This was supposed to be an expose on JSOC until the gov't outed themselves after they killed Osama in the middle of the making of the doc. Then filmmaker changes the story line, and while it's sad to see innocents die, in every war there is collateral damage. Filmmaker tries to garner sympathy - but what I don't understand is, the movie mid-flight changes focus to the assassination of Al-Awlaki, who was arguably the most evil terrorist, in the history of mankind. You, as a viewer, are supposed to be outraged with the American gov't because an American hiding out with Al-Qaeda in the mountains of Yemen was targeted for assassination. That might outrage me if he wasn't on a level with a guy like, I don't know... Osama Bin Laden? I was pretty offended to be honest as the film went on, however what kept me incredibly interested was the filmmakers obsession with seeming, looking, and acting balls-out cool. This guys ego is the size of Texas and you can tell that in every frame his appearance was paramount to the actual story. The perfectly manicured 2 day beard, the sunglasses, I mean this guy must have the women lined up. I don't knock him for that.
Now, they make this Awlaki out to be a guy who merely criticizes the American gov't. They even make a point to show him denounce the 9/11 attacks shortly thereafter, however don't show when he told some Muslim kids in a school the next day to never trust a non-Muslim and Americans are out to destroy Islam. He also fails to mention that when his teenage son was killed two weeks after him, his "innocent" son was with high ranking Al-Qaeda officials. Nor is there any mention that when Awlaki was killed, he was in fact with many high value targets, including the editor of Al-Qaeda's propaganda machine.
Filmmaker's whole argument (I guess) is that Awlaki was an American citizen, therefor it was unconstitutional without a fair trial. He points out that "even" the "American Taliban" received a trial. However, filmmaker omits the fact that Awlaki fled the country while wanted, had a long criminal record including everything from prostitution to massive fraud. He lied about his birthplace to get foreign scholarships and had phony passports. His number was found in 3 of the 9/11 hijackers phonebooks, he also exclusively counseled the Fort Hood shooter in the 6 weeks prior to the deadly attack. He was involved in pretty much every major terror attack in the last 15 years.
I knew about this Awlaki for many years, so watching this documentary wouldn't have been so sickening if it weren't quite funny in its desperation. In the end, filmmaker is the real star, constantly looking like a secret agent, always trying to look and act cool. The fact this was nominated for any award let alone an Oscar is pure insanity.
Bottom line - does the U.S. gov't cover up mistakes and botched missions? Of course. They always have and guess what - so does every gov't because no gov't is perfect and politicians don't like to be embarrassed. It is terrible that innocent people die in war, but the fact is NATO's success rate in these type of attacks is quite high. If the killing of innocents is what you want to make a film about, you should be applauded but anyone who sympathizes with Al-Qaeda is worthless.
Now, they make this Awlaki out to be a guy who merely criticizes the American gov't. They even make a point to show him denounce the 9/11 attacks shortly thereafter, however don't show when he told some Muslim kids in a school the next day to never trust a non-Muslim and Americans are out to destroy Islam. He also fails to mention that when his teenage son was killed two weeks after him, his "innocent" son was with high ranking Al-Qaeda officials. Nor is there any mention that when Awlaki was killed, he was in fact with many high value targets, including the editor of Al-Qaeda's propaganda machine.
Filmmaker's whole argument (I guess) is that Awlaki was an American citizen, therefor it was unconstitutional without a fair trial. He points out that "even" the "American Taliban" received a trial. However, filmmaker omits the fact that Awlaki fled the country while wanted, had a long criminal record including everything from prostitution to massive fraud. He lied about his birthplace to get foreign scholarships and had phony passports. His number was found in 3 of the 9/11 hijackers phonebooks, he also exclusively counseled the Fort Hood shooter in the 6 weeks prior to the deadly attack. He was involved in pretty much every major terror attack in the last 15 years.
I knew about this Awlaki for many years, so watching this documentary wouldn't have been so sickening if it weren't quite funny in its desperation. In the end, filmmaker is the real star, constantly looking like a secret agent, always trying to look and act cool. The fact this was nominated for any award let alone an Oscar is pure insanity.
Bottom line - does the U.S. gov't cover up mistakes and botched missions? Of course. They always have and guess what - so does every gov't because no gov't is perfect and politicians don't like to be embarrassed. It is terrible that innocent people die in war, but the fact is NATO's success rate in these type of attacks is quite high. If the killing of innocents is what you want to make a film about, you should be applauded but anyone who sympathizes with Al-Qaeda is worthless.