Film Review- Restrepo

Just a few weeks ago on April 20th, Tim Hetherington, the director of this documentary about the war in Afghanistan, was killed while documenting another conflict, the civil war in Libya.  During the same attack by government forces against rebels in Misrata Chris Hondros a world famous photographer was also killed.     Wars always have casualties and that is a major theme in this film which takes place at a remote firebase which soldiers named after one of those casualties- a buddy of theirs killed in action earlier during their tour of duty, PFC Juan Restrepo.     

The difficulty and complexity of the job that soldiers do in Afghanistan is shown in various ways throughout this film, including combat and firefights, but also in trying to communicate with locals, living in difficult conditions, day to day boredom and missing home.   The bond and camaraderie of the men shine throughout.  At times this film is very moving.  I’m a big fan of the documentary genre because it captures real life instead of the dramatized version that you see in Hollywood movies.  Real life can be dirty, awkward, confusing and completely unpredictable and this is a story about such events in the lives of US troops on the front lines in the remote and dangerous Korengal valley.   

Restrepo is not for shallow action movie junkies, though it has its share of action.  The real value of this film is in its authentic depictions and honest descriptions from the soldiers about what they were thinking, feeling and experiencing while far from western civilization and a world away from home in a third world combat zone in Southwestern Asia.   It is a much needed reminder of what soldiers continue to experience daily, monthly and yearly in this decade long, ongoing conflict.

Buy Restrepo at Amazon.com:
Restrepo [Blu-ray]

Book Review- Kill Bin Laden: A Delta Force Commanders Account of the hunt for the world's most wanted man by Dalton Fury

This is another book which has been out for a while but is relevant for review because of the recent death of bin Laden.  Like Lone Survivor, this is an eye witness account of events in Afghanistan from the perspective of a member of the Special Forces, this time Delta Force.  It is about the initial hunt for bin Laden and the battle of Tora Bora, nearly a decade ago in the wake of 9/11.  I read this while bin Laden was still alive and now that he is dead there is a happier ending to the story, though it exists outside of the book.  Apparently this book is being made into a movie soon.  It will be interesting to see the film now that bin Laden is dead, since he was still alive when the book was written.

Again, like Lone Survivor this book is insightful concerning Special Forces and this time it is from an officer’s point of view.  You get a real sense of camaraderie between he and his men and the patriotism that existed in the US military immediately following 9/11.  The main idea I captured from this book is that US military with the help of Afghan freedom fighters came very close to killing Bin Laden during this battle, but due to politics, the fog of war and other factors he slipped through their fingers for almost the entire next decade until his recent death in Pakistan.  

Delta Force is one of the most mysterious military units in the world, but this book is insightful about it without being transparent.   It is also insightful about the roots of the war in Afghanistan which has since become a complicated, drawn-out conflict with no real end in sight.  In December 2001, there was no Iraq war, no large scale military buildup or surge in Afghanistan, but there was the fresh memory of the twin towers and a small elite force with boots on the ground in the country that was harboring the perpetrator of the crimes of 9/11 with their sites zeroed in on his hiding place.  It is incredible to read about these events with the knowledge of what came after.  I can’t help but wonder if things had turned out differently in Tora Bora if the past decade of US military action would have been very different as well.  We will never know.  We do know however that the story in Kill Bin Laden has finally found it’s real climax in 2011.    

Buy Kill Bin Laden at Amazon.com:

Kill Bin Laden: A Delta Force Commander's Account of the Hunt for the World's Most Wanted Man

Book Review- Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 by Marcus Luttrell & Patrick Robinson

This book has been out since 2008, but because of the recent death of Osama Bin Laden, I thought it would be an appropriate title to review, since it is the true story of a Navy SEAL team’s experience in Afghanistan.  As the subtitle says, this is an eyewitness account and as I read it I couldn’t help but feel like I was there witnessing these events.  Along with help from British author Patrick Robinson, Marcus Luttrell has written vivid descriptions of the events that he witnessed when his team was ambushed by an overwhelming force of Taliban fighters in the mountains of Afghanistan.  You can tell that his experiences have had a profound effect on him.

Besides the account of intense combat, the book also talks a lot about SEAL training as well, which many people will find interesting after the recent raid on the bin Laden compound by Navy SEALs.  It is difficult to imagine the physical and mental challenges these men experience during their training and specifically during “Hell Week”.  While reading this book you will learn just what these elite warriors have to go through to earn the title of SEAL and what they go through while deployed to Afghanistan.    

I’ve read a lot of books over the past few year’s concerning the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and this one is among the best of them.    If you are interested in military history and specifically the Global War on Terror or if you just want to read something action packed, I recommend this book to you.  After reading it I have a better appreciation for Special Forces and specifically Navy SEALS and the hard work and sacrifice that is required of them.  They truly are the elite of America’s armed forces. 

Buy Lone Survivor at Amazon.com:
Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10

Top 10 Underappreciated War Movies

I'm a big fan of war movies as I'm sure many of you are if you're at all interested in military history.  Some are better than others of course, but many are just not appreciated as much as they should be (in my humble opinion).  Check out the review I wrote a couple of months ago at epinions.com about underappreciated war movies:

http://www.epinions.com/content_5494841476

There are a lot of lists on epinions about what are the best war movies out there, but I thought it might be nice to add in some of the lesser known films that get ignored or just haven't been seen by as many people.  Check out some of the other lists too, especially if you're new to the genre. To get to these just click on the link above and then click on the tab that says The 10 Best War Movies.  There are a lot of worthwhile war movies to watch and this is a great way to find out about them as well as to see where your favorites are on other people's top 10 lists. 

The Most Invaded Places On Earth

In light of the various conflicts going on in the Middle East I’ve been curious about what is the most invaded or conquered country or territory in the world throughout history.  Iraq and Afghanistan would both be high on the list along with other Middle Eastern countries.  Iraq (or historical Mesopotamia) has been invaded or occupied by the Macedonians (under Alexander the great) the Persians, Romans, Mongols, Ottoman Turks, British and Americans, not to mention lesser known invasions in classical antiquity and the middle ages.   Afghanistan has been invaded by many of the same powers as well as an invasion by the Soviet Union in the 1970s and 1980s.  Other countries that come to mind that would be high on the list of most invaded country/territory are Egypt, Poland, the Balkans, Vietnam (or historical Indochina) and Korea.

What do most of these countries have in common?  Location.  The majority of these countries are small strips of land located in strategic positions historically between much larger powers.  Poland is crammed between Germany (or historical Prussia) and Russia.  Egypt, Iraq and other Middle Eastern countries have locations that have been between or on the outskirts of various empires throughout history- the Greeks, the Romans, the Persians, the Ottomans etc.  Certainly there are other reasons as well that some of these countries have been invaded, including oil and other resources.

On searching this topic out, it appears that there isn’t a clear winner for “most invaded country or territory”.  Partially this is because it would have to be defined exactly what constitutes an invasion and what would be considered a territory or country throughout history as many countries and territories have changed names and borders over time.  You could include many African countries if you consider colonization as invasion.  Despite the question of definition it is clear that there are a number of countries which have historically changed hands multiple times throughout history and who’s histories are filled with warfare, foreign occupation, oppression, political and civil unrest. 

It is interesting (and tragic) that many of these locations have unrest to this day.  There are tribal, sectarian and political tensions in Iraq, Afghanistan and specifically Egypt most recently.  Korea, Vietnam, several Middle Eastern and Balkan territories have had civil wars, the splitting and breaking up of territories and genocides as recently as the 20^th and 21^st centuries.  Wars or revolutions are ongoing in many of these areas to this day.  Despite the death of Bin Laden, there is no end in sight for the War in Afghanistan and the future is still questionable in Iraq and Egypt and several other Middle Eastern and Arab countries.  History does repeat itself on many levels and the effects of the past continue to linger in these much fought over parts of the world. 

For more information on this topic, check out the links below:

http://faroutliers.wordpress.com/2003/12/27/the-most-invaded-territory-sweepstakes/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_invasions

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Iraq

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Afghanistan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Balkans

2011: The Most Eventful Year Since?

We are living in an exciting time in 2011.  Big news has been the norm for the past few months and much of it is ongoing.  Lately, I’ve been finding myself reading and watching the news and asking “what’s next?”  Beginning with the Arab uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, both Tunisia and Egypt have gone through regime change.  Libya and Syria have ongoing civil unrest and warfare and a number of other countries have had various levels of violent and non-violent protests from Algeria to Iran.  The US and NATO have been engaged in a no-fly zone and conducted numerous airstrikes on Gaddafi’s forces in Libya.  There have been huge natural disasters over the past few months as well- the earthquake/tsunami in Japan which led to thousands of deaths and a nuclear crisis and the record tornado outbreak in the south and midwestern US.  Then there was the raid that finally killed Osama Bin Laden.  Oh... and lets not forget about the once in a generation royal wedding.  We are presently witnessing history in the making around the world.  In a few years, teachers will be lecturing on these present events alongside other events in history that have already shaped the world.

The full impact of most of these events remains to be fully understood.  Specifically, it will be interesting to see how the death of Bin Laden will affect the democratic protests in the Middle East over the coming days and weeks.  Yesterday, ABC news showed members of the Muslim Brotherhood celebrating Bin Laden’s death- a surprising response from such a fundamentalist Islamic group.  Pakistani citizens have openly thanked the US and Obama for ridding the world of the man many have accused of hijacking Islam for the sake of hatred and violence. 

We can’t know for sure if there will be more natural disasters in the near future, but there is more predictability with many of these other events and we can watch them unfold and evolve.  There is hope for the Middle East and North Africa, but with Gaddafi still in power, violence still ongoing in the Syria and other Arab countries, wars ongoing in Libya, Afghanistan and Iraq, there is still much to be concerned about in the world.  We will continue to see history unfold throughout the rest of 2011 and further into the future during this fascinating time.  I for one will be trying to take it all in and trying to understand the implications of these events for the near and distant future with the limited foresight that the knowledge of the present and past can give. 

9/11/01 + 3406 is better late than never

I don't want to sound cold blooded on my first post, but like many of us around the world, I’m glad that Bin Laden is dead.  It took almost 10 years to hunt him down, but better that it took this long and that his life ended the way that it did and that such justice was done to him.  He had time to see that it was an American soldier taking his life and he had time to process fear, not unlike the fear that he instilled upon millions in the US and around the world.  He died appropriately and in that sense, it was worth the long wait.  It is bittersweet, but the sweet part is that we are now in a a post Osama Bin Laden world, we have left the bitterness of his life behind us.  May that be a greater cause of celebration for us than his life and deeds ever were for other violent extremists.