PROPAGANDA DEBASES ZERO DARK THIRTY
A docudrama about the most famous manhunt of the 21st century, the quest for Osama Bin Laden, Zero Dark Thirty, shows how Maya (played by Jessica Chastain) and others relentlessly process information to determine the whereabouts of the Al-Qaeda leader and how to take him down, step by step. A thriller, filmviewers will be in awe of the CIA’s professional execution, which contradicts in some measures the story that was first told incorrectly to eager politicians and journalists. But there is a serious problem is at the beginning. Director Kathryn Bigelow decides to buy into the myth that without intelligence extracted by torture, the quest would have never occurred. While many filmviewers may appreciate the 30-minute celebration of torture, and others may not, the problem is that sensationalism prevails over careful examination of evidence. Thorough assessments, as obtained by Senators Dianne Feinstein and John McCain from those directly involved in the interrogation, report that some of the evidence derived from torture was bogus, while other information was already known through other sources. The political bias of the film director seems very odd, an Abu Ghraib-type exposé that may boomerang in the Islamic world. MH