When I was asked to comment on Restrepo several thoughts ran through my mind. Rather than recount “annoying” scenes as critics usually do, I decided to reflect not only on the implications of my initial reaction to intermittent outburst of laughter in the room during the viewing of the documentary on Thursday, September 30, 2010 at the George Washington University but to also scan the internet to explore what others are saying about the film. Even though, the Sundance 2010 Award winning documentary appears to receive “thumbs up” from supposedly American populace, below are few random quotations I stumbled upon whilst doing a mini-research:-
“The film provides insight into the soldiers and their environment, but it is its own paradox: The more it reveals, the more mysterious and puzzling the war becomes.” August 20, 2010; Rotten Tomatoes.
“Still, my guess is that anyone who sees Restrepo with an open mind will come out saying, I learned something I didn’t know. Reminding us how much we don’t know, how much our beliefs are based on assumptions and leaps of faith — isn’t that what docs should do? It may even be worth going to the theater to see some unchoreographed, unfun violence that really happened.” Margaret Harrison, September 8, 2010.
“The old men are skeptical of both Kearney’s pledge and the presence of his troops in their lives… But Kearney insists that everybody focus on the task at hand… The Americans need cooperation. The villagers need the Americans to understand that the price for cooperation is likely to be Taliban reprisals. The picture that emerges is of war that, if not unwinnable, is a Sisyphean battle in a country made almost entirely of hills and boulders.” Wesley Morris, July 2, 2010.
Collectively, these reviews highlight the unadulterated aspects of the footages, the strong camaraderie exhibited by young immature boy soldiers, likability of heroic American redeemers of uncivilized Afghani villagers versus the devilish not-deserving-life enemies – the Talibans. Nevertheless, what is missing is Afghanis’ perspective with regards to how Americans audaciously invade their country, branding locals as insurgents. At this juncture the meaning of “insurgent” is noteworthy. According to Dictionary.com in international law, insurgent is “a person or group that rises in revolt against an established government or authority but whose conduct does not amount to belligerency.” Thus, considering this definition, Americans are the insurgents making the reverse invalid and unfounded.
Whilst most Americans usually display either a strong sense of patriotism, hypocrisy or shear ignorance with regards to their government’s insurgency against Afghanistan; the crux of the matter lies only with the hope inherent with time. This "hope-with-time analogy" will potentially confirm the conventional belief that society is progressing towards global justice and that tolerance for human rights is flaunted in our so-called new world order. But the reality that injustice and inequality is at the hands of “international human rights gate-keepers” is clearly observed in the statement below:-
“By any reasonable measure, Mugabe has committed crimes against humanity justifying an international response. The United States should propose that the UN Security Council use its authority under the Rome Statute to authorise International Criminal Court claims of crimes against humanity (A case for intervention).” John Kraemer and Larry Gostin, January 5, 2009 - Guardian. Though the above statement is written in a completely different context, by analogy it can be compared with similar analysis drawn from Restropo. In that, it is mind boggling to process thoughts on how anyone could turn blind eyes to their own “sins” but yet have the audacity to accuse another of similar “offences”?
In summary, I emphasize that among the numerous other emotions and thoughts I had gathered whilst sitting in Room 213 of the Elliot School of International Affairs, issues of restoring justice to innocent victims of invasion, cultural disrespect and gross human rights abuse by America overwhelmed me. I asked whether American citizens as well as local human rights organizations could seek and access appropriate avenues (e.g. Court systems in American) and/or regional institutions (Inter-American Human Rights Commission) to file complaints on behalf of innocent civilians of Afghanistan who perceive that their rights have been violated due to America’s occupation? Due to the United States conscientious refusal to sign on to the Rome Statue, it is almost impossible for anyone to bring a case of war crimes against them to the International Court of Justice, certainly not women and children as they are completely absent both from the “war front” and amongst local community members, yet they implicitly disproportionately bear the adverse effects associated with war and conflict. Your thoughts are welcome.
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