The Latest From Bill Blum....starting with Egypt, of course...a cautionary tale....!

[Jan Klimkowski]

From the film "The Battle of Algiers":

Journalist: M. Ben M'Hidi, don't you think it's a bit cowardly to use women's baskets and handbags to carry explosive devices that kill so many innocent people?

Ben M'Hidi: And doesn't it seem to you even more cowardly to drop napalm bombs on defenseless villages, so that there are a thousand times more innocent victims? Of course, if we had your airplanes it would be a lot easier for us. Give us your bombers, and you can have our baskets.

The film was originally released in 1966 and was banned in France for 5 years, despite critical acclaim.

A restored version of the trailer can be seen here.

Wiki has a section on the special Pentagon screening of The Battle of Algiers in 2003:

In 2003, the film again made the news after the Directorate for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict at The Pentagon offered a screening of the film on August 27, regarding it as a useful illustration of the problems faced in Iraq.[15] A flyer for the screening read:

"How to win a battle against terrorism and lose the war of ideas. Children shoot soldiers at point-blank range. Women plant bombs in cafes. Soon the entire Arab population builds to a mad fervor. Sound familiar? The French have a plan. It succeeds tactically, but fails strategically. To understand why, come to a rare showing of this film."[16]

According to the Defense Department official (Directorate for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict) in charge of the screening, "Showing the film offers historical insight into the conduct of French operations in Algeria, and was intended to prompt informative discussion of the challenges faced by the French."[16]

The 2003 screening lent new currency to the film, coming only months after U.S. President George W. Bush's May 1, 2003 "Mission Accomplished" speech proclaiming the end of "major hostilities" in Iraq. Opponents of President Bush cited the Pentagon screening as proof of a growing concern within the Defense Department about the growth of an Iraqi insurgency belying his triumphalism.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Battle_of_Algiers

Oh the deep, tragic, irony...

How to win a battle against terrorism and lose the war of ideas, claim the Pentagon hacks.

Alternately, and perhaps with more historical accuracy:

How to create a popular insurgency and lose the war of ideas.