Filmmakers Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington, imbedded with the Second Platoon, document the besieged soliders who dubbed their stronghold Outpost Restrepo in honor of their fallen comrade PFC Juan Restrepo. Restrepo is the story of the U. S. military operations in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley, an al-Qaeda and Taliban stronghold. Throughout this documentary, the footage from the Korengal Valley shows some of the fiercest fighting I’ve ever seen. I kept thinking, “What are Junger and Hetherington doing as these bullets are flying around them?” What they were doing is showing the futility of that operation and the human cost of warfare. GRADE: A
The war in Afghanistan has been going on for almost ten years. Ten years! The war in Iraq, almost as long. Yet I haven’t heard a single member of the GOP/Tea Party/Right-wing calling for an end to those wars, although that would save us so much–in lives and money.
Iraq and Afghanistan are invisible wars, Deb. Watching RESTREPO puts faces on the soldiers who go there and fight for us. I notice the GOP/Tea Party don’t seem to want to take on Social Security, Medicaid, or Medicare, either.
Go, Deb!
This is a movie I meant to see and it got by me. Thanks for reminding me.
I’ll be happy to mail my copy to you, Patti.
The only positive thing I can say for the Tea Partisans en masse is that they did fight the extension of the “Patriot Act” provisions (which the Obama Admin, to its utter discredit, wanted to hang onto, and most of the TPers presumably would’ve rubberstamped a renewal request from, say, Cheney or Palin)…a little fighting against the kind of foreign entanglements that these wars should represent to them would be welcome, given the continuing discredit to the current Admin that these wars are.
Did I guess correctly that RESTREPO was your Overlooked Film, George?
Yes, Todd, RESTREPO is practically unknown. Yet I found it to be one of the more compelling documentaries I seen in a long time.
Deb, that’s not quite true. Ron Paul and a few others have been against the war (to give credit where it’s due) from the beginning.
Not even Ron Paul seems to want to tackle the entitlement programs, Jeff.
1. Don’t think anybody in either party is going to tackle the entitlement programs.
2. Are we still officially at war in Iraq?
3. Have RESTREPO, and will watch it this week.
The politicians can duck the Hard Decisions for only so long, Drongo. As soon as the Chinese say, “We will not buy any more of your Treasury bills, Treasury notes, or Treasury bonds” the “financing our government with debt” game will be over. We will stay in Iraq as long as there is oil there. You’ll find RESTREPO intense.
Jeff–I stand corrected.
George, when the Chinese say game over, what do you think will be the ramifications will be for the average American? I mean, worst-case scenario. Thanks.
I suspect the Chinese and the Arab oil magnates who buy our Treasury paper will slowly withdraw, Drongo. I don’t think they’ll just turn off the money faucet abruptly. But they’ll signal their intentions and you’ll start to see both the stock market and the bond market tank. The prices of gold, oil, and commodities will go through the roof. Survival for the average American will be dependent upon the health of their local communities. You’ll want to be near a water source and a military base (probably the only source of law & order after the collapse).
George, got a movie for you: THE FIGHTER. I know you’re not really interested but Christian Bale’s performance is so riveting he almost burns a hole in the screeen every time he appears. There is NO chance someone else will win the Oscar for Supporting Actor (IMHO). And Melissa Leo is pretty darn good as the Mom from Hell, as is Amy Adams in a real change from her usual role.
If only Mark Wahlberg was up to the rest of them it would be a classic.
You’ve tempted me, Jeff. I’m not sure I can talk Diane into going to see THE FIGHTER, but I’ll put it near the top of my list. We want to see BLUE VALENTINE and SOMEWHERE before they leave town.
Tell her she needs to be informed to make her Oscar picks.
I’ll try, Jeff, but it will be a Hard Sell.
A thought-provoking response, George. Thanks.
Or you could go with Bill Crider’s advice, Drongo: buy canned goods and ammo!
I wouldn’t depend on the military for law, though perhaps for a sort of order.
You’ll note that it’s individuals within even the various Arab (particularly Libyan) militaries who are notably letting their consciences dictate their recent actions, rather than the military structure itself or the armies as wholes.
And the Chinese government seems to be getting about as nervous as the Gulf State royal families…all to the good, I say, unless that means they express their insecurity in mass slaughter.
Dictatorships are historically unstable, Todd. China doesn’t want its people to get any democratic ideas.