"One of the 10 Best films," according to the Seattle Weekly:
http://www.seattleweekly.com/2005-12-28/film/the-10-best-films-of-2005.php
http://www.seattleweekly.com/2005-12-28/film/the-10-best-films-of-2005.php
"Unlike a movie, war has no end," the movie's narrator tells the viewer.
" Friendlies comin' in." Knocking down doors at 3AM, brandishing weapons. It's a raid on someone's home in Baghdad –a "suspect."
"I'm not doin' the wrong thing, I'm just following orders," one of the US Army soldiers comments during the movie.
The film begins in September 2003. Iraq has already been "liberated." Victory has been declared by our President. Heavy combat operations have ceased. The U. S. army has set up a base camp at the late Usay Hussein's palace (former palace). Now it's know as "Gunner Palace." They're not just raiding people's houses in the middle of the night –they have a list.
"Why didn't you knock?" the terrified sobbing woman asks when everyone has been herded together into their living room.
"You can't knock on the bad guys," one of the soldiers answers –in English.
"I don't feel like I'm defending my country anymore, and that sucks," one of the interviewed American soldiers says later in the film.
Routine Intelligence Monitoring Missions (RIMMs), patrolling the streets of Baghdad. "This is a war most thought to be over that's really just beginning," the narrator tells us. The troops are out in the street, playing cops (sort of), looking for Fedeyeen fighters and IED's (improvised explosive devices) placed inconspicuously on the side of the road –or anywhere –disguised as trash.
"They're hard to spot," one soldier says, "because the whole country is trash."
Some "suspects" become "detainees." They're prepared for transfer to Abu Ghraib Prison. For the people under siege, possession of three rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) equals thirty years in jail at Abu Ghraib Prison.
"How do you account for the loss of life?" the narrator asks a soldier.
"I couldn't answer that question," he aswers.
Watch the trailer "Only On Yahoo!":
