Review of Battle for Haditha (2007) by Dudy M — 08 Apr 2008

A very well-made film that depicts just how fucked up war truly is. Watching this film literally made me sick, especially knowing that war crimes were committed in much higher numbers during previous wars (such as WWII and the Vietnam war), thus they are becoming media outlets when something major like this happens today.

I realize that events like this will always happen in war, which is why we shouldn't be marching into other countries to begin with. The killing of innocent people will only incite rage against Americans and further the cause of the insurgencies in places like Iraq, which only makes the situation in the country worse than it was when we arrived.

What was so great about this film was that it felt very real, like you were watching the events as they unfolded. Broomfield did a great job letting his actors improvise on the spot, which helped create this atmosphere. It was also nice seeing the Iraqi war perspective from the other side, instead of the typical glorified American version.

In the end, I felt empathy for the Iraqi's and hatred towards the Marines because of their reckless abandon for the lives of INNOCENT HUMAN BEINGS. These people have lives and families just like everyone else, and they are seemingly treated like they are dispensable. The Marines are taught that the life of one Marine is somehow better than that of an Iraqi, which I find very disturbing. Every human being should have the chance to live, especially when they have done absolutely nothing wrong.