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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Filmmaker sez it's an army of liberation, not occupation |
| 2008-01-25 |
| Frontpage Interview’s guest today is Pierre Rehov, a French filmmaker who has filmed six documentaries on the Palestinian Intifada. One of his recent documentaries, Suicide Killers, explores the psychology of suicide bombers. It is based on interviews with the victims of suicide bombers, the families of suicide bombers, would-be bombers themselves, and experts on suicide killer mentality. He is currently in Iraq filming a new documentary on the psychology of suicide killing. FP: So let’s begin with why you decided to go to Iraq. Rehov: After the success of Suicide Killers, and you have to remember that I invented the term by contraction of "Suicide Bombers" and "Serial Killers," I decided to make a new film about the "proliferation" of suicide killing. After addressing this dangerous trend in "Suicide Killers," I decided to go deeper into the psychopathology of individuals who are ready to sacrifice their lives as long as they kill others. The question I am asking myself in making this film is: "What do kamikazes from WWII, Palestinian suicide killers, the murderers of Columbine, Cho at Virginia Tech and other suicide criminals around the world have in common?” "Proliferation" (The tentative work title for now) is a new survey of this phenomenon. I am trying to answer another very important question: "How do we stop it?" Knowing that the US attacked Iraq in part as a response to 9/11, I wanted to see how this was handled. That's why I went to Iraq. FP: Your impressions in Iraq? Rehov: I came to Iraq not knowing what I was going to find exactly. To report on war is not always an easy thing. Since I am here to include Iraq in my next documentary on suicide bombing (the international part of SK), I have been trying to find an angle to use the events here. The army actually found it for me. The job that the US army is doing here is remarkable. Forget all CNN, left wing NYT and other anti-Bush critics, reports, images. The strategy that they are building here is to interact with the Iraqi population, make them understand that they care, try to solve their daily problems and, at the same time, show them that US soldiers are strong, and that they won't let them down. Basically, the US army is replacing a corrupt, non-efficient government, and it is trying to train the population to the idea of democracy. For a long time, I thought that you could not change things among Arab-Muslims, since their culture is so different from ours. But I was wrong to a certain extent, since I forgot one part of the deal. Yes, you can make changes by bringing hope for a better life and help the growth to grow, but on one condition: you have to take care of it yourself. Corruption is so embedded in the Arab mentality (and accepted by the non-corrupted ones) that you cannot just "give them" things. The first thing you have to show them is strength. I would actually call any article I would write "Strength and wealth." You cannot give anything to the leaders and let them take care of their populations. But, when those nice boys with a high ideal go, everyday, at high risk, in every single house, to talk to every single mother, father, of each family, asking questions, gathering intelligence, offering help, you can see the streets of Baghdad crowded again, and people waiving with enthusiasm when the US Humvees go down the street. P: So is this really an “occupation” then? Rehov: Not at all. I have memories of my childhood, when my father was telling me about how the US army conquered Algeria, and delivered them from the Nazis and the French collaborating government. Sixty years later, the US army is acting the same. It is not an occupation army. It is an army of liberation. When I was a kid, my father always told me about the night when the US Army delivered his city, in Algeria. Jews suffered a lot under the Vichy regime, and even in Algeria they knew how Germans treated the Jews. So, during one full night, while sounds of war could be heard in a distance, the rumor spread that the Germans had defeated the Allies and that they would arrive in the morning. French people and Arabs would go down the streets where some Jews lived, chanting : "tomorrow we'll get you, tomorrow you're dead." At dawn, a first armored car arrived in the city. It was bearing an American flag. Next day, life changed for everybody. Everybody who has been through this, remembers the US army bringing freedom and amelioration to their life. The well known image of American soldiers distributing chocolate, coffee, food rations and cigarettes to the population is vivid in my memory, like as if I had been there, in 1942, many years before I was born. What I discovered in Iraq is very similar to these naïve but powerful symbolic images. Therefore, I believe that the impact of the US troops, in the long run, can be the same to the Iraqi population. Everywhere we go, kids are waiving at us, parents too. Every house we go in, the first word we hear is "welcome," "thank you for being here." Certainly the dictators of the world don't appreciate any kind of democratic success. But, on the field, no matter what political side I would be on, I have to admit a very simple thing: democracy is contagious, when it spreads among the people, despite all the efforts made by their leaders, whether religious or secular. FP: What advice would you have for American policy makers toward Iraq? Rehov: From what I see here, the worst of all mistakes would be for the US to withdraw now. They are on the right path. It will take a few more years, but the end result might be good. Iraq is a rich country, full of good people who are tired of the ancient Arab mentality and who want to see a better future for their children. This silent majority is what counts. As long as the US is here, taking care of their security, they can feel strong enough to defeat Al Qaeda and other radical groups from inside. If tomorrow the US withdraws, radical groups are still strong enough to take over power. It would be the biggest mistake the US could ever make. Iraq will plunge into darkness. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #2 TOPIX > IRAQ: US CAN LEAVE IN TEN YEARS. As per DUBYA's = US REGIONAL-GLOBAL ENTRENCHMENT, and given IRAN + ISLAMIST GLOBAL AGENDA, I don't think Iran's Muslim fundamentalists or Radical Islam can wait ten years. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-01-25 23:47 |
| #1 The Army of Liberation[c] since 1775. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2008-01-25 16:29 |