The Ground Truth

A brutally honest documentary that offers a perspective on the Iraq War from returning American soldiers, Patricia Foulkrod's The Ground Truth is full of graphic war footage—scenes of carnage in the streets, in which women, children, and old men are mercilessly cut down (which, of course, is not being shown on U.S. television)—underscoring how innocent Iraqi civilians are bearing the brunt of America's confusion over fighting phantom insurgents. But the film's focus is on interviews with a number of veterans suffering from PTSD, who reveal how the age-old story of ordinary Americans being ground up by a war machine that misuses and abandons them has been made new again in this latest American misadventure. Traveling from boot camp to the Iraq front lines and back home, The Ground Truth presents a shocking view of the war—certainly one that the Bush administration doesn't want Americans to see—that is both heartbreaking and distressing. DVD extras include deleted and extended scenes. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (T. Keogh)