And, he has put it into action!
In his new documentary “Outside the Wire ’07,” U.S. Marine veteran J.D. Johannes documents firefights between U.S. troops and al Qaeda and examines the troop surge in Baghdad. One segment of the film, “Anbar Awakens,” tells how the surge’s new strategy of putting troops in villages — and outside of the Green Zone — has resulted in Iraqis turning against insurgents.
“Through a great series of events and the blessings of God, I got to go over and see this war firsthand, watch history unfold and record it on videotape,” Johannes told Cybercast News Service at last week’s Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C., where he screened the “Anbar Awakens” portion of his documentary.
The documentary is a stark and sometimes disturbing look at the brutal conditions faced by troops, their resilience, and the shift of the Iraqi religious leaders, military, police and general population from opposing the coalition to helping it defeat al Qaeda in Iraq, one village at a time. The continued unrest and uncertainty in Baghdad also is explored in the film.
“I’m ideologically biased,” Johannes said. “I want to finish the job (in Iraq), and I think victory is important, but I tried to be fair and even-handed.”
Now there is a film about current affairs that makes sense and is something that the Founders would be proud of, as opposed to the silly anti-American ones like Rendition, Redacted, Lions For Lambs, and anything by Michael Moore.
After his honorable discharge, why did Johannes make the film?
In fact, Johannes said the reports he was hearing from most media outlets are what inspired him to go back to the battlefield years after being honorably discharged from the Marines.
“I got so mad at the news coverage,” Johannes, 35, told Cybercast News Service.
Can’t wait for the NY Times and MoveOn.org reviews. Sure to be pure ad hominum.
