"I killed people. I did it for my country"

A former revolutionary and star of the newly rereleased "The Battle of Algiers" talks to Salon about that film's influence on the Pentagon -- and says he supports Iraqis who attack GIs.

By Christopher Farah

Jan. 9, 2004  |  Fifty years ago, Saadi Yacef was an Algerian revolutionary fighting France for his country's independence, planting bombs to kill French occupiers, including civilians, and hiding in the raw sewage of Turkish toilets when the authorities came looking for him. The French government went so far as to ban "The Battle of Algiers" -- a movie Yacef produced and starred in, based on a book he wrote about the insurrection -- soon after the film's 1965 release, due to its subversive nature.

How times have changed. Today, Yacef is an Algerian senator. "The Battle of Algiers" -- which has long been a cult classic, a favorite of professors of postcolonialism and your typical revolutionary types -- is recommended viewing for officials at the Pentagon, which held a private screening of the film in August. Officials described it as an illustration of "how to win a battle against terrorism and lose the war of ideas." As former U.S. National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski told an audience in October, "If you want to understand what's happening right now in Iraq, I recommend "The Battle of Algiers." ...