ONCE UPON A TIME IN IRAQ

BBC Two, 9.00pm

The second episode of this five-part documentary series about the Iraq War is a bleak and astonishing piece of television. At its centre is the story of Lieutenant Colonel Nate Sassaman, who arrived in Iraq with a reputation as one of the finest commanders of his generation, and left a broken man convinced that he had turned to “the dark side”. What unfolds is a harrowing story of the price paid on all sides by the arrival of American troops in Iraq. We hear from child survivors of the bombing campaign, civilians whose families have been torn apart and communities destroyed, and watch appalling footage of Sassaman’s battalion taunting prisoners.

Threaded throughout is the story of Sassaman’s own Colonel Kurtz-style decent into darkness. Clearly still traumatised by his experiences in a place he describes as “godforsaken”, he pulls no punches when describing both the experiences of his troops and his own increasingly wayward decisions. Watching back the footage of the young, bright-eyed officer outlining a campaign for hearts and minds alongside the shell of a man reflecting on the brutal reality, it’s hard not to conclude that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Sarah Hughes

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