"Black Hawk Down" - Hollywood's "War on Realism"?
Mark Dillon
Forwarded from
http://www.onlinejournal.com/Commentary/Chin010302/chin010302.html
"Black Hawk Down" --
Hollywood drags bloody corpse of truth across movie screens
By Larry Chin
January 3, 2002
True to its post-9/11 government-sanctioned
role as US war propaganda headquarters, Hollywood has released
"Black Hawk Down," a fictionalized account of the tragic 1993 US
raid in Somalia. The Pentagon assisted with the production,
pleased for an opportunity to "set the record straight." The film
is a lie that compounds the original lie that was the operation
itself.
Somalia: the facts
According to the myth, the Somalia operation of 1993 was a
humanitarian mission, and a shining example of New World Order
morality and altruism. In fact, US and UN troops waged an
undeclared war against an Islamic African populace that was
hostile to foreign interests.
Also contrary to the legend, the 1993 Somalia raid was not a
"Clinton foreign policy bungle." In fact, the incoming Clinton
administration inherited an operation that was already in full
swing -- planned and begun by outgoing President George Herbert
Walker Bush, spearheaded by deputy national security adviser
Jonathan Howe (who remained in charge of the UN operation after
Clinton took office), and approved by Colin Powell, then head of
the Joint Chiefs.
The operation had nothing to do with humanitarianism or
Africa-love on the part of Bush or Clinton. Several US oil
companies, including Conoco, Amoco, Chevron and Phillips were
positioned to exploit Somalia's rich oil reserves. The companies
had secured billion-dollar concessions to explore and drill large
portions of the Somali countryside during the reign of pro-US
President Mohamed Siad Barre. (In fact, Conoco's Mogadishu office
housed the US embassy and military headquarters.) A "secure"
Somalia also provided the West with strategic location on the
coast of Arabian Sea.
UN military became necessary when Barre was overthrown by warlord
Mohammed Farrah Aidid, suddenly rendering Somalia inhospitable to
US corporate interests.
Although the pretext for the mission was to safeguard food
shipments, and stop the "evil Aidid" from stealing the food, the
true UN goal was to remove Aidid from the political equation, and
form a pro-Western coalition government out of the nation's
warring clans. The US operation was met with "surprisingly fierce
resistance" -- surprising to US officials who underestimated
Somalian resolve, and even more surprising to US troops who were
victims and pawns of UN policy makers.
The highly documented series by Mark Bowden of the Philadelphia
Inquirer on which the film is based , focuses on the participants,
and the "untenable" situation in which troops were placed. But
even Bowden's gung-ho account makes no bones about provocative
American attacks that ultimately led to the decisive defeat in
Mogadishu.
Bowden writes: "Task Force Ranger was not in Mogadishu to feed the
hungry. Over six weeks, from late August to Oct. 3, it conducted
six missions, raiding locations where either Aidid or his
lieutenants were believed to be meeting. The mission that resulted
in the Battle of Mogadishu came less than three months after a
surprise missile attack by U.S. helicopters (acting on behalf of
the UN) on a meeting of Aidid clansmen. Prompted by a Somalian
ambush on June 5 that killed more than 20 Pakistani soldiers, the
missile attack killed 50 to 70 clan elders and intellectuals, many
of them moderates seeking to reach a peaceful settlement with the
United Nations. After that July 12 helicopter attack, Aidid's clan
was officially at war with America -- a fact many Americans never
realized."
Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Somalis were killed in the course
of US incursions that took place over three months. In his book
The New Military Humanism, Noam Chomsky cites other under-reported
facts. "In October 1993, criminal incompetence by the US military
led to the slaughter of 1,000 Somalis by American firepower,"
Chomsky writes. "The official estimate was 6-10,000 Somali
casualties in the summer of 1993 alone, two-thirds women and
children. Marine Lt. Gen. Anthony Zinni, who commanded the
operation, informed the press that 'I'm not counting bodies . . .
I'm not interested.' Specific war crimes of US forces included
direct military attacks on a hospital and on civilian gatherings.
Other Western armies were implicated in serious crimes as well.
Some of these were revealed at an official Canadian inquiry, not
duplicated by the US or other governments."
Bowden's more forgiving account does not contradict Chomsky's in
this regard:
"Official U.S. estimates of Somalian casualties at the time
numbered 350 dead and 500 injured. Somalian clan leaders made
claims of more than 1,000 deaths. The United Nations placed the
number of dead at ``between 300 to 500.'' Doctors and
intellectuals in Mogadishu not aligned with the feuding clans say
that 500 dead is probably accurate.
The attack on Mogadishu was particularly vicious. Quoting Bowden:
"The Task Force Ranger commander, Maj. Gen. William F. Garrison,
testifying before the Senate, said that if his men had put any
more ammunition into the city 'we would have sunk it.' Most
soldiers interviewed said that through most of the fight they
fired on crowds and eventually at anyone and anything they saw."
After 18 US Special Forces soldiers were killed in the final
Mogadishu firefight, which included the downing of a US
helicopter, television screens filled with the scene of a dead US
soldier being dragged through the streets by jubilant Somalis.
Clinton immediately called off the operation. US forces left
Somalia in disgrace. Some 19,000 UN troops remained for a short
period, but eventually left in futility.
The Somalia defeat elicited howls of protest and rage from the
military brass, congressional hawks, and right-wing provocateurs
itching for an excuse to declare political war on the "liberal"
Clinton administration.
The "Somalia syndrome" would dog Clinton throughout his
presidency, and mar every military mission during his tenure.
Today, as right-wing extremist George W. Bush occupies the White
House, surrounded by his father's operatives, and many of the
architects of the original raid, military fanaticism is all the
rage. A global war "without end" has just begun.
What a perfect moment to "clean up" the past.
Hollywood to the rescue
In promoting the film, producer Jerry Bruckheimer (who rewrote
another humiliating episode of US military history with "Pearl
Harbor") is seeking to convince Americans that the Somalia
operation was "not America's darkest hour, but America's brightest
hour;" that a bungled imperialist intervention was a noble
incident of grand moral magnificence.
CNN film reviewer Paul Tatara describes "Black Hawk Down" as
"pound for pound, one of the most violent films ever released by a
major studio," from "two of the most pandering, tactless
filmmakers in Hollywood history (Jerry Bruckheimer and Ridley
Scott)" who are attempting to "teach us about honor among
soldiers."
More important are the film's true subtexts, and the likely
emotional reaction of viewers.
What viewers see is "brave and innocent young American boys"
getting shot at and killed for "no reason" by "crazy black
Islamists" that the Americans are "just trying to help." (Subtext
one: America is good, and it is impossible to understand why "they
hate us." Subtext two: "Those damned ungrateful foreigners."
Subtext three: "Those damned blacks." Subtext four: "Kill Arabs.")
What viewers will remember is a line spoken by one of the "brave
soldiers" about how, in the heat of combat, "politics goes out the
window." (Subtext one: there is no need for thought; shoot first,
talk later. Subtext two: it is right to abandon one's sanity,
morality and ethics when faced with chaos. Subtext three: when the
Twin Towers went down on 9/11, America was right in embracing
radical militarism and extreme violence, throwing all else "out
the window.")
In the currently lethal political climate, in which testosterone
rage, mob mentality, and love of war pass for normal behavior
(while reason, critical thinking, and tolerance are considered
treasonous), "Black Hawk Down" will appeal to the most violent
elements of American society. Many who have seen the film report
leaving the theater feeling angry, itching to "kick some ass." In
short, the film is dangerous. And those who "love" it are
dangerous.
Considering the fact that Somalia is one of the targets in the
next phase of the Bush administration's "war on terrorism," the
timing of the film is no coincidence.
As Herbert London of the Hudson Institute said of "Black Hawk
Down," "I would never deny the importance of heroism in battle,
but just as we should recognize and honor heroes, we should also
respect the truthfulness of the events surrounding their heroic
acts. In the case of 'Black Hawk Down,' we get a lot of the former
and almost nothing of the latter."
*** FAIR USE NOTICE: This material is distributed without profit to
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information for research and educational purposes, and in the hope
that people will wake up and start using their brains at a time when
brains are sorely needed. ***
George of the Jungle
it will be different. Next time there won't be a Les Aspin to prohibit the
use of any armored vehicles (which were in theater) by US forces. Next
time there *will* be "daisy cutters" and laser guided bombs to level
buildings and enemy personnel.
But most importantly. There won't be a military-hating asshole like Clinton
in charge. Next time.
--
Why we can't reason with the leftwing. Selected "wisdom" from Omaha, NE's
mhi...@radiks.net.
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ISPsbought up byEarthlink, second only to AOL in nationwide subscribers.
Good luck trying to locate me NOW, Fucko! :)" 12/28/01
[This was submitted from: 1Cust42.tnt1.omaha.ne.da.uu.net. Apparently this
shit-for-brained leftlist has no idea how 'net really works]
"A flag-laden car might as well say "Fuckheaded Hypocrite on Board"."
12/19/01
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1/9/02
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little Aimee, and now they're dining on her carcass."
"Mark Dillon" <dq...@FreeNet.Carleton.CA> wrote in message
news:a2b447$2lm$1...@freenet9.carleton.ca...
mhirtes
George of the Jungle wrote:
>
> Well, Mark-the-copyright-thief-and-intellectual-property-vandal, next time
> it will be different. Next time there won't be a Les Aspin to prohibit the
> use of any armored vehicles (which were in theater) by US forces. Next
> time there *will* be "daisy cutters" and laser guided bombs to level
> buildings and enemy personnel.
>
> But most importantly. There won't be a military-hating asshole like Clinton
> in charge. Next time.
Keep talking trash like that, and Dana will want to propose to you.