You Can't Handle the Truth

The Battle of Algiers is a fascinating film that I have wanted to see for quite some time, but somehow never got around to viewing. The clip we watched in class today shows a universality about questions of morality in conflict, in the 20th and 21st centuries at least. It reminds me of that famous speech from A Few Good Men, where Jack Nicholson explodes at Tom Cruise, laying out the line between civilians and the military. The military men portrayed here see torture and violence as routine, very necessary parts of their operation. We don't want to dirty our hands with this work, but it has to be done. They want leave to do their jobs, to defend and protect, by any means that is both possible and effective. So do we let the military commanders define their own moral code, if we have no comprehension of their true situation or what life-or-death decisions they are making? If you want to stay in Algeria, the colonel says, you must accept the consequences. If you want a secure America, he says, you must be prepared to give up some notion of freedom. Legality is not a top priority in a war zone, especially when the other side is using similar or worse methods. They are doing their duty as they see fit, unpleasant as it is to the rest of us. Watching these videos, I can't help but feel that this is still wrong, completely unjustifiable, but what do I really know about it? How would I act in the same situation? Morality becomes gray when survival and duty are on the line.