The Ground Truth

I watched another very interesting documentary at the Naro, which I really would like to recommend too, because it deals with another side-effect of America's struggle to maintain its status as an Empire... The Ground Truth

In the recent three years there might have been a lot of documentaries about the war on Iraq, but the Ground Truth differs a lot...

This documentary, directed by Patricia Foulkrod, only deals with the American soldiers’ who actually fight the war on Iraq. In the Ground Truth, Foulkrod focuses on three stages of the development from a civilian to a trained soldier in combat and finally to a labile and handicapped repatriate, who will never be able to live a “normal life” again...

Firstly, Foulkrod shows how people in general are attracted by the Army, which offers them a better perspective in life, which means roundly money... By interviewing Iraq Vets, she carefully uncovers how the soldiers are brainwashed in boot camp and how they are prepared” to do a good job” in Iraq, namely developing the desire to kill....

Secondly, Foulkrod displays the daily life in Iraq and she lets the soldiers explain what they encounter every day in Iraq, how they “do their job” and how they try to deal with this madness...

Finally, the documentary examines the war at home, how they and their families seem to be completely left alone and how they have to deal with their inner conflicts, which even led in one case, the documentary looked at, to a suicide...( I am really aware of the fact that this is unfortunately not the exception!)