Continuity mistake: When Osborne shoots Col. Styles through the door window she aims upwards even though Styles is sitting at his desk. (01:20:20)
Continuity mistake: In the flashback scene where Sgt. West enters the bunker and grabs Castro, Nunez, Kendall and the real (black) Dunbar aim at West. Castro then says something like: "Gun down, PIKE.". Though the real Pike stands besides not holding a gun. At this point of the movie, it's already revealed that Pike took Dunbar's dogtag. (01:13:10)
Continuity mistake: After Hardy storms out of the interrogation room he goes outside. Osborne and Hardy begin to talk under a wooden shelter and Hardy lights up a cigarette then looks briefly at Osborne, but in the following shot his back is to Hardy and is facing the camera. (00:45:40)
Continuity mistake: When Hardy and Osborne argue about their beliefs and motives, at some point Osborne tells Hardy her phone number. Hardy's arms are hanging down, but when the camera angle changes he is holding on to a beam above his head. (00:46:10)
Continuity mistake: When the woman and John Travolta get into the Hummer to go to the hospital, there is a car parked in front of them, but she pulls straight off and begins driving. She doesn't cut the wheel at all.
Continuity mistake: Close to the beginning when Samuel L Jackson is on top of the hill, and is talking to Pike, when it cuts to close views of Pike, you can see that Samuel is kneeling very close to him because you can see his rain coat, and his hands, yet when it cuts to Samuel he is standing up. (00:21:35)
Continuity mistake: When John Travolta and Connie Nielson are arriving at the hospital to visit Giovanni Ribisi, John Travolta puts his jacket down on the seat, yet when they enter the hospital, he has his jacket on. (00:26:15)
Continuity mistake: When they're interviewing Levi for the last time (right before he dies) you see a close-up shot of his ear and blood spilling out of it. In the very next shot you see his entire face and neck, but the blood from his ear is gone.
Continuity mistake: When John Travolta grabs Giovanni Ribisi's face in the hospital watch as the camera angle changes, so does his hand position on the face.
Continuity mistake: At the beginning of the film, when the soldier carries a wounded soldier across his shoulder, he gets to the bottom of a grassy hill. In the overhead shot, the soldier is down on the ground, and in the close-up shot, he is just putting him down on the ground, also now there is no hill from where they just came down from. (00:04:55)
Continuity mistake: After Col. Styles has been shot and Osborne has been interrogated while she is already sitting in the Humvee Hardy comes over and talks to her. When the camera is on him the rain maker does a pretty bad job by either pouring a lot of water over him or hardly anything at all, alternately. (01:21:20)
Continuity mistake: After Ribisi dies and Nielson stops and looks at the confession written by the other Ranger. Travolta asks what and she holds up the note. Before the other Ranger wrote on a yellow paper with large print, but she holds up a note on white paper with really small print.
Continuity mistake: Just before Hardy enters the room where Dunbar is sitting, he is telling Osborne what to say when the time is right. In the first shot she is leaning against the door frame on her right arm, the shot changes and she is leaning with her left arm, then back to her right. (00:13:35)
Continuity mistake: At the beginning of the film when Osborne is interviewing Dunbar, the first shot of the interview room shows a pen and pad on the metal table. The pen on the pad moves from being along the width of the pad to being along the length of the pad. (00:05:15)
Continuity mistake: When Hardy and Osborne are questioning Dr. Vilmer in the hospital, Osborne grabs a book with her left hand, but in the following shot, both hands are on the book. (00:59:10)
Continuity mistake: When Giovanni Ribisi starts spitting up blood, some of it lands on Connie Nielsen's face. As she and John Travolta talk about what just happened, the blood on her face disappears.
Continuity mistake: When Hardy and Osborne are talking to Dunbar again, just before Dunbar jumps on Hardy, Dunbar says, "I didn't shoot West," and Hardy's right hand is on the table palm down, but in the following shot his fingers are pointing at Dunbar. (00:43:50)
Continuity mistake: When Hardy and Osborne go to visit Kendall in the hospital, before Osborne says, "Should we go and see Kendall now..." Doc has his arms crossed in front of him, but in the following shot his arms are down at his sides. (00:26:45)
Continuity mistake: Near the beginning of the film when Pike is on the edge of the cliff with West talking to him. Pike throws his pack to West with his right arm in West's direction, but in a shot from below, it shows Pike throwing the pack in the opposite direction from where West is. (00:22:55)
Answer: It added to the plan of section 8, in that they were successfully able to stage two contradicting stories and source further incriminating evidence about the doctor and Colonel. By having Kapler there, they were able to see who would make an attempt on his life, the Colonel, and completely shut down the drug smuggling operation.