Riding the Storm: How to Tell Lies and Win Wars

9/11: The Longest War

September 2016 •English

In honour of the 15th Anniversary of 9/11, National Geographic Channel is looking back at the very best reporting we have done since this world-changing tragedy first happened using extended excerpts from past specials that relate directly to events leading up to and following the attacks on New York City and Washington DC.

Broken Token

October 2024 •English

A single female voice sings of waiting in her garden for her ‘dark-eyed sailor’ to return from war, bearing the other half of their token, a gimmel ring. Three veterans pass on the road as she waits, and she asks them: “When you were fighting in distant lands, did you think of the home you left?” In reply the veterans relate their recollections. The garden images in the accompanying film represent ‘home’, but also stand for a more general possibility of redemption, of the potential of the past to return at any time, disguised and changed, to renew the present: “Each moment of time is a garden gate,” the song goes, “Through it my love may walk.”

Lessons of Darkness

February 1992 •German

Shortly after the Gulf War, oil fires were raging all through Kuwait. In the week before this sea of fire would be extinguished, Werner Herzog filmed this apocalyptic landscape with its murky skies, scorched earth and capricious flames.

Mighty Mo: The Battleship USS Missouri

August 1998 •English

Explore the history of the world's most famous battleship, the USS Missouri, with this revealing documentary that chronicles the ship's distinguished career that spanned more than 50 years of service. Narrated by decorated Navy officer Wes Carey, this portrait combines archival film footage, photographs and personal accounts to paint a vivid picture of the celebrated ship, affectionately known as "Mighty Mo."

The Hidden Wars of Desert Storm

April 2001 •English

"Hidden Wars of Desert Storm" looks at the origins of the Gulf War crisis and challenges the official Western "party-line" view of a spontaneous crusade for "Freedom & Democracy". Instead, the documentary exposes the White House and US State Department's hidden agenda in the Gulf as well as the Pentagon's use of radioactive ammunitions made of uranium 238.

Flight 149: Hostage of War

March 2025 •English

When BA Flight 149 unwittingly landed in a warzone, its passengers and crew were taken hostage. Did the UK government allow it? And who were the mercenaries on board?

Uncle Saddam

July 2000 •English

Everything you've ever wanted to know about Saddam Hussein (but were afraid to ask).

The History Channel - Sniper - Deadliest Missions

September 2010 •Portuguese

General H. Norman Schwarzkopf: Command Performance

January 1991 •English

General H. Norman Schwarzkopf: Command Performance shows historic archive photographs and coverage of “Stormin’ Norman’s” role from the inception of Desert Shield to the onslaught of Desert Storm.

Saddam: America's Best Enemy

January 2005 •English

Documents a 40-year relationship between Saddam Hussein and the U.S., through accounts given by those who were witness to and participants in those years of violence. It is about a man and a superpower who used each other, in a marriage of convenience between strange bed-fellows. Includes selected archival footage of Saddam's beginnings, filmed to immortalise his exploits, at 20 years of age, in 1959. Includes also images from the film, Saddam Hussein, le maître de Baghdad, directed by Michel Vuillermet (Zarafa Films)

John Heroux: Gulf War Fighter Pilot

March 2012 •English

In 1991, John Heroux served in Operation Desert Storm, piloting one of forty F16 Fighter Planes sent in to target large manufacturing facilities deep inside Iraq. Looking back on these missions, John explains that pilots, himself included, felt no pride at causing destruction, but did have pride in serving their country and completing their tasks. This is his story.

Desolate Rome

October 1995 •French

Chronicles of a male homosexual drug addict in 1980's in voice-over with long take scenes from Rome, television snippets of news of Gulf War and commercials.

Gulf War: First Strike - Wings Of The Storm

January 2003 •English

The story of the air war in the first Gulf War as described by generals Horner, Profitt, Tenoso, and Glosson.

Diary Of A Disgraced Soldier

November 2009 •English

In Iraq 2003 Corporal Martin Webster filmed fellow soldiers beating Iraqi youths during rioting in Al Amara. Two years later, a British newspaper obtained his footage. The story that ran led to outrage across the world.

Voodoo Medics

Invalid date •English

About trauma, resilience and post-traumatic growth in the medics who served with Australia's special forces in Afghanistan. From losing mates in the battlefield to treating horrifically injured Afghan kids in remote surgical theatres.

Combat in the Air - Strategic Air Power in the Gulf

April 1996 •English

Combat in the Air - Close Air Support in the Gulf

April 1996 •English

Wings Over the Gulf: First Strike

April 1992 •English

Combat in the Air - Stealth Warplanes

April 1996 •English

Live from Baghdad

December 2002 •English

A group of CNN reporters wrestle with journalistic ethics and the life-and-death perils of reporting during the Gulf War.A Directors Guild Award-winning movie for director Mick Jackson, starring Michael Keaton and Helena Bonham Carter. In 1990, CNN was a 24-hour news network in search of a 24-hour story. They were about to find it in Baghdad. Veteran CNN producer Robert Wiener and his longtime producing partner Ingrid Formanek find themselves in Iraq on the eve of war. Up against the big three networks, Weiner and his team are rebels with a cause, willing to take risks to get the biggest stories and - unlike their rivals - take them live at a moment's notice. As Baghdad becomes an inevitable US target, one by one the networks pull out of the city until only the crew from CNN remains. With a full-scale war soon to be launched all around them, and CNN ready to broadcast whatever happens 24 hours a day, Wiener and Formanek are about to risk their lives for the story of a lifetime.