Dirty Wars (2013)

Investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill is pulled into an unexpected journey as he chases down the hidden truth behind America's expanding covert wars.

Director:

Rick Rowley

Writers:

David Riker, Jeremy Scahill

Stars:

Jeremy Scahill, Nasser Al Aulaqi, Saleha Al Aulaqi

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 11 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Nasser Al Aulaqi	...	Self - Interviewee
Saleha Al Aulaqi	...	Self - Interviewee
Muqbal Al Kazemi	...	Self - Interviewee
Abdul Rahman Barman	...	Self - Interviewee
Saleh Bin Fareed	...	Self - Interviewee (as Sheikh Saleh Bin Fareed)
Andrew Exum	...	Self - Interviewee
Abdul Ghafoor	...	Self - Interviewee
Philip Giraldi	...	Self - Interviewee
Matthew Hoh	...	Self - Interviewee
Patrick Lang	...	Self - Interviewee
John McCain	...	Self (archive footage)
William McRaven	...	Self (archive footage)
Emile Nakhleh	...	Self - Interviewee
Malcolm Nance	...	Self - Interviewee
Barack Obama	...	Self (archive footage)

Storyline

Dirty Wars follows investigative reporter Jeremy Scahill, author of the international bestseller Blackwater, into the hidden world of America's covert wars, from Afghanistan to Yemen, Somalia, and beyond. Part action film and part detective story, Dirty Wars is a gripping journey into one of the most important and underreported stories of our time. What begins as a report on a deadly U.S. night raid in a remote corner of Afghanistan quickly turns into a global investigation of the secretive and powerful Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). As Scahill digs deeper into the activities of JSOC, he is pulled into a world of covert operations unknown to the public and carried out across the globe by men who do not exist on paper and will never appear before Congress. In military jargon, JSOC teams "find, fix, and finish" their targets, who are selected through a secret process. No target is off limits for the "kill list," including U.S. citizens.

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Plot Keywords:

cell phone video | cell phone | hospital | afghanistan | investigative reporter | 

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Taglines:

A secret army. A war without end. A journalist determined to uncover the truth.

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Genres:

Documentary | Crime | Mystery | War

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Did You Know?

Goofs

Ten minutes into the movie, the claim is that the police officer was dancing at a wedding party 01:00 just before being killed. However, the clock on the wall shows the time to be about 5:35.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Jeremy Scahill: Kabul, Afghanistan, four in the morning. As an American jounalist I was used to finding stories in the middle of the night. But there is always something eerie, driving through the deserted streets. A city of three million, barely a streetlight on. There was a familiar routine, waiting for the crew to light up the next set so that you could see something in the background. But what could we really see?

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Connections

Featured in The Oscars (2014)

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Soundtracks

Tashweesh (Interference)
Ramallah Underground
Performed by Kronos Quartet
Courtesy of Nonesuch Records Inc.

User Reviews

War is Dirty ... but is honor dead?

Dirty Wars is a startling documentary that would most likely have (most) Americans up in arms in disgust over the senseless victims depicted in the film weren't they Muslims half a world away.

The Nation journalist Jeremy Scahill dives into the murky waters of American counter-terrorism efforts after 9/11 and discovers that drone attacks and targeted kills might actually be turning the tide in a war we believe ourselves to be winning ... as each new death creates tens to hundreds of new anti-American citizens in the world who view us as the new axis of evil as most of the deaths are collateral damage of innocent women and children. Scahill doesn't highlight the fact that we have enemies in the world that have caused us to increase these attacks; but he is simply making note/drawing attention to how "dirty" this "war" has become (war in nations we have never declared war upon). In places that once embraced Americans and our way of life, our continued use of drones and brutal attacks makes the survivors question who we are and wonder what our goals have become.

Some Americans and former military question this same thing -- what are we doing?!? When answers no longer make sense and lack logic, it is time to step back and re-evaluate what we are doing ... but the powers-that-be don't and won't. Began under President George W. Bush and continued heavily under our current President Obama, Dirty Wars exposes the acts of a super-secret branch of the military (JSOC - Joint Special Operations Command) who answers solely to our president. Their covert villainy (not always bad and villainous I must point out) can be easily re-written and members can become heroes at the drop of a hat -- or the execution of a major power player in the world of terror (Osama).

The doc is eye-opening and it actually made my eyes tear up a time or two over the deaths of innocent people (it isn't for the faint of heart as we see many graphic photos of the dead -- many of whom are children)... who happened to be Muslim. Oh ... the horror of THAT (my tears)! No ... oh the horror, period.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Pushto Somali Dari Arabic

Release Date:

18 October 2013 (Spain)

Also Known As:

Brudne wojny

Filming Locations:

Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$63,504, 9 June 2013

Gross USA:

$384,473

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$416,853

Company Credits

Production Co:

Big Noise Films, Civic Bakery

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1