exit from Iraq is on the horizon -- we need to begin the long overdue conversation about how we got ourselves into this war... (full article)

Recession-hit Americans 'a little sick' of Iraq after 6 years (CNN.com - March 13, 2009)

With Americans confronting an economic crisis, public interest in the nearly 6-year-old war in Iraq has dropped off over the past few years as conditions on the ground there have improved and the relevance to the average American family's pocketbook wears thin... (full article)