If your NOT american

"Your" not exactly a candidate for Mensa, either. Also, while it's true the flood gates opened for awhile to expand the ranks during the war, the military hasn't lessened in quality. The focus has simply shifted, and it will return to haircuts, liberty attire, and uniform inspections again after the wars have ended. Marines now are better trained, more informed, and better prepared than they were 20 years ago. Of course you'll always get a few rotten apples, but it's the exception that proves the rule.

You also have to remember that this is coming form the point of view of one Solider. And the point of this documentary was not to impress, documentaries are made to inform of us a truth or reality(or at least a truth or reality with an accent from the author). Now, I didn't like this movie because it didn't inform, and it really didn't entertain or keep my attention. (Call me jaded, but I've seen a lot of war docs so the shooting, death and chaos don't grab me as much as a sensitized person would). The movie focusing on the one guy and his dealings with PTSD could of been a better documentary as I think that is, for some reason or another a completely taboo topic. I'm also close to the issue as my brother is in his second tour of duty and is dealing with PTSD too.

And you also can't look at one documentary and say the quality of the marines has gone way down, your seeing them in a very different time from your own and your seeing soldiers in situations that are pretty rare, chaotic, and once again different from your own. Your whole point of them about being "gung ho" and wanting to be the hero may have some truth, but as the Sergeant explained, that attitude changes and they do begin to see the point of their duty outside of just being killing machines(although that's what they said is the best answer for as to why they join the Marine).


There are a ton of ways to approach this problem of the American image, but it would be extremely ignorant to look at this one documentary as the text book definition of the US Armed forces and the kind of people that populate it.

"Hearts and minds was well used by the british and then the americans in the past..."

Read history much?


"I can assure you my intentions are strictly honorable."

I hope nobody it watching this film and thinking the lead figure's perspective is the same as every Marine and soldier in Afghanistan.

I believe they made a film that will only impress americans.

I'm an American and I wasn't exactly impressed with the way things were being dealt with in Afghanistan, especially when talking to the local people in the villages they passed through. You shouldn't generalize these things.

So you think the intelligence you perceived of one soldier is indicative of the collective culture of America? If the world hates us for that, who is it that's being stereotyped? Overcapitalistic attitudes are sadly painful to have to endure, though hardly unique to just the USA (more rightly applied to some circles of the whole first world); but the truth is we're a country of over 300 million people, and just like all countries, all levels of intelligence and compassion exist in our citizenry. What gets plastered all over the media here & internationally are the easy fodder for criticism, just the same with Muslims on FOX News & Christians by the secular media. It's easier to make your partisan point if you tear down the other side by discrediting them with negative examples. Do those examples constitute the entire, or even the average attitude/aptitude of the group being profiled? Absolutely not. Your opinions fall in line with that kind of profiling.

Nowhere in this film does it show American soldiers telling the people of Afghanistan they need iPads & mobile phones. It shows young men stuck with the reality of the situation: America was drawn into this in retaliation for the regime that let al qaeda grow within its borders & oppresses its own people, but between guerrilla warfare, the complicity of the government of Pakistan & yes, the lack of cultural competence & collaboration by the leadership of the coalition on down has lead to a multiyear quagmire. Many people join the military because they feel they have no other option, not for the idea they can force a different culture to adopt their own. The soldiers in the film recognize that they're invading people's lives, but the alternative for them is to leave the townspeople to the Taliban insurgents. I'm not trying to apologize for the war, but you seem to have the mindset that the world is black & white and that you can pass simple judgements on woefully complex situations.

It's hateful for you to sit there and not see the subject as a human being, and understand the story from his perspective, and that is what the filmmaker asks the audience to do. Is he a "saint"? No, but who is.

As a combat veteran diagnosed with PTSD myself, I related to this film & the people in it in ways you could NEVER begin to... Why don't you & all the others like you just skip watching films like this?? No, you wouldn't do that, would you?? Hell no you wouldn't, because then you wouldn't get the chance to play critic & viciously scrutinize America & the members of the American military, the members of the American military who put their lives on the line every goddamned day so punks like you can have & enjoy the FREEDOM to view any films you choose & then have the FREEDOM to speak your minds about them afterwards... What a punk you are... It's really very simple, you're just another Yankee Hater who's life I put Less than ZERO value upon, what I'd love to do right now is to borrow Nathan's pistolo & play a round or 2 of 'Spin of Death' with you... I might even rig the game to lessen your chances... Hell, I know I would :D

Oh really. How many other countries would have the confidence to permit a journalist to be embedded with their front line infantry Marines and freely document the results? Very few, if any. That alone contradicts every criticism you make, little Willy.

Second, these Marines know exactly what is going on in Afghanistan, you may not like how simply they express the situation. You want some more refinement.... get a foreign service officer or an Ambassador to explain it to you.

Third, for you to call this stellar young leader of a small unit a "jerk", shows how disconnected from reality you are. His actions "in the arena" and those of hundreds of other American small unit leaders are in part directly responsible for the US not being attacked a second time by Al Qaeda since 9/11. I'll add to those, the small unit leaders from our Allies... the British, Australian, Danish, French and German among other nations, who have crushed Al Qaeda and weakened their Taliban hosts.

So what if some grandmother/greeter at WalMart gives him a hug after asking about his injury or if he demonstrates what makes him feel safe-- adeptness with a handgun or two. It was a strong documentary well deserving of it's Oscar nomination and the Sergeant is a great leader who has sacrificed for us (and you) with multiple tours on the front line-- I'll take a hundred like him anytime. Obviously, you wouldn't recognize leadership if it struck you in the face- he is strong, tireless, a marathoner, technically competent with all weapons and on top of every situation despite the fog of war. His men respect him. He and his lovely supportive wife are handling the cards they have been dealt very well... your criticism is wrong.