Movie Review: 6 Days (General Film Corp - 2017)

 

6 Days is a 2017 joint British and New Zealand production based on the events of April-May 1980 when six armed gunmen stormed the Iranian Embassy in London and took 26 people hostage. The perpetrators of the takeover were Iranian Arabs from the Khuzestan area of Iran. These Arabs are one of the ethnic groups that make up the country, and have at times sought independence from Tehran. That effort continues today.

The six gunmen traveled to the United Kingdom on Iraqi passports. The weapons they used in the attack on the embassy were brought into the UK in diplomatic shipments to the Iraqi Embassy - the entire operation was planned by the Iraqi Intelligence Service. Iraqi President Saddam Husayn was a supporter of the uprising by the Iranian Arabs – at one point, he wanted to annex Khuzestan to Iraq.

After taking control of the embassy, the gunmen demanded that Iran release 91 Arab prisoners in Iranian custody, and that they be provided safe passage out of the United Kingdom. Iran refused the first demand, and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher refused the second – the siege began.

Two teams of the British Army’s elite 22nd Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment were deployed to London and began planning various options to rescue the hostages and either capture or kill the perpetrators.

The movie details each of the six days alternately through the eyes of BBC reporter Kate Adie, SAS team member Lance Corporal Rusty Firmin, and Metropolitan Police hostage negotiator Max Vernon.

Vernon played a critical trying to keep the situation from spiraling out of control . Eventually, he was able to secure the release of five hostages. On the sixth day, one of the perpetrators killed the Iranian Embassy chief press officer.

That murder triggered the approval from Mrs. Thatcher for the SAS teams to assault the embassy, attempt to free the hostages, and either capture or kill the perpetrators.

The SAS did just that. They assaulted the building, much of it caught on broadcast media, and succeeded in rescuing 19 of the remaining 20 hostages; one was killed in the attack, and two others were wounded. Five of the perpetrators were killed by the SAS teams, and one was captured. He was sentenced to life in prison, but was paroled in 2008. He was allowed to remain in the UK since neither Iran nor Iraq would take him, and lives in London under an assumed identity.

The assault took 17 minutes.

Let’s take look at the conditions that led these Iranian Arabs to conduct this attack. In 1979, after the Iranian Islamic revolution had brought down the Shah, there was an uprising in Khuzestan, fed by demands of autonomy. The uprising was crushed by Iranian security forces, resulting in more than a hundred combined casualties from both sides.

Since 1999, the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahwaz (ASMLA), headquartered in Denmark and The Netherlands has advocated for an independent Arab state in Khuzestan, and has committed acts of terrorism and assassinations in support of this goal. The group is allegedly financed and sponsored by Saudi Arabia.

My major issue with the movie: Subtitles claim that the terrorists, nationalists from the ethnic-Arab Khuzestan area around Abadan, are speaking Arabic. Anyone with more than a week’s language training in either Arabic or Farsi will know that this is Farsi, the language of the majority Persians. Khuzestani Iranians mostly speak Arabic as their native language, but of course, also speak Persian. I would have expected them, given the context of the film, to be speaking Arabic. Yes, I know, small knit pick, but it does impact the credibility of the movie.

How close are the two languages? Arabic is a Semitic language, along with Hebrew and Maltese. Farsi is an Indo-European language in the family of Dari. Urdu, Pashto, and Hindi. There are many crossover words in Farsi that appear to be Arabic, but have different meanings – the linguistics scholars call that a “false cognizant” and is enough to get you in trouble if you think you know the actual meaning.

Strong performances by Mark Strong as Max Vernon, Jamie Bell as Rusty Firmin, and Abbie Cornish as Kate Adie. Since this was closely based on actual events, there was almost no suspension of disbelief required to watch and enjoy this presentation.

I recommend it – it moves quickly and can be intense.

Watch on Amazon Prime.

Movie Review: Damascus Cover (Vertical Entertainment - 2017)

 

Damascus Cover is a 2017 espionage film, based on the 1977 Howard Kaplan novel of the same name. The book is the first of four in Kaplan’s The Jerusalem Spy Series. I have not read the book. There are a few confusing scenes, but it can be difficult to boil 321 pages into a 90-minute screenplay.

Mossad officer Ari Ben-Sion, working undercover as German businessman Hans Hoffmann in Berlin in 1989, is recalled and ordered to Damascus to help a Jewish family flee the country. This turns out not to be his actual mission, which is revealed to him only once he is on the ground in Syria. I am not sure why he was not just briefed with the real mission so he could properly prepare and train.

There is, of course, the required romantic entanglement – this with an American photojournalist.

There is also the required double-crossing and changes of allegiance as the story unfolds. Hoffman/Ben-Sion adjusts his operation to exfiltrate a Syrian scientist and quickly finds himself in way over his head with lessening chances of success.

I will not describe what happen so as not to spoil it for any of you who wish to see it. You will have to watch it to the very end – I was surprised.

The movie stars Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Olivia Thirlby, Jürgen Prochnow, Igal Naor, Navid Negahban and John Hurt (in his final role).

I must compliment the producers for the excellent attention to detail when it comes to replicating the country of Syria and the city of Damascus in the Moroccan countryside and city of Casablanca, even down to the accurate Damascus street signs, including shari’ madhat basha (A Street Called Straight) and the Hamidiyah suq.

The movie received mixed reviews. I enjoyed it, not only because it took me back to my posting at the US Embassy in Damascus, but because it was a good story not requiring too much suspension of disbelief (except maybe at the very end).

Watch it on Amazon Prime.

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REVISED - Miniseries Review: "The Last Post" (BBC - 2017)

 

I originally reviewed this excellent miniseries in 2018 soon after it was released. I watched it again because of what is happening in the region, including the Yemeni Houthi involvement in the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza and the West Bank, and I was in the mood for some good entertainment. You can read that initial review here. I was able to get much more out of it the second time – there is a lot there.

I highly recommend it on the same two counts as before. Not only is it solid entertainment – the performances across the board of the BBC production are excellent – but also addresses the British experience in Aden (‘Adan) in the mid-1960’s; It is somewhat applicable to the geopolitical situations in which the United States finds itself today in the region.

"The Last Post"* follows a unit of the Royal Military Police and their families in Aden in 1965. Newlyweds Captain Joe Martin and his wife Honor arrive into the mix and must adapt to their new environment and their new lives together. Throughout the community, relationships are tested as the women struggle against what is expected of them as British Army wives and their own preferences.  At work, the soldiers fight a growing local revolutionary insurgency and face constant threats from hand grenades and snipers.

That’s the theatrical story that carries the underlying theme – a declining empire dealing with local nationalism and confronting “liberation” movements. It also deals with military relationships between the officers (and their families), noncommissioned officers, and enlisted troops. It offers insight into the British Army, still one of the best military forces in the world. The series did not fully explain the command relationships between the various military units in Aden, but, this is entertainment, not a documentary. An added predictable touch is meddling from an American journalist (ably played by Australian actress Essie Davis).

On November 30, 1967, British forces withdrew from Aden and the independent People's Republic of South Yemen was proclaimed. It lasted until 1990 when South Yemen and North Yemen (Yemen Arab Republic) merged to form the Republic of Yemen.

We’ve seen how that has worked out. The port of Aden was the location of the October 12, 2000 terrorist attack on the US Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Cole (DDG-67) while the ship was conducting an ill-advised, politically-motivated refueling/“show the flag” stop in Yemen. Read my comments on that folly.

I want to give a shout out to the standout performances by Stephen Campbell Moore as Lieutenant Ed Laithwaite (I see some of me in his character), and Jessica Raine and Essie Davis for, well, first, being Jessica Raine and Essie Davis. Jessica Raine’s performance as Alison Laithwaite, a conflicted, alcoholic, unfaithful wife dealing with her marriage, is excellent, often to the haunting rendition by Ketty Lester of “Love Letters (Straight from Your Heart).”

I highly recommend the series. It moves quickly, and despite a few questionable military tactics, requires very little suspension of disbelief to watch.

Watch it on Amazon Prime.

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* The "Last Post" is a British and Commonwealth bugle call used at end of day ceremonies, as well as military funerals, and ceremonies commemorating those who have died in war, similar to the US armed forces’ “Taps.” 

Listen to the “Last Post” by the Royal Marines at Prince Philip’s Funeral.

Israeli Airstrike on Iranian Consulate in Damascus Kills Senior Iranian IRGC Leader

Iranian Consulate - Damascus, Syria

An Israeli airstrike in the early evening hours of April 1 on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, killed the apparent target of the operation, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi.

According to Iranian television, Zahedi was the commander of Qods Force units in Syria and Lebanon. The Qods Force is a capable special operations organization charged with much of Iranian activities in the region and around the world. A previous commander of the Qods Force, Qassem Soleimani, was killed in an American airstrike in Baghdad in January 2020.

According to the semi-official IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News Agency, five other IRGC commanders and two advisers were killed in the consulate along with Zahedi. They include Zahedi's deputy and chief or staff. The Islamic Republic News Agency reported that the consulate building was completely destroyed. Syrian television added that everyone in the building was killed.

Mohammad Reza Zahedi

Zahedi is one the IRGC's top commanders with a wealth of operational and command experience. A combat veteran of the Irani-Iraq War, he previously served as the commander of the IRGC Air Force, then commander of the IRGC Ground Force, before taking command of all Qods Forces deployed to Lebanon and Syria - one of the key commands in the IRGC. 

The loss of Zahedi and virtually his entire senior staff is a severe blow to Iranian foreign policy in the region - this was a bad day for the Iranians.

I am impressed with the execution of the Israeli operation. 

I lived in Damascus not far from these Iranian diplomatic facilities - embassy, consulate, and ambassador's residence. These are located in crowded areas with civilian residential compounds and buildings. The Iranian diplomatic staff in Damascus reported that neither the ambassador nor any other personnel were injured in the attack - this shows the accuracy of the Israeli strike.

It also highlights the ability of the Israeli intelligence services to determine that at least eight IRGC commanders and advisers would be in the consulate building at the same time, and determine it in time to take action to eliminate the targets.

Impressive.

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Taliban to revive policy of stoning and flogging women

 

Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada

 

Taliban Leader Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada announces a return to the policy of stoning women: 

"We will soon implement the punishment for adultery. We will flog women in public. We will stone them to death in public. We will bring shari'ah to this land.”

How enlightened - stoning and flogging. 

Stoning as a form of capital punishment goes back to ancient times. Stoning appears to have been the standard method of capital punishment in ancient Israel. The Torah and Talmud prescribe stoning as punishment for a number of offenses, however, Rabbinic Judaism developed a number of procedural constraints which made these laws practically unenforceable. 

Although stoning is not mentioned in the Quran, classical Islamic jurisprudence imposed stoning as a shari'ah punishment for adultery based on hadith (sayings attributed to Muhammad). 

Only a few isolated instances of legal stoning are recorded in pre-modern history of the Islamic world. In recent times, stoning has been a legal or customary punishment in Iran, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Yemen, parts of Nigeria, Afghanistan, Brunei, and tribal parts of Pakistan. That said, it is rarely practiced - it appears that is about to change in Afghanistan. 

If you want to see just how barbaric Islamic stoning is, I recommend the excellent movie The Stoning of Soraya M, a 2008 movie about the stoning of a young woman in Iran.
 

Scene from "The Stoning of Soraya M"

The movie stars the talented Shohreh Aghdashloo, Mozhan Navabi, and Jim Caviezel, and is available for free on YouTube.

I will caution that the stoning scenes are graphic and intense. The requirements for stoning are quite precise, as shown here (click here for a larger view):

Welcome to the 7th Century.

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