I saw a screening of Land of Confusion last night at Pittsburgh's Harris Theater, arranged by the Pittsburgh Filmmakers group. Director Jeremy Zerechak was on-hand for a lengthy Q&A after the film, which added even more insight to a film that offers a surprising amount to begin with.
This is the story of a Pennsylvania branch of the National Guard, sent to Iraq shortly after "major military actions" were over. The unit learns their actual mission only after they've arrived -- they'll be the security force protecting the Iraq Survey Group (ISG) as it searches for evidence of the weapons of mass destruction that provided the cause for this war in the first place. As history (and this documentary) reveal, there were no WMDs, which leads these soldiers to question the basis for the entire war -- a startling line of thought, considering these are active servicemen, whom we rarely get to hear from in the middle of a combat zone.
Zerechak sheds light on the mundane nature of life in a war zone, dispelling many myths and rumors -- including the concept that all Iraqis hate America and our soldiers. However, as Zerechak suggested during the Q&A, it's very likely that these people, who are being deprived of their livelihood and decent paying jobs (primarily by unscrupulous American contractors, like Halliburton-owned KBR), will only come to resent the American presence in Iraq increasingly the longer we're there.
In the end, one viewer asked Zerechak, based upon the ever-frustrated reactions of his fellow soldiers, whether his unit felt they'd wasted their time in Iraq. Zerechak's answer echoed that of the ISG's Charles Duelfer, who reminded Congress that the mission of the ISG was not to find the weapons, it was to find the truth. In that, Zerechak said, we succeeded, and therefore, no, they definitely do not feel they've wasted their time.
This is the story of a Pennsylvania branch of the National Guard, sent to Iraq shortly after "major military actions" were over. The unit learns their actual mission only after they've arrived -- they'll be the security force protecting the Iraq Survey Group (ISG) as it searches for evidence of the weapons of mass destruction that provided the cause for this war in the first place. As history (and this documentary) reveal, there were no WMDs, which leads these soldiers to question the basis for the entire war -- a startling line of thought, considering these are active servicemen, whom we rarely get to hear from in the middle of a combat zone.
Zerechak sheds light on the mundane nature of life in a war zone, dispelling many myths and rumors -- including the concept that all Iraqis hate America and our soldiers. However, as Zerechak suggested during the Q&A, it's very likely that these people, who are being deprived of their livelihood and decent paying jobs (primarily by unscrupulous American contractors, like Halliburton-owned KBR), will only come to resent the American presence in Iraq increasingly the longer we're there.
In the end, one viewer asked Zerechak, based upon the ever-frustrated reactions of his fellow soldiers, whether his unit felt they'd wasted their time in Iraq. Zerechak's answer echoed that of the ISG's Charles Duelfer, who reminded Congress that the mission of the ISG was not to find the weapons, it was to find the truth. In that, Zerechak said, we succeeded, and therefore, no, they definitely do not feel they've wasted their time.
