The premiere of the documentary film Our Foreign War is forthcoming. Within ‎an hour and a half, which pass imperceptibly on the screen, the documentary ‎recounts the fate of the 2nd Bulgarian Battalion in Iraq in 2004. Their mission is ‎dramatic. They took on their duty after the tragic December 27, 2003 and the ‎attack on the 1st Bulgarian Battalion at the India base, when five Bulgarians ‎died and 27 were injured. The second Bulgarian battalion found itself at the ‎epicenter of the Shiite uprising of 2004. During the religious holiday of ‎Ashura, the fighting also covered Karbala, a holy city for the Shiites, where the ‎Bulgarian military were based. ‎The decisive battle was fought for the defense of the Karbala City Hall. 

The ‎idea for Our Foreign War came from Bulgarian journalist Nadelina Aneva, the director of the documentary, Rosen Elezov, told Radio Bulgaria. Screenwriters Prof. Marin Damyanov and Nadelina Aneva, director Rosen Elezov, cameraman Prof. Todor Yanev and producer Prof. Georgi Nikolov decided to make the film because years after the events in Karbala, many facts ‎about the events still remain unknown and classified. ‎

‎"We decided also to make a replica of the Polish film Karbala by Krzysztof ‎Lukaszewicz, which was released in 2015. When Muqtada al-Sadr's rebellion took place, which was mainly against the Americans and their allies, ‎the cities in southern Iraq were captured. The only institution that remained ‎intact and did not fall in this revolution was the city hall in Karbala. It was saved, ‎according to the Polish film, with the mild participation of Bulgaria. The truth, ‎of course, is just the opposite. When the town hall was attacked, Polish Gen. Edward ‎Gruszka issued an order to defend Karbala. Then the rapid reaction corps was ‎the second platoon of the second company. Under the command of an ‎incredibly brave young man who was then about 20 years old - Lieutenant ‎Ventseslav Vassilev. He moved out instantly, almost without any ‎armament. ‎They managed to occupy a circular defense. They repulsed the first fiercest ‎attack. This attack would have been fatal for the City Hall, because once it was ‎captured, everything would have been doomed. More than 45,000 bullets were ‎fired throughout the night. They managed to hold the attack. Then the next day ‎more Polish and Bulgarian military came. But the real heroes who saved the city hall ‎were them - the second platoon of the second company."‎

The brave attack led by Ivan Mikhailov with the nickname "Svirep" was also ‎important for holding the Karbala City Hall. Together with five other ‎Bulgarians, they left the fortified complex. In the flank and rear, the ‎commandos patrolled the enemy's positions. In the night attack, they destroyed ‎the mortars with which the besiegers fired at the town hall, says the director of ‎‎"Our Foreign War". To the surprise of the Iraqis, Shiite Hamza Hamzov, who ‎is a Bulgarian alevi, also served in the battalion. Indicative of the morale of ‎Bulgarian officers is the story in the film about how the most senior of them, ‎Colonel Hristo Hristov, responsible for the connection between the allied ‎command and the Bulgarian battalion, goes as a volunteer to defend the City Hall. ‎

‎"He himself is an artist at heart, a very spiritual person, plays the piano, ‎composes. Apart from that, he has an aura that infects people. The biggest commander has no place in the City Hall because it would be a great sacrifice in this ‎incredible battle. 50,000 cartridges were fired there per day. It was hell. But he ‎turned over his epaulets of a colonel and went as a common soldier. He fought ‎for several days.”‎

Rosen Elezov defines himself as a pacifist, but says that during the shooting he ‎was inspired by the professionalism and love of the Bulgarian military for ‎everything native and their willingness to sacrifice their lives for Bulgaria. ‎

‎"They conducted very serious preparations for battle. Not everyone would bear ‎this. These people are actually fighters who fought a real war after the Second ‎World War. They werecaught in a devastating, brutal war. They probably ‎didn't expect something like this to happen. Nor did the Americans imagine ‎that such a huge uprising would suddenly break out. It can be said that this ‎participation of the Second Battalion helped a lot for Bulgaria's entry into ‎NATO. An article then appeared in The New York Times, which was also ‎reprinted in The Florida Sentinel. It says about the Bulgarians that "if you ‎reach out to shoot a Bulgarian, prepare to die first". The important thing is that ‎this mission shows what we know from the Balkan wars, that the Bulgarians ‎are incredible soldiers when they get into an emergency situation”.‎

We ask the director if he would agree to shoot a feature film about the Second ‎Bulgarian Battalion in Iraq, similar to the Polish film Karbala.‎

‎"I'd rather do something related to these characters in real life ‎and what ‎each one of them carries, because it reflects in ‎the character, in the psyche, ‎in the life problems. If this film has a mission, this is for people to ‎understand that we fought a real war and we won that war, as we usually ‎won the wars we fought in, but at the cost of incredible courage and ‎bravery of these people and wisdom to the officers who lead them - ‎Colonels Petko Lilov, Hristo Hristov and Bozhidar Borisov."‎