The Battle of Algiers--intelligent people only?

Do you think the Battle of Algiers was a lesson about terroism or about a history of triumph of freedom fighters, or maybe both?

Explain...

The Battle of Algiers--intelligent people only?antispam

I'm not sure whether you're talking about the actual battle, or the famous French movie of the same name, but I suppose it really doesn't matter.

Terrorism was certainly used to great effect by the Algerian rebels, the FLN, both in demonstrating their ability to strike at will, right under the noses of the French, and in provoking the French to take more repressive measures to try to quell the insurgency.

As we see in the movie, and in the actual battle, that is exactly what the French did. Using elite paratroops, and the police, the French engaged in widespread torture, aerial bombing of crowded neighborhoods, and lockdowns of whole neighborhoods, among other brutal tactics. Although the French were successful in breaking the general strike that had been called in support of the FLN, and in systematically destroying the command structure of the FLN, the brutal methods they used elicited much criticism from the world community, and created much doubt among the French themselves as to the correctness of their role in Algeria. Ultimately, the French won the battle but lost the war.

I have heard that ''The Battle of Algiers,'' the movie, was making the rounds of the Bush administration a while back, apparently because it was seen as a demonstration that a systematic approach can quell an insurgency. If that is true, then then Bush and Co. have completely missed the point of the movie. The point of the movie, although it is indirectly conveyed, and the lesson of history, is that once an insurgency gets started, if it has the support of the general population, there really is no putting it down. The more the occupying power tries to suppress it, the more it grows, and even if it seems to subside temporarily, it can flare up again in a moment.