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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: gao seng who wrote (220304)	1/20/2002 11:58:45 AM
From: gao seng	Respond to of 769670

Emotions rekindled by movie 01/20/2002 Los Angeles Times WASHINGTON – A movie theater on Connecticut Avenue last week took on the jarring flavor of a combined Hollywood premiere and military officers' bash. Cinema heartthrobs in T-shirts and leather jackets huddled with muscle-bound Delta Force and Ranger veterans. The seats held more brass than the Glenn Miller Orchestra: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Army Secretary Thomas White Jr. and rows of generals and soldier heroes who sat with Josh Hartnett, William Fichtner and other actors who portrayed them. Even Vice President Dick Cheney's location was disclosed that night – the Uptown Theater. The occasion was the Washington opening of Black Hawk Down, a film with a particular resonance at the Pentagon, where an open gash from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks remains – and where military strategists are plotting a return to Somalia, scene of the disastrous 1993 incident that gave rise to the best-selling book that inspired the movie. Black Hawk Down is an unrelenting recounting of the botched U.S. attempt to nab lieutenants of Somali warlord Mohammed Farah Aidid. The outcome was the destruction of two Black Hawk helicopters, the deaths of 18 Americans and the haunting scene of a dead U.S. soldier being dragged through Mogadishu by an angry mob. The film benefited from unusually close cooperation between the filmmakers and the Pentagon, which saw Black Hawk Down as a way to reclaim the disaster as a proud moment for the military. The Pentagon can only hope that any new incursions in the terrorist haven of Somalia turn out better than the last one. But the film, like the book by journalist Mark Bowden, focuses not on the debacle but on the heroism of the soldiers put in harm's way. And by coincidence of timing, it spotlights the traditionally unsung Delta Force and Ranger troops who have played such a central role in the current campaign in Afghanistan. In the film, Delta and Ranger veterans stagger through Mogadishu's maze of alleys, picked off one by one by Somali fighters who rocket past them in Jeeps, assault rifles blazing. The Americans muddle through, drawing on each other for survival over a day and a night, uncertain whether any of them can last until morning. Not surprisingly, this depiction has won the unqualified praise of soldiers. That's not always the case when Hollywood dons battle fatigues, although Sept. 11 has generally buffed up the relationship. None at the premiere could find fault, certainly not a weeping Chief Warrant Officer Rodney "Sam" Shemp, who spent 18 hours in a helicopter during the battle. "Powerful," Mr. Rumsfeld declared. The military and filmmakers used the gathering to poke fun at war-spooked politicians. Sony Chairman Howard Stringer recalled his mid-1960s Army stint in Vietnam, and Mr. White mentioned the Army's cooperation with the filmmakers. dallasnews.com