- Hollywood has joined the war. Universal Pictures announced
yesterday that it is to make The Battle for Falluja. To prove it is serious,
it has enlisted Indiana Jones himself, actor Harrison Ford, to help defeat
the insurgency.
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- The film - Hollywood's first foray into the second Iraq
conflict - is due to go into production next year and will be based on
a yet-to-be-finished book, No True Glory: The Battle for Falluja by Bing
West, a former marine, politician and now war correspondent.
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- The movie and book take as their starting point the killing
of four civilian contractors in Falluja and the ensuing decision to order
an assault on the city by US marines. That first assault, which was abruptly
stopped by the White House, was led by General Jim Mattis, who will be
played by Ford.
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- Six months later, shortly after the US presidential election,
the marines attacked Falluja for a second time, successfully occupying
the city. Almost 80 US marines were killed in the two assaults, while some
sources have estimated that 800 Iraqis and insurgents died in the April
assault on the city and a further 1,000 in November.
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- The film promises to depict the story from the point
of view of US soldiers and politicians; it seems unlikely that the plight
of the Iraqis will figure too prominently in Hollywood's take on the subject.
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- Writing last week for the online journal Slate.com, West
said: "If America needs a hard job done, the marines will do it, and
they won't lose their humanity in the process or any sleep over pulling
the trigger. Yes, they are 'the world's most lethal killing machine.' That's
what America needs in battle."
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- Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited
2004
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- http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1375730,00.html
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- Comment
From Natalie Braithwaite
12-17-4
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- Just in case the media lapdogs have not been successful
in completely brainwashing the American public into believing that the
war on Iraq is all about 'defeating terrorists' and 'making the world a
safer place' -- instead of an excuse to do Israel's bidding and/or secure
a supply of cheap oil whilst committing some of the most heinous crimes
against humanity -- along comes Hollywood to set the record straight. Heaven
forbid a soldier should lose sleep over slaughtering an entire family or
blowing the limbs off a little boy or putting a bullet through a little
girls head, there's a war to be fought! Good against evil! Right against
wrong! Damn the consequences! Thank you, Hollywood, for providing a little
more of that moral salve to dab on, lest the reality of these war crimes
actually start to prick Joe America's conscience...
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