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BATTLE FOR HADITHA Send This Review to a Friend
Add Nick Broomfield’s searing “Battle for Haditha” to the growing list of films laying bare horrors of the misbegotten Iraq War. In this case, hapless civilians are slaughtered by American soldiers, as happened in an actual incident. Broomfield has assembled actors to dramatize the atrocity.
His approach is not merely an account of the incident. In addition to depicting the slaughter, he carefully shows how it could come about. Focus is on the Marines who are under attack and how the death of a popular officer can trigger a lust for revenge, and also fear that leads to lashing out.
The film underscores how U.S. troops are put in harm’s way when they are asked to fight in a mess of a war that should never have happened. The result is an often unbearable strain that can lead to emotional explosions in the face of danger and loss.
This in no way lessens the horror of what we are shown when Iraqi families are ruthlessly killed. The director also pays attention to the passions of those fighting the American occupation. Broomfield doesn’t flinch in his dramatization. The film looks and feels like a documentary even though it is a re-enactment, which helps give it the ring of truth.
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