Skip to main content

ATTENTION: This site is no longer active but remains as an archive.

Iraq Veterans Against the War has become About Face: Veterans Against the War. About Face can be found at aboutfaceveterans.org

Iraq Veterans Against the War

Join IVAW

Donate to IVAW

  • About
    • Founding of IVAW
    • Mission, Values, and Vision
    • War in Afghanistan
    • Why We Are against the Wars
    • Resolutions
    • IVAW Timeline
    • Board of Directors
    • Advisory Committee
    • Staff
  • Events
  • Campaigns
    • Operation Recovery
    • Winter Soldier
      • Breakdown of the Military
      • Civilian Testimony
      • Corporate Pillaging
      • Cost of War at Home
      • Crisis in Veterans Healthcare
      • Future of GI Resistance
      • Gender and Sexuality
      • Legacy of GI Resistance
      • Racism and War
      • Response to DoD
      • Rules of Engagement
      • Press Coverage
      • Press Releases
    • Right to Heal
  • Members
  • Resources
    • AWOL
    • Active Duty
    • Conscientious Objector
    • Depleted Uranium
    • History of Resistance
    • IRR Reactivation
    • Lariam
    • PTSD
    • Profiles of Resisters
    • Resources for Veterans
    • Stop Loss
    • Women's Resources
    • Mesothelioma
  • Press
  • Contact
    • Press
    • Speaker Request

IVAW Recommends: 'You Don't Like the Truth: 4 Days Inside Guantanamo'

published by Rachel Moody on 09/22/11 5:35pm
Posted to: 
Staff

Film Review by Sarah Edkins, B.S. Film Studies

You Don’t Like the Truth, a new documentary by Canadian filmmakers Luc Côté and Patricio Henriquez, tells the story of Omar Khadr, the 15-year-old Arab-Canadian detained at Guantanamo Bay since 2002. The film will be screened at New York City’s Film Forum on 209 W. Houston St. for a one-week engagement from Sept. 28 – Oct. 4 at 1, 3, 6:10, 8:10, and 10:10pm daily.

Côté and Henriquez’s film builds on surveillance footage of Khadr’s interrogation by Canadian intelligence in 2003, recently declassified by Canadian officials after the supreme court there ruled that the interrogation violated Khadr’s constitutional rights as a citizen under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The footage is contextualized by interviews with reporters, lawyers, activists, and officials familiar with the case, as well as infamous U.S. Army prison guard Damien “the Monster” Corsetti and Khadr’s cellmates, including Moazzam Begg and Omar Deghayes (both of whom have appeared alongside IVAW member Christopher Arendt in panels and films about Gitmo). The directors make odd use of space and time in framing these interviews, using picture-in-picture techniques and graphic displays of the video controls and calibration to suggest that each subject is watching the surveillance footage and commenting in real-time about Omar’s long and murky battle with the U.S. Military.

Omar Khadr is a first-generation Canadian of Egyptian and Palestinian descent. His father, Ahmed Khadr, traveled to Afghanistan as an aid worker during the Soviet Invasion of the 1980s, where he may have made contacts with majors players in what would later become Al-Qaeda. The Khadr family traveled regularly between Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Canada throughout the years to follow. In 2002, 15-year-old Omar was inside a compound believed to house Al-Qaeda or other militants. An extensive firefight ensured, from which Khadr emerged the only surviving “enemy combatant.” U.S. forces allege that Omar threw a hand grenade at the American unit, killing SFC Christopher Speer. Because Speer was a trained medic, his death constituted a war crime.  The badly wounded Khadr was thus taken into custody, shipped first to Bagram and then to Guantanamo, where Omar, his cellmates, and captors testify he endured intense torture and pain.

The film presents much evidence of Omar’s innocence, makes a case for self-defense, and exposes a number of holes and deficiencies in official interrogation tactics and the case against him. It may leave us with more questions than answers. But most importantly, it highlights the reality on which Omar’s Guantanamo cellmates, high-ranking Canadian Foreign Affairs officials, UN Representatives, and self-described conservative U.S. military lawyer can agree: Omar Khadr, whether a radical Islamist or a bright young translator, a perpetrator of war crimes or a victim of them, was ultimately a child. This fact becomes heartbreakingly apparent as we watch him sit and cry, alone in the interrogation room, for his mother (!يا أمي, يا أمي).  And as a child, he is indubitably a victim—of radicalism, of militarism, of hate and of apathy.

You Don’t Like the Truth takes a critical look at the complexities of the Global War on Terror, a defunct military legal system, and a web of ever-changing alliances. It forces us to question how we, as a nation among the strongest advocates for human rights worldwide, can also be among the greatest offenders. We have seen it time and time again in Iraq, Afghanistan, and on our own soil. In protecting our values of freedom, justice, and democracy, are we also violating them?  Although the film may be overwhelming and difficult for some veterans—indeed, for anyone—to watch, it is a story essential to understanding and changing our own approach to national security.

IVAW National's picture

IVAW Statement on Recent Terror Attacks

 IVAW Statement on Recent Attacks in Lebanon, Afghanistan, France, Iraq, & Nigeria   Our hearts and thoughts go out to the victims and families who have suffered from the acts of brutality committed in Beirut, Paris,...

Drop the MIC

In the past few years, due to the constantly expanding nature of U.S. military actions, IVAW has transitioned from focusing on the individual wars to a more strategic approach to the work. We focus on the root cause that...

Our Community is the Glue that Binds

Below you will find stories from a couple of our community members. Their experiences reinforce the fact that our community is the glue that binds us together and allows us to continue to do the work to resist militarism in...
IVAW National's picture

Press Release: Afghanistan War Vets Call for Independent Investigation on 14th Anniversary of War

For Immediate Release: October 7, 2015 Contact: Matt Howard, Communications Director, IVAW: 415-819-6430 / 646-723-0989, mattwhoward@ivaw.org         Afghanistan War Vets Call for Independent Investigation on 14th...

In Support of Transgender Lives

Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), in accordance with its policy on non-discrimination, fully supports the rights of transgender people and the right of gender determination. Furthermore, the policy will be implemented...

Fear, Guilt and Love: Reflections on the World Social Forum from a US Veteran

I’ve tried, pretty successfully, to live a life without too much fear. Growing up I didn’t follow the rules of stranger danger. I talked to everyone I met, picked up hitchhikers, went out to unfamiliar places alone, and I’...

Pages

  • « First
  • ‹ Prev
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • …
  • Next ›
  • Last »

Supporter Newsletter!

Donations

Make a single donation or become an IVAW sustainer by making your donation a recurring one. Please consider making your generous gift right now.
Donate Online Today!

Speaker Request

Please be advised that we get many speaker requests, but regret that we are sometimes unable to fill them.
Speaker Request

Joining IVAW

Iraq Veterans Against the War is open to Active Duty, National Guard and Reservists who have served since 09/11/2001.
Join IVAW

Navigation

  • About
  • Events
  • Campaigns
  • Committees
  • Chapters
  • Members
  • Resources
  • Contact