Brian De Palma…Jackass

As Ace bloged about a few weeks ago, Hollywood is gearing up to release a torrent of anti-Iraq War movies.

Well, an early entry is Redacted by Brian De Palma. It took awhile for the director of movies such as Carrie, Scarface, and The Untouchables to find something about the war that got his creative juices flowing but alas he did. Not surprisingly what he found was a crime that puts American soldiers in the worst possible light:

When I read about the Mahmudiyah incident in Iraq 2006 - five US soldiers raped a local girl, killed her and her family and later tried to disguise it as an insurgent attack - I knew I had a story.

Now what happened at Mahmudiyah was a crime of almost unimaginable horror. It’s also one that has been thoroughly investigated and prosecuted. Those involved (with the exception of one defendant who is still awaiting trial) have been tried and sentenced to prison terms ranging from 5 to 100 years.

Apparently De Palma couldn’t find any stories that interested him of American heroes, men who gave their lives to save their fellow Americans or who try and make the life of Iraqi children a little better. I doubt he even bothered to look for them.

Of course it could just be because De Palma only has one trick when it comes to war movies. Remember his Casualties of War?

a film based, we are told, on an actual event. A five-man patrol of American soldiers in Vietnam kidnapped a young woman from her village, forced her to march with them, and then raped her and killed her.

Apparently when De Palma looks at an America serviceman all he sees is the face of a killer. Perhaps he should look at this video of American soldiers who rescued handicapped Iraqi orphans from appalling conditions.

Now, I’d like to say De Palma is a talentless hack but that’s clearly not the case. He’s just a typical lefty pining for the day when the evil Americans will leave Iraq to the sweet ministrations of al Qaeda, left over Bathists and Shiite Militias.

Alas, Mr. De Palma’s choice of topics says far more about him than it does our military or the nature of war.

posted by DrewM. at 10:03 PM

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