This World

Iraq: Did My Son Die in Vain? (2013x3)

Air date: Mar 20, 2013

Ten years after the invasion of Iraq, retired headteacher, Geoff Dunsmore, travels to Basra to follow in the footsteps of his son Chris, an RAF reservist who was killed there in 2007. Geoff has never believed for a second that Chris died in vain, saying that his son believed in what he was doing and believed in why he was going to Iraq. Now, Geoff is going to see exactly where his son was killed and find out the impact of the war and occupation on the lives of the ordinary people of Basra. Has the western involvement in Iraq improved things for ordinary Iraqi people? Accompanied by local guide, Mazin Altayar, Geoff hears firsthand what life was like for Iraqis under the dictator Saddam Hussein. He visits a rundown primary school that British troops tried to help during the occupation and hears from a man who claims 12 of his family were killed when American soldiers opened fire on his vehicles. For the most part, with the country still suffering from terrorist violence, the repercussions of the conflict have been devastating and long lasting. Yet on the streets of Basra Geoff also meets a group of young people who have grown up knowing nothing but war but believe that they can build a different future in Iraq today.