http://www.billoreilly.com/currentarticle Betraying the Troops By Bill O'Reilly for BillOReilly.com Thursday, Nov 15, 2007 Just in time for Thanksgiving, the vile movie "Redacted" is opening in a few theatres this week. The film, financed by billionaire Mark Cuban and directed by far-left bomb thrower Brian DePalma, features drunken American soldiers in Iraq raping and murdering a 14-year-old girl and then slaughtering her family. As stated in this space two months ago, a depiction like this will be displayed prominently on jihadi websites, and will be used as a recruiting tool by terrorists. No doubt. Both DePalma and Cuban are unrepentant and apparently could not care less about putting U.S. troops in even more danger. Cuban opines that it is wrong to condemn the film without seeing it, but that's incredible nonsense. No one denies the movie puts American soldiers in the worst light possible. As one reader emailed, "Saying you can't condemn 'Redacted' without seeing it is like saying you can't condemn crystal meth without taking it." So what's to be done here? In a free society, Mark Cuban is entitled to make this despicable movie. Our military people have fought and died to give him that right. Isn't that ironic? Cuban uses his freedom and his money, made in America, to put our troops at further risk. How does the guy live with himself? This isn't about the Iraq war or the war on terror. This is about fellow citizens. Even during the ultra-contentious Vietnam conflict, Hollywood didn't make films that aided the enemy. Jane Fonda made a personal appearance in North Vietnam that did that, and she is still paying for it to this day. Mark Cuban owns the Dallas Maverick basketball team and has been seen gyrating on TV's "Dancing With the Stars." While Cuban is doing the cha-cha, almost 200,000 brave Americans are on far-away battlegrounds. Picture the image of Cuban dancing around juxtaposed with scenes of the hardship our troops face everyday. Sounds like it would make an interesting movie sequence, don't you think? There comes a time when good people must make a stand, and this is one of those times. Cuban and DePalma have done a bad thing; they have made life even harder for our troops. So Americans should stand in front of any theatre showing "Redacted" and hold a simple sign: "Support the Troops." There is no excuse for "Redacted." The incident is based on a true story, but those who committed the crimes are in prison for life. You don't celebrate this kind of aberration with a movie—you don't brand the U.S. military with this stigma. Charles Manson is an American too, but does he represent this country in any way? Of course not. And I believe even the odious Manson would not make a movie like "Redacted."
hmm, Casualties of War with Micheal J. Fox? yea, i know it was made AFTER the war, but it sure didn't shed a good light on american troops either. anyhow, i don't think terrorists need such a movie for a their cause. they seem to be doing "fine" before this movie.
This is actually Bill's point. He has no issue with movies being made post conflict, well he does but doesn't oppose their right to do so. What he's unhappy about is that we are in the middle of a war and Cuban is doing this. It's like bulletin board material in sports except now there are people's lives on the line.
Cuban finally does something good. His timing might be wrong but I cant disagree with him. The media only shows you one side over and over again. Its about time Americans see both sides of the picture.
How dare they show the truth?!?! The nerve. And yeah, I think it was a recruitment tool already when it was plastered all over international headlines for weeks. (just not here)
BS. If Clinton had got us into Iraq in Keystone Cop fashion the way W did, Bill O would claim that it was Cuban's patriotic duty to make the film.
Truth? This movie is about a few dumb@$$ thugs who are already in jail for the rest of their lives for what they did. The TRUTH is that this behavior is NOT the norm; however, a movie like this will be shown to those that hate Americans and they'll believe this is the TRUTH about how most Americans and their military treat Muslims. I'm for pulling back the military, but while they are over there, lets not provoke more hate towards them.
Yeah, it's cool to make it tougher on our servicemen and also show a bunch of pics of dead, real American servicemen too. Make the movie... just after our troops have left the country.
My point was that the incident was already highly publicized in the international media. It's not as if it wasn't airing all over the place after it happened...it just wasn't as heavily publicized in the US media for obvious reasons. I don't think that our soldiers are over there doing that...I know it was an isolated incident, but it did happen, and although I don't like a documentary being made about it, the fact of the matter is that it did happen and it is already well known in the international community
