Why hold'claim Osgiliath?

[Beanamir of Gondor]

What mystifies me more than anything else about the bridge issue is that, in RotK (maybe it was only in the EE, I haven't seen the original in so long that I don't remember!) there's an image of trolls and Orcs pushing siege towers and Grond, among other things, across what is clearly a bridge, in what is clearly Osgiliath. Is it a bridge over the river, because it certainly looks like it to me! Next time I watch the movie I'll mark down the time, but it's about, eh, four or five scenes before the end of the first disc. I was mystified about this even before reading William CH, Quempel, and Gordis's posts (and having reread RotK just last week while crewing a show), because while watching the films I vaguely recalled that there was no bridge in Osgiliath... and now I'm just peeved, since I know that there definitely wasn't.

I'll have to agree with William CH, though... in the films, it came out like "a ludicrous suicide mission is the most convenient way for Insane Mean Daddy to kill off Misunderstood Younger Son." Particularly because the whole "Yes, I do wish that," scene was horrifically skewed from in the books, and Denethor really did wish his son was dead. Blahhh, don't get me started on that.