'About Baghdad' was made shorty after the invasion of Iraq in 2003. The person who made the film is from Baghdad but has been living in the U.S. for most of his life. While he was gone, the people of Iraq had suffered from two things. The first was the Government of Hussein. Many people were hurt by his government and the people always felt in danger. They could be put in jail, or even killed if they said something bad about the government. The second thing was the sanctions. Many countries around the world made a decision not to buy anything from, or sell anything to Iraq. They did this to punish Hussein's government but the ones who suffered were the ordinary people of Iraq. It was hard to get food or medicine. The ones who suffered the most from the sanctions were the children. Many died from starvation.

  Now, after the invasion, things are completely different but is it better? Everything feels new but the cities have been destroyed. There isn't enough water or electricity, the hospitals don't have enough medicine, and concerning the children, starvation has actually increased. The people are living day to day and unemployment is very very high (about 65% !!). As of May 2005, there were about 70 attacks a day around the country including many suicide car bombings. This is two times more than in March of the same year. The future is uncertain, and the present, to some, is very difficult.

  This movie takes us around Baghdad talking to many people. We see the library that was destroyed and talk to a student from that University. We talk to men working for the government at the Ministry of Oil. We also go to the hospital and talk to a doctor there. We visit one city that was hurt by Hussein's government and then we meet the singer Amer Tawfiq who shows us his love of Iraqi music. What a beautiful voice he has!

  Remember, this movie was made in 2003, so many things have happened since then.

  As we talk to these various people, we can get a feeling of what it was like in Baghdad at the beginning of the occupation. What was your impression of the situation of the people of Baghdad?

Other facts:
 Soldiers from the U.S. and other countries were attacked 68 times a day in July 2005. 2 times more than July of 2004.
 Terrorism around the world has quadrupled since the invasion of Iraq.
 The bombings in London were a protest by local British people against the war.