Three guys sent to Iraq as National Guardsmen agree to record their experiences on miniDV cameras. One’s a father with a shitty job who seems too depressed to think clearly — He sees the 9/11 bombings and signs up to go to Iraq (um, relation?). One’s a hardcore diarist who seems strangely stoic. One’s a Lebanese immigrant who notes that sending a buncha guys to Iraq with no cultural education whatsoever’s going to cause problems.
The War Tapes show the footage shot by these 3 men — along with post-mission interviews (luckily, they all survived).
We hear the depressed guy’s continuous racist exhortations about how “we” should just kill “them.” We hear the Lebanese-American explain how HalliBurton can make $50+ per meal while soldiers are assigned to guarding HalliBurton’s food trucks: “I feel like the priority of KBR (Halliburton) making money outweighs the priority of safety.” We see the diarist point out the irony where, after being trained to dehumanize and kill Iraqi militants, he’s reprimanded for shooting grotesque footage of dead Iraqis in which he says he was glad they’re dead.
Perhaps the most fascinating part of the movie’s hearing what these guys think the war’s about once they get back to the US. The depressed guy says he thinks its not just about oil, but basically that a war for oil’s okay since the US can’t live without oil. The diarist admits the war’s prolly about oil — then says we better get the oil since so many lives’ve been lost over it at this point. The Lebanese-American seems most sedate, saying “I love being a soldier. The only bad thing about the army is you can’t pick your war” — but then signs up to go back.
The film doesn’t draw firm conclusions; it just shows the perspectives of these guys. But that said, the perspectives — even if diverse and full of rationalizing slants — seem to converge on the fact that the war seems quite clearly about oil and money.
What I found compelling was that this knowledge led to completely different motivations and actions for the 3 videographers featured. Which, in a way, showed how even dehumanizing wars are fought by individuals yearning for some sort of individual, human recognition –
Wow, really interesting piece. At first you want to run out, see the movie, and then shout at everyone you know to do the same. But then, what if you watch it and end up like the soldiers, more confused and anxious than when you started? Perhaps that is the dehumanizing nature of war — it exceeds our capacity for making decisions and drawing conclusions. This will be damning evidence for our children.
Comment by scott — September 7, 2007 @ 10:37 am