Only the Dead

In February 2003, the documentary follows Michael Ware as he travels to the northern front to cover the conflict. He is embedded with Kurdish fighters as mortar fire ripples through the landscape, and the aftermath of a deadly suicide bombing is documented. This opening sequence sets the tone for on-the-ground reporting in a developing war.

After American forces seize Baghdad, Ware helps set up a Time bureau in the city and begins a deep, on-the-ground chronicle of what unfolds. He captures the daily bustle, danger, and the sense that occupation will redefine the capital. The reporting deepens as the city adjusts to a new reality.

Ware documents the aftermath of a car bombing involving a teenage boy and his brother. He records the surviving brother’s anguished demand for accountability and his vow to do something big. The scene underscores the human cost of the early war and the prompt for dramatic responses.

Armed resistance movements across Baghdad come into focus as Ware broadcasts footage from the streets. The city becomes a theater where loyalties blur and fear blends with resolve, shaping a more complex portrait of the occupation. His reporting reveals a city living under constant threat.

The film continues with the graphic aftermath of the Jordanian embassy bombing and the Canal Hotel bombing. A tense moment follows as American troops detain a man suspected of planting an IED, illustrating the immediate danger on the ground. The events heighten the sense of fragility in the occupation.

As the conflict intensifies, Ware acknowledges the need to understand the minds behind the frequent suicide attacks. Over time, he builds cautious relationships with insurgents who begin sharing their own recordings and invite him to clandestine gatherings. These interactions complicate his view of friend and foe and deepen the moral stakes of his reporting.

He enters their world with measured curiosity and documents events from within their circle, including an attack on a U.S. base outside Baghdad's airport. He wrestles with guilt and fear, aware that night vision and other equipment could betray their location. The approach tests his ethics and keeps him alive through risky assignments.

The insurgents publicly repudiate responsibility for the suicide bombings, instead pointing to Zarqawi's network. The international spotlight shifts when Nick Berg’s execution surfaces, bringing Zarqawi into global headlines. Zarqawi himself starts delivering tapes to Ware at his hotel, containing attacks on American soldiers and a complete suicide bombing operation that traces from the pre-attack ceremony to the blast near a checkpoint.

Ware moves to Haifa Street in Baghdad to film a child soldier and returns later after hearing that Zarqawi’s men have taken control of the area. His vehicle is halted, and he nearly faces execution, only spared by the negotiation of his insurgent escort. The close call underscores the constant peril of reporting from insurgent-dominated zones.

With American troops during the Second Battle of Fallujah, Ware follows a harrowing assault in which a house is stormed and then ambushed. He documents the peril of close-quarters combat and Bellavia’s actions in hand-to-hand struggle. Bellavia’s Medal of Honor acknowledgment later stands as a stark contrast to the surrounding chaos.

Some insurgent contacts decide to resign from the terror network, and in a grim reversal they kill a Zarqawi operative they had been working with. They entrust Ware with a hard drive containing footage of an informant’s execution, as well as scenes of thieves punished by hanging and gunfire. The moment captures the fragile and violent shifts within the insurgent world.

The journey takes Ware to Ramadi, where he embeds with an American unit and captures multiple firefights, including a devastating suicide bombing involving a dump truck aimed at an outpost. The siege-like combat presents a brutal view of urban warfare and the casualties it produces. Ramadi's front lines become a focal point in his chronicle.

The narrative then turns to the aftermath of the 2006 al-Askari mosque bombing, framed as an attempt to inflame sectarian tensions. The film culminates with the airstrike that kills Zarqawi, marking a pivotal moment in the conflict. The sequence emphasizes the high-stakes, long arc of the war as Ware continues to document the ripple effects.

In April 2007, Ware is embedded south of Baqubah as another engagement unfolds. An insurgent is fatally wounded, brought back to a U.S. courtyard, and locals claim he worked for Al-Qaeda. Ware records the quiet, morally challenging moment as the man dies.

The film closes with Ware reflecting on how the conflict changed him, admitting that he had become a person he never believed he would become. He acknowledges the transformation of journalist and civilian alike under years of fear, courage, and humanity under fire.