Movie Review: RESTREPO Screening
A thought that kept coming back to me, which I think was stirred by the imagery of the valley seen in the film in a way the book did not, was that there was nothing of strategic value there whatsoever. Even the Taliban was not particularly welcome and tread very lightly among the Korengalis who are ruled by their elders to a degree that has eroded elsewhere in Afghanistan. It seemed with American operations in the Korengal we were replicating in miniature a Khe Sanh or Dien Bien Phu where the conventional army could draw out the insurgents and that the COIN elements were window dressing, Big Army humoring the party line at CENTCOM while playing a joke on the soldiers ordered to go through the motions of counterinsurgency on the ground. Junger, in his talk after the film hinted as much in saying that 150 men of Battle Company could hold their own there but could not do the COIN objectives in Korengal by themselves that required a full battalion.
After the film was over, Sebastian Junger took questions from the theater audience, which had a strong representation of veterans, including two who had served at RESTREPO and family members who lost sons in Afghanistan. He was a straight shooter in all of his answers, even the difficult moral questions and did not pretend he had all the answers or better answers and tried to testify primarily to what he personally witnessed. A performance that would make me comfortable in relying on Junger’s reporting in the future.
A moving and thought-provoking documentary, RESTREPO opens at Piper’s Alley in Chicago this Friday on July 2nd
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Mithras:
June 29th, 2010 at 4:54 am
It’s opening here in Philly on Friday as well, and I am trying to get people together to go see it.
Russ Greene:
June 29th, 2010 at 2:59 pm
"Junger, in his talk after the film hinted as much in saying that 150 men of Battle Company could hold their own there but could not do the COIN objectives in Korengal by themselves that required a full battalion."
If this version of COIN requires resources beyond our capacity to deliver in one high-priority country at one time, what does that say about its wider applicability beyond Afghanistan and Iraq?
zen:
June 29th, 2010 at 7:10 pm
Hi Russ Greene,
.
"If this version of COIN requires resources beyond our capacity to deliver in one high-priority country at one time, what does that say about its wider applicability beyond Afghanistan and Iraq?"
.
That we will be switching to FID in the future. 😉
.
And sponsoring loyalist paramilitaries.
.
Mithras,
.
Glad to hear it – it is a striking film
karaka:
June 30th, 2010 at 6:12 am
Very much hoping this breaks ground in Portland soon. The nearest showing is in Seattle, and three hours is a bit far just to see a film.
Ralph Hitchens:
July 2nd, 2010 at 4:37 pm
After hearing Junger talk about his book at Politics & Prose (in DC) I too am impressed that he is a "straight shooter" whose reporting can be trusted. Can’t wait to see the film.
Chicago Boyz » Blog Archive » Restrepo:
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zen:
July 3rd, 2010 at 4:29 am
I envy you Ralph – DC has all the best panels, seminars, book talks, conferences. Events coming to Chicago are a relative rarity except for the recent efforts being made in the past year by the Pritzker Military Library
MAJ CUNNINGHAM:
August 12th, 2010 at 11:23 am
My commanding general (LTG Webster; United States Army Central) would like to get a copy of this movie. How would I go about in requesting it? Please send point of contact and additonal information. If it can be viewed via web I would appreciate that.
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September 11th, 2010 at 10:02 pm
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