The 2003 invasion of Iraq had unprecedented US media coverage, especially cable news networks. US media was largely uncritical of the war, with many viewers falsely believing that Saddam Hussein and Iraq were involved with the 9/11 attacks. British media was more cautious in its coverage. The Qatari Al-Jazeera network was heavily critical of the war.
The First Battle of Fallujah, code-named Operation Vigilant Resolve, was an operation against militants in Fallujah as well as an attempt to apprehend or kill the perpetrators of the killing of four U.S. contractors in March 2004.
Control Room is a 2004 documentary film directed by Jehane Noujaim, about Al Jazeera and its relations with the US Central Command (CENTCOM), as well as the other news organizations that covered the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Wassef Ali Hassoun is a United States Marine who was charged with desertion for leaving his unit and engaging with others in a hoax to make it appear that he had been captured by terrorists on June 19, 2004, while serving in Iraq. Originally listed as having deserted, the Lebanese-born Marine was then thought to have been taken hostage by Iraqis who were thought to have befriended him.
The Second Battle of Fallujah, initially codenamed Operation Phantom Fury, Operation al-Fajr was an American-led offensive of the Iraq War that began on 7 November 2004 and lasted about six weeks.
Robert A. Riggle Jr. is an American actor, stand-up comedian, and retired United States Marine officer. He was born in Louisville, Kentucky, he joined the Marines in 1990 and later attained the rank of lieutenant colonel.
Scott Taylor is a Canadian journalist, author and publisher who specializes in military journalism and war reporting. His coverage has included wars in Cambodia, Africa, the Persian Gulf, Turkey, South Ossetia, the Balkans, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya. He has worked as the editor and publisher of Esprit de Corps, since 1988. Taylor has won Press TV's ' Unembedded Journalist of the Year' Award for 2008. In 1996 he received the Quill Award, as well as the Alexander MacKenzie Award for journalistic excellence.
Al Jazeera English is a 24-hour English-language news channel operating under Al Jazeera Media Network, which is partially funded by the government of Qatar. Al Jazeera introduced an English-language division in 2006. It is the first global English-language news channel to be headquartered in the Middle East.
2nd Battalion, 24th Marines (2/24) is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based out of Chicago, Illinois, consisting of approximately 1000 Marines and Sailors. The battalion falls under the 23rd Marine Regiment and the 4th Marine Division.
The Haditha massacre was a series of killings on November 19, 2005, in which a group of United States marines killed 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians. The killings occurred in the city of Haditha in Iraq's western province of Al Anbar. Among the dead were men, women, elderly people and children as young as three years old, who were shot multiple times at close range. The massacre took place after an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded near a convoy, killing a lance corporal and severely injuring two other marines. In response the marines executed five men from a nearby taxicab and 19 others inside four nearby homes.
Micah Garen is an American documentary filmmaker and journalist whose work has focused on conflict zones in the Middle East and Afghanistan. He survived a kidnapping ordeal in Iraq in 2004. He wrote a book about the kidnapping, which included his confinement as well as the efforts of friends and relatives to secure his release; according to a report in Kirkus Reviews, the book was "extraordinarily compelling" and "gripping." In addition, Garen is a prize-winning photographer. He has written for Vanity Fair, Newsweek, The New York Times and other publications. Micah Garen and Marie-Helene Carleton have directed four documentaries for Al Jazeera's Correspondent series, including Identity and Exile: an American's struggle with Zionism featuring photojournalist Matthew Cassel. The film was awarded the top Golden Nymph prize at the Monte Carlo Television Festival in 2014. Garen has made a number of short documentaries, including one describing the lives of Egyptian women during the political upheavals in 2011 one on an American airman killed in Afghanistan and one on refugees fleeing Turkey to Greece by boat. With Marie-Hélène Carleton, Garen is working on a feature documentary from Iraq entitled The Road to Nasiriyah which was selected for Film Independent's inaugural documentary lab in 2011. Garen founded ScreeningRoom in 2015, an online community for filmmakers with tools including collaborative feedback on cuts, festival submissions and film grants.
Cal Perry is a former broadcast journalist who most recently worked for MSNBC. He previously worked at Voice of America in a senior role and briefly at Al Jazeera English. Before joining Al Jazeera, he worked for many years with CNN, mostly in the Middle East. During this time, he served as: Bureau Chief in Baghdad, Iraq (2005–2007), Bureau Chief in Beirut, Lebanon. From these bases, he also covered the wars in Lebanon (2006), Georgia (2008) and Pakistan (2008), plus the aftermath of the devastating cyclone in Bangladesh, in 2007. In 2022, he joined the Baltimore Orioles as senior vice president and chief content officer.
The Anbar campaign consisted of fighting between the United States military, together with Iraqi security forces, and Sunni insurgents in the western Iraqi governorate of Al Anbar. The Iraq War lasted from 2003 to 2011, but the majority of the fighting and counterinsurgency campaign in Anbar took place between April 2004 and September 2007. Although the fighting initially featured heavy urban warfare primarily between insurgents and U.S. Marines, insurgents in later years focused on ambushing the American and Iraqi security forces with improvised explosive devices (IEDs), large scale attacks on combat outposts, and car bombings. Almost 9,000 Iraqis and 1,335 Americans were killed in the campaign, many in the Euphrates River Valley and the Sunni Triangle around the cities of Fallujah and Ramadi.
George Azar is a Lebanese-American photojournalist and documentary filmmaker. His photographs have appeared on the front pages of The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, The Economist, Saudi Aramco World and other leading publications. Since 2006 he and Mariam Shahin, have produced over 50 films for the international satellite news network, Al Jazeera. Azar has also produced several documentaries for the internet news channel Vice News, including "Crime and Punishment in Gaza", "Renegade Jewish Settlers" and 'The Islamic State vs Lebanon". Azar has covered the Middle East and Arab/Islamic culture since 1981 and is the subject of the CBS Emmy Award-winning news feature, Beirut Photographer. He was also profiled in the BBC's Firing Line. He was nominated for the 2007 Rory Peck Award for his film Gaza Fixer. His and fellow filmmaker Tom Evans' film Two Schools in Nablus also received great acclaim, winning the Japan Prize in Education in 2008, and the British Royal Television Society Education Award in 2009. In addition, Azar is the author and photographer of the critically acclaimed book Palestine: A Photographic Journey, and the photographer of Palestine: A Guide, written by Mariam Shahin.
Tyler E. Boudreau is an American military veteran. After serving in the Iraq War, he wrote a book about his experiences in the Marine Corps and continues to be active in areas regarding the military, the war, and veterans issues.
Fault Lines is an American current affairs and documentary television program broadcast on Al Jazeera English. Premiering in November 2009, the program is known for investigative storytelling across the United States and the Americas, examining the United States and its role in the world.
Al Jazeera America was an American pay television news channel owned by the Al Jazeera Media Network. The channel was launched on August 20, 2013, to compete with CNN, HLN, MSNBC, Fox News, and in certain markets RT America. It was Al Jazeera's second entry into the U.S. television market, after the launch of beIN Sports in 2012. The channel, which had persistently low ratings, announced in January 2016 that it would close on April 12, 2016, citing the "economic landscape".
Al Jazeera Arabic is a Qatari state-owned Arabic-language news television network. It is based in Doha and operated by the Al Jazeera Media Network, which also operates Al Jazeera English. It is the largest news network in the Middle East and North Africa region. It was founded in 1996 by the then Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani.
Corporal Megan Leavey is a former active duty United States Marine Corps corporal who served as a Military Police K9 handler.
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U.S. Marine Corps 
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