U.S. OFFICIALS SILENT RE SUCCESS OF ANTI-AMERICAN FILM

[rumpel]

Thursday, February 23 2006

U.S. officials are keeping a low profile regarding the Turkish movie The Valley of the Wolves: Iraq, even as the film continues to attract huge audiences in Turkey and Germany. Today's (Thursday) European edition of the U.S. Army newspaper Stars and Stripes quoted Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as saying, "It is a fictitious movie. ... It clearly does not have any basis in fact, and there is no reason for us to comment on fiction." In fact, however, the movie is based on an incident that occurred on July 4, 2003 when U.S. soldiers arrested 11 Turkish officers, pulled bags over their heads, and detained them for questioning. (The action was never explained; the officers were later released.) Other characters in the film, however, are clearly fictional, including a murderous U.S. officer played by Billy Zane, and a Jewish doctor, played by Gary Busey, who harvests the organs of Iraqi prisoners, which he sells to wealthy clients in Israel and the West.

more
http://www.showbizdata.com/contacts/picknews.cfm/40776/U.S._OFFICIALS_SILENT_RE_SUCCESS_OF_ANTI-AMERICAN_FILM

[KansDem]

1. Have to see this one...

From the Internet Movie Database:

The Valley of the Wolves: Iraq

A record breaker on Turkish TV for three seasons and now a phenomenon, "Valley of the Wolves" is now preparing to shake the world with the movie. The story begins with a true story: "The Hood Event" On 2003, the 4th of July, allied American forces come to the unofficial, half-secret Turkish headquarters consisting of eleven people. The Turkish soldiers suppose that this an ordinary visit from their allies. But this time it is different. In the changing conjuncture, America wants to be the only power "calling the shots". To them, there is no place for Turks in the region any more; That day, eleven soldiers are deported with hoods on their heads with no respect to their soldier ship dignity and in front of the region's people; It's all truth up to this point in the movie; In the story based on facts, Suleyman Aslan is one of those eleven soldiers. As first lieutenant, Suleyman, can't reconcile being insulted and surrendering with his honor. Therefore, he commits suicide and leaves a letter behind. The letter is addressed to Polat Alemdar; Polat Alemdar is a very specially trained Turkish intelligence agent. He has attended several missions in the country and abroad for a secret agency working for the state; Because of his last mission, he has no contact with the secret agency; Living by his missions, Polat Alemdar can't ignore the will of his friend who committed suicide for the sake of his duty. He is in Northern Iraq with his men now. To die for, if needed; They found a different situation than they expected in Northern Iraq. They were after the man who insulted the Turkish soldiers but they couldn't believe their eyes when they saw the situation there. The people of Iraq's values, personalities and history were completely being disregarded. The desired new order was forcing an unacceptable change on the people; The one who is responsible for these unendurable crimes against humanity is a special forces commander called Sam William Marshall and who was also responsible for the hood event. In order to carry out his plan, Sam W. Marshall raids the Arabian wedding where everyone from the region comes together. He kills tens of people. All are civilians. Leila, the bride of the wedding, loses her future groom in the killings. Apart from the people who were murdered there, also a lot of people are declared terrorists and arrested. Destiny shall intersect the paths of Polat and Leyla later fort he sake of the objective that both had ventured to die for; Sam William Marshall is now being chased by all of his sins, Polat and Leyla; You will not forget the movie "Valley of the Wolves - Iraq" adorned with incredible action scenes and heartbreaking stories of humanity.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0493264/plotsummary

[Peace Patriot]

4. Well, if I recall correctly, there were several bombings, and I think one

bombing and then raid (with US soldiers) of Iraqi wedding parties in news reports. I remember reading about a bride losing her husband (and many others) in such a bombing or raid. But of course the US military lied through their teeth about it then--and so they're still lying. I don't know about the Jewish doctor part (selling organs)--don't know if there is any evidence for that. But the rest of it sounds like it's based on true stories. I hope they've stuck to stories that have a basis in eyewitness accounts and truthful news accounts--it sounds like they have mostly, from the above description. There is so much REAL material, they didn't need to invent ANYTHING (except to protect identities, etc.)! Really, what we have done to the Iraqi people--or what has been done to them in our name--is almost beyond contemplating, it is so horrible. And it's still going on. The Bush junta was bombing villages on the Iraq/Syria border all through Katrina--and it got hardly any news coverage. And the torture is still going on. I'm so glad to see someone tackling this head on. Exposing it! The Bushites have turned the whole world against us--and it isn't just illegal, unjust war that is so disturbing to people. It's the ATTITUDES that Bush & Co. foster--the utter lack of moral leadership, that could result in an Abu Ghraib--or in the treatment of these Turkish soldiers. The contempt, the racism, the arrogance, the despicable behavior toward other human beings. Well, I hope it's a good movie--and that it succeeds here, too. That would be something. Maybe we'll finally get our country--the one with ethical bars against pre-emptive war, torture and dehumanization. The country we all know and love--which was never perfect, for sure--but in which a remedy was possible, and in which our leaders were held accountable.

[Cha]

2. Good ol' film makers..

dramatizating what our corporate media won't touch with a ten foot pole.

[AlamoDemoc]

3. how about a link to the movie trailer ? has anyone seen it yet?

[neweurope]

5. I don't think it will ever be allowed to be seen in the Land Of The Free.

By the way even Germany is trying to find out how to forbid the showing of the movie without actually forbidding it. The movie is totally anti-US, and that's a no-no. It's propaganda, though in some (most? I haven't seen it) parts based on facts. Propaganda, though, is only allowed when the "right" side does it.

----------------

Remember Fallujah

Bush to The Hague!

[IndianaGreen]

11. How can it be propaganda when it is based on facts!

The propaganda is the one coming from America!

Here is an example of the propaganda, (Kurds good, Turks bad):

Don't Send Turkish Troops to Iraq
Author: David L. Phillips

October 22, 2003
Christian Science Monitor

Tensions between Turkey and the Iraqi Kurds have worsened since the war. Ankara has been implicated in a series of events fomenting conflict between Iraqi Turkmens and Kurds. Last April, a Turkish Red Crescent convoy was stopped at a checkpoint, and weapons and explosives were found in bags identified as humanitarian supplies; Turkish Special Forces were accused by US military authorities of posing as aid workers and smuggling munitions to Iraqi Turkmen militias. In an even more serious incident on July 4, US troops detained 11 Turkish Special Forces for plotting to assassinate Kirkuk's Kurdish mayor.

http://www.cfr.org/publication.html?id=6456

[IndianaGreen]

6. BBC: Turkish rush to embrace anti-US film

Turkish rush to embrace anti-US film

It is rabidly anti-American, and it is the biggest draw in town.

With a budget of $10m (£5.7m), Valley of the Wolves Iraq is the most expensive film ever made in Turkey - and it is pulling record crowds.

At one of Istanbul's biggest multiplex cinemas the blockbuster is showing on five separate screens and nearly all the seats are sold out. It's the same story across the country.

"I'm back to see it for the second time already," says one student, waiting impatiently outside Screen 10.

"It is anti-American, but we already know what they've done in Iraq. That's the reality. Now we can see it on screen."

The movie opens with a real-life incident: the arrest in July 2003 of Turkish special forces in Sulaymaniyah, northern Iraq.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4700154.stm

[IndianaGreen]

7. BBC (2003): Regret over Turkish troops' arrest

Looks like the US got some Turkish officials to go along with their charade of an apology. It is a good thing this film has come out now.

Last Updated: Tuesday, 15 July, 2003, 11:53 GMT 12:53 UK

Regret over Turkish troops' arrest

The US and Turkish military have expressed regret over the arrest of Turkish commandos by American troops in northern Iraq.

US troops arrested 24 people - 11 soldiers and 13 civilians - in the northern Iraqi town of Sulaymaniyah on 4 July.

A statement released following a joint investigation into the affair said both sides regretted the incident and the treatment faced by the Turkish soldiers in detention.

"Turkey and the United States have decided to ensure better co-operation and co-ordination in Iraq and have agreed to take all measures required to prevent the repetition of such incidents in the future."

The statement, released by Turkish military headquarters, followed bilateral talks on how the Turkish soldiers were arrested and detained for 60 hours.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3067319.stm

[IndianaGreen]

8. Here is the website for the film

I had some trouble loading the images, so be prepared:

http://www.valleyofthewolvesiraq.com/high/main.html

[bpilgrim]

9. ***Trailers***

http://www.valleyofthewolvesiraq.com/web/tvspot1.htm
http://www.valleyofthewolvesiraq.com/web/tvspot2.htm
http://www.valleyofthewolvesiraq.com/web/tvspot3.htm
http://www.valleyofthewolvesiraq.com/web/tvspot4.htm
http://www.valleyofthewolvesiraq.com/web/tvspot5.htm

peace

[AlamoDemoc]

13. thanks for the link....I am hooked...now I want see this movie

[bpilgrim]

10. BBC: Turkish rush to embrace anti-US film

It is rabidly anti-American, and it is the biggest draw in town.


Billy Zane and Gary Busey play "bad Americans"

more...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4700154.stm

peace

[IndianaGreen]

12. Roger Ebert's website has a review of film by Jim Emerson

Turkish Rambo-spy takes on USA

Jim Emerson / February 2, 2006

The latest in a new genre of Turkish popular culture that vilifies the United States, a Turkish movie shows American soldiers in Iraq crashing a wedding and pumping a little boy full of lead in front of his mother.

They randomly machine-gun dozens of people to death, shoot the groom in the head and drag those left alive to Abu Ghraib prison — where a Jewish-American doctor cuts out their organs, which he sells to rich people in New York, London and Tel Aviv. <...>

(The film) opens with a true story: On July 4, 2003, in northern Iraq, troops from the U.S. Army’s 173rd Airborne Brigade raided and ransacked a Turkish special forces office, threw hoods over the heads of 11 officers, and held them in custody for more than two days. The Americans said they had been looking for Iraqi insurgents and unwittingly rounded up the Turks because they were not in uniform.

Still, the incident damaged Turkish-U.S. relations and hurt Turkish national pride. Turks traditionally idolize their soldiers; most enthusiastically send their sons off for mandatory military service.

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060202/SCANNERS/60202001