film reviews by Dr. John Ruhland

Urban Warrior: The Militarizing of American Law Enforcement

From ETS Productions and directed by Matt Ehling, this documentaryexplores a current trend within police forces. The US Constitutionforbids the use of the military for law enforcement, but the USgovernment instead appears to be fostering the transformation ofpolice forces into secret police or para-military forces, includingheavily-armed SWAT teams. Urban Warrior does a good job describing thesteady increase in the incorporation of wartime combat techniques intodomestic law enforcement operations, beginning with Reagan's "drugwar." The film is available at www.etspictures.com, or by calling 651-645-0005

Hidden Wars of Desert Storm

This is a prize-winning documentary on the first US invasion of Iraq.It is by far the best film on the subject that I have found. Itdiscusses why many of the Bush administration's publicly-statedobjectives were never realized. It also suggests what some of the realobjectives were, and gives substantiation from authoritative sources. Many respected experts on the subject are interviewed in the film. Itis very well edited, fast-paced, and because it so well produced andcontains emotionally-charged material, it provides an excellentbackground for discussion and motivation to action. Order extracopies, as I believe people watching the film will be interested inobtaining a copy to share with others. Also available is an 8.5 hourcompilation of additional interviews and film footage gathered whilethe co-directors were doing the research. Included in its entirety inthis compilation is a training video commissioned by the US Departmentof Defense on "depleted" uranium (DU). This video was never actuallyshown to troops because of the fear of DU it would instill. The filmsare available at www.hiddenwars.com, or call 818-487-2879.

WWW Washington Free Press