War Zone
August 10, 2005 4:53 PM   Subscribe

iFilm's War Zone has videos "purportedly shot, edited and submitted by U.S. and other coalition troops in Iraq and Afghanistan" as well as videos by "various insurgent or paramilitary groups." Via the Washington Post, which highlights hardcore helicopter ballet choreographed to AC/DC's "Thunderstruck," a Mahdi Army PR video, and what "appears to be fornication in a convertible." The New York Times says "it's hard to say which are scarier: the clips themselves or the advertisements that run with them." [Some clips NSFW.]
posted by kirkaracha (16 comments total)
 
Holy cow. Holy Messopotamian cow. Art and life are swirling around in the desert sands. Damn interesting post.
posted by realcountrymusic at 5:39 PM on August 10, 2005


Very cool. Very unmetafilter.
posted by shoos at 5:43 PM on August 10, 2005


America, fuck YEAH!!

(apparently obligatory disclaimer: The above is a quote from a satirical movie featuring puppets and does not represent the actual views of the poster {although the helicopter ballet to AC/DC music really got my [self-censored].}).
posted by longsleeves at 5:54 PM on August 10, 2005


I dunno, this is just the type of thing I would expect to see on MetaFilter. Very interesting, even more disturbing, and thoroughly shaming.

(I mean the shamefulness of the war if that joke was too convoluted)
posted by parallax7d at 5:55 PM on August 10, 2005


The phrase "posted by kirkaracha" is usually a pretty good indicator of high quality post action.
posted by eyeballkid at 5:56 PM on August 10, 2005


My tax dollars at work.
posted by bardic at 6:09 PM on August 10, 2005


I hate this war, but I loves me some badass helo action.
posted by schoolgirl report at 6:13 PM on August 10, 2005


About the "ballet of Helo's" I don't see any ballet, just a bunch of helicopters flying around, not exceptional at all. /Buzzkill
posted by uni verse at 7:03 PM on August 10, 2005


It's thought provoking to watch these videos (especially the Helicopter Thunderstruck one) after watching the piece Dreamghost linked to just a few minutes ago. I'm not a fan of the war and I am very uncomfortable with the idea of turning killing into a music video but I couldn't help getting a teensy bit hyped up seeing those helicopters swirling around to a soundtrack. Compare that to the videos posted on the jihad sites, many supposedly set to music and designed to be "inspiring" to terrorists and extremists. How different are they really?

I felt sad and angry during the piece on extremist websites, watching the video snippets and wondering at how much they seem to hate the West. But then I wonder what a militant, or even just your average Middle Eastern Muslim, would make of videos like these?
posted by LeeJay at 8:11 PM on August 10, 2005


That's kind of the military helicopter equivalent of that video of cats doing funny things.
posted by carter at 8:46 PM on August 10, 2005


What kind of helicopter is that with the sensor module mounted above the rotors?
OH-58D Kiowa Warrior
posted by Tenuki at 9:23 PM on August 10, 2005


Blackwater Mercenary Sniper. This film is the most intriguing to me. This guy is a contractor/mercenary, and he's just plunking guys left and right while holding a fairly normal conversation. He seems incredibly professional and well-trained, and/or inhumanly cold. There's some background below the film link:

'The 5-man Blackwater crew that was assinged to CPA (Coalition Provisional Authority) Najaf were coming under heavy small arms and mortar fire, the city was being taken over by insurgents. The police stations and hospitals were taken over as well, after a day of fighting off hundreds of insurgents the city had been completely overrun, with the CPA in the heart of the city and no way out.

The Team called up to Baghdad and reported the situation, they said they needed immediate extract which Gen Sanchez also denied due to the fact the city had been overrun and there were no US troops there, only contractors.

Well, Ambassador Bremer was pissed at Sanchez and I remember being on office watch during the massive arguments! Ambassador Bremer and our Baghdad TM Leader got together and Bremer said 'I don't want another Bridge hanging! Get those boys out of there by any means nessassary!' so 12 of us -- 6 pilots and 6 gunners loaded as much as we could in 3 MD530 little birds and headed 70 miles south. we flew in the first day and blind (no comms, and no intel on the heat) to try a resupply, land find out was was going on and then head back, rearm and get ready to go again. Well that night all hell broke lose and we flew back in. Over 1000 insurgents (reported by the F18 pilots) had taken the city and now wanted the CPA after a day of intense fighting by 11 BW guys, airstrikes, a handfull of Marines and 1 sniper we were able to hold them off. After it DIED down and gunships and SF guys finally started to roll in the battle was soon over and we the CPA was saved.

That's pretty much it in a nut shell...'

posted by letitrain at 9:30 PM on August 10, 2005


Wow. What a complete misinterpretation and, indeed, abuse of the highly underrated "Thunderstruck." I mean, of all the things the song might possibly be about, this is absolutely positively not one of them.
posted by Clay201 at 10:52 PM on August 10, 2005


The thunder from helicopters is usually when they crash. Why the U.S. ditched the A10, which was devastating and almost impossible to shoot down, in favor of flaky assault copters is beyond me...
posted by srboisvert at 5:12 AM on August 11, 2005


Probably because the A-10's already paid for, so there's no pork for defense contractors. Slate's Fred Kaplan agrees with you.
posted by kirkaracha at 9:57 AM on August 11, 2005


With all due deference to you guys and Fred K., A-10s are designed to kill tanks, not insurgents. One thing the A-10 does not do is hover. If you have a clearly visible, nonmoving or slow-moving target, a 'Hawg will obliterate it, but for trying to catch muj flitting from building to building, you need a helo.
posted by alumshubby at 5:45 AM on August 12, 2005


« Older Dead Presidents   |   Animal Collectives. Ann Rynd beware Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments