Come one! Come all! See Vincent Gallo feeding off an actual lactating woman! See him run through the snow barefoot! See him … well, see him play a terrorist named Mohammed run from the U.S. military and be degraded down to his most animal instincts in order to survive.

“Essential Killing,” available now via Video on Demand services as well as iTunes and Vudu, follows a Taliban fighter named Mohammed who is captured by U.S. military forces and transported to Europe where he escapes and goes on the run. While evading his captors, he must do what is necessary to survive, including taking life, which we graphically witness beforehand in the film when he kills some private contractors with an RPG.

It comes as no surprise that Hollywood would provide us with a story about the Afghanistan war that is from the point of view of a terrorist. I’m sure liberal after liberal would argue he is an “enemy combatant” and is justified in his killings. Political correctness aside, we witness him murder private contractors and then later murder more people. He’s a terrorist, no matter what the been-in-college-too-long-and-stay-up-too-late-watching-Jon-Stewart types would have anyone believe.

Why would we want to watch a movie where the protagonist is a terrorist? Well, we wouldn’t. But using the word “protagonist” here is a bit of a stretch. Sure, Mohammed is the main character, but there seems to be no attempt to make us identify with him, which is a relief. Instead, the film looks on its own events without much investment or insight. The camera is neutral. We are simply witnessing what is happening. But, hence comes the film’s fatal flaw. Without investment, what point is there in watching this ordeal? Mohammed is forced into some pretty horrid conditions and ordeals, but we could care less whether he lives or dies, so we watch the film with little more than semi-queasy fascination.

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In the aftermath of the elite Naval Special Warfare Development Group’s successful raid to take out Osama Bin Laden last week, I feel privileged to be covering the only film festival in the world to feature films about the military. The Washington D.C. based G. I. Film Festival runs from today through Sunday, May 16 at both the U.S. Navy Memorial at 701 Pennsylvania Ave and the nearby Canadian Embassy. In five short years this outstanding collection of films about the American military experience has became the quality venue for films portraying our troops in a positive light. The festival features everything from combat intense dramas, to personal stories of military families, feature documentaries and shorts to historical epics. This year’s Wounded Warrior night film is the exciting medieval themed epic Ironclad about the brutal aftermath of the signing of the Magna Carta. Through the generosity of corporate sponsors, wounded service men from Walter Reed Army Hospital and Bethesda Naval Hospital will be hosted by the festival for that evening.

Various Hollywood professionals who support the military like actors Robert Duvall Jeremy Renner, Kelsey Grammer, Rick Schroeder, Glenn Close and JAG’s Karri Turner, as well as directors and producers like Ron Maxwell and Lou Reda, are often in attendance. CSI: New York and Forrest Gump’s Lieutenant Dan,  Academy Award-nominated Gary Sinise, will host a reception for Congressional members who have served, or who are currently serving in the U.S. Military. With veterans on both he and his wife’s side of their families, Sinise has been an active supporter of the festival since its inception, as he has of so many other pro-military causes. This year actor William Devane will premiere the drama Flag of My Father at the festival’s Hollywood Patriots Night and a salute to International Warriors will host military films from several other countries.

Last year at I wrote a piece for Big Hollywood highly critical of box-office and morale-killing Hollywood military films like The Green Zone that have dominated movie screens. Well, the G.I. Film Festival has been out front in the battle for positive depictions of the military since it started back in 2007. Festival creators, husband and wife Brandon Millett and Major Laura Law-Millett, first created the festival to combat the continuing inaccurate and negative stereotypes that Hollywood has so often fostered about the United States Armed Forces. In an interview with the Washington Post during the launch of the first G.I. Film Festival, Major Law offered up that, “In movie after movie all you see then was soldiers raping and killing. We want to show something more positive.”

Her husband Brandon emphasized that, “We wanted to do something to focus public attention on the courage and selflessness of the American soldiers.”

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From KGTV ABC San Diego:

Two student filmmakers are bringing the stories of U.S. Marines wounded in combat in Iraq to light. Ryan Smith and fellow student Sebastian Maselli entered their documentary, “The Blood We Shed,” for consideration in the national G.I. Film Festival and it was accepted.

The festival, now in its fifth year, draws entries from professionals, as well as top film schools, but this was a project both were connected to. Maselli spent seven years as a Marine and was among the first wave of troops sent to Iraq in 2003. He finished his active duty tour at the Wounded Warrior Battalion at Camp Pendleton.

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Still reeling from his own personal Whoopi rape-rape Goldberg moment, still on defense after wrist-flicking away the charges against Wikileaker Julian Assange as “hooey,” in an interview with The Wrap’s Laurene Williams, Michael Moore threw a bomb at the U.S. Military labeled Non-Sequitur Finalist of 2010 in a pathetic and revealing attempt to deflect from his own troubles.

WRAP: It appears the allegations [against Assange] are being used to sway public opinion. But is the public so gullible?

MICHAEL MOORE: Rape is one of the most loaded words imaginable. It’s one of the most horrific crimes that exists amongst human beings. They decided to throw the mother lode at him by using that word. But if we want to have a discussion about rape we can talk about the percentage of women who are raped in the U.S. military. It’s a higher percentage than rape in the general population.

Naturally Williams lets that fly without challenge, simple follow-up questions, such as:

1. What do military rape rates have to do with you dismissing these charges as hooey?
2. Where are your statistics? [the links provided by The Wrap aren't exactly definitive]
3. Do other subcultures have a higher percentage of rape allegations than the general population? Like, say, Hollywood assholes?
4. Why don’t you give the U.S. Military the same benefit of the “hooey” doubt you gave Assange?

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Country music star Toby Keith, long known for his active support of American troops serving overseas, was the musical guest of honor in Boston, Massachusetts this July 4th.

Joining the Boston Pops on stage at the city’s famous Hatch Shell, Keith played his hit song “How Do You Like Me Now?” and his famous homage to the military, “American Soldier.”

The host of the event was late night TV personality Craig Ferguson, a native of Scotland, who’s such a fan of America that he became a United States citizen in 2008.

After Ferguson introduced Toby Keith, large screens on each side of the stage displayed footage of Keith’s work with the troops overseas. The video below shows the intro segment and Keith’s live performance of “American Soldier.” (more…)

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Watch it ALL!

It only gets better as it rolls on. (more…)

“The Hurt Locker” lost me when the David Morse character, a Colonel in the field, ordered his men to stop treating a wounded prisoner — ordered that the prisoner be left to bleed to death. This monstrous moment wasn’t even necessary to the plot. It’s just thrown in as an awkward, spellbreaking aside to smear our troops. Then there’s Jeremy Renner’s protagonist who’s so PTSD-riddled and addicted to the adrenaline of war he constantly puts his own men in danger until his ongoing Iraq experience finally strips him of so much of his humanity that he can no longer love his own son.

That’s pro-troop? Well, a lot of people said so and argued with my review – even some conservatives. But one day before Oscar ballots are due, some Iraq veterans are speaking up:

Sunday’s Washington Post:

But to those who were there, Iraq is real life. And they’re very sensitive — some would say overly so — when their war is portrayed via a central character who is a reckless rogue.

Hence a rising backlash from people in uniform, such as this response on Rieckhoff’s Facebook page from a self-identified Army Airborne Ranger:

“[I]f this movie was based on a war that never existed, I would have nothing to comment about. This movie is not based on a true story, but on a true war, a war in which I have seen my friends killed, a war in which I witnessed my ranger buddy get both his legs blown off. So for Hollywood to glorify this crap is a huge slap in the face to every soldier who’s been on the front line.”

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So while Republicans rejoiced over a huge victory in Massachusetts, a far bigger win took place at the Pentagon. The winner, sadly, was political correctness – that infectious mist of brainlessness that turns normal men into Jell-O. A bastard child of identity politics and the self-esteem movement, political correctness is an ideology based on avoidance of hurt feelings – and its ability to render humans into thoughtless automatons makes “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” look like “Mamma Mia.”

I am speaking of the Fort Hood Report, which the U.S. military’s just released, detailing the shooting that left 13 dead. In the 86 page thingy, here’s what you won’t find: the name of the killer, or his Muslim faith. The dudes who did the review argue that those pieces of information aren’t important – their concern is more with “actions and effects, not…with motivations.”

Here in Sanity Village, we call this “super duper crazy talk.” (more…)

While President Barack Obama prepares to discuss potential military strategies for the war in Afghanistan today, the nation prepares to honor veterans of our nation’s wars. On the Monday before Veterans Day, the nonprofit, nonpartisan Institute for the Study of War took a constructive look at major military efforts in Iraq. The Institute presented “The Surge: The Untold Story,” [which you can watch in full below] a 30-minute briefing on the strategy that brought about a massive swing in the course of the Iraq war in a matter of months. The film premiered at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. 

“The Surge” is really a snapshot, briefly summarizing the events of late 2006 to deliver key background, setting the stage and highlighting key strategic elements implemented in 2007 that ultimately pushed terrorist groups out of Baghdad, with the help of an emboldened Iraqi nation.

The story is told in a fast-paced, modern style, transitioning between interviews, live footage and pictures with military-style cuts and zooms. The interviews are very informative, though there were two problems. First, there is little if any negativity reflected in the film when analyzing the Surge strategy. Some opposition would have more effectively recaptured the atmosphere surrounding the controversial troop increase, and also lent further credibility to the effort’s effectiveness. The reason no negativity was shown, however, is that the generals, and now most politicians, agree that the Surge worked exactly as it was supposed to.  (more…)

Helmand Province, Afghanistan

A gunshot ripped through the darkness and a young British soldier fell dying on FOB Jackson. I was just nearby talking on the satellite phone and saw the commotion. The soldier was taken to the medical tent and a helicopter lifted him to the excellent trauma center at Camp Bastion. That he made it to Camp Bastion alive dramatically improved his chances. But his life teetered and was in danger of slipping away. Making matters worse, the British medical system back in the United Kingdom did not possess the specialized gear needed to save his life. Americans had the right gear in Germany, and so the British soldier was put into the American system.

British officers in his unit, 2 Rifles, wanted to track their man every step of the way, and to ensure that his family was informed and supported in this time of high stress. Yet having their soldier suddenly in the American system caused a temporary glitch in communications with folks in Germany. The British leadership in Sangin could have worked through the glitch within some hours, but that would have been hours wasted, and they wanted to know the status of their soldier now. So a British officer in Sangin – thinking creatively –asked if I knew any shortcuts to open communications. The right people were only an email away: Soldiers Angels. And so within about two minutes, these fingers typed an email with this subject heading: CALLING ALL ANGELS. (more…)

President Barack Obama paid a surprise visit to the troops recently in Baghdad. For that I applaud him. The troops were buoyed up by a visit by their Commander and Chief. And that is a good thing. He also praised them for their service and commitment. Also a good thing. Then he went on to say that they had done a remarkable job in giving Iraq a great gift; the chance to govern themselves in a Democratic fashion. A free people now able to seek their own path thanks to the efforts of the U.S MILITARY!

Uh, come again? (more…)

Tonight was a shining night – a night brought to us by humble, sincere men, in honor of men and women whose humility, courage, and selfless acts light up the darkness that sometimes surrounds us.  Acts, that have defined each generation’s responsibility to the next.  Being amongst these men of Valor – men, whose character and love of God and Country are etched into their souls like the monument of Mount Rushmore – men, who have sacrificed with their blood – men, who have defended our freedoms when there were no cameras around to catch them in the act – men, who cherish DEMOCRACY and want to see it preserved – men, whom we should visit, look on, sit with, interview, and ask for advice…instead of South American dictators — men, whose faces should be worn by our youth, instead of the latest in chic CHE Guevara fashion -  – men, who my eight-year-old son instinctually knew he wanted to meet — men, who upon meeting my eight-year-old son told him it will be in his generation’s hands someday to protect our nation – men, whose humility and courage brought tears to the eyes of all in the room – men, who know the greatness of AMERICA – men, who ask nothing for themselves but give all for the country they love — being amongst these men of Valor — goes straight to the heart and points the way for us to take example from – for while we may not all have the privilege – honor or courage to serve in the military, they are a shining example of how we can better serve each other. Tonight – the Reagan Library was truly a shining city on the hill.

Q: HOW MANY LIBERALS DOES IT TAKE TO SCREW IN A LIGHTBULB?

A: SEVENTEEN.

TWO, to notice that there is no light by bumping in to each other, debate whether the collision was due to a sudden increase in the amount of prevailing darkness, or rather, an uptrend in the known absence of illumination…and then blame it on George Bush as part of the 9/11 Conspiracy.

ONE, to start a website that links the dead light bulb as further proof of Global Warming.

FOUR, to set up a mobile texting network to demand a United Nations tribunal investigating Bush/Cheney’s collusion with Halliburton, the Trilateral Commision, the Skull and Bones Society, the NRA, the CFR, NASCAR, the Boy Scouts of America, Lyme disease, and Satan.

NINE, to establish an emergency bi-partisan Congressional Committee to Study the Crisis, spend seventy-five billion dollars as quickly as humanly possible, and eventually arrive at the conclusion that the only thing the government does that’s worth a damn is found in the U.S Military. So they send in…

ONE brave serviceman to enter the darkness and climb up and screw in a new light bulb.

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Your turn, top that!

Please go to this link first – click here – to understand what I’m about to rant about and why I’m so pissed.

Almost 90% of Americans believe the war in Iraq is and was a waste. The Hollywood media feeds the public wasteful, depressing, and horribly fabricated stories. When did the U.S. military become the bad-guys? We are stereotyped “Generation Kill.” I guess that is all we do. All we do is go to Iraq, hunt innocents and slaughter them. I guess that is what I did for eight months while I was there.

I guess I really didn’t save Iraqi families from being tortured by foreign jihadis. I didn’t set up the first ever Iraqi elections. Or see my brothers blown up, shot, maimed, and killed. Getting attacked from Mosques and hospitals–and you know what?  We just took it, day after day we took it and we kept going. An IED blowing up underneath me each day.  We couldn’t fight back; we were ordered not to. No matter how much vengeful, pent up aggression I felt, or how much I wanted to kill, I didn’t act on it. We have a code, Rules of Engagement. “RULES,” rules that are followed.

But according to then Senator and now President Obama, all I did was air-raid villages and kill innocent civilians.  This is a video I will never forget:

People like Pat Dollard and Micheal Yon tell the true stories.

Please watch these clips and tell me if you buy into what is portrayed. Honestly, tell me what you believe. (more…)