Thirty years later, in 1998, Jackson is being court-marshaled for the slaughter of 83 unarmed Yemenite women, children and elderly people. While on the surface Rules is a battlefield and courtroom drama tackling the sticky issues of protecting conflicting U.S. interests abroad, the particular path it follows is blood-soaked and laughably propagandist. Based on a story by former U.S. Secretary of the Navy James Webb, in the hands of director William Friedkin this fiction quickly abandons moral ambiguity in favor of emotion, manipulating common fears and our sense of justice to deliver the antiseptic message that no matter what front-page pictures and outraged politicians have to say, you can bet the stars and stripes our military has a right to shoot civilians in a crisis. The closeups of black-veiled women and Arab children firing UZIs at American soldiers is second only to the scene where the North Vietnamese soldier testifies in court on Jackson's behalf, solemnly saluting him afterwards. The end notes further add to the illusion that this is a true story.
Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel, indeed.
Catch the final installments of this free, avant-garde tour of the West on Monday and Tuesday, with filmmaker James Benning. Benning will introduce both films, and take questions afterwards. Admission is free. For general information, call UA Media Arts at 621-7352. Tucson Weekly .