Michael Ware was one of the few Western journalists to live full-time in Iraq during the war.

He began his Middle East career as Time magazine's correspondent in Afghanistan in late 2001 -- just months after the attacks of 9/11 -- but headed to Iraq prior to the coalition's invasion in 2003. He was soon appointed Baghdad bureau chief and wrote numerous articles detailing the war, including cover stories from Fallujah and Tal'Afar.

In May 2006 he moved to CNN and lived at their Baghdad bureau for more than three years before relocating to New York City in order to cover a number of conflict zones around the world, including not only Iraq but also Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Mexico. Michael last reported for CNN in December of 2009.

A few years later he started working towards making a feature film about his time in the war zone and formed his own production company, Penance Films, for that project as well as future releases. His first feature-length documentary, Only the Dead, was released in 2015.