Using the pyrotechnics suited to video games and big-budget action flicks, a newly filmed commercial aims to deter would-be suicide bombers in Iraq. Really. The Los Angeles Times reports. The two-day, $1million-plus shoot "involves the use of 120 cameras to produce the 'still array' effect popularized in video games and The Matrix film trilogy in which action is shot simultaneously from every conceivable angle."
Without any dialogue, the commercial aims to recreate the fleeting seconds before, during and after a suicide attack. The action involves a young boy smiling innocently as he makes eye contact with a passerby entering the market and the horror reflected on the child's face when the man blows himself up.
It's unclear how many would-be bombers will be susceptible to the ad's message about the consequences of violence or how many TV stations will air it. But deterring a single suicide attack would be a real triumph, the producers said.
Funding is a bit hazy. A publicist says the money has come from a private group of anonymous Iraqis, but the LAT notes that the Hollywood and Iraqi companies have teamed up for similar projects for the Future Iraq Assembly, which was heavily funded by US taxpayers long before the invasion.
Meanwhile, to counter international protests about the indefinite imprisonments at Guantanamo Bay, the Joint Chiefs of Staff have responded -- with a PR campaign, according to US News & World Report.
The briefings present a benign picture of life at Gitmo, noting the presence of decent food, healthcare, and literacy training for the inmates. Notwithstanding allegations of psychological and physical torture, officials say the biggest threats faced by many detainees are in fact frequent sports injuries on Gitmo basketball courts.
The briefing notes that many of the remaining 480 detainees continue to provide useful intelligence, including help in identifying current al Qaeda operatives and supporters and in revealing favored bomb-making techniques that use pagers, cellphones, and watches. One prisoner described a complex encoded "dual tone multifrequency" detonation system used first in the Chechen conflict and now by insurgents in Iraq. The information, officials say, has given U.S. forces a chance to combat the technique.
Thanks to occams hatchet at Daily Kos and the Center for Media and Democracy, respectively, for the tips.