Battle for Haditha

“Battle for Haditha”, Nick Broomfield 2008

This film initially came to my attention through a BBC interview in which director, producer and co-writer, Nick Broomfield was being lambasted for his apparently uneven portrayal of the infamous massacre at Haditha. His defense and ability to thoughtfully counter his directorial decisions were enticing enough to warrant a look at yet another recent picture attempting to deal with the omnipresent fallout of the American invasion of Iraq. Through powerful archetypes and a message that emerges heavy-handed although ultimately effective, acclaimed documentary director, Broomfield has put in his word on contemporary Iraq and it emerges as a more moving and thought provoking one than any of the fictionalized or documentary efforts recently available.

The characterization of the film is the most stunning accomplishment with Broomfield managing to create sympathetic vehicles for his message on both sides of the conflict. What is most striking is the creation of probably the most suitable conclusion one can possibly draw from any work attempting to get behind the inhumanity of modern war; the resounding feeling that both the Kilo Company Marines and the Iraqi civilians are at the bottom of a chain of events that are impossible to psychologically justify.

Although certain actors’ performances in the film weren’t as strong at times as the fake documentary styled film necessitates the main players in the story were extremely well written and cast. The civilian Hiba effectively represents Mother Iraq as she is presented attempting to throw a circumcision celebration while encountering American checkpoints, covering herself from Al Qaeda and thinking about the child starting to grow within her. She is thrown into terror in witnessing the planting of a roadside IED down the hill from her home and becomes at a loss of what to do. The family attempts the only possible action in attempting to remain neutral and go ahead with their party. Hiba’s father-in-law maintains that they cannot tell the Americans of the bomb for fear of retribution from the Iraqi extremists and they can likewise do nothing to reason with the men apparently ‘fighting for their home’. Although her family is left with no options they are wiped out by the ensuing conflict even though the terrorists themselves escape retribution. Hiba and the one daughter left in her family are left no longer complacent to foreign intervention but emerge in hatred of the occupying forces by the film’s conclusion. The Americans for Hiba are no benign force any longer but a harmful blight on the nation who only serve to further increase the fear and violence of Fallujah. Her child will be born with this same attitude instilled in its mind; a father shot down in spite of his innocence and the only community with answers being a similarly violent organization.

The main Marine character, Corporal Ramirez acts as a representation of America itself and he behaves suitably as he takes the role of commander, in turns becoming helpful, violent and ultimately confused by the situations all around him. Ramirez tells the other men in Kilo that he enlisted to get away from the problems back home in Philadelphia and only ended up moving from “the murder capital of America to the murder capital of the world [sic]”. He is the United States itself, lost in homeland problems and trying to find reason through a deflected sense of justice in a foreign land. Ramirez rallies the troops with words he hardly believes and breaks down when he knows that the nightmares just beginning to start will haunt him forever. He knows he’s not fighting for freedom but only reacting on a gut level to situations at hand. What haunts the Western viewer most is the inherent goodness which Ramirez strives for but is ultimately deprived of by higher command. Just like his people back home the soldier cannot rectify the war’s ideology with the very human situations which constantly barrage his vision and as time goes on he becomes lost within the violence all around him, unable to maintain reason or rationale.

There is some form of retribution as we see Ramirez ultimately try to help Hiba while she cries over her murdered husband’s body although Broomfield refuses to give us an easy conclusion to the film. The end depicts a Chomsky-esque manipulation of both the Marine and Al Qaeda participation in the bloodbath. Kilo Company becomes exposed as part of a news cover-up of the true death toll and the film ends with CNN coverage which Rumsfeld and Bush refuse to assume responsibility for. Fittingly, the ones at the bottom of command, the everyday Americans become the scapegoats. The only surviving member of Hiba’s extended family testifies to Al Jazeera news that her wound resulted from an American striking her although, in fact, Ramirez assisted her in escaping her burning home where she was already hurt. We are left with a picture that shows the complete failure of the affected population’s ability to take control into their own hands. The Marines go to prison; the common Iraqis are dead, bereaved or disillusioned. The local Sheik and the U.S. Commander-in-Chief enjoy no real victory over the situation but vow to continue their fight against one another.

It’s a film that performs best as an artistic piece delivering message through archetypal symbolism. Even though Broomfield pretty much beats us over the head with his thesis he has still created a picture with relevant subject matter for the current political situation. The ensuing birth of Hiba’s child brings no hope but only the promise of further spite and Kilo Company’s murder counts show the similar disillusionment of common people under higher authorities unwilling to take the onus of responsibility for their wars. Perhaps the most satisfying result of Broomfield’s “Battle for Haditha” is its refusal to provide the black-and-white of most recent Western pictures examining Iraq. We view the credits left with the mix of good and evil of the murderers on each side ever present and the impossibility of anything but violence resulting when situations are hopelessly out of an individual’s control.

Reid McCarter

July 11th 2008