麻豆约拍

The 麻豆约拍's Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen reflects on what went wrong as Iraq descended into chaos in the months after the US invasion in 2003. "Before the invasion," he says "an advisor to the US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had predicted that Iraq was going to be a 'cakewalk'. The American soldiers were finding out how wrong he had been." The people around George W Bush who had pushed hardest for regime change wouldn't listen to repeated warnings, he says. "These days there is plenty of nostalgia in Iraq for life under Saddam Hussein."

Bowen has been reporting from the region for more than a quarter of a century. In this series, he combines first-hand accounts from the front line with an in-depth look into the region's history. He has witnessed endless wars between individuals, religious groups and full-sized states, jostling for military, political and economic Additional recordings courtesy of Hugh Sykes.

Produced by Mark Savage and Cara Swift.