Excerpt:
For two decades, four administrations told us Afghanistan was winnable, manageable, even righteous. Bodyguard of Lies—the new documentary by Dan Krauss and produced by Alex Gibney—proves, with receipts, how those claims were a carefully maintained illusion. It’s not just a film; it’s a civic x-ray. Dearborn, take note: this is required viewing for anyone who cares about truth, accountability, and a foreign policy worthy of our communities and our values. [1][2][3]
“The first casualty when war comes is truth.”
—often attributed to Hiram Johnson; in practice, made policy in Afghanistan.
Why this film matters—especially now
Bodyguard of Lies is the first mainstream feature to weave the Afghanistan Papers into a clear, bold indictment of the information architecture that kept America’s longest war alive. Drawing from interviews, internal assessments, and testimony gathered by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), the film shows how officials quietly acknowledged failure while publicly selling progress. [1][3][4]
Directed by Dan Krauss and produced by Alex Gibney—names synonymous with rigorous, unsparing nonfiction—the documentary premiered at Tribeca and is now rolling out on Paramount+. Its thesis is disarmingly simple: the American public was not merely misinformed; it was strategically misled across four presidencies. [2][5][6]
“Unflinching and urgently relevant.” —Tribeca Festival program note. [2]
A word to Dearborn readers
Dearborn is a city that understands the cost of war—not in abstractions, but in family stories, remittances, prayers, and grief. We know what it means when policymakers in distant rooms mistake other people’s homes for chessboards. This film gives us the evidence to match that intuition. It belongs on the watchlist of every student, organizer, veteran, teacher, imam, and elected official in our community.
By the numbers
U.S. service members killed in Afghanistan: ~2,300–2,460.
U.S. contractors killed: ~3,900+ (often omitted from official counts).
Total U.S. war cost: about $2.3 trillion.
Sources: U.S. DoD / USIP / Costs of War. [7][8][9]
What the film actually shows
The core of Bodyguard of Lies is not a montage of firefights; it’s a map of deception systems. You watch the way metrics are massaged, how “green” slides replace grim field reports, how strategic objectives shapeshift to fit press briefings. The film builds on The Washington Post’s award-winning 2019 investigation The Afghanistan Papers, which documented interviews with hundreds of insiders who admitted, bluntly, that the war was unwinnable—while the public was told the opposite. [1][3]
The documentary includes John F. Sopko (SIGAR) and senior commanders reflecting on how secrecy and classified optimism disabled oversight. As Sopko has said since the withdrawal, secrecy itself became a policy that prolonged the war by suppressing accountability. [4][10]
“They didn’t care what the reality of this war was. They cared about whether or not their narrative was going to be upset by someone speaking to the press.” —Matthew Hoh, featured in the film. [11]
Featuring a voice familiar to Greens: Matthew Hoh
Many Dearborn Blog readers know Matthew Hoh—Marine veteran, former State Department official in Afghanistan, and the 2022 Green Party candidate for U.S. Senate in North Carolina. Hoh famously resigned in 2009 in protest of the surge and the duplicity around “progress.” In Bodyguard of Lies, his testimony helps translate abstraction into human stakes. [11][12][13]
Hoh’s presence also underlines a crucial point: antiwar isn’t fringe. It’s principled, evidence-based, and aligned with the Green Party’s Ten Key Values, including Non-Violence and Grassroots Democracy—values that reject state secrecy as a blank check for endless war. [14][15]
Why it’s a must-watch for Dearborn—and America
Truth is not optional in a democracy.
The film is a masterclass in how information control corrodes consent. When casualty tallies exclude thousands of contractors who performed what used to be military roles, the public’s risk calculus is quietly manipulated. Bodyguard of Lies corrects the record—painstakingly—and insists we count every life, not just the lives that are politically convenient to count. [7][8][9]
The moral ledger is global.
Afghans bore the greatest burden—tens of thousands of civilians killed—and the documentary never lets us forget that. If our policies claim to protect human rights, they must survive contact with human realities. That lesson resonates in Dearborn homes with family in Gaza, the West Bank, Yemen, Lebanon, and Iraq—places where narratives, not just munitions, shape outcomes. (Hoh, in recent interviews about the film, has explicitly connected Afghanistan’s truth-deficit to today’s conflicts.) [11]
It arms citizens with evidence, not vibes.
Watch this with your kids. Assign it in your classes. Share it with your union. Use it to push for war powers reform, stronger inspector general independence, and an end to contractor obfuscation. Democracy is not self-cleaning; it takes organized citizens insisting on sunlight.
“Rather than focusing on combat, the film concentrates on how officials consistently misled the public.” —The Washington Post review, Sept. 26, 2025. [1]
The Green lens: policy, not platitudes
The Green Party has long opposed militarism and demanded transparency, non-violence, and human-centered foreign policy. That’s not branding; that’s a governance blueprint. The Ten Key Values—Grassroots Democracy, Social Justice, Ecological Wisdom, Non-Violence, and more—are impossible in a state addicted to secret wars. Bodyguard of Lies functions as a forensic report for why Greens keep saying “no more blank checks.” [14][15][16]
And because we’re Dearborn, let’s put it plainly: pro-Palestine and pro-truth are the same fight. A public trained to accept official euphemisms about “progress” in Kabul will be ripe to accept them about Rafah. The antidote is a culture that refuses to be gaslit by official graphics. This film teaches that culture.
What to watch for
- How “metrics” drift to match political needs—not battlefield facts. [3][4]
- The contractor shadow-casualty problem—and why it matters. [7][8][9]
- First-person accounts (Hoh and others) that puncture official narratives. [11]
- The continuity of messaging across four administrations. [1][6]
Craft notes: why the film works
Krauss brings the precision of an investigative feature to the pacing of a thriller. The editorial rhythm lets documents breathe, then pairs them with candid interviews and news clips that, frankly, haven’t aged well. It’s a cinematic audit. And because it’s co-produced with The Washington Post (whose reporters won the fight to release the Afghanistan Papers), the film has a backbone of primary sourcing that resists the easy cynicism of “both sides.” [1][6]
The soundtrack (by Animal Collective) and the restrained visuals avoid spectacle. This is not war-porn; it’s democratic hygiene.
How to watch
Now streaming on Paramount+ (U.S.); theatrical limited release preceded the streaming debut. [6]
Premiered at Tribeca Festival on June 8, 2025—a signal that this is both art and accountability. [2]
For background reading, revisit The Afghanistan Papers series and databases. [3][5]
“The film challenges viewers to remember and reckon with the truth behind the war’s legacy.” —Washington Post review. [1]
Dearborn’s charge
We like to say Dearborn is a city of conscience. Conscience isn’t a feeling; it’s a habit. Watch Bodyguard of Lies with your book club, your mosque, your veterans’ group, your students. Then act:
Demand real congressional oversight that counts every casualty and every dollar.
Support journalism and watchdogs that pry documents loose.
Organize around a peace-first foreign policy—the Green position for decades—so our kids inherit a country that tells the truth before it sends anyone’s child to war. [14][15]
Because the opposite of a bodyguard of lies is a community of witnesses. That’s us.
Sources & further reading
The Washington Post, “New documentary scrutinizes the lies that fueled the war in Afghanistan,” Sept. 26, 2025.
The Washington Post
Tribeca Festival program, Bodyguard of Lies (2025).
Tribeca
The Washington Post, The Afghanistan Papers investigative project and document trove (2019).
The Washington Post
+1
Congressional Research Service, “The Washington Post’s ‘Afghanistan Papers’ and U.S. Policy,” Jan. 28, 2020.
Federation of American Scientists
Craig Whitlock overview/context on SIGAR interviews (2021).
The Assembly NC
Paramount+ press release & Jigsaw Productions release notes (Aug.–Sept. 2025).
Paramount Press Express
+1
U.S. Department of Defense, Casualty Status (OEF/OFS).
U.S. Department of War
U.S. Institute of Peace, “In Afghanistan, Was a Loss Better than Peace?” (costs & casualties).
United States Institute of Peace
Brown University “Costs of War” / Coburn & Gill (contractor deaths under the Defense Base Act).
Watson Institute
+1
TIME, “Afghanistan Watchdog Says Secrecy Hurt Oversight Effort,” Dec. 2021.
TIME
Antiwar.com blog, “Matthew Hoh Featured in New Paramount+ Documentary Bodyguard of Lies,” Sept. 18, 2025; Hoh interviews and posts amplifying the film.
Antiwar.com
+2
matthewhoh.substack.com
+2
GPUS profile: “Meet Matthew Hoh,” 2022.
http://www.gp.org
GPUS: “Matthew Hoh and North Carolina Green Party File Lawsuit…” (ballot access), 2022.
http://www.gp.org
Green Party US: Ten Key Values (Non-Violence, Grassroots Democracy).
http://www.gp.org
Green Party US statements emphasizing peace/non-violence.
http://www.gp.org
Rotten Tomatoes critics on the film’s focus and urgency.
Rotten Tomatoes
How to use this piece in class, mosque, or neighborhood circles
Screen the film and then assign The Afghanistan Papers excerpts for primary-source analysis. [3]
Compare official DoD casualty tallies with contractor figures from Brown/USIP and discuss how counting methods shape public consent. [7][8][9]
Map the Green Ten Key Values to specific reforms: transparency laws, war-powers limits, contractor reporting, IG protections. [14][15]
“The lesson is simple: if we don’t demand the truth, we’ll pay with lives.”
—Dearborn Blog editorial stance, distilled.
Disclaimer
This article is an editorial review and commentary for educational purposes. It summarizes publicly available reporting and institutional documents and includes fair-use quotations. Dearborn Blog does not own or distribute Bodyguard of Lies. Readers should consult the original sources to verify all claims and data. Nothing herein constitutes legal advice, investment advice, or an endorsement of any commercial service. We strive for accuracy; please contact the editor for corrections with source documentation attached.
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