"Maurice Williams, private US Army aka Smoke." "Why do they call you Smoke?" "White thing, bro'." "Tell me yourself for the camera." "I gotta cut myself out of this so if you want to make it to television, you gotta tell me yourself in a whole sentence by yourself." "Understand?" "Yeah." "They call me Smoke because if you mess with me, you get smoked." "Yeah, that's good, that's great." "I'm a devil in drab." "I love that." "Got me a license to kill." "Alright!" "I'm your worst nightmare." "Yeah!" "I'm a nigger with a trigger." "I don't think the network will go for that one." "I think the nice lady at standards and practices might wet herself." "I hear you." "You show a dude getting his head chopped off..." "Just can't let a nigger say he's a nigger, am I right?" "Yeah." "Makes sense to me." "Good." "I love television." "Hostage taking is quite different in the Islamic tradition than it is in the West." "The Arabs have been taking hostages as a way of resolving local disputes since long before Mohamed." "And don't forget that the story of the 1001 Nights is the story of a princess who gets taken hostage." "Has to tell her captors another story every night just to survive." "The Middle East is more like Chicago in the 1930s than it is like anywhere else." "First time I ever heard you run out of words." "I didn't." "I just realized he was using the old interviewer's trick." "Leave a long silence hoping you'll build to something you had meant to say, something that is more revealing or just... dumber." "Can't get much dumber than it is." "It's like a goddamn PBS show." "I'd rather watch The Simpsons." "The Simpsons is a black family man." "Everybody in the hood knows that." "Check it out." "Alright." "Pretty interesting theory you have there." "Thanks." "You're wrong about the 1001 Nights though." "It's about a young queen who tells those stories so her husband won't kill her." "You have to pick another example." "How did you know about the silence thing?" "My dad." "Oh yeah..." "Who's your dad?" "I'm hit!" "Outside now!" "Go!" "Go!" "My eye!" "Go!" "You're gonna die, you mother..." "Get that goddamn thing off my face!" "My eye!" "I can't see!" "My eye!" "Come on, Doublewide!" "I can't see!" "I gotta get up!" "I'm doing the best I can, okay Doublewide?" "Sergeant!" "I said break up." "That means leave my goddamn wounded alone and put that camera up your ass." "You got me?" "We will not stop." "I say again:" "we will not stop until we've accomplished our strategic objectives." "No matter what the cost." "Sir... don't you feel that as an officer and a gentleman, you owe a debt of honor to your wounded soldiers to get the medical attention as rapidly as possible?" "In fact, we could send Doublewide back to the field hospital with Mr. Moffet right now." "While I owe to it to my wounded men and women to get their medical attention as rapidly as possible, they know as well as I do that my first job is to make sure this kind of vicious attack" "never happens again." "And I take that job very seriously." "Tonight at 0300 hours," "Sergeant Hollen will lead his men through the irrigation ditch to the South." "You'll lead yours to the North road." "The second we hear morning prayers, we move in." "We?" "Will you be joining us in that assault, Sir?" "We attack at dawn." "That's right, Sergeant." "We attack at dawn." "This is a hell of a squad to be embedded with." "You're embedded with us?" "Sure." "Indefinitely, in fact." "Could be weeks." "I'm your new best friend." "Why?" "What did you think I was doing here?" "Make us all look bad." "Come on." "You think it's me?" "Yep." "Let's get this show on the road." " Okay, Doc?" " Absolutely." "Tight enough?" "Yeah." "I got it." "Okay." "Bounce on both legs." "Place looks better from up here." "Ready to try a few steps?" "How about a few jumping jacks?" "How about we start with one step, soldier?" "How about that?" "Shit!" "I'm surprised, pal." "The skinny kid from Oklahoma in the next room did better than that." "Oklahoma, huh?" "We'll see about that." "I got it." "Okay." "How's that?" "Awesome." "Oklahoma boy is gonna have to get up goddamn early to stay up with me." "Yes, he is." "He gets up at 0500." "Lieutenant says we have to take out the mortar." "Alone?" "We got these guys from the escort to back us up." "Sergeant Hollen's guys." "What about Doublewide?" "Medic's on the way." "You know anything about this town?" "Mad Cow's got the UAV photos." "That's the only thing he's good for." "They got UAV photos in the last 6 hours?" "No, this town's been photographed before." "Hot spot, huh?" "I guess." "Funny nobody warned us when we were driving by." "Yeah." "Funny." "What about the reporter?" "The reporter stays." "While we try to clear a town?" "The lieutenant likes having him around." "Babysitting a reporter during an assault could get somebody killed." "If it's the reporter, he can film himself dying... get an Oscar." "Broadcast journalism?" "He'd get an Emmy or a Pulitzer." "Thanks, Dim." "Thanks for clarifying that for us." "Anytime." "Let's go!" "Let's move!" "Clear!" "You see what I see ?" "I get a bad feeling." "Why?" "You come from a tiny little town, don't you?" "Yeah." "Is it always this quiet on weekday morning?" "No." "That's why." " Oh God!" " Stay still!" "I've been in a bunch of car crashes worse than this." "Jesus, remind me to never get in a car you're driving." "Open your eyes!" "I can't!" "I can't!" "I'm afraid!" "I know, you wanna go blind?" "Open your eyes!" "I need to get this woman to a hospital." "Lieutenant!" "Where's Hollen's guys?" "They're approaching from the other side." "Here's one of them." "What's he doing with that table?" "Don't touch that, soldier!" "Leave it alone!" "Leave it alone!" "Leave it alone!" "Leave it alone!" "No!" "Let's go!" "Let's move!" "What about Sergeant Hollen?" "He'll make it." "Let's go!" "What do we got?" "Possible hot spot 20 meters on the right." "Other than that, looks clear." "Alright, Tariq, take a position behind that perimeter cover withdrawn." "You!" "Your turn." "Go!" "Now the camera is on you, let's see if you got the guts." "Let's go!" "Ever since we come under a hundred yards of this hellhole, things have been going wrong." "Killing women and children ain't my idea of a fight." "They were right out in the middle of it." "They were waiting for us." "Come nightfall, we gotta get back to the Lieutenant and Sergeant Hollen's guys." "What's left of them." "I gotta get back too, man." "Upload my video." "It's all awesome." "Put your chin on the bar, please." "It is on the bar." "It is on the bar, Sir." "It's been on the bar for 2 and a half hours, Sir." "I'm sorry, soldier." "I didn't know." "I was in surgery." "Thank you, Sir." "Open your right eye as wide as you can." "Yes, Sir." "Okay." "Good." "Can you see out of this eye, soldier?" "No..." "No, Sir." "You're gonna be fine." "I'll have this taken care of inside of an hour." "You have my word." "I'm the best ophthalmologist in the entire state of Ohio." "Okay." "So you're married, soldier?" "You're gonna be on the phone telling your husband you don't know why you were so scared within the hour." "Understand?" "Yes, Sir." "Good." " Hi!" " Hey!" "Oh gosh!" "Sorry I'm late." "El nino was fussy this morning." "I know how it goes." "Really?" "Every time I see Spooky, he's dead to the world." "He stares in the day, at night he airs all of his complaints." "Mainly I just think he misses his mom." "Hey, if this is a bad time..." "No!" "I don't want to make..." "Don't go." "I've been looking forward to this." "Just to eat with somebody who won't spit up on me." "Yeah." "Okay." "Where's the baby?" " Home." "You reached Del Rio's residence." "Leave a message." "Hi, sweetheart." "It's me again." "I'm sorry to leave so many messages, I just..." "I really wanna hear your voice." "I'm fine." "I'll try again later maybe." "In our top story:" "disturbing images from Iraq have igniting a furor across the Arab world this morning." "This footage shot with a digital camera by an embedded journalist in the Al Enza province has sparked angry protest from Pakistan to Paris." "Got me a license to kill." "In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, a mob has gathered outside The US embassy." "A spokesman for the White House has called the incident regrettable." "Oh my God!" "And now an update on what continues to be our top story." "In the third day of international reactions to the murder of 2 Iraqi civilians by American troops, the Pentagon has finally issued a brief statement." "It reads in whole:" ""An investigation is underway"." "Now that footage of the funeral of the mother and child has surfaced," "Arab protests have redoubled." "By the time I saw her, she was already dead, Sir." "How can that be, soldier?" "You're the second man that has come in here and said he missed the whole thing." "How can I have missed her death, Sir?" "Yes." "I blinked, Sir." "You have any idea how long an unprotected human being can stand up to an automatic rifle fire?" "Do you know how long a human being can stand up to an automatic rifle fire, Sir?" "I was talking to your camera operator, Sir." "You may direct your remarks to me, private." " Yes, Sir." " How long?" "For those people who are gonna see this video, who don't know anything about battle or killing or facing the imminent possibility of being killed themselves." "How long can an unprotected human being stand up to an automatic rifle fire?" "A heartbeat, Sir." "One second, you're there." "And the next, you'll never see your son's face." "You mentioned automatic rifle fire, soldier." "There's only one man in your fire team who carries assault." "Private Maurice Williams." "Is he the man who killed the woman and child?" "As I said," "I didn't see what happened, Sir." "You're dismissed." "Hello?" "Hey, buddy, it's me, Franck." "Mom, it's Franck!" "It's Franck!" "Are you coming home?" "No, not yet." "But soon, okay?" "I'm coming home just as soon as I can." "Okay." "How's your mom?" "She's sleeping." "She's sleeping?" "What time is it there?" "I'm awake!" "I was just resting my eyes." "You alright?" "Yeah." "How's the baby?" "He's... he's fine." "Vanessa, what is it?" "I just huh... miss you so much." "I miss you too." "I miss you more than I can say." "Eddy asks about you all the time." "He misses you." "I miss him too." "I..." "Listen... this is probably costing a ton of money and... you know..." "Yeah." "Alright." "Bye." "Bye." "Sergeant." "Why didn't you immediately inform Lieutenant Teller that 2 civilians had been killed?" "Sir, I didn't know they were civilians." "Child and his mother?" "Sir, Sergeant Wilson of Charlie Company was killed by a bomb strapped to an 11-year-old girl." "He was a friend of mine." "Sergeant Hitchins, who I went to ranger school with, was shot to death by a woman who had just served him dinner in a mess hall." "He was a friend of mine." "Sergeant Pissol of 3rd Squad" "Thank you, Sergeant." "I don't mean to cut you off." "I just mean that I get your thought." "Thank you, Sir." "There's the matter of private Williams and his spray and pray firing style." "Sergeant?" "Sorry, Sir, was that a question?" "Can you tell me what you think of private Williams and his wild firing style?" "In fire fight, pinned down by an unknown number of enemy combatants who have the dual advantages of surprise and position, there is no such thing as a "wild firing style"," "Captain." "Can't sleep either, huh?" "Yeah." "Yeah, something like that." "I've got 5 minutes on this phone card if you got anybody you wanna call." "You can't reach nobody ?" "No." "No, there's no answer." "Shit, Sergeant." "I'd love to use your 5 minutes." "Yeah." "Thanks." "I didn't cap nobody, Sir." "Not that day." "You didn't shoot anybody." "No, Sir." "Who shot the woman and the child?" "I don't know, Sir, it was pretty wild." "I..." "What were you shooting at, soldier?" "The guy firing at us from the window, Sir." "If we didn't get rid of him, we might have all got dead." "Leave us alone for a minute, gentlemen, would you?" "Now!" "Goddamn it, private!" "If I ever hear of you pulling this goddamn dumbass Scanagon bullshit again," "I will have your ass in the brig!" "Understood?" "Yes, Sir." "Hello?" "Moms?" "Maurice?" "You're hurt?" "No." "Where you at?" "In Iraq, where you think I'm at?" "I don't know, I was worried you might have..." "I don't know." "What?" "I might have run off?" "I didn't say that." "You think I'm gonna go AWOL, moms?" "I didn't say nothing like that." "So... you're just calling for no reason?" "Ain't you be watching the news?" "Baby, I'm working 2 jobs." "I ain't got time to watch no TV." "Do me a favor: don't start now, alright?" "What happened?" "Nothing." "Just... war." "Something bad happened." "Didn't you hear what I said?" "You're in trouble again?" "Why you gotta be like that?" "Why I got to be like that?" "Alright, I am in trouble." "I'm in goddamn Iraq!" "I pray to Jesus for you." "Shit." "I pray everyday." "Everyday." "They're telling me I gotta get off now." "Jesus the savior will keep you in his hands." "He'll stop the bullets hitting you no matter what you've done." "...2 Iraqi civilians by American troops, the Pentagon has finally issued a..." "I'm alive, you idiot!" "Pull me in!" "Wait a second!" "I'm not saving you unless you promise to get..." "What the hell are you doing here?" "I came here to explain." "Why they even let you in?" "I've all access, remember?" "I think you should go." "You've been thinking this since you met me." "I mean now." "You got your camera?" "No, I'm strictly here to talk." "Man, they screwed me as much as they screwed you." "Come on." "Cut this shit, Smoke!" "Cut this shit, Smoke!" "That's an order!" "It's time to go." "Now we're going, understand?" "We're going whether you like it or not." " He's dangerous!" " You're dangerous!" "I got screwed too." "You made him look like a cold-blooded killer." "No, man, I didn't do anything like that." "Have you even seen the TV?" "They re-cut my footage." "They what?" "The wire service I work for re-cut my footage." "They took what I uploaded and they made a story of it." "Why?" "For money." "They've made 10 times more than they made all year on this!" "Can they do that?" "No!" "It's gonna be a huge thing but it's not gonna help Smoke and it's not gonna help me." "Can you quit?" "I did." "Alright, you know, I don't care what you think of me," "I just know I'm here to tell the truth when I can." "It's just that the system is a goddamn mess, that's all." "Just tell Smoke I'll make it up to him." "What's that supposed to mean?" "Shut the hell up!" "I'm trying to get some shut-eye here and if you keep yelling," "I'm gonna take your goddamn head off." "What are you doing sleeping in a Bradley for?" "It's a hundred degrees..." "Shut up, soldier!" "Okay, okay." "Thanks for seeing me, Hamzah." "I can't help you." "You're helping me just by seeing me." "I'm not seeing you." "This meeting never happened." "I know what really happened in that town." "Your soldiers killed a mother and a child." "It was a set-up." "I've been thinking about this a lot, Hamzah, as you can imagine." "The soldiers were lured to the town with mortar." "When the fire fight started, someone told that child to run out and throw the bottle, didn't they?" "You're insane!" "And then the mother would go after him, that part was easy." "Preposterous!" "They were sacrificed for the camera." "No one could have known you were going to be there!" "No." "That was a stroke of luck." "You're as bias as the network is bidding you to." "There was another camera." "They didn't get a camera in there after the fire fight because that town has been bottled up as tight as a drum." "That camera was already there." "It was a set-up, Hamzah, I know it was." "You talk too much." "65." "The story of the death of a woman and child in Iraq is taking an even more disturbing turn in the last 24 hours as insurgents have now kidnapped the journalist who shot the original footage." "Conflicting stories about how 2 Iraqi civilians were killed when they wandered in the middle of a fire fight in Iraq last week..." "Holy shit!" "have taken a backseat to the story of the kidnapping of the embedded journalist." "John Moffet, the television journalist who shot what might be the most incendiary video of the war so far, has been kidnapped, sources say." "Mommy?" "I had a bad dream." "Join the club kid." "My foot was stuck to the bottom of the pool." "I couldn't breathe." "Come here, baby." "...they gave him 48 hours." "And that was last night." "I hope we find him." "How do we know where to look, Captain?" "We don't." "Intel picks up radio chatter but it's all contradictory and half of it deliberately so..." "I think he's in the village where this all started but..." "I can't get the brass to listen to me." "They think they've had the village bottled up for 5 days so no one could have gotten in or out." "By the time I was 12 years old," "I would sneak out of the house after lights out." "And I never got caught." "What's up?" "I was as close to "stay calm"!" "In the face of mounting pressure, the Department of Defence continues to refuse to release the names of any of the soldiers implicated in the killings of two civilians in Iraq." "But this video footage of one of them has come to stand for the entire incident." "Got me a license to kill." "Rowhad 1, this is 6." "Hold your position, I'm coming up." "Over." "Private Williams." "Yes, Sir." "Step down here, would you?" "Did I do something again, Sir?" "No, Smoke, you didn't do anything." "Step down here to talk to me, will you?" "Sir." "Just come with me." "They've put somebody out of the truck." "It's Smoke." "What's up, man?" "His mother had a stroke." "Is she...?" "No, she's alive." "She's bad though." "She's touch-and-go." "He can go home if he wants to." "Really?" "Yeah, right now." "Five days if he wants to." "I hate to say it but I got family," "I wish they'd have a stroke." "Lord, we ask you to hear our prayer for Maurice's mother." "Shut up!" "Bless her and protect her." "Help her overcome her struggle." "I said shut up!" "If she's anything like my mother, she's been fighting all her life." "Help her fight this time too, Lord." "Amen." "While you're at it, help our friend Maurice." "He needs you just as much as she does." "Ain't nobody deserve to die here." "Ain't nobody done nothing that wrong." "Help him find his way through this Valley of Death." "Amen."