Best Defense

Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

“Waltz with Bashir”

This is a terrific film about war and memory. It plays with your mind especially because it is an animated documentary — the only such thing ever made, I think. It also is a good meditation on the difference between what you think might be going on across a battlefield and what is really going ...

583238_090722_bashir5.jpg
583238_090722_bashir5.jpg

This is a terrific film about war and memory. It plays with your mind especially because it is an animated documentary — the only such thing ever made, I think. It also is a good meditation on the difference between what you think might be going on across a battlefield and what is really going on. That’s a lesson for any commander — and for any journalist covering combat.

It is ostensibly about the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, but it really felt more like what poorly prepared soldiers might feel in any war. It is out on Netflix now. I recommend watching it twice in one sitting: First just the film, and then the director’s commentary, which is like another layer of the story. (Also I noticed a lot more in the background in the second go-round.)

My favorite part was the one-minute version of Apocalypse Now, set in Lebanon. Wordlessly, it summarizes everything that goes wrong in a war.

My wife thinks it should be a double feature with The Hurt Locker. That’s a bit too much PTSD for me in one bite.

Ya’akov Sa’ar/GPO via Getty Images

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1

More from Foreign Policy

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping give a toast during a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping give a toast during a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21.

Can Russia Get Used to Being China’s Little Brother?

The power dynamic between Beijing and Moscow has switched dramatically.

Xi and Putin shake hands while carrying red folders.
Xi and Putin shake hands while carrying red folders.

Xi and Putin Have the Most Consequential Undeclared Alliance in the World

It’s become more important than Washington’s official alliances today.

Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

It’s a New Great Game. Again.

Across Central Asia, Russia’s brand is tainted by Ukraine, China’s got challenges, and Washington senses another opening.

Kurdish military officers take part in a graduation ceremony in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on Jan. 15.
Kurdish military officers take part in a graduation ceremony in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on Jan. 15.

Iraqi Kurdistan’s House of Cards Is Collapsing

The region once seemed a bright spot in the disorder unleashed by U.S. regime change. Today, things look bleak.