Control Room

David and I watched Control Room tonight, a documentary about the Arab news network Al Jazeera and it's reporting on the Iraqi war.

It was a good film. I've heard it set out to put a human face on a channel that most people don't understand and only really know as the channel that plays Osama bin Laden's home videos. It did it's job well. The people who work there are intelligent and concerned for their people and for their role as journalists.

One of my favourite people in the film was Capt. Josh Rushing who was the Marine in charge of talking to Al Jazeera during the war. I was expecting him to all propaganda and silly lies, but he was smart, thoughtful and willing to learn. He would listen to the Al Jazeera people and give good answers to their questions. He talked at one stage how he was more disgusted when he saw pictures of American casualties than Iraqi casualties. And when he realised what he'd done, how he'd reacted, he was extremly upset. He said "It makes me hate war, but it doesn't make me believe that we're in a world that can live without war yet." I think I want to join his fan club.

Iraq is such a strange place. It's sad, but I pray that it goes well, that it finds peace and real independence.