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WCU - Western Carolina University Publications

Western Carolinian Volume 66 (67) Number 09

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Item 1 - Western Carolinian Volume 66 (67) Number 09
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Western Carolinian Volume 66 (67) Number 09

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Western Carolinian Volume 66 (67) Number 09

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Western Carolinian Volume 66 (67) Number 09

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Western Carolinian Volume 66 (67) Number 09

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Western Carolinian Volume 66 (67) Number 09

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Western Carolinian Volume 66 (67) Number 09

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Western Carolinian Volume 66 (67) Number 09

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Western Carolinian Volume 66 (67) Number 09

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Western Carolinian Volume 66 (67) Number 09

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Western Carolinian Volume 66 (67) Number 09

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Western Carolinian Volume 66 (67) Number 09

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Western Carolinian Volume 66 (67) Number 09

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  • February 14, 2002 GET A LIFE WESTERN CAROLINIAN Point-Counter Point Black Hawk Down Shows True Portait of War ... By Lee Schwarz Staff Writer What were you doing on October 3, 1993? I was watching TV with my parents while 120 elite American troops were engaged in the hornet's nest called central Mogadishu. What a battle that was, as the Somalian militia overcame inferior training and weapons with numbers and determination to really give the Americans a run for their money. It goes to show that it is not the size of the dog in the fight, but rather the size of the fight in the dog. Over 1,000 Somalians were killed versus 19 American dead and 84 wounded. That's a casualty rate of over 85%! Not bad a for a third-world shit hole of a country. Some of the participants commented on how accurately the movie depicted the battle. All I can say is that I am damn proud to be an American after seeing that movie. I am proud we have such souls of valor protecting us. I saw a telecast in which former President Bill Clinton said "I gave the Congressional Medal of Honor (the highest award an American serviceman can receive in battle) to a bunch of them, because they were just trying to kill the injured pilots. That is heroism at its finest. Operation Restore Hope was unbelievable. I mean they were unreal." Perhaps none were more unbelievable than the two snipers who volunteered to go and defend the crew of a downed helicopter. Two men versus two hundred, but they fought hard taking out at least -50 of those about taking the tyrannical regime led by Mohammed Farah Aidid out of power. Famine had wiped out over 300,000 Somalians up to that point. To help the UN sent relieve food to the Somalians. Aidid was taking that food away from the people and using it to starve them into submission. The US sent troops to the Olympic hotel to seize two of Aidid's lieutenants to weaken his regime overall. It was believed that if Aidid went down that restoring Somalia to stability \ would be much easier. In hindsight Aidid died nearly six years ago and things have not improved very I much over there. People still starve. The movie was remarkably well made. The acting and casting were j great. Tom Sizemore really acted the part of convoy commander. And Josh Hartnett was great as well as the rookie unit leader. Ridley Scott has hit another homerun with this movie following 2000's Gladiator. This movie's popularity has only grown since the events of September 11. People appreciate the military a lot more now. How benevolent a country are we to send our troops to fight a military dictator in Somalia, without any benefit other than helping starving people? Say what you will about our country, but the fact remains that we help people in need. I give this movie five black hawks out of five. The troops who were in battle exceed my rating system ... Only From the Side of a Patriotic America By Brittany Harrison Staff Writer When my mother asked me if I was interested in seeing Black Hawk Down with her I decided to discover whether my estimation of Hollywood's sensitivity was too cynical. I entered the theater feeling uncertain and I left feeling justified in my disgust for the Hollywood movie-making machine. Black Hawk Down might aptly be subtitled Blatantly Taking Advantage of Post September 11th Nationalist Feeling. Josh Hartnett, the sweet faced star of this grungy war epic, was recently quoted as saying that this movie had the kind °f message he was proud of, that it made him realize that "we need to Pay attention to what's happening in the world." If Mr Hartnett's conviction came about as a result of his exposure to this movie then his comment might more correctly be phrased "we need to pay attention to instances in world politics when foreign governments stop appreciating American efforts to help them govern themselves." Yet I would be willing to bet that most people who saw this movie fame away with the emphatic^emotional conviction that it's bad when Americans get hurt and it's always the other guy's fault, even when American intelligence fails to do its job. The movie opens with a gorgeous panoramic shot of the desert and what appear to be a few animated corpses. These are the victims of the Somali famine that has come about as a result of the dictatorship of a fellow with the strikingly Muslim sounding name of Mohammed Farah Aidid. Once the necessary justification for American interference is established we are fast-forwarded through some twenty minutes of fast paced military action during which we are supposed to figure out that American soldiers plan to kidnap certain of Aidid's key warlords in order to stop the civil war that has caused the famine. The next hour and a half is nonstop footage of American soldiers being slaughtered by distant black figures holding guns. From the children who apparently rob the American soldiers of their initiative by calling rebel leaders on cell phones and warning them of the American approach, to the Somali woman who ran into the middle of the street, picked up an automatic weapon, and began firing at American soldiers, the Somalis who are not allied with the US are portrayed as relentless black devils with no humanity. The cry of the American soldier who kills the militant Somali woman—"don't make me do it!" — is the theme of this movie. America is the giant of justice, slow to wrath, but merciless in vengeance. I was touched by one moment in the film which came near the end. Josh Hartnett is delivering your typical young-men-dying-in- wartime speech: "No one asks to be a hero." The juxtaposition of this shot with the corpse of one of the nineteen soldiers who died did much to humanize the end of the movie. However I cannot forget the hordes of Somalis—charmingly referred to by the American soldiers as "skinnies"—who never received faces, whose suffering was never made real. I am not interested in propaganda. I am interested in what is real, and reality always has more than one side. Black Hawk Down is not interested in reality. But don't let that stop you from seeing the movie. It hasn't stopped millions of other Americans from propelling it through the ranks in the box office.
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Western Carolina University Publications

The Western Carolinian is Western Carolina University’s student-run newspaper. The paper was published as the Cullowhee Yodel from 1924 to 1931 before changing its name to The Western Carolin...

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