The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2012)

Liev Schreiber: Bobby Lincoln

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Quotes 

• Changez : [about watching the events of 9/11 unfold]  In that moment, I should have felt sorrow or anger, but all I felt was awe. What audacity. The ruthlessness of the act was surpassed only by its genius. And David had struck Goliath. I'm sorry if my reaction to the attacks has offended you, Bobby. I hope you see that I'm not celebrating at the death of 3,000 innocents, just as you would not celebrate the death of 100,000 in Baghdad or Kabul, for that matter. But before conscience kicks in, have you never felt a split-second of pleasure at arrogance brought low?

  Bobby Lincoln : And you ask me why they're harrassing your family. Let's just cut the bullshit, okay? You believe in violence as a tool for social change. You teach a course in violent revolution at Lahore University. Your lectures are full of anti-American rhetoric.

  Changez : [cut to him teaching]  We will wipe the blood of the invaders from our swords!

  Bobby Lincoln : If that weren't enough, you were spotted at an Asal Mujahideen meeting with Mustafa Fazil, a known cell leader.

  Changez : [cut to said meeting]  I think I can help.

  Mustafa Fazil : I knew you would.

  Bobby Lincoln : Last night, Anse Rainier was kidnapped. And this morning, your class was canceled. If you're just an innocent bystander, Changez, why were you hiding? Only guilty people hide.

  Changez : Your candor is appreciated, Bobby, but your conclusions are wrong.

• Changez : [having learned Bobby is working with the CIA]  Did you go to them or did they come to you?

  Bobby Lincoln : Look, Changez...

  Changez : Don't insult me. You wanna have a dialogue, let's have a dialogue. Did you go to them or did they come to you?

  Bobby Lincoln : They came to me.

  Changez : How does that happen? How do you go from writing so passionately against intervention in this region to this?

  Bobby Lincoln : You wanna know how it happened? I'll tell you. In 2001, while you were busy getting rich in New York City, I was in Takhar Province, Afghanistan. A friend introduced me to Ahmad Shah Massoud. I spent a week interviewing him. He was opening schools for girls, talking about democracy, resisting the Taliban. I know he had blood on his hands, but he stood for something, meant something to people, and that's why I thought we didn't need to be there. Massoud never got the chance to read my book. Six months after it came out, he was killed by a bomb hidden in a video camera. Two days after that, the same guys that killed him took down the towers. And that's when I realized I'd been wrong. We did need to be here. So I picked a side.