19 Jun 2014, Baiji, Iraq — A fighter of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) stands guard at checkpoint near the city of Baiji, north of Baghdad June 19, 2014. Image: Reuters/Corbis
PBS “Frontline” connects the dots, asking “what went wrong” in Iraq and providing a grim 90-minute overview, “Losing Iraq,” debuting tonight at 9 p.m. on Rocky Mountain PBS.
Remember the scenes of flowers and locals kissing tanks and thanking America? Followed by scenes of looting and a power vacuum? Remember the “mission accomplished” banner behind George W. Bush, prematurely wrapping up? The docu from the team behind “The Lost Year in Iraq,” “The Torture Question,” “Endgame” and traces the U.S. role from the 2003 invasion to the current mess. “Frontline’s” longtime producer Michael Kirk goes deep, recounting the history of missteps, bad suppositions, handing off of responsibility and simply wrong-headed decisions.
Interviews with policymakers, military and security officials piece together the continuing errors. “We were in a state of denial,” national security analyst Anthony Cordesman says. It’s dense, heavy viewing but necessary — and tragic.
