----- Original Message -----
From: <Rrscottnkp@aol.com>
To: "Military Vehicles Mailing List" <mil-veh@mil-veh.org>
Sent: Saturday, January 19, 2002 9:33 PM
Subject: Re: [MV] 'Black Hawk' Boycott
> What makes him so special. Im German, I wonder what the rest of the world
> thought about us after WW2 Mr. Jamal needs to realize that we are
responsible for our actions. No
> matter what size the group, even if we didn't participate in the activity
personally
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A delicate subject indeed, and ANY movie interprets history the way the
Director wants it, and for the results that he or she wants to achieve,
though I doubt if any Director of a movie wants the viewers to go out of the
theatre and attack people on the street who may be believed to be associated
with the group(s) depicted as "the enemy" in a film, even if only on racial
lines.
The rewriting of history, or at least changing the slant of it, is common in
many cultures. We expect propaganda in wartime but less so in peacetime.
Canadian veterans are still furious for example at the Canadian Broadcasting
Company because of their revisionist anti-Canadian renditions of WWII
history in the last decade. Our schools have also diluted our military
history almost completely. The result is that the Dutch people for example
probably think far more (and better of) the Canadian Army than the Canadian
people do! The suspect that Dutch are also taught more about Canadian
military history than Canadians are, but that is another story - one
stemming from the Liberation of Holland in 1944-45, principally by First
Canadian Army.
When you come out of any war movie, you usually have strong feelings towards
the various participants depicted. Usually, but not always, there are the
"good guys" and the "bad guys" whom the viewer is made to feel strong
emotions about.. Some movies show the paradox that both sides (or as in
Yugoslavia - three sides minimum) all believe that "God" (by whatever
name/religion) is on their side. The victors usually write the books and
make the movies and tell it THEIR way. Sometimes, as in "Black Hawk Down",
"Dieppe", "Pearl Harbour" and "A Bridge Too Far" it is the side which lost
the battle which makes the movie/tells the story.
If a movie had been made about the Canadian part of the operations in
Somalia, we could well be having the OPPOSITE reaction from the public
exiting the movie i.e. "Poor Somalis, bad Canadians." Our elite troops, the
prestigious Canadian Airborne Regiment, successors to the WWII 1 Canadian
Parachute Battalion and the WWII joint US-Canadian First Special Service
Force (Devil's Brigade) and the post-WWII Canadian SAS Company etc. screwed
up in Somalia (bad leadership and racists in the unit have been cited as
major reasons, but politics played a part too) and a FEW of these soldiers
tortured a teenaged Somali boy to death. The boy was accused of stealing
supplies as I recall. The end result was a national disgrace for Canada, and
the politicians, instead of fixing the problem, unfortunately disbanded this
proud regiment. The "rotten apples" apples (only a few admittedly, but
enough to disgrace their regiment) were basically then dispersed throughout
the army into "many barrels".
I am now reading the book "Black Hawk Down" and I plan to go and see the
movie. I had the pleasure of flying in US Army Blackhawk helicopters at Fort
Lewis WA on training just before the Somalia incidents, and I had a
opportunity to work all too briefly with the US Rangers, so it will be very
interesting for me I am sure.
By the way, Canadian infantry soldiers are now on the ground (and more are
enroute) in Afghanistan. Members of a secret unit went some time ago
according to the Press, and now some Canadian infantry are there and are
integrated with the US Airborne forces there. Our Press and outspoken people
are slamming the Canadian Forces. Why? because they have agreed to turn over
any prisoners captured to the US. Why the fuss? Because the US is NOT
granting the prisoners "Prisoners of War" status - for good reasons they say
but it makes the paranoid bleeding hearts nervous. Hmmm. Maybe these
bleeding hearts would like to pull guard duty in the Guantanamo Bay camp?
OK, end of rant... Lets see, compulsory military vehicle content.
Announcing: New web site about the BSA Airborne Bicycle at
http://www.geocities.com/bsa_airborne. It is still under construction.
Colin Stevens
(proud of Canada's military and airborne heritage, saddened by the actions
of a few, and further saddened by the disbanding of a proud regiment)
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