MUMBAI: One year after the US invaded Iraq searching for weapons of mass destruction, CNN has announced a documentary on the subject. CNN correspondent Nic Robertson returns to take the pulse of a nation still coming to terms with life without Saddam Hussein.
His documentary is titled Hope and Fear: Journeys in the New Iraq and forms a focal part of a week of coverage on CNN International marking the first anniversary of the Iraq war.
The show airs on 27 March at 6:30 pm with repeats on 28 March at 10:30 am and on 31 March at 6:30 pm.
Robertson looks at the daily lives of six individuals who face the traumas and successes of life in post-war Iraq. The group includes an American soldier, a Baghdad police officer, a Shiite widow, a Shiite cleric and a Kurdish entrepreneur. CNNs anniversary coverage also includes on-the-ground reports from CNN correspondents Walter Rodgers and Jane Arraf on the challenges and successes of building a new Iraq.
On 30 June, the US plans to return sovereignty to the Iraqis. This documentary thus comes at a critical threshold in that country's history. In the documentary through the eyes of the six characters, Robertson perceives much anger among Iraqis since liberation has given way to occupation. Many are also apprehensive that persistent violence and the arrival of international terrorism in Iraq will kill any prospect of stability.