It has been 11 years since Saddam Hussein sent his troops marching into Kuwait and 10 years since the United States and its allies announced a sudden cease-fire in the conflict that came to be known as the Persian Gulf war. Yet for a large number of Americans, the reasons behind the conflict remain unclear and its consequences obscure.

 As its title suggests, "The Hidden Wars of Desert Storm," a documentary made on video by Gerard Ungerman and Audrey Brohy, is a frankly skeptical account of America's involvement in Iraq, from the C.I.A.'s early support of Mr. Hussein as a stabilizing force in the region to the war's untidy aftermath. The filmmakers say the conflict has left large portions of the country littered with radioactive spent rounds made from depleted uranium. One result has been a drastic increase in cancer among both Iraqi civilians and American soldiers who served in the conflict.

 Mr. Ungerman and Ms. Brohy interview an impressive range of authorities, not all of them from the same end of the political spectrum. Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of what the Americans called Operation Desert Storm, is played against former Attorney General Ramsey Clark; the former head of the United Nations Iraq program, Denis Halliday, finds his opposite number in a State Department spokesman, David Welch.

 The United States government is portrayed in the film as having deliberately exaggerated Mr. Hussein's threat to the oil-rich nations of the Persian Gulf, hoping to frighten one of them into allowing an American base to be established within its borders. Eventually Saudi Arabia granted permission. But the filmmakers are unable to find photographic proof of the 250,000 Iraqi troops said to have been poised at the Kuwaiti border. An investigative reporter, Jean Heller, interviewed by the filmmakers, says bluntly, "The administration lied to the Saudis to get the invitation to come in."

 The film also contends that the mysteriously premature cease-fire was called to allow Mr. Hussein to put down a revolutionary movement that might have deprived the United States of its favorite boogeyman; that the United States government knowingly suppressed evidence that the depleted uranium rounds were toxic; and that the sanctions against Iraq have been allowed to outrun their purpose and have caused a health-care disaster among Iraqi citizens.

 Though the filmmakers are not above using sentimental close-ups of sad-eyed children to underline their points, "The Hidden Wars of Desert Storm," which opens today at the Cinema Village, emerges as an uncommonly sober, well-researched film of its type.

 Playing with "Hidden Wars" is "The F.L.I.R. Project," a 30-minute video directed by Michael McNulty, which reopens the question of the F.B.I.'s conduct in the Branch Davidian raid of 1993. Though the Justice Department denies that any weapons were fired on the Davidians to force them back into the burning buildings (and to probable death), Mr. McNulty makes the case that traces of gunfire are visible on the infrared images recorded on the scene by the F.B.I.'s forward-looking infrared radar, which can detect heat sources. Much of the argument delves into the technological minutiae memorably parodied by the "magic loogie" episode of "Seinfeld," but there is food for thought here as well.

THE HIDDEN WARS OF DESERT STORM

 Written, produced and directed by Gerard Ungerman and Audrey Brohy; directors of photography, Mr. Ungerman and Ms. Brohy; edited by Jason Stelzel; music by Fritz Heede; released by Free-Will Productions. At the Cinema Village, 22 East 12th Street, Greenwich Village. Running time: 64 minutes; shown with a 30-minute short documentary, "The F.L.I.R. Project." These films are not rated.

 WITH: Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, Ramsey Clark, Denis Halliday, Jean Heller and Scott Ritter; John Hurt (narrator).

 The US national labs fully knew that DU masses in the lymph nodes and forms insoluble uranium oxides that persist in poisoning the lymph system cells setting off a cytokein TNFa response in the lymph system that causes an overall Th2 response from other cells in the body. This shuts down the macrophage system in the body and makes it vulnerable to various diseases.