Jeremy Scahill’s politically important and emotionally exhausting film, Dirty Wars, is now available on iTunes, Netflix, Amazon and through a whole bunch of other video services that I have no idea how to access: Google, XBox, Playstation, Sundance…..
A few years ago, Jeremy interviewed me and a little bit of that interview made it into the film. We spoke for a couple of hours at a bar and Jeremy bought me a few beers. I had forgotten about the film until last spring when Jeremy contacted me about helping with the film’s roll out and having me speak at screenings.
I attended the film’s premiere in May in Washington, DC. Many of my friends attended, thankfully. As Dirty Wars deepened and darkened my mind with remembrances, my friends, almost all of them not veterans, were a buoy to me. It was a stunning and nauseating ninety minutes. I had to leave the theater at one point.
If you are surviving PTSD, depression and suicidality you do a good job staying away from triggers, trying not to let thoughts metastasize and take over your life; allowing the memories to remain just memories, not haunting or demanding action, but just present in your life, a part of your life, but not your life. But then you sit in a dark theater and you watch, listen and feel a story told so compassionately and so beautifully by a man who knows this story, which is also your story, so well. He lives it too. His film, his testament, makes you remember your obligations.
More than your story or Jeremy’s story, Dirty Wars is the story of thousands of nameless and voiceless men, women and children. Children of God, brothers and sisters in humanity, those who our wars are supposed to bring freedom and liberty to, unlucky bastards, whatever you want to call them, the truth is these people are suffering under an American political narrative of good vs evil and a policy of perpetual war that benefits a one trillion dollar a year national security Leviathan and those who enjoy and profit from the romance of war and the fear of terrorism.
Thank you Jeremy for witnessing and giving voice to those nameless and voiceless thousands, those mortal souls and their corporeal families destroyed by war, unknown to our society and ignored by our media.
Please watch Dirty Wars and please ask your friends to watch too. Give voice to the voiceless.
Matthew Hoh 
You are very brave, my awaking began with ‘Vietnam’. To the War-makers we protesters were a thorn in their side, but united as we were I will always believe we helped stop the madness.. But they remained behind the scene like demented scientists mixing up one plot after another. I want to have hope in humanity, but with most people all I see are dead eyes. Noam Chomsky, Seymour Hersh, Russell Brand, JS, GG, a few others make me feel not so alone,,but maybe y & they are all a dream & I’m really in hell, for how can anyone with a soul allow our gov continue it’s rampage of murder destruction as the American way..
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Thank you Susan. You are not in hell, but in the real actual world where people’s souls are blackened and destroyed for ego, power and money, and people lose sight of their values and their selves for many, many different and tragic reasons. Without any Lieutenant Calleys there can not be any Seymour Hershs… It’s a question, as you know of what part of the struggle you commit yourself to. Peace to you Susan.
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