The Cult of the Suicide Bomber
Their devastating and deadly actions punctuate the world news almost nightly, yet they remain faceless figures amidst the violence and turmoil that engulf the Middle East. And, whether it’s the C4-laden martyrs of Hezbollah or the car bombing insurgents of Iraq, what could possibly compel a suicide bomber to voluntarily take their own lives, along with those of hundreds of innocent victims? There is perhaps no one better equipped to investigate this terrifying practice than Robert Baer, a decorated, former Middle East CIA Agent and the man George Clooney’s character was based on in the Academy Award®-winning film, Syriana.
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- Cast:
- Robert Baer
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Reviews
Nice effects though.
Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.
Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast
Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.
Robert Baer is the expert, at least the one that speaks publicly, on Middle Eastern terrorism ... it's seeds, it's growth, and it's function. Baer is a veteran of over two decades of the 'quiet war' that is constantly waged by the US intelligence community in various theatres across the planet. The Middle East being the most important because of the oil that is in play there.I won't go into everything the documentary covers since it is a dense and overflowing documentary, simply packed with info that more than one viewing is needed to really get the gist of Baer's tutelage. If you want to know what's what, this is a good introduction.By the way, I'd point to Baer's being cut-off obviously and purposefully on 911 as he went into the true program we'd just witnessed the beginning to. When he started explaining to the interviewer that what was being pointed to as 'molten metal' running out of the Twin Towers while they were burning as proof of the heat of the flames, Baer told them they were wrong, said it was either thermate or thermite which is used to cut the steel beams and collapse the buildings ... and zap ... see ya. The terrorist hijackers couldn't have done this so that wasn't part of the agenda and so Baer was gone. Good luck finding the tape ... good luck finding Baer on TV where he isn't being talked over and simply used for a right-wing commentator to call him a lefty conspiracy nut.Baer has it right ... Baer knows ... read and watch Baer.
The film makes some thought provoking moral distinctions between suicide bombing as a weapon of war for those without access to high tech weaponry (e.g. would it really be so different if a fighter dropped a bomb on the military convoy from a plane instead of attached to his chest?) and as a weapon of terror used against civilians. It also does not deny that some who have used it as a weapon have done so after suffering heavy losses from others, instead of simply reducing them to crazy people acting in an irrational vacuum. It traces the roots of martyrdom in Islam back 1400 years, and explains how that history was twisted by the leaders in Iran to justify suicide bombings in spite of strict Islamic laws against suicide. Yet, in spite of the intensity and complexity of the subject, the dramatic, sometimes upsettingly graphic footage, and the somewhat over the top music, it starts to get a little repetitive and flat. And it curiously ignores other historical suicide bombings, like the Japanese Kamikaze WWII pilots, declaring that suicide bombing was "invented" by Iran in the war with Iraq.
first of all i don't believe in the conspiracy theory..but i can not understand the 'intentional' repeated view to the Arabic and/or Muslim as a prepared terrorist from the first moment in his life instead of crying to breath he said death to America. well am not defending my people but i think we need some justice here. all the hate you see in the movie not because of the Islamic clerks control..or the Islamic barbarian nature -as they want you to think-it's simply a reaction for 54 years struggle to get the Palestinian rights back. we can accept Israel as a neighbor..but in return we can't accept that every Arabian house has a victim. the story as in many previous movies & in media told from the end not the start ..if you set back & relax & put it in the action &reaction contest you will be able to figure the general idea of the ultimate fighting is about. another question after all what happen in occupied Palestine is military resistance.. so why all the media & obviously the movie maker insist on covering it from an Islamic point of view while in regard to the brutal fights like in Latin America it's about the liberty & getting red of corruption. as long as the 'western world'keep suffering from myopia in the case of the Arabic character view no one can predict what the ship that carry us all in the unrest future sea where it will land.
First off I am a big fan of Robert Baer. I have read all of his books and enjoy listening to his commentary whenever he gets called on to be a talking head on the news networks. So I was quite excited to find this doc on the torrents. Not the best documentary in the world, but certainly well worth seeing. It's a bit rough around the edges for sure, but I think with a few more docs under his belt he will hopefully develop his skill more. If anything, its worth seeing just for the scenes in Iran where standing on a side stage, prone to an audience of thousands, the cleric in the mosque is calling for the death to America. Holy crap! That's guts to stand there with literally thousands of people chanting for the death of you and your country.