Redacted

Youputyourrightfootinyouput
I was listening to the radio whiners today, and they were doing publicity for a movie called "Redacted".
Until today, I knew very little about it. It is about the rape/murder of a young girl in Iraq by a crew of American troops. This is a sorry episode, but the sort of thing you can expect in a war. I am surprised we have not had more stories like this. When the My Lai affair came to light and Lt. Calley was court martialled, a frequently quoted defense was "this happens all the time".
A prominent radio whiner named Michael Medved doubles as a movie critic. His opinion of "Redacted" was liberally quoted today, and through the miracle of internet copy paste it is available for my use.
For the record, Mr. Medved was draft age during Vietnam. To quote his biography "Medved enrolled in Yale Law School after winning a generous fellowship, while teaching 7th and 8th grade three hours a day to earn an "occupational deferment" with the Vietnam era Selective Service System."
Backted to "Redacted". Mr. Medved has evolved into a self proclaimed conservative, and a supporter of the War in Babylon. He did not appreciate "Redacted". This is his right as a pundit/critic, although in the legal system this conflict of interests would cause him to excuse himself. Where Mr. Medved goes too far is with this comment:" Nowhere does DePalma indicate that the chief victims of the so-called insurgents aren’t US forces, but Iraqi civilians. All reputable sources show Iraqi terrorists taking the lives of far more of their countrymen then American troops have claimed, and there’s no sane basis to expect that this murderous rampage will magically cease once our soldiers come home. The idea that the US remains in Iraq in order to torment and dominate Iraqis – rather than to protect innocent civilians from the monstrous cruelty of Islamo-Nazi killers – remains one of the big lies of the anti-war movement."
Huh? Holy rhetoric Batman. If it weren’t for the American invasion, would there be insurgents? Or, for that matter, foreign fighters aka Al Queda? Maybe these fighters are offing more Iraqi Civilians than Americans. That doesn't justify the rape/murder of a teen age girl by American forces.
The Iraqi people, who are fighting back, also note this brutality by Al Queda. This is the one part of the much vaunted surge success that I can believe, that Al Queda has gone too far. The simple truth remains that the primary reason these fighters are in Iraq is to fight Americans...if there had not been an invasion, these fighters would be somewhere else.
I have no plans to see "Redacted", despite all the lovely publicity from the wingnut fringe. Of course, if this post makes someone want to see the movie...
Spell check suggestions for this feature:
Lai-Al, La, Lao, lay, laid,lab, lad, lag, lap, law,
Calley- called, caller, caleb, alley, galley, valley
martialled-marital, marmalade
Medved- meddled
DePalma- deplane, diploma
wingnut- WinNT