First, while I am a Mavericks fan, I am not a fan of NBA owners running onto the court, or arguing with officials. I will say, this year I am impressed with your demeanor and composure. Kudos for that, but its early.

But this comment has more to do with your unfettered desire for truth. That is to be commended. Too much since 9-11, has been based on fear. Fear wins elections. Fear motivates. Fear, started a war in Iraq that has killed hundreds of thousands of people. Fear has led to the displacement of the Sunni, a buffer against Iran, only to leave a power vacuum ready to be filled by an anti American Theocracy led by the Shiite Iranian backed militia. But why use fear?

\”Why of course the people don\’t want war … But after all it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship … Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger.\” Hermann Goering, Nazi leader, at the Nuremberg Trials after World War II

Oh, it is true I love my country. But I will not brand every military man or woman a \”hero\”. That would be an injustice to the ones that truly are. To turn a blind eye to the travesties and war crimes committed would be a disservice to truth and honor. To pretend a self righteous political action group like the PNAC had nothing to do with this ideology war is incredibly naive. To turn a blind eye to the faults of every country, including ours will lead to our own demise.

The same people who attack you here are the same people who were feared into voting for GWB a second time. They are the same people who attack me when I voice my opinions in various chatrooms and blogs. The shame they must feel must be tremendous. They are responsible for the damage to our country\’s great name and the break down of our civil liberties. That more than any movie, has got to be hard to live with.

An answer will not come from slander or hate on either side. No, it will come from ideas and hope not fear. It is time for constructive dialog; if the politicians won\’t do it, we will. We the people.

Mankind must put an end to war or war will put an end to mankind.\” — John F. Kennedy

R

There is never going to be another \’Winter Solider\’ moment Mark, no Hanoi John Kerry swiftboating the entire armed force down the river in todays day and age. Until you admit your horrible mistake in judgement and make amends, most of America will never forgive you. And it\’s most likely too late.

You can get pats on the back by left wing nut jobs, like Ebert, but the 99.9% of American know what a crude, thoughleess hit piece your and DePalma\’s lie of a movie is.

I can\’t wait for the sequel. Let me guess, Abu Gharib, Right?

In the years to come, I\’ll be like one of the millions of men watching basketball on TV telling my wife that I used to like your passion but since had lost most of that respect because of your involvement in the Redacted project. And I\’m not some old wasp, I\’m a 27 year old wasp as are most of my friends which feel the same way. I think you\’ve offended a larger group of people than you think you have.

I\’m not in the military but I certainly would never try to shed a bad light on. I know who my protectors are and who my enemies are. Yes there are some bad ones in our military, but there are some bad fans in your arena as well and I\’m sure you don\’t like to put a spotlight on them and harm the image of the vast majority.

Never too late for an apology to our military and the supporters of this noble-intended country. It would go a long way at least in my book.

I will seek out all of your holdings and ensure everyone I know and my family will not support those. Furthermore, I\’ll inform all advertisers of all those holdings of the dastardly activities in which you\’re involved and that we won\’t support them as well.

How do you sleep at night?

You\’ve taken so much more from this country than you\’ve put back into it. You and all of your juvenile delinquent celebrity buddies. And you don\’t even see it. You think it\’s all about you, don\’t you?

And you use that wealth and what little talent you actually have, to slander an entire group of people, who are currently (and historically) laying their lives on the line to make it possible for you to enjoy your billions, your easy women, your hallucinigens and whatever other baby toys you enjoy.

You are a moral and intellectual toddler. Enjoy your pacifiers, champ.

It bombed and you lost money. Of course, it will be a hit in the middle east.
Its a sick movie man. Would you support a movie about a Maverick raping and killing young girls?

thought not.

The movie Redacted sinks to the seamy side of what some soldiers did in this war. The depiction of what went on in Iraq is terrible indeed. I wonder if your company would do a film on the positive aspects of this war. Say getting rid of a dictator who uses WMDs on his own people, who killed 300,000 of his own people, who invaded 2 countries, and who paid 25,000 $ to bombers families in gaza. The difficult tasks my nephews are doing over their are not made easier by focusing on screw ups. These men and women have my support, and I am troubled by anyone who seeks to undermine their efforts by doing a Vietnam on them. I see Redacted as an attempt to undermine their efforts. I love the the line we support the troops but not the war. You cannot support the troops if you undermine what they are doing.

Andy Haskin
US Army 1976-1980