Black Hawk Down

Black Hawk Down is a 2001 film by Ridley Scott, based on the book ' about the Battle of Mogadishu, which was part of the U.S. military's 1993 campaign to capture Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid. The movie stars Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Eric Bana and Orlando Bloom. It won two Oscars in 2002 for Film Editing and Sound Editing.

Criticisms

Some critics view the film as blatant propaganda on behalf of US military intervention. Unlike his earlier film G.I. Jane, Black Hawk Down received the full cooperation of the US military and Scott had to allow the military a veto over every aspect of the film in order to receive this level of military involvement. Some argue that this resulted in a biased finished product.

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The film is shot entirely from the point of view of the American soldiers and it does not show how disproportionate the number of Somalis killed on that day was. Unlike Mark Bowden's book, the film does not depict the extensive civilian casualties of the Battle of Mogadishu, or the use of civilians as "screens" by the Somali militia.

Related Topics:
Mark Bowden - Battle of Mogadishu

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The film also portrays the delays in UN rescue as stemming in part from spite on the part of UN forces at not being informed about the mission, possibly suggesting they were willing to let US soldiers die for petty politics. Bowden's book argues that the delay was more due to inadequate contingency planning on the part of all parties involved.

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Other omissions and inaccuracies are listed in articles such as "What Black Hawk Down Left Out" in Slate http://slate.msn.com/?id=2060941, which argues among other things that the Somalis who engaged the American soldiers that day believed themselves to be acting justly in response to disproportionate and cruel American and international military tactics against them. The Somalis were apparently especially outraged by two retaliatory UN attacks shortly before the Ranger raid, in which many women, children and clan elders were killed.

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