Kael was one of the few independent photographers in Bagdad during the US bombing and documented the impact of the war and its aftermath. In the fall of 2003, she rented a room in Ramadi to photograph the resistance, as it was first taking shape in the months after the US-led invasion.

On her most recent trip, she documented the culture surrounding the second front of insurgents, the Medhi Militia, descendents of the Shiite opposition against Saddam Hussein’s regime. She made many trips across front lines in Najaf and Sadr City to photograph the Mehdi Militia battles with US forces.