Body of War

Executive Producer: Phil Donahue
Producer: Ellen Spiro, Phil Donahue
Cast: Tomas Young
Tomas Young an idealistic young man enlists in the Army Sept 13, 2001 right after the 9-11 attacks to go to Afghanistan and "get" the people responsible for the 9-11 attack. 

He is deployed to Iraq and within 5 days without ever firing a shot he takes a bullet from an ambush under his collar bone, that passes through his back and leaves him paralyzed from the chest down.  Later he takes up a cause against the war and starts to campaign against it.  In between scenes we see a great speech from Sen. Robert Byrd but that speech that was against the war pretty much falls on non-existent ears, the movie fails to show that there was almost no one in the chambers that listened to him. 

We are witnesses to his horrific daily life and continuing health problems, a total lack of long term care from the VA and this administration.  No surprise this is anti-war, "bring the boys home film" that puts us in touch with real war victims. 

Personally I have all the empathy in the world for this young man he is about the age of my own youngest son that also wanted to go to war!  I counseled him against it and said that if the country needed people to fight then they would institute the draft.  If everyone wasn't at risk then no! My own son lied to me and tried to enlist anyway and was turned down because of chronic asthma.

What is not addressed in this anti war movie is the real threat to the US from the militant Islamic fanatics that perpetrated 9-11 and continue to bring terror around the world.  What role does the US have in that? 

The movie makes a strong case against the war in Iraq and the today there is enough evidence to suggest this war was contrived with false interpretation of old intelligence.  One of the problems of keeping secrets and not informing the public and the stupidity of Congress and the Senate in giving the Executive branch the authority to go war if they thought it necessary. 

In the future if anything was made clear in this movie is that the balance of power among the 3 branches of government and more openness and oversight is needed in these dealings. To that extent and in putting a human touch on the war, Spiro and Donahue succeed.