’13 Hours’ Splashes Blood Across the Screen and Misses the Real Story of Benghazi

The Intercept
January 14, 2016

Would you give the story of Benghazi to the producer of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? Someone did. The result is the new film directed by Michael Bay, 13 Hours, which makes Rambo look like War and Peace.

In 13 Hours, Bay displays a fetish for fake blood and heads ...  (Read more)

Firing Blind: Flawed Intelligence and the Limits of Drone Technology

The Intercept
Oct. 15, 2015

(This article was co-authored with Cora Currier and is part of a series of stories, The Drone Papers, that The Intercept published based on secret military documents. For a version of this story with links to the source documents, please click here.)

The Obama administration ...  (Read more)

How the Makers of ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ Seduced the CIA with Fake Earrings

The Intercept
September 9, 2015

The plot behind the plot of Zero Dark Thirty just gets better and better.

From the moment it premiered in 2012, the film by Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal about the hunt for Osama bin Laden has been criticized as pro-torture propaganda. According to its many detractors, ...  (Read more)

Benghazi Film by Michael Bay Could Be Next ‘American Sniper’ but Let’s Hope Not

The Intercept
July 30, 2015

Hollywood surprised itself earlier this year by producing an Iraq war movie that was a blockbuster—American Sniper has earned more than half a billion dollars so far, starring Bradley Cooper in the role of Navy SEAL Chris Kyle. The film also produced intense cultural criticism ...  (Read more)

Why Should Bowe Bergdahl Suffer More Than Generals Who Did Far Worse?

The Intercept
March 27, 2015

What punishment should Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl receive for allegedly deserting his post in Afghanistan? The answer comes by asking another question: What punishment has been handed out to American generals and politicians whose incompetence caused far more bloodshed and grief ...  (Read more)

Oscars Make History, So Hollywood’s War Stories Need To Be True

The Intercept
February 13, 2015

When the Academy Awards are handed out, history will be made.

I’m not referring to the Oscars that particular films might win, but our embrace of their narratives of history. If “American Sniper” gathers a fistful of statues, even more people will see a film that ...  (Read more)

How Clint Eastwood Ignores History in ‘American Sniper’

The Intercept
January 8, 2015

Just a few pages into “American Sniper,” Chris Kyle used an epithet to describe the Arabs on the wrong side of his gun scope. “A lot of people, myself included, called the enemy ‘savages,’” he wrote. “I only wish I had killed more. Not for bragging rights, ...  (Read more)