Ever see a trailer for an upcoming film, get motivated to see it, spend
money for a ticket, watch it and realize the commercial was nothing
like the film? Even worse, did you find the marketers who made the
trailer purposely fooled you?
The recent history of Haditha reads like a movie script complete
with the twists and plot reversals typical of a thriller. For a small
town, Haditha has a prominent profile, but like the movie trailers you
see of upcoming attractions, the selected, tiny, edited flashes of the
bigger picture can be totally misleading.
In 2008, "The Battle for Haditha" is slated for release. The
British director, Nick Broomfield, is known for dramatizations of
real-life events. His previous works include "Kurt and Courtney" and
"Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer."
According to the press release, the plot of the story is
simple. A patriotic Iraqi tired of the crushing oppression of the
American occupation places an IED, or improvised explosive device, that
kills a young Marine. Stressed out Marines go on a rampage to revenge
the death of their fallen brother in arms.
After the event, the Marines attempt a cover-up, according to the
plot, but are discovered by a "young journalism student" who happens to
live right next to the home where the massacre took place and is
associated with the a human rights group. A gutsy journalist brings the
whole massacre to light, and the world gets another lesson at how evil
the military is.
Broomfield is getting plenty of free press for a film that is
"artsy" and seems to have a low budget. In an article published in Time
Out, Broomfield says he'll use both American and Iraqi actors – mostly
amateurs he has persuaded to "lend their lives to the film," which
sounds a lot like the actors aren't going to get paid very much. To add
to the raw emotion of the drama, Broomfield will film the 40-minute key
scene in one long real time take.
This is the location, in Jordan, where
director Nick Broomfield will shoot the "The Battle for Haditha." Here
you can see the director searching for a clue.
|
This is shot from downtown Haditha not far
from where the real events occurred. As anyone can see, the two
locations are practically identical!
|
No surprise who the villain will be: Marines. He told Time Out
magazine, "Their (Marines') standard operating procedure rules are so
f---ing hard-core. If, for example, a house is described as 'hostile,'
then you just kill everyone in the house. It doesn't matter if it
contains 2-year-olds or the elderly."
Since there's an investigation under way, Broomfield won't use
real names. He says he wants to be fair to the Marines; I say he
doesn't want to get sued. This true regisseur (regisseur is what you
call a director who makes movies that only students attending film
school will voluntarily sit through) views a greater cause from his
humble masterpiece. A bigger picture, if you will.
"I think there have been lots of Hadithas, and there are lots of Hadithas every year."
The screen goes black, violins play and the credits roll.
But this is where reality and entertainment part ways because
there are so many details that would ruin the good vs. evil plot.
Broomfield probably won't tell you the previously mentioned "young
journalism student" was actually a 46-year-old founder of a new "human
rights group" that only had one other member. Or that the video of the
"massacre" was handed over to the press four months after it was shot.
A high-drama film may not want to mention that the Time Out
magazine writer, Tim McGirk, refused to testify during the Marines'
hearing, possibly because his testimony under oath could make him and
his publication liable for legal action. Former Marine and Rep. John
Murtha himself will have to answer directly to a judge for his public
comments.
"They actually went into the houses and killed women and
children," the Pennsylvania congressman said. Murtha has yet to
acknowledge that the majority of Marines have already been cleared of
any wrongdoing.
Just to show how committed the director is to accuracy, Broomfield will shoot "The Battle for Haditha" in neighboring Jordan.
"We didn't go to Haditha itself; it was too dangerous," he explained.
Of course, the danger will not come from the Marines Broomfield
will smear in his film, but more likely from the type of people who got
shot during the alleged "massacre," or as Broomfield calls them, the
heroes of the story.
"I'm sure it happens on a lesser scale every single day,"
Broomfield told a journalist. The British director may already see
himself clutching an Oscar for best foreign film, even if only a
handful of theaters show his work.
Surprisingly, the people of Haditha remember a different
massacre than the man who has never actually visited the city. In 2005,
terrorists assaulted a police station, led 20 police officers to a
soccer field, placed them on their knees and shot each one in the back
of the head.
Witnesses said the executioners removed the heads from the
bodies and then kicked them around like soccer balls. The public
killing of the officers were just the tip of the iceberg. Terrorists
had previously killed the mayor, his son, a police chief and three
members of his family. The script for this Haditha massacre will never
be written, because for the artists who have a point to prove about
truth and justice, fantasy is a lot more entertaining.
Please Contribute
Terror and anonymity go hand in hand. It's hard to be a terrorist when
everyone knows who you are. An attack takes a certain detachment,
stealth and a craven willingness to kill people you've probably never
met. Ramadi, Fallujah, Baghdad – one by one, as neighbors learn who
lives next to them and repel those who mean harm, terrorists have moved
out of the cities and into the outskirts, the areas that have had
little or no authority. 
Frank Pastore is a talk show host at the largest Christian radio station in America. Pastore hosts The Frank Pastore Show
I've slightly followed this whole phony controversy about phony
soldiers. It's funny how the mainstream media will magnify the asinine
and minimize the heroic. Most troops don't follow the news back home,
that much has become very obvious to me. But there are a few people
many troops enjoy. Rush Limbaugh is one of those few. Fortunately, Ann Coulter
understands that and has responded accordingly, with her usual blatant
honesty and wit.
Recent Comments