New Film: Iraqi Truth Project

A new movie supporting the U.S. invasion of Iraq makes the case that a weapon of mass destruction was indeed found during the war – and he's sitting in prison awaiting trial on war crimes charges.

"WMD – The Murderous Reign of Saddam Hussein" is intended to remind Americans that Saddam Hussein was himself a weapon of mass destruction, responsible for the deaths of 1.3 million of his own people during his brutal 30 years of rule.

The documentary, set for theatrical release this week, is the first for Brad Maaske, a California businessman troubled by works like Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" and the efforts of some uninformed Hollywood filmmakers.

In fact, in "WMD" Michael Moore gets the ambush interview treatment he often reserves for others. The filmmakers staked out his New York residence for days until he came out to meet the camera.

But the hard edge of "WMD" are eyewitness accounts and never-before-seen footage of chemical attacks, murders and torture leveled agains the Kurdish population of Iraq dating from Saddam Hussein's rise to power and spanning more than two decades.

Pivotal to Maaske's decision to develop "WMD" was his meeting with Jano Rosebiani, an award-winning Kurdish movie director who had documented the atrocities in his film "Mass Graves." Rosebiani had lost family members during "Anfal," Hussein's carefully orchestrated campaign of genocide targeting Kurds in northern Iraq from 1986 to 1988.

"When I saw Jano Rosebiani's film, it broke my heart," Maaske said. "I knew this was a story that had to be told, but until now, no one had stepped up to the plate to tell it."

Also important to the story are scenes from "Chemical Ali," a documentary by Kurdish filmmaker Kawa Akrawi, who assisted in the production of "WMD."

At least 182,000 Kurds in Iraq were murdered or are missing and presumed dead. Entire villages were razed. Authorities on Iraq estimate that 1.3 million people have died as a direct result of Hussein's acts of terror since 1979.

The movie includes moments of comic relief and powerful imagery from the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

In the moving conclusion of "WMD," the townspeople of Exeter, Calif., gather on a high school football field for the memorial service of Army Spc. Daniel Unger, killed in action in Iraq.

Copyright © 2004 The Iraqi Truth Project, LLC