“It’s like Platoon in the mountains.” That was a response by one viewer of this documentary. It’s a valid observation. Restrepo tells the story of the 2nd Platoon of Battle Company in the 173rd Airborne Combat Team on its deployment in Afghanistan in 2007 and 2008. The title refers to the platoon outpost, named after […]
Now that Osama bin Laden is dead, a new chapter is beginning for al Qaeda. Two former members of the group, Abu Jandal and Salim Hamdam, are the focus of this documentary. Jandal, a self-professed jihadist, is a taxi driver in Sana’a, Yemen. He was one of bin Laden’s bodyguards in the late 1990s. [kml_flashembed […]
The 30th anniversary of the death of one of the world’s most politically influential musicians was marked around the world yesterday, highlighted by the opening of an exhibition on the reggae singer’s life at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles. Music fans and political observers around the world marked the occasion by reflecting on the […]
The following is an excerpt from an Associated Press article by Ben Hubbard: “Oscar-nominated film director Tim Hetherington was killed Wednesday in the besieged city of Misrata while covering battles between rebels and Libyan government forces. “British-born Hetherington, co-director of the documentary Restrepo about U.S. soldiers on an outpost in Afghanistan, was killed inside the […]
Hearts and minds. That’s what narrator Peter Coyote says coalition forces in Afghanistan and Pakistan need to win over in this National Geographic offering. Talibanistan is the nickname given to the treacherous mountainous area straddling Afghanistan and Pakistan. It is called that because of the Taliban forces entrenched there. This hour long documentary shows firsthand […]
Alberto Fujimori is a complicated person. He single-handedly rooted out terrorism while president of Peru (1990-2000) and brought the country back from the economic abyss. However, he appears to have sold his soul to achieve his victories. Currently serving in a Peruvian prison for a variety of crimes, not the least of which are human […]
This film has drawn the ire of many a critic. Which is understandable given its content. The movie takes place in Ireland in 1920. Damien O’Donovan (played remarkably by Cillian Murphy) decides to join his brother Teddy in fighting the British instead of studying medicine in London. The violence with which the British Black and […]
Not really sure what to make of this bizarre video of virtuoso guitar playing, North Korean six-year-olds. The skill level is amazing, though one has to dig deep in any attempt to understand the context that their training and performance must have taken place in. One commentator noticed that the physical features of the performers […]
Political collateral damage inflicted by the West’s military action against Libya includes the destruction of two serious misconceptions long cherished by numerous experts in Washington. The first is the idea that in the rapidly changing world of the 21st century Europe is no longer strategically important to the United States; the second the fallacious belief […]
This morning the Internet is abuzz with news that musician Wyclef Jean was shot in Haiti the night before historic presidential elections. The drama follows the return of former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide from exile in South Africa just days before the polls. Reports indicate Jean, who has thrown his international clout behind front runner […]
“Being sorry isn’t nearly enough, but I can’t tear myself apart or destroy myself. It’s so terrible. I’ve suffered anyway for over half a century and it will never end, until I die. It’s such an incredible burden, that to say ‘sorry’… it’s inadequate, it expresses too little.” That is a 1993 quote from director […]
It might help the U.S. media better understand the various rebellions breaking out in the Middle East if they could clear their minds of thoughts of 1776 and the strange idea that despots like Hosni Mubarak and Moammar Gadhafi are somehow equivalent to King George III. Although a number of commentators are comparing the Arab […]
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