FRONTLINE follows the early efforts and ideals of a group of Americans led by Ambassador L. Paul Bremer III as they tried to seize control and disband the Iraqi police, army and Baathist government - and how they became hardened along the way to the realities of postwar Iraq.

In the aftermath of the fall of Saddam Hussein, a group of Americans led by Ambassador L. Paul Bremer III set off to Baghdad to build a new nation and establish democracy in the Arab Middle East. One year later, with Bremer forced to secretly exit what some have called "the most dangerous place on earth," the group left behind lawlessness, insurgency, economic collapse, death, destruction - and much of their idealism. Three years later, as the U.S. continues to look for an exit strategy, the government the Americans helped create and the infrastructure they designed are being tested. FRONTLINE producer Michael Kirk follows the early efforts and ideals of this group as they tried to seize control and disband the Iraqi police, army and Baathist government - and how they became hardened along the way to the realities of postwar Iraq. The program is based on numerous first-person interviews and extensive documentation from the FRONTLINE team that produced "Rumsfeld's War," "The Torture Question" and "The Dark Side."