‘’Killing isn’t natural, but violence is.”

This was the conclusion of my phone interview with Mike Scotti, the US Marine who brought a rifle, body armour and a video camera onto the battlefields of Iraq and a bunch of other God-awful war zones in the documentary This is War.

“There’s nothing natural about today’s efficient and brutal ways we can kill people, but I believe that violence is a natural act,” says Scotti. ‘’This is what I want to show, I didn’t want to make a political film. I wanted was to show the families of the soldiers what kind of violence that their sons and daughters were exposed to, so they can understand what the reality of these conflicts are like. The strange thing was by doing so, I believe I started a healing process for myself and the other soldiers who have seen the film.”

Scotti’s account of the Allied invasion in Iraq show visceral images and recollections of the environment all the soldiers had to serve in, regardless of nationality. Scotti recounts that he even trained with a Colour Sergeant from the Royal Marines during his physical training.

“He kicked our ass, his level of fittness was astonishing, as was the rest of the Royal Marines I worked with. I have a lot of respect for the British forces.”

Scotti told me about what it took to maintain focus in the battlefield, both under fire and during down-time.

“The military encourages reading on war, as well as takes you through the motions of what its like, so you have an understanding on how to cope. But you have to be there to believe it, and then when your there, your mind almost won’t let you believe it to stay sane. I wanted to keep going back, partly because of duty, but also partly because you start to not know anything else.”

Check out HeyUguys exclusive footage ofThis is War below.

This is War is available on DVD now.