One of the reasons that the many Hollywood films on Iraq and Afghanistan have been uniformly dire and lamentable is that they focus on the soldiers. There is a much mistaken fallacy, going back to Apocalypse Now and before, that soldiers are some kind of unsung and unappreciated heroes. The truth is (Bill Hicks nailed this in the 80s) that they are almost invariably brain-dead thugs. I know three part and full-time soldiers myself. They all fit the bill. The evidence is there for anyone to see who has followed the events in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001 or even starts to follow them now. The incidents, it is no exaggeration to say, are daily. From today's reports, the puppet soldiers/'police' in Afghanistan are trying to outdo their NATO mentors.
Saturday 6 February 2010
Civilians The Victims Again
One of the reasons that the many Hollywood films on Iraq and Afghanistan have been uniformly dire and lamentable is that they focus on the soldiers. There is a much mistaken fallacy, going back to Apocalypse Now and before, that soldiers are some kind of unsung and unappreciated heroes. The truth is (Bill Hicks nailed this in the 80s) that they are almost invariably brain-dead thugs. I know three part and full-time soldiers myself. They all fit the bill. The evidence is there for anyone to see who has followed the events in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001 or even starts to follow them now. The incidents, it is no exaggeration to say, are daily. From today's reports, the puppet soldiers/'police' in Afghanistan are trying to outdo their NATO mentors.
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I'm back. Thousands of civilians are fleeing Helmland as NATO are launching an 'assault' on the Taliban. A bit late in the day, no?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/02/06-0
Almost on a daily basis I listen to "Masters of War" by Bob Dylan.
ReplyDeleteThen I listen to "Imagine" by John Lennon.
It helps me to stay focused, and half assed sane.
John Pilger on the very type of movie you are talking about:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.newstatesman.com/film/2010/02/pilger-iraq-oscar-american-war