Corrected entry: At the end of the movie it is revealed that Section 8 knew about the Colonel, Kendall, Mueller and the doctor and pretty much everything about the drug operation. Why then did they need this elaborate plan to pretend that West was shot? Who did they really flush out if they knew all the parties involved? In the end all the parties involved except the doctor were killed. If they wanted to do this they could have just killed them. Dunbar already knew where the drugs were so that was not in question. Plus because Dunbar runs off with Travolta, this would likely spark a massive investigation.
Bjoern_Buller
3rd Feb 2005
Correction: In the end they knew it all, but not at the beginning. It was like a puzzle and they had to figure out. They had to "tell" this story to check if anybody else was involved (West calls it "who is working for who operation"). West constructed a perfect opportunity for Kendall and Mueller to kill him: they would kill him in the jungle without witnesses and let the body disappear. That way he made sure they didn't try to kill him somehow on or off the base (where he wouldn't know when and how) and he had total control over them. Mueller was shot by Dunbar/Pike in the jungle in self-defense. When the Colonel offered Hardy a part of the money and told him many thinks about the drug operation, he revealed that he was the head of the drug deals (they knew he was involved, but didn't know how deep until this point). The death of the Colonel was rather an "accident" because Osborne was near the office, heard it all and saved Hardy when the Colonel wanted to shoot him (the death of the colonel was not planed). Kendall was killed by the doctor because he was a witness and might testify against him and/or the Colonel. Since Dunbar/Pike running of with Hardy is only seen by Osborne, there will be no investigation about this event (officially Dunbar/Pike either flees from the base or is unofficially released by his superiors).
Bjoern_Buller