Battle of Algiers.

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"it won't do any good to examine documents. If anyone's documents are in order, it will be the terrorist's documents that are in order." - - Colonel Mathieu, "The Battle of Algiers".

The famous movie, "The Battle of Algiers" is said to be must seeing for American personnel in Iraq.

Won the best foreign film Oscar in 1969.

Chronicled the counter-insurgency of the French against Algerian insurrectionists.

[Chronicled at least, the urban counter-insurgency in Algiers].

An insurrection that occurred in the 1950's. An insurrection that proved to ultimately successful. Algeria the independent nation emerged from the conflict.

This particular movie demonstrates very well the difficulty that conventional militaries face when fighting against insurrectionists.

Especially in an urban environment.

This movie IS a must see for the military historian, amateur or otherwise.

I recommend it highly.

[when this film first came out [1969], there was a private viewing given to a group of young black teens. It was noted that everytime in the movie that a policeman was killed, a bomb set off killing "settlers", or a "demonstration" causing chaos occurred, the young blacks in the audience would cheer and applaud. They LIKED what they were seeing!!]

Many aspects of this war are repeating themselves in Iraq. American troops are dealing with a totally alien culture. As were the French. A severe culture clash was a consequence.

American troops, as were the French, were seen as occupiers. Despised.

There seemed for the French, as with the Americans, NO real way out of the conflict without honor being besmirched.

In Algeria, the French had many "settlers". French men and women, encouraged by the French government, to settle and "civilize" Algeria. And this was done to an extent. About 1 million French lived in Algeria at the time of the war. Mostly living along the coastline and in the cities. Persons who sometimes came from generations that had lived in Algeria.

Algeria WAS NOT merely a colony of France. It was a department. Had the status of being an intrinsic part of France.

NOT so with Iraq and the relationship to America.

To the French, the Algerian insurrection was MUCH MORE personal.

French pride in a large measure was at stake also. Having lost the first Indo-China War to the Vietnamese, the French felt they COULD NOT also lose in Algeria. Many steps were taken that later the French came to regret. Torture of suspected insurgents being among them.

Sounds familiar, doesn't it??!!

As is usual in insurrections, the insurgents DO NOT normally have to actually defeat the forces of the counter-insurgency on the battlefield. It is merely enough to OUTLAST the military of the "central government". In this respect, the Algerian insurrectionists did succeed. NOT militarily successful as were the Vietnamese. It was enough to OUTLAST the French. This WAS done!

For the "settlers", called derisively "pied noirs" [black feet] by their French compatriots, independence for Algeria was a catastrophe. These folks felt a continuing life and presence as a minority among a Muslim majority would be an unacceptable way of life. This is probably a correct appraisal on their part. The 1 million "settlers" pulled up stakes and to the last man and woman moved to France proper.

[it is reputed that with their intimate knowledge of the Arabs and Muslim culture, if an Algerian can be called an Arab, the "pied noirs" make for indispensible members of a anti-terrorism task force. Some of those folks must be getting up in the years now to be doing that stuff. Who knows??]

For Algeria, independence made for a mixed bag. Independence from foreign rule was exchanged for despotic, dictatorial, one-party rule at home. A situation that has lasted to this day. In addition, the socialist leaning Algerian government was not able to deliver on the promises to improve the standard of living for the Algerian people. Poverty today is the rule, rather than the exception.

coolbert.