Syriana - Oilman of the Year

Alright! 1 down. Another 2 more to go....some spoilers below. But you should still see the movie.

I just caught Syriana. Makes me want to watch Traffic again.

There is a strong statement in the film which is that while Saudi Arabia (represented by Prince Nasir) wants to move towards a democratic state with a more accountable system of governance and greater rights accorded to women, it is met with obstacles in the form of US pressure. Must remember why US troops are in the Gulf again...

In other news, some interesting thoughts came into mind.

• Prince Nasir was trying to evoke sentiments amongst his comrades and told them (not verbatim), "When a nation that represents only 5% of the world but accounts for more than 50% of global military spending, you know it is losing it's persuasive powers."

• Also I am currently doing a project on the Proliferation of Security Initiatives....and now a story has been vividly told of how a young Pakistani might be driven to sacrifice his life by steering his fishing boat that is spearheaded by an armed Stinger surface to air missile, ladened with explosives, into the hull of an LNG (liquefied natural gas) carrier.

• And while everyone is talking about unmanned systems (even SAF, 3G and network-centric, integrated strike blah), in this movie, you see how an unmanned air vehicle (UAV) that is armed with missiles can conduct an air to ground missile engagement from 4 miles away, with the operating crew in Langley. It's not all that baloney cause I read in a Time magazine two months back about how Predators are flown for surveillance and sometimes strike missions in the Gulf from the operating base in US. It is one thing to be impressed with the advantages of unmanned systems, eliminating exposure of personnel or key capital assets to risk, ability to operate in hostile environment, sustaining long deployments, but it is a totally different thing to hear (and perhaps one day say) the words, "Take the target out", have your guys count down as the hellfire AGMs carve a straight and narrow path through the skies to your acquired target.
  

• The Beirut 1985 incident that they kept referring to must have been the car bomb attack on the Hezbollah spiritual leader. That guy lived. Many thought the CIA played a part (Just like the failed Venezuelan coup in 2002, also over oil, especially important to the US as it is famously dependent on the natural resource). George Clooney's character, Bob supposedly saved the CIA's arse. This might explain why Bob's under the protection of the Hezbollah leader.

The tagline of the movie suddenly becomes scarier. Everything is connected

I have never felt lonelier in a cinema before. Because even though I do watch movies alone, this is the first time I am sitting on a lone chair, separated from the main seats. I should do well to remember that H10 in cinema 4 of GV PS is not good for me.