'Frontline' looks at postwar Iraq

By Suzanne C. Ryan, Globe Staff, 10/9/2003

As the Bush administration continues to wrestle with the problems of managing postwar Iraq, Americans are left to wonder what's really going on over there.

Tonight, in a timely documentary offering a crash course on the subject, WGBH-TV presents a dark picture. "Truth, War and Consequences," which will launch the fall season of PBS's documentary series "Frontline," airs at 9 on Channel 2.

The 90-minute film is an impressive and important journalistic work. "Frontline" producers persuaded government and military officials to talk on camera about political infighting in Washington, which these sources say led to inadequate planning for the postwar period.

The filmmakers also traveled to Baghdad, where they dodged bullets while talking to citizens on the street -- and they gave voice to an angry, victimized, and often misunderstood population.

Perhaps most important, they sat down with Ahmad Chalabi, a fascinating character who is the head of the Iraqi National Congress, a group composed of Iraqi exiles.

It was Chalabi and the Iraqi National Congress, government sources tell "Frontline," who gave the Pentagon intelligence linking Saddam Hussein with Al Qaeda.

But some State Department officials tell "Frontline" that some of Chalabi's information was known to be suspect, and that other Iraqi National Congress reports had been discredited by US intelligence agencies. The State Department had gathered its own group of Iraqi exiles together in September 2002 to draw up a reconstruction plan. But the Pentagon rejected the Future of Iraq Project, as it was called, in favor of Chalabi's group, the film says.

"The whole government turned into two camps," Nabeel Musawi of the Iraqi National Congress says in the film. "One of them is just totally opposed to Chalabi and the other was so pro-Chalabi. . . . The problem we began to face was that, you know, everybody almost forgot about the issue of Iraq and the main focus became Chalabi."

As the squabble continued, important postwar strategies were not implemented, the film says. For example: US soldiers stood by as Iraqi citizens looted buildings for days after the fall of Baghdad. They had not been given orders to protect the facilities for the postwar government's use. Consequently, when government advisers arrived to set up reconstruction efforts, they found that the buildings they had planned to occupy had been stripped of necessary wiring and plumbing.

For their part, administration officials -- including Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, Vice President Dick Cheney, and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice -- declined to speak to "Frontline."

"Truth, War and Consequences" provides an education for those curious about this moment in Iraq.

"Truth, War and Consequences''

On: WGBH-TV (Channel 2), as part of "Frontline''

Time: Tonight, October 9 9-10:30 p.m.

Unrated

Comcast channel appoints host

CN8, the television channel operated by the cable company Comcast Corp., announced yesterday that Sarah Zapp will become the host and producer of its new political show, "New England Newsmakers," beginning Oct. 19.

Zapp was most recently a reporter for WLVI-TV (Channel 56). In her new role, Zapp will interview New England community leaders, as well as local and regional politicians, about current events from a studio in Norwell.

The 30-minute show will air Sundays at 8:30 p.m. The premiere episode, however, will air at 8 p.m. for one hour.

SUZANNE C. RYAN

On Boston.com

Noon: Globe TV critic Matthew Gilbert talks about the tube.

2 p.m.: Handyman Peter Hotton offers home repair tips and tricks.

Globe on NECN

Here's what's happening on "Around the Globe" today on NECN:

12:30 p.m.: "Globe at Home" -- Globe Magazine art director Brendan Stephens and Len Panaggio, beverage director for Newport Harbor Corp. properties, show a sampling of wines made in Rhode Island.

4 p.m.: "Around the Globe"

6:30 p.m.: "New England Business Day"

8 p.m.: "NewsNight"

Schedule is subject to change.

Talk of the dial

7 a.m. WBNW-AM (1120) -- "ChickChat." Guest: Betsy Israel, author, "Bachelor Girl: The Secret History of Single Women in the 20th Century."

11 a.m. WBIX-AM (1060) -- "Money Life with Chuck Jaffe." Guests: Robert M. Campbell, author, "Timing the Real Estate Market"; Sam Lieber, president, Alpine Real Estate Funds; Ben Stein, actor, writer.

Other radio highlights

7 a.m. WCRB-FM (102.5) -- Handel's Water Music Suite in G; Brahms's Ballade No. 4; Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 11.

Noon WUMB-FM (91.9) -- "Live at Noon." Guest: Matt and Shannon Heaton, band members of Siucra, perform.