A Kurdish man gestures a sign of peace. President George W. Bush is pictured grinning in loose-fitting white T-shirt.

Alongside an Iraqi road, a large red oil tank is emblazoned with the words, “Slow Death for USA.”

These images are captured in American filmmaker Mike Shiley’s “Inside Iraq: The Untold Stories,” which was screened at the Curry Student Center Ballroom Tuesday. The screening was sponsored by the Council for University Programs (CUP).

“Inside Iraq: The Untold Stories” documents Shiley’s two month-long visits to Iraq in 2003.

During the first visit, April 15 through May 15, he joined a humanitarian aid group during their journey throughout Kurdistan.

A second trip, beginning mid-December 2003, brought Shiley to Baghdad and the surrounding regions. Shiley posited as an ABC News journalist, using a fake press pass he made at Kinko’s, to travel throughout the nation’s capital and spend time at the Anaconda military base.

“It gave me an eagle’s eye view of what the military is really like,” he said.

Shiley captured the stories of those near the military base.

One soldier educated the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps on torture, saying, “There is never a time or a place when torture is the right thing.”

“We come and go. We come and go. We come and go,” one said. “And there is no work.”

Children surrounded the base, searching for food in what Shiley calls “the dump.” Army Major Shull gave the children treats and educated them in nearby schools.

“Iraq and America are friends,” he said while scrawling the words on a blackboard. The students recited the phrase back to him.

The footage in “Inside Iraq: The Untold Stories” also depicted Baghdad, Kurdistan and the surrounding regions. Shiley spoke briefly with a group of Kurdish women. Each expressed their opinion on President Bush.

“Mr. Bush did a very good job,” one said. “I’d give my life for Bush.”

The film captured an impromptu assault weapons market, a pornography theatre and a technology college with no computers.

Shiley visited victims of landmine explosions at a hospital. Recovering children at the hospital drew images of war.

“These are the images that are burned on the brains of the people,” Shiley said.

Shiley fielded a Q’A session after the film.

He discussed Iraqi-American language barriers, American anti-war sentiments and his solution to the war in Iraq: partitioning the country into Kurd, Shiite and Sunni sections.

“I would go in and I would rebuild all of those regions,” he said.

He said the war in Iraq is not a “black and white issue” and that it is necessary to take a humanitarian approach. Removing American troops from Iraq now would cause “a complete breakdown,” he said.

Grace Turnbull, CUP lectures chair, planned Tuesday’s screening. She said the event was a commemoration for Veteran’s Day and a way to create conversation about the war in Iraq.

“[Students] need to see it so that they can form their own opinions and so they don’t only see a one-sided view,” she said.