'Mauritanian' Performances Spot On | Journal & Topics Media Group

I agree that the performances in The Mauritanian are superb. The details are impressive, and the sights and sounds are more accurate than not. However, when you come out with “This is a true story” in the opening credits you set yourself up for extreme criticism, especially from those who were there, if you don’t get things right. The Mauritanian strays here and there from the truth. Some subtle things like, there were actually no hoods used at Gitmo, I never saw one, and I was there for the first six months, just before Slahi got there. I witnessed hundreds of detainees being led off of planes from Afghanistan, and the only things they had on their heads were beanie caps, blackout goggles, headphones and surgical masks (to protect US and other personnel from potential TB coughs). The working dogs at the airport and in the camp were NEVER in detainees faces, and rarely barked. They were there for the same purpose as the sensory deprivation items I described above. To help keep the detainees calm, for their safety and the safety of the Military Police guards. The portrayal of the military personnel at Gitmo were dead wrong, unfair, but sadly typical of fake news portrayals of American military professionals. Especially Military Police, who are friendly and polite towards civilians. The gruff deadpan of the military portrayals, especially in the beginning of the film were insulting and wrong. Even the more friendly portrayals near the end of the film were insulting – the friendlier guards communicated classified information to Slahi. Quite possible, but ILLEGAL, as the one guard telling Slahi about the fate of a cell mate says before he tells him: “You know I’m not allowed to tell you that,” and then proceeds to tell him. Most disturbing was the portrayal of alleged military personnel performing Enhanced Interrogation Techniques on Slahi. This is a downright LIE. DoD personnel, uniformed military and plain clothes civilians are NOT trained in EIT, only the CIA are trained in these advanced interrogation techniques. Again, a slam on the military. The movie goes from plain clothes interrogators, who practically fall in love with Slahi, to military devils who torture and abuse Slahi. And although I did not witness any of this treatment, and can’t say if any of it happened or not, I do know whoever did it were not DoD employees. It’s not what we do, ever, unless under the direct influence of criminal intelligence officers from another agency (e.g. Abu Ghraib). Acting and production: A+. Honesty: F.