The Battle Of Gonzales

Instead of watching the SOTU, I watched most of The Battle of Algiers on Sundance.  The scene that made the greatest impression (#112):

3RD JOURNALIST
Excuse me, colonel. I have the impression that perhaps due to excessive prudence ... my colleagues continue to ask the same allusive questions, to which you can only respond in an allusive manner. I think it would be better to call things by their right names; if one means torture, then one should call it torture.

MATHIEU
I understand. What's your question?

3RD JOURNALIST
The questions have already been asked. I would only like some precise answers, that's all ...

MATHIEU
Let's try to be precise then. The word "torture" does not appear in our orders. We have always spoken of interrogation as the only valid method in a police operation directed against unknown enemies...

3RD JOURNALIST
The law is often inconvenient, colonel ...

MATHIEU
And those who explode bombs in public places, do they perhaps respect the law?...

No, gentlemen, believe me, it is a vicious circle. And we could discuss the problem for hours without reaching any conclusions. Because the problem does not lie here. The problem is: the NLF wants us to leave Algeria and we want to remain...All the newspapers, even the left-wing ones wanted the rebellion suppressed. And we were sent here for this very reason. And we are neither madmen nor sadists, gentlemen...

We are soldiers and our only duty is to win. Therefore, to be precise, I would now like to ask you a question: Should France remain in Algeria? If you answer "yes," then you must accept all the necessary consequences.

Are you prepared to accept all the necessary consequences for the United States to remain in Iraq?

ntodd

PS--Slate ran an article about a Pentagon screening of the movie back in 2003.