Avid news readers may have a hard time visualizing the surge in Iraq, or even understanding just what the new strategy has meant for troops in harm's way.

Filmmaker J.D. Johannes is here to help. Johannes went to Iraq, video camera in hand, and captured key elements of the surge. Now, his findings are part of a three-episode documentary called “Outside the Wire.”

Even viewers who consider themselves up to speed on the latest news from Iraq will appreciate the clarity, and context, delivered by the episodes. Viewers can see the benefits of U.S. soldiers getting to know their Iraqi counterparts, the struggle citizens had in deciding between embracing the insurgency or the occupiers and the cultural norms that fed into the raging violence that struck the country post-Saddam Hussein.

It’s all about context, and it’s one reason why Johannes, a former Marine, is frustrated by many news accounts flooding out of Iraq.

“I really paid attention to larger themes. What is the surge? What is the Anbar awakening?” he says of his documentary. The latter was already under way before the surge strategy got implemented, but it woudn’t have spread down the Euphrates River as it did without the surge, he says.

Johannes first visited Iraq in 2005, and when he returned last year he saw huge differences on the ground. Troops started to reach out to area citizens, shop in their markets and gain their trust. Those bonds have had a profound impact on reducing the number of casualties for both the military and Iraqi citizens.

Tomorrow: Johannes discusses how he first starting shooting footage in Iraq, the impact bloggers have on the conflict and how conservative media has embraced his work.

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