By Bill O'Reilly for BillOReilly.com

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Just in time for Thanksgiving, the vile movie "Redacted" is opening in a few theatres this week. The film, financed by billionaire Mark Cuban and directed by far-left bomb thrower Brian DePalma, features drunken American soldiers in Iraq raping and murdering a 14-year-old girl and then slaughtering her family.

As stated in this space two months ago, a depiction like this will be displayed prominently on jihadi websites, and will be used as a recruiting tool by terrorists. No doubt.

Both DePalma and Cuban are unrepentant and apparently could not care less about putting U.S. troops in even more danger. Cuban opines that it is wrong to condemn the film without seeing it, but that's incredible nonsense. No one denies the movie puts American soldiers in the worst light possible. As one reader emailed, "Saying you can't condemn 'Redacted' without seeing it is like saying you can't condemn crystal meth without taking it."

So what's to be done here? In a free society, Mark Cuban is entitled to make this despicable movie. Our military people have fought and died to give him that right. Isn't that ironic? Cuban uses his freedom and his money, made in America, to put our troops at further risk. How does the guy live with himself?

This isn't about the Iraq war or the war on terror. This is about fellow citizens. Even during the ultra-contentious Vietnam conflict, Hollywood didn't make films that aided the enemy. Jane Fonda made a personal appearance in North Vietnam that did that, and she is still paying for it to this day.

Mark Cuban owns the Dallas Maverick basketball team and has been seen gyrating on TV's "Dancing With the Stars." While Cuban is doing the cha-cha, almost 200,000 brave Americans are on far-away battlegrounds. Picture the image of Cuban dancing around juxtaposed with scenes of the hardship our troops face everyday. Sounds like it would make an interesting movie sequence, don't you think?

There comes a time when good people must make a stand, and this is one of those times. Cuban and DePalma have done a bad thing; they have made life even harder for our troops. So Americans should stand in front of any theatre showing "Redacted" and hold a simple sign: "Support the Troops."

There is no excuse for "Redacted." The incident is based on a true story, but those who committed the crimes are in prison for life. You don't celebrate this kind of aberration with a movie—you don't brand the U.S. military with this stigma.

Charles Manson is an American too, but does he represent this country in any way? Of course not. And I believe even the odious Manson would not make a movie like "Redacted."