A Great War Film but one not based on facts

Rating: 7/10 (9 November 2009)

The battle depicted in the film is a superbly done heroic depiction. However, as stated somewhere here on the film's web page, Scott nearly did not get the Black Hawks he wanted from the Defense Dept. because they feared the story would not be favorable to them -- and the truth is they had a lot to be worried about. Our incursion into Somalia was not based on helping the hungry people get the food they deserved. Once again, we were trying to interfere with the internal politics of a foreign country, were seen as unwanted interlopers, and thus were treated with contempt by the locals. This is not to take away from the incredibly brave men who gave their lives. Eric Bana's character "Hoot" sums it up when he tells the Josh Hartnett character that he is simply fighting for the man next to him and not any political idealism.
The fact is we (the U.S.) was very interested in Somalia's oil reserves and its strategic location in proximity to the Middle East. You have to ask yourself if we were being so heroic why was the entire city against us? Hmmmm.
The film is a great example of how Hollywood promotes propaganda by offering undeniably touching screen heroics as a distraction from failed foreign policies. That was why the Pentagon almost withheld the Black Hawk choppers, equipment that is ironically named after a race our military committed genocide against to the point of wiping them off the map.
For additional context read an on line article by Allison Kilkenny,
"Al-Barakaat: The Little Charity That Could Have Saved Somalia"
at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ allison-kilkenny/ al-barakaat-the-little-ch_b_204270.html.