Buried in the Sand: The Deception of America (2004)

*Get a physical copy of "Buried in the Sand: The Deception of America" on Amazon here*
*Get a copy of Torture and Truth: America, Abu Ghraib, and the War on Terror by Mark Danner on Amazon here*
*Get a copy of The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the C.I.A., and the Origins of America's Invasion of Iraq by Steve Coll on Amazon here*
*Get a copy of Who Killed Daniel Pearl? by Bernard Henri Levy on Amazon here*

An anchorman-type named Mark Taylor (the credits are full of initials and pseudonyms) introduces shocking video clips of torture carried out by the Iraqi government under Saddam Hussein's tyrannical rule. The viewer is treated to mutilations and public punishments based on radical interpretations of Islamic law, and the video is real and disturbing. The film makers quote the Liberal trio of Ted Kennedy, Hillary Clinton, and John Kerry- all voicing their opinions that we should be in Iraq, but then the video lost me.

We see an assault by an Apache helicopter on Iraqis who are hiding weapons. Ted Kennedy's quote about Abu Ghraib being reopened for torture under new management after the idiotic actions of those National Guard soldiers is displayed- never mind that Saddam Hussein executed an astonishing 30,000 people at Abu Ghraib during his rule. The film makers continue to dwell on "Faces of Death"-type footage to make their point. The gore and violence is never put into any context, making one wonder where it all came from. One public beheading is credited to Saudi Arabia, negating the film's ambition to show us the torture of the former regimes of Iraq and Afghanistan.

The video makers finally cross the line, sealing this reviewer's negative review. The then-recent beheadings of American hostages in Iraq are shown without edits. I was washed over with a wave of nausea, not patriotism, as these people screamed for their lives as cowardly terrorists slit their throats and removed their heads. This grimmest of footage is not here to educate, it is here to appeal to the lowest common denominator of humanity. The film makers want to sell discs and make money, and here is some shocking footage to move sales.

"Buried in the Sand: The Deception of America" is not worth your time or effort, and is not in the same league as other political documentaries out there. America is being deceived, but the people who are peddling this collection of snuff films under the banner of education and democracy are the ones doing the deceiving. Watch it and argue with me, but this is the one hill where I'm standing my ground. Simply repulsive.

Stats:
(2004) 90 min. (0 *) out of five stars
-Directed by David Wald
-Written by Rob Cartee
-Cast: Mark Taylor, Archive Footage: George W. Bush, Saddam Hussein, Ted Kennedy, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Daniel Pearl
(Unrated)