DePalma's Vile Propaganda

Uncle Jimbo at Blackfive on the film made by anti-American, anti-war director Brian DePalma, who made a similar film about Vietnam in 1989:

The gargantuan headline at Drudge shouts, actually they just used al Reuters phrase, but everything looks so much bigger and louder on Drudge.

FILM ON ABUSES BY TROOPS IN IRAQ STUNS VENICE

I gotta disagree, I don't think the film stunned anyone who was there. I think that the vast majority of those watching had long ago determined that Americans are base and that our jack-booted thugs rape, kill, pillage and burn all over the planet. Sadly they have us confused with UN "peacekeeping" troops. What it did was confirm their pre-conceived notions in a glorifyingly horrifying manner; they get to have their violence and condemn it as well.

I despise the scum who did this infinitely more than my "betters" in Venice because unlike them, I know the truth about our troops. The few that get the attention are vile, but they get the full crushing might of the military justice system and these vermin now make small rocks from large ones. The rest of our troops would better serve as ambassadors for what is good and right about America than every Brooks Brothers wearing weasel conducting formal lying in formal wear in our diplomatic corpse.

Read it all. And from the Jawa Report: DePalma's Vile Propaganda, read the initial reaction and this:

UPDATE: It gets worse. Geoff notes that al Qaeda beheadings are in the film. But, who does De Palma blame? Us, of course! That's the context of the whole movie. The point of the movie. The war must end.

As if the U.S. withdrawing would somehow end al Qaeda beheadings. Sure, there would be no more deaths of American soldiers in Iraq at the hands of al Qaeda. But since the vast majority of people murdered by al Qaeda, Ansar al Sunna, the Islamic Army in Iraq, and other groups are Iraqis then the horrible killings won't stop. In fact, far more people will be murdered by the Salafi and Khomeinist Islamists than now.

To the Left and in this film, I'm sure:

When we do bad things: our fault
When our enemies do bad things: our fault

Roger L. Simon, who used to know DePalma. This excerpt:

Does DePalma really think that the American public doesn't realize that such things occur in war on all sides and always have? No doubt a few American troops raped German and French women, murdered innocent people, etc. during World War II. War is Hell. Who disputes that?

So why would DePalma choose to tell this story now?

Propaganda, of course. But there's a bit more. We are all creatures of our times and of our great successes. This is perfectly human. DePalma, quintessentially a man of my generation, equates Iraq with Vietnam not just because he may think they are the same (ridiculous as that is) but because Vietnam made him the man he is today. In other words, he was able to live a fantastic Hollywood life (even with the normal vicissitudes),including the fancy houses, cars, women, etc., by being a "groovy" man of his generation - militantly opposed to Vietnam War and for all traditional PC things. Why change? Indeed, why not drill down further into the old well when things aren't as they once were. Why think about the specifics of the current situation or about history? They would only disrupt personal progress.

Final comment from a Simon reader: "Side note: the Americans involved were court-martialed and given up to 110 years in prison. Think that will be in the film?"

Final note. HotAir: Marine to sue Murtha over irresponsible Haditha accusations

Related posts: The Left Loses the Vietnam War, Shame on Schakowsky, Durbin Disarms Us