Synopsis

By late 2006, attacks on US troops and Iraqis reached nearly 5,000 per month and 2,500 to 3,000 Iraqis were being killed each month.  Then came The Surge.  Those in command were charged with the responsibility of making Iraqi citizens safe and restoring order – but they didn’t have a clue as to how they’d pull it off. In December, 2006, Gen. Petreus put his head down on his desk and wondered what he was doing there.  Never-before-interviewed military personnel tell the story of what they found when they arrived in Iraq, and how they reacted.  No history of the Iraq war is complete without this story, and the strategies employed by these men will likely be used elsewhere.

CAST: General David Petraeus, General Raymond Odierno, Michael Gordon (NYT), Michael O'Hanlon (Brookings), Amb. Ryan Crocker, General Nasier Abadi, Colonel Mike Garrett, Brigadier General John Campbell

Producer: Institute For the Study of War

Director:  Bruce Van Dusen