Documentaries

Here's a list of documentaries I've watched lately with a few comments on some of them.

Occupation: Dreamland (2005)

Combat Diary: The Marines of Lima Company (2006) (V)

Of these two, The Marines of Lima Company is a far better documentary in many ways, although it seems to be lesser known. Lima company is based in Columbus Ohio and had suffered the most casualties of any company in Iraq, something along the lines of 23 out of 125. Most of the documentary is based on footage from small handheld video cameras that the marines had with them which they would set them on a ledge in a firefight, etc. That's one of the big differences between these two documentaries, on is more like first hand documentation of what is going on and the other shows the marks of the documentarian too much. E.g., you can tell that a G.I. has just been asked a leading question by the documentarian and then you have to listen to his long-winded answer or short rejection of it. The problem with Dreamland is that it's generally structured that way and the company that it's based on is general infantry instead of marines and the G.I.s in it generally aren't very intelligent. They say as much, as one put it: "You shouldn't make A feel bad about being an A because A will never be B." or some such.

Also on the list:

Islam: What the West Needs to Know (2006)

Protocols of Zion (2005)

Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West (2005)

I also watched Glen Beck's special that was on YouTube somewhere. He seems to be doing something on the issue every night, example. (A word of caution to the tender hearted, he's pointing out that the plot of Iranian TV shows are based on things like Jewish doctors stealing the eyes of Palestinian children. I.e. fascist hate propaganda mixed with some ancient blood libels.) Like the Pope, Beck is basically putting his life at risk because of this fantastic bit of logic typical to the Muslim street, as ignorant and stupid as it is: "You are citing evidence that Islam is not a religion of peace, therefore we will now riot in the streets and demand your death!"