Art La Flamme

CNN is just now starting to talk about a 1.5 meter by 1 meter hole under the railbed, and Russian assertions that — gasp! — this tragic accident may not be an accident but indeed the work of (dum, dum, DUM!) terrorists.

Well, of course it’s terrorism. Investigators have shown up and have begun to ask questions of the locals — have there been strangers in the area recently? Maybe Chechens? Or some other terrorists from the North Caucasus region?

I have no doubt that it’s terrorism, and would not be surprised in the least if it turns out to be tied to Grozny or Russia’s own internal Muslim conflict. Basayev may be dead, but the conflict rages on, the issues remain unresolved.

And it will be interesting, in these next couple of days, to see how the US responds to Russian cries about the threat she faces from Muslim terrorists. Sometimes, Russia and others like the US see eye to eye on the subject, but not always. I wonder how it will play out this time.

Tess and I went out to the movies tonight. Needed to sneak one more in, before we head out tomorrow to see about putting her on a boat to Hawaii.

We went and saw Traitor, because Sarah said to.

Sarah — good call.

Traitor is a modern day thriller. It stars Don Cheadle as Shamir, an America on the run with the bad guys and being chased by the FBI (Guy Pearce plays the lead FBI chaser). Shamir is Muslin, born in Yemen and at least for a while raised by his Muslim-cleric father, until his father is killed. He joined the military, went Special Forces, but after a stint in Afghanistan, got out and stayed on in Pakistan, having found his faith.

Cheadle is great in this movie. A bigger named star likely would have overpowered the “I could be anybody” aspect required of this role. He really does come across as just another guy, trying to do what he thinks is right in a world where everything is complicated. Guy Pearce also carries off the I could be anybody” role as well, as a well educated FBI agent who is also the son of a cleric, this time a Baptist preacher.

And I think I was the only guy in the theater who laughed at Jeff Daniels at the wrong time. Daniels does a good job as a truly anonymous intel guy going “all in” in the war on terrorism. He really does come of sounding the same as the terrorists in this film, with the at-any-cost approach to winning.

This movie reminded me of Sleeper Cell, a Showtime short series (two short seasons, actually) that I just finished watching . Great, great series — see if your library has it or can get it for you.

Both Sleeper Cell and Traitor are worth watching, now more than ever with the elections coming up.

I am out of Luc Besson assassin films.? Two is enough, I should think.

How do you feel about mistakes?

Munich, for me, is all about mistakes.

After the massacre of Israeli athletes at the ’72 Olympics, Israel put together a team to hunt down and kill those who planned and executed the massacre.? The team — two from Israel, one from Germany, one from Belgium, and one from South Africa — has free reign and nothing but cash to use in independently hunting down their targets.? They have to gather (or buy) their own intelligence, acquire their own resources, secure their own logistical support.? They are off of the books, operating outside the laws of all of the countries involved, in order to do something the Israeli government wants and needs but cannot do themselves.

They shoot people.? They blow things up.? Sometimes they work alone, sometimes they work with others.? They are fast, they are efficient, they get the job done.

And they start to make mistakes.? Members of the team are picked off.? They die.? Their string of successes has drawn violent responses from Arab terrorists, who lash back out at Israel, Israeli and Israeli targets the world over – shootings, bombs, attacks on airports.

Their string ends at six.? Their seventh assassination attempt, on Ali Hassan Salameh, the mastermind of the Munich attack, fails, and it all comes to an end.? Other Israeli efforts killed more, with nine of the original 11 targets being killed.

Why mistakes?? A lot of reasons.

They went with 80% solutions, and accepted risk.? From their very first hit, they were willing to gamble some.? The more this is done, the more the odds stack up against you over time.

They weren’t trained for their mission.? Maybe that’s one of the reasons they were successful — a group of volunteers from outside the ranks. But they were making it up as they went along.

Their enemies caught on quickly, that the group existed and what the group was up to.? Even deer are harder to kill when they know they’re being hunted.

• I did not pay to see this film.? I have the DVD.
• I watch this movie about once a year.
• See this movie.? It might be hard to watch at some points, but it’s a great story and a great examination of interesting characters.? It does well exploring the subject of sacrificing that which is important to you, and that which defines you, for a greater good.
• This is a heavy movie.? It’s not light entertainment.? On any given day, I’d rather watch something from Luc Besson.
• Eric Bana is awesome in this movie.? He portrays well the highs and lows of Avner Kaufman.? I hope you remember seeing him in Blackhawk Down.
• James Bond is in this film.? Really.? He is.