Harrowing and realistic depiction of the massacre of Iraqi civilians killed by U.S. troops on November 19th 2005: Veteran documentarian Nick Broomfield ('Ghosts', 'Kurt & Courtney') constructs an intense, harsh and sobering account of the well documented atrocity, in an approach described as 'Real Cinema'. Iraqi resistance groups, inspired to action by the courage of their martyred compatriots in Fallujah, mount a fresh series of retaliatory strikes against the occupation; an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) successfully putting an American armoured vehicle out of commission and killing one U.S. Marine onboard (a set up not dissimilar to British Iraq war film 'The Mark Of Cain'). But as we ought to know from Vietnam; an occupying force is always indoctrinated to murder at least ten natives for every one of theirs (a policy frequently enacted by Hitler's 'SS', Israeli storm-troopers, British Coldstream Guards, 'Black & Tan', French 'Foreign Legion' etc) hence Kilo Company's Corporal Ramirez and Sergeant Ross (real Iraq war veterans Elliot Ruiz and Eric Mehalacopoulos) are drafted as part of the death squad used to commit said slaying. A flawed film, 'The Battle of Haditha' isn't so much a docudrama like Michael Winterbottom's 'The Road to Guantanimo' as it is an economical, dramatic re-enactment of that infamous day told from three perspectives: the Iraqi resistance, one family in Haditha and the American troops. Broomfield's attempts at an even-handed, 'Rashomon'-esque narrative, prove awkward when judged against the origins and wider context of the war; after all, U.S. marines are portrayed as essentially decent, intellectually (and definitely economically) impoverished young men; cruelly moulded into sadistic serial killers by the powers that be who, by their very existence / deeds, are realistically depicted as the worst of all villains. For lest we forget, and Broomfield should have mentioned this fact on a pre-credits title card; that this war has seen more conscientious objection and A.W.O.L cases than any other conflict in the recorded history of human civilisation, for to quote Elliot Ruiz: "...you ask 90 percent of the guys (U.S. soldiers), they'd rather not be there". Yet at the same time, to what extent are we asked to sympathise with people who are, albeit at the lowest level, engaged in an ongoing war crime; should we, by Broomfield's rationale, also pay tribute to Nazi troops who perished in Stanlingrad, shed a tear for 'IDF' helicopter gunship pilots downed over Lebanon or lament the scores of Romans burnt to death by England's barbarian queen Boudica? Now I'm all for absolving soldiers for the sins of their superiors, but undermining free will and individual responsibility is something else altogether, and its with this in mind that Brian De Palma's 'Redacted' comes closer to the awful truth of how the military can be systematically disfigured to reflect the evil, banal and soulless degeneracy of its bestial masters. In real life; the Marines, (all of whom were unsurprisingly let off by the U.S. government; kind of like asking Himmler to try Groening for the Reichstag fire) claimed they were only following orders, and that Coalition rules of engagement specified such crimes could be committed with impunity. An old excuse which, though morally unacceptable, sounds entirely plausible: given that Zionist torture manuals issued by 'The Pentagon' and containing detailed instructions on how to subject victims to the kind of abuse we saw in 'Abu Ghraib', are used by the occupation on a regular basis. I found the idea that Jihadist leaders were using the massacre as a propaganda coup to recruit more fighters/control Haditha, unconvincing in light of the evidence; as every imperial construct in history has had to distort the truth, especially when it comes to representing any force that seeks to stem its avaricious acts of psychotic megalomania. Recall the corporate media's expectedly negative response to Cuban intervention on behalf of native resistance groups combating an invasion by the racist South African military & Belgian mercenaries in Angola, circa 1988. For our hemisphere's leaders (along with Israel) provided tacit support for SA's brutal apartheid regime, with then PM Margaret Thatcher tacking her colours to the wall early on; branding African resistance illegitimate and Nelson Mandela a terrorist. Hence if Syrian, Jordanian, Saudi Arabian, Turkish or Iranian partisans are aiding the Iraqis, they could, as Fidel Castro did at the U.N., convincingly argue that they're fulfilling their basic internationalist duty to help resist a fascistic, militarily aggressive empire; one that has, in no uncertain terms, threatened each & every one of the aforementioned countries with invasion. For the Islamic world; in spite of its disunity, ineffectual, often tyrannical, governments and petit bourgeois collaborators is, on some level, united by faith, language
& culture, thus any rational observation / analysis would conclude that the only foreign entity in Iraq is the Anglo-American-Israeli collation, or to use its unflattering sobriquet: 'The Triangle Of Terror' along with its private army of contractors & mercenaries. Love him or loathe him, Nick Broomfield is one our most provocative and talented directors, whose 30 years in film have seen him address issues as diverse as the class divide in England, to the mysterious death of a grunge icon whilst practically inventing confrontational documentary (an approach now employed by everyone from Michael Moore to Louis Theroux) and, as was the case in 'Ghosts', Broomfield manages to coax strong performances from a cast mostly made up of non-actors. Some unexpectedly amusing, buddy cop banter between insurgents Ahmad & Jafar (played with aplomb by Iraqi refugees Falah Abraheem Flayeh and Oliver Bytrus) is almost 'Lethal Weapon'-esque in its gallows humour, and I was keeping an ear out for that classic Danny Glover line: "I'm getting too old for this shit" as veteran soldier Bytrus prepared an ambush. Elliot Ruiz's barracks breakdown was also excellent; his frustrations coming to the fore in a surreal, hyper-real maelstrom of staged drama & bitter memories: "I have to live with this guilt for the rest of my life: I hate the officers who sent us in: They don't give a f*** about us". Ruiz reminded me of Terrance Howard here, and could easily go onto find work in other films if he so desires, the same goes for Eric Mehalacopoulos who delivers an ironic and memorable line after the massacre; congratulating his comrade on winning the "battle" of Haditha. Scenes with the Iraqi family are difficult to watch, and I was particularly impressed with Yasmine Hanani, who delivers an astoundingly powerful performance as Hiba. Hanani"s naturalistic style was reminiscent of a young Shabana Azmi and her genuine sense of desperation, panic, resolve, defiance and grief looks as if it serves to accurately encapsulate the feelings of an entire nation. Iraq is the modern day Carthage, pursued / devastated with parasitic professionalism by occidental cultists & in-house traitors; of course no film, book or documentary could fully convey the misery of living under military occupation, for in the words of ex-Marine Mehalacopoulos: "As we speak, this is going on. The film only shows a little bit, there's so much more to tell...those who are responsible for crimes are responsible for crimes, but the ultimate responsibility is above". And on that we can all agree, after all: occupations are never won, but always ended.