Yemen's government, propped up by American backing, is trying to win over a population many in Washington already see as a breeding ground for Al-Qaeda. Journalist Juliana Ruhfus travels through the country to test that assumption, talking with local people, government officials, and ordinary Yemenis about how they view the United States, Al-Qaeda, and the broader War on Terror. The film sits with the contradiction driving Yemeni politics in 2004: a state that needs American money and military support to survive, trying to sell a counterterrorism campaign to citizens who often see that same campaign, and the government running it, as the problem rather than the solution. Ruhfus's interviews turn up more ambivalence than allegiance on either side of the argument, from villagers weighing loyalty to tribe and religion against pressure from Sana'a and Washington alike. There are no reenactments or expert panels here, just a reporter moving through the country asking people directly what they think, and letting the answers complicate the official story.