sstrcaMay 22nd, 2008 - 16:36:06

To write this is a 'Truthfull' representation of the Haditha incident is misguided and disingenuous. This movie is not a truth full representation of what occurred but the director's opinion based on misinformation. The truth of what occurred and mistakes made are coming out now. So how did the director possibly know what really happened? These are what we do know: (1) The incident was a set up from insurgents who were looking to create an Iraq massacre for political gain and as part of their information operations. Al Qaeda filmed the carnage and the American and world media appeased them. (2) There is evidence from drones that there were insurgents fleeing from the buildings the Marines cleared. The Marines who cleared the buildings were not targeting civilians and were following orders. Their intentions were to ensure their own safety and not from a desire to take revenge or go on some kind of rampage. This 'rampage' point of view has been disproven. (3) There is evidence that these Marines were used as scapegoats to appease a liberal media and Anti-War sentiments in the Senate and govt like Murtha. There is evidence of undue command influence in the hubris investigation that ensued. The investigation was unprecedented. These Marines were asked to make split moment decisions under duress that most of us would be hard pressed to do differently under similar circumstances. Hind sight is 20/20 and this film portrays an opinion not a balanced truth.

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sstrcaMay 22nd, 2008 - 16:53:46

Interesting fact from the think tank AEI: A poll of tribal leaders across Iraq was recently conducted about US elections and who they would vote for, McCain, Obama, or Clinton. A majority would vote for John McCain but in Al Anbar where Haditha occurred, the tribal leaders want to re-elect George Bush. Why is that when there is so much anti-war sentiment in the US? The Iraqi leaders greatly fear us leaving b/c that would ensure the return of the henchmen who murdered and terrorized the locals. They want peace and stability just like we do.

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razAug 11th, 2009 - 10:19:54

You should talk to some real Iraq veterans before you question the events depicted in this film. If anything, this movie was very sympathetic to the marines.

Twelve of the actors are ex-marines and the director managed to meet those involved and interview them: “We spent five days in a motel in San Diego interviewing them for probably 10 hours a day, just to get a sense of their lives and who they really were. They were very wary to begin with, but once people start talking, they really talk. The main marine character we focus on was this guy called Ramirez. The night he got back from Iraq he broke into a truck and basically had post-traumatic stress and ended up driving into a house. He was best friends with the guy who was killed by the bomb, and then had the job of writing numbers on the dead people’s heads and photographing them. They were extremely tough and had seen a lot of action. They talked about chasing each other around with people’s legs and kicking people’s brains around.”

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