Black Hawk Down

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I was one of those who read this book after they had seen the film. I found the movie to be refreshing in its depiction of action and events, despite only knowing about those events through mini documentaries or magazine articles. Who Really Said That?". The Chronicle of Higher Education. September 16, 2013 . Retrieved April 29, 2018. They asked ‘hey, why do you do this job?'” said Hooten, adding that his answer formed the basis for the scene at the end of the film. “You know, a lot of people ask that, but the truth of the matter is you do it because you enjoy the people you do it with, and when you’re in combat it’s about the guys who are next to you — to your right and left.”

Last weekend I also watched the movie (directed by Ridley Scott) and there's a couple of disconcerting differences, the main being that the movie strips out most of the uncomfortable parts of the book. That is the very strong criticism on the leadership (although Bowden often uses the Delta Force participants to voice it) and the Somali side of the experience. And I think these two points are the most significant in the book, and they explain a lot about what went wrong. In 1993, a small force of US Rangers and ultra-elite Delta force soldiers staged a lightening raid in the center of Mogadishu, Somalia. The purpose was to capture several higher-up Somali warlords who were reeking havoc on the local populace in their bids for power. The raid, as we all know, did not go well, and the task force ended up getting pinned down in a fierce gunfight with the local populace, losing two helicopters, 18 soldiers and requiring a huge multi-national operation to rescue them. Sergeant First Class Paul] Howe popped an earplug and listened…The voices were speaking Somali. They must have been half deaf like everybody else from all the explosions, and didn’t realize how loud they were talking…As three Somalis rounded the corner, one of the D-boys from across the street shone a white light on the first in line. His eyes looked wide as a racoon’s startled in a garbage can. With his rifle resting on a doorjamb, Howe placed his tritium sight post on the second man and began shooting on full automatic, sweeping his fire in a smooth motion over the third man. All three Somalis went down hard. Two of the men struggled to their feet and dragged the third man up and around the corner. Howe and the other operators let them go. They didn’t want to expose their firing positions with more muzzle flashes. Howe was disgusted again with this 5.56 ammo. When he put people down he wanted them to stay down…a b McNeil, Donald G. Jr. (January 22, 2002). "Mogadishu Journal; For the Somalis, a Manhunt Movie to Muse Over". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved January 24, 2021. In an interview with the BBC, the faction leader Osman Ali Atto said that many aspects of the film are factually incorrect. Taking exception with the ostentatious depiction of his character, Ali Atto claimed he looks nothing like the actor who portrayed him, nor that he smoked cigars or wore earrings. [66] These details were later confirmed by SEAL Team Six sniper Howard E. Wasdin in his 2012 memoirs. Wasdin also indicated that while the character in the movie ridiculed his captors, in reality, Atto seemed concerned that Wasdin and his men had been sent to kill rather than apprehend him. [67] Atto additionally stated that he had not been consulted about the project, nor was he approached for permission to use his likeness, and that the film sequence re-enacting his arrest contained several inaccuracies: [66] It’s not about politics or anything else when you’re in combat,” he added. “You may sign up for that, but when you’re in that critical moment the only thing you’re thinking about is taking care of the people around you.”

Somalia had not had a central government since 1990, when its longtime dictator was overthrown by rebel factions. The United Nations, having taken responsibility for the American-led intervention, naturally preferred to have a government to which it could I remember flying out to Santa Monica and meeting Jerry, and he told me how excited he was to have the project and that he really wanted to make a movie different than any of his other movies -- his other films being things like "Top Gun." And, at that point, I think he had made "Armageddon." They were kind of pop, almost fun, but sort of comic book movies, and Jerry said he wanted to make a very realistic, almost documentary-like version of this story and wanted it to adhere very closely to what I had written.That has not happened. Now, it will never happen. Bowden has assured their place in the annals of men at arms.