The Taliban Heroes of Rambo III

Yes you read that correctly, Rambo III was originally "dedicated to the brave Mujahideen fighters of Afghanistan." It has since been updated to be dedicated to the people of Afghanistan, for obvious reasons.

In the film, Rambo joins forces with the Mujahideen to rescue his former commander from the Soviet Army, though there is no mention of the overthrowing of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan's government.

Though the film contains fictional characters, one must wonder if any of the rebel fighters were based on the young Saudi Arabian millionaire, prominent Mujahideen fighter, and founder of Al-Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden.

The film was released in 1988, the same year when the then 30 year old Bin Laden founded Al-Qaeda and became its leader, a direct result of US Support.

The film is a must watch, not for entertainment value, but for the sheer propaganda values throughout. It was in the 1980s when Sylvester Stallone released his first Anti-Soviet propaganda film, Rocky IV, which I must admit is a favourite of mine.

It lightly touches on the political stand-off between the US and USSR, with the worst accusation (later proven to be true) being that the USSR ran a state doping program for its athletes.

Rambo III on the otherhand pulls no punches when it comes to international relations.

It paints the Soviet Union as an invading army (which you may argue it was), but doesn't mention the pro-Soviet government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. It would leave you to believe that every Afghan was opposed to their country being an fairly autonomous member of the USSR, while also believing that the Mujahideen was made up solely of local Afghan fighters. This is also far from the truth, as the Mujahideen were made up of many factions of international islamic extremists, from Saudi Arabia, and neighbouring Pakistan and Iran.

What surprises me the most is that all Stallone has done since 9/11 is change the dedication at the end, not attempt to pull the film altogether.

Luckily he hasn't, and it's still out there for all to view, and see how US hatred of the USSR blinded them to the fact that the people they were arming, training, and supporting, were radical islamic terrorists, who would go on to commit attrocities in the US, Europe, and Afghanistan itself.

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