Dirty Wars is a 2013 American documentary film directed by Richard Rowley and written and narrated by Jeremy Scahill. The film follows Scahill, an investigative journalist for The Nation, as he travels to Afghanistan, Somalia, Yemen, and other countries to uncover the hidden truth behind America's expanding covert wars. The film also examines how the US government has responded to international terrorist threats in ways that seem to go against the established laws of the land.
One of the main topics explored in Dirty Wars is the controversial U.S. Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), a military unit that operates in secret and carries out targeted assassinations of suspected terrorists in countries around the world. Scahill interviews former JSOC members, as well as survivors of drone strikes and night raids, and reveals the devastating human toll of these covert operations.
The film also delves into the case of Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born Muslim cleric who was assassinated by a drone strike in Yemen in 2011. Scahill uncovers evidence that suggests that the US government may have conducted this attack without due process, violating the Constitution and international law.
Throughout the film, Scahill confronts the moral and legal implications of America's covert wars and questions the government's authority to pursue them. Dirty Wars was well received by critics and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2014.