The confession of an American Solider

When Robert Ludlum created the character Jason Bourne in 1980, he wouldn't imagine what his ruthless, government employed criminal would become in "The Bourne Ultimatum" (The movie, that is).

In these days, almost every Hollywood movie needs to be watched within the context of the war against terrorism. Jason Bourne, or shall we call him David Webb, become a symbol of the American public. Bourne first believed what he is going to do is to 'save Americans' lives', then brainwashed by a secret programme headed by a CIA director not so unlike Ronald Rumsfeld, and was ordered to kill the 'threats to America', even if they include American citizens. The parallels are easy to spot.

The story of Jason Bourne then become a journey of rediscovery. Through the deaths of his loved one(s), through meeting with the victims' families, he was convinced that what he did was wrong - and soon to find out he was at least partially responsible for that. He has to come to terms with the fact that he joined the programme voluntarily (that's what he was told). While the movie doesn't explain how, it seems Jason was relieved after finding out he was pushed into the decision under great stress - well, that's probably how American feel when they decided to crush terrorism back in 2001...... but of course, the director of Bourne Ultimatum, Paul Greengrass, is an Englishman. So perhaps I'm reading too much into it, or this is just a European perspective on the war in Iraq, not an American one.

[Just wondering, why all these psycho doctors always have German sounding name, like Hirsch?]