Valley of the Fools: Turkey

The recent Turkish movie "Valley of the Wolves: Iraq" is, yet, another worthy picture in the collection of the Deranged Mind Gallery.

The Washington Time reports that, "Valley of the Wolves" is not the work of independents or amateurs. With a budget of $10 million, it's the biggest-spending Turkish film in history. The international cast includes Hollywood actor Billy Zane of "Titanic." Within three days of its release, the movie had been seen by 1.2 million people, a 40 percent increase on the previous viewing record. At a gala performance earlier this month, the actors rubbed shoulders with Turkey's elite. "I feel so proud of them all," said Emine Erdogan, wife of the prime minister, comfortably ensconced in a seat next to the actor playing Alemdar."

The movie opens with a real-life incident: the arrest in July 2003 of Turkish special forces in Sulaymaniyah, northern Iraq. The soldiers were led out of their headquarters at gunpoint, with hoods over their heads. America later apologized, but it appears the offence ran deep. At the time Turkey took the incident as national humiliation. In this film the fictional hero sets out for revenge.

It depicts Americans as bloodthirsty villains who massacre civilians at the wedding (wasn't that Muslims in Jordan who did that?), kill innocent Iraqis for the sport of it and occasionally blow up a friendly neighborhood mosque during evening prayer. There are multiple summary executions. And for the first time, the real-life abuses by American soldiers at Abu Ghraib prison are played out on the big screen, (most likely, a product placement for ACLU.) Then there is naturally a Jewish doctor, (you knew that was coming) who sells organs of killed Iraqis to clients in New York, Tel-Aviv and London (the Western axis of evil).

The movie is a box office success all over Europe, especially in Germany, which has a huge Turkish-immigrant population. The Muslims all over Europe are inspired by the message of the movie. Not