Dirty Wars

Written by David Riker and celebrated investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill, the film follows Scahill as he unpeals the layers of the Joint Special Operations Command, the powerful covert military outfit that answers directly—and only—to the president, and whose maneuvers in the Middle East have left more civilians dead than we can know.

The film shows the complicity of both the U.S. government and media in covering up massacres and smearing journalists who do more than phone in PR-spun news.

It's compelling journalism and a fascinating story with which all Americans should familiarize themselves – especially as drones and airstrikes occur with greater frequency and spread to countries such as Somalia, Yemen, and beyond.

Skip at your own risk.

Add "Dirty Wars" to the list of movies that make me depressed to be an American.

Investigative reporter Jeremy Scahill plunges into the shadowy world of American strategic ops initiatives around the world, and the results, while not exactly surprising, are certainly chilling. What he finds are instances of American forces randomly going into obscure parts of the world and carrying out attacks that are as likely to kill innocent women and children as they are any people actively trying to do America any harm. At the center of these operations is a mysterious military unit about which virtually nothing used to be known, until this same unit carried out the assassination of Osama Bin Laden and elevated itself to hero status in the eyes of the American people.

Movies like "Dirty Wars" seem like a necessary evil to me. They bring to light topics that need to be addressed, but at the same time leave me impotently frustrated at my inability to do anything about it.

Grade: A-

A courageous film that brings the truth of America's war crimes to our movie screens. Pregnant women murdered in Afghanistan shot to death by US special forces in their own home. Innocent villagers in Yemen blown to pieces by US cluster bombs. Somali warlords paid by the United States government to kill foreigners. Meanwhile, young Americans celebrate outside the White House after the President announces that a man has been in his own home.

It would be hard for anyone to watch this movie with dry eyes, but how can an American sleep at night after seeing the murders our tax dollars are funding and elected officials are ordering? Hopefully this movie will spark a national outrage against America's crimes against humanity and bring America's military aggression to an end once and for all.

Investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill is pulled into an unexpected journey as he chases down the hidden truth behind America's expanding covert wars.

Regarding Scahill, I may be a little biased. His work with exposing Blackwater impressed me, I was able to briefly meet him and found him a charming person, and he happens to be from Milwaukee. As a fellow Wisconsinite, I cannot help but root for the guy.

Here, he investigates the United States military and government cover-up of the deaths of five civilians, including two pregnant women killed by US soldiers from the Joint Special Operations Command. Interestingly, he focuses on this one case when this is probably not an uncommon thing (what we call collateral damage). This puts a human face on the dead rather just make them one of a multitude.

We see the refusal of Congress to listen, particularly Representative Jim Sensenbrenner (another Wisconsin native). Why does no one care about what our forces do overseas? Also interesting, we see that there appears to be a coordinated effort for the harassing of journalists, both American and in the Middle East. Scahill himself was apparently hacked and threatened, and another journalist is shown imprisoned for speaking out.

Trevor Johnston of Time Out London found the film to be a "gripping investigative doc, which plays out like a classic conspiracy thriller as it follows a trail of clues to the heart of darkness behind President Obama's good-guy facade." I think this is fairly spot on, though to use a phrase like "heart of darkness" or to single out Obama seems off. The real message is here is not that this happens, but that it is standard operating procedure regardless of who is in power.

One of the negative reviewers, Douglas Valentine of Dissident Voice, complained that "the film is so devoid of historical context, and so contrived, as to render it a work of art, rather than political commentary. And as art, it is pure self-indulgence." The second point I wholeheartedly disagree with. While of a higher quality than the average documentary, that should not be a strike against it. The first point is quite valid -- those who do not have a solid background regarding the war on terror may not understand the situations presented. As the film is short (roughly 90 minutes), a few minutes of context would not have bogged it down.

Although not expressed by either of these two gentlemen, I expect the biggest criticism would come from those who want to label Scahill an America-hating liberal for his negative outlook on our military. That is a fair criticism, and I do not know what his motivations are. But to not question power -- especially the powers that we pay for and are subject too -- is to blindly accept it.

None other than former president Teddy Roosevelt said, "To announce that there must be no criticism of the president and to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonous to the American public." Well said, and it is people like Scahill who prove the value of this criticism.

I am writing this review on the documentary Dirty Wars created by Jeremy Scahill. For me the purpose of this documentary was to show awareness and spread the word about this unbelievable secret group that is killing innocent people for really no reason at all. I did not expect to see that much shocking information about our own US government. Jeremy Scahill did and actually finished what some people couldn't. I was really surprised to see Barack Obama involved with the problem. For the US government to actually kill U.S. CITIZENS was very shocking to me. But overall I really enjoyed the documentary and strongly recommend it for everyone. This documentary is a message everyone needs to see.