The Power of Nightmares

[Briar]

The Power of Nightmares
by Katrina vanden Heuvel


(The BBC rebroadcast this series last week. This article asks why it hasn't been seen in the US.)

"The attacks on September 11th," according to the film's director Adam Curtis--one of Britain's leading documentary filmmakers--"were not the expression of a confident and growing movement. They were acts of desperation by a small group frustrated by their failure which they blamed on the power of America. It is also important," Curtis adds, "to realize that many within the Islamist movement were against this strategy." (This view accords with those held by terrorism experts--like Peter Bergen--who argue that al-Qaeda is largely a spent force that has changed from a tight-knit organization capable of carrying out 9/11 to more of an ideological threat with loose networks in many nations.)

The film also challenges other accepted articles of faith in the so-called war on terror, and documents that much of what we have been told about a centralized, international terrorist threat "is a fantasy that has been exaggerated and distorted by politicans. It is a dark illusion that has spread unquestioned through governments around the world, the security services and the international media."


....

Yet America has become trapped by that fear--riven by nightmare visions of 'sleeper cells' in its midst for which there is little or no evidence. The series attempts to explain why this strange state of affairs has come about and it argues that politicians have found in fear a way of restoring their power. In a populist consumerist age where their authority and legitimacy has declined dramatically politicians have simply discovered in the War on Terror a way of making themselves indispensable to their populations again by promising to protect us from something that only they can see."

vanden Heuval thinks Americans should be able to see this series:

"If you agree, write HBO and ask why it isn't showing this BBC documentary. You can also call on PBS stations to be true to their missions by asking them to air The Power of Nightmares."


http://www.thenation.com/edcut/index.mhtml?bid=7&pid=2149

Given the way PBS station apparently backed down and pulled educational programmes showing same sex couples in a series about families, I wouldn't expect much from them.)

[WildClarySage]

1. But there's nothing in this that encourages people to be afraid

and then go buy something.

[whistle]

2. Weren't the perpetrators of the 9-11 events killed....

...so how would this director know that...."They were acts of desperation by a small group frustrated by their failure which they blamed on the power of America." Sort of the "lone nut" theory multiplied by nineteen terrorists.

I would be more open to an investigation that looked at who and what was behind the planning and execution of the 9-11 events, especially the lack of airplane debris at the Pentagon attack site as well as the suppression of most video and eyewitness accounts by the U.S. government and the Bush administration.

[WildClarySage]

3. Well, remember when * said the insurgencies in Iraq were increasing

and this was a sign of desperation on their part? (Obviously it was not really a sign that they'd gotten ahold of some really good weapons which we failed to lock down...) :eyes:

Maybe this is the same sort of logic, but whether or not it is true, the level of fear Americans bought has nothing to do with a realistic assessment of the threat.

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. Oops - I'm still thinking about the 'Hamburg Cell' film

my apoloigies to anyone confused by my misplaced post that was here earlier.

[smiley]

13. Power of Nightmares only reinforces a myth...

A myth that our government wants us to keep beleiving in. The myth that 19 muslim men with boxcutters managed to to cripple a nation.
In many ways, although very enlightening, this film is just another diversion tactic to keep us from understanding the real truth behind 9/11. I do agree with the film, that we are made to believe in powerful enemies, however I also truly believe that explosives brought down those towers along with WTC7. A CONTROLLED DEMOLITION!!

There are many myths that have taken us down the road that we are now on and the power of nightmares is only one of them.

[catzies]

21. Welcome to DU, smiley, I think the movie explained broader themes

not just about 9/11.

I watched the whole thing online at the Information Clearinghouse link over 2 nights.

I now understand a great deal more about the system as a whole, and not just events here and there, like the Cole bombing, or 9/11 or the like.

[Colorado Blue]

15. And, where were air traffic control and the interceptor jets?

I personally don't doubt that the attack occurred but the lack of response by the Air Force makes no sense. FOUR planes go off course and no fighter/interceptor response?

There was enough time at least in Washington, I think, for a plane to fly up and see what was happening? This is very troubling.

Also, it seemed that the conclusion that Al Qaida did it came very quickly. I wonder if we will ever know.

[ashmanonar]

17. do you honestly think that will ever happen?

unless we can get the 'cons out of power?

[whistle]

18. Only if we keep bringing up the doubts and questions and stir...

...the shit-storm.

[ashmanonar]

23. heh.

shit-storm. nice.

[whistle]

26. create a tsunami-turd wave against the administration....

[Pert_UK]

5. If al-Qaeda really WAS as powerful as polititicians claim....

don't you think we'd have heard something more than the train bombings in Madrid in the years since Sept 11th?

Yes, Madrid was appalling and evil and certainly there have been attacks on Western embassies in Muslim nations, but Bush would have you believe there are al-Qaeda members everywhere.

Where are the suicide bombers in New York and London? Or the car bombs? Or the dirty bombs?

Don't get me wrong, I don't WANT terrorism to strike in Europe or America / Canada / Australia, but doesn't it strike you as bizarre that this so called "war on terror" has only involved one significant attack (to my knowledge) on Western soil since 9/11?

The government seems to want us to live in fear, but where is the evidence of any real threat?

This is, of course, leaving aside Afghanistan and Iraq where the situation is entirely different, and where a largely Muslim population is facing what it sees as an invading force of thoughtless, insensitive infidels.

[FULL_METAL_HAT]

6. "Power of Nightmares" _and_ the "Rise of the Religious Right"

It would seem the state of the realpolitik is not the same as the "recorded history" we learn/absorb.

You have to see "Power of Nightmares" _and_ the "Rise of the Religious Right" -- a history about the fantasy of a bogeyman that is actually not history ...

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/video1037.htm has it online and there are files out there in P2P land in a variety of formats including VCD (which can be donwloaded, burned, and played in most DVD players). I took the 3 VCD parts and made a single DVD version so I'm sure other people have done it too. http://www.theocracywatch.org has the Rise of the Religious Right.

Realpolitik meet Realhistorik ;)

Maybe the bogeyman is soooo paper-thin that the struggle is "just" choosing "scissors" instead of "rock"?

And they even have a "manual" it turns out! I'd like to think that something they hold dear, like their tenet to literally puff up their threat to make their oppoonents afraid to do anything.

I don't know about you, but even one of them huge galapagos geckos (gilla monsters?) with their weird-scary looking hissy fits, is still just a hissy fit to an intelligent, aware being... like the Crocodile Hunter! ;) Or anyone who can step back from the emotional fear that a huge hissing reptile would cause just about anyone! (except that _other_ crocodile hunter fellow!;)) Step back and say, duh, I'm real smart and that's just an animal -- a nasty animal -- but if you study it you can figure out how to catch it...

The response regular people have been having to "Power of Nightmares" is pretty staggering. I mean I've got a metal hat, and we are here in DU so my view on it is pretty focused ... but regular folks who see this documentary really can see the man-behind-the-curtain! The most startlingly simple bit that most people comment on is how they're using the _exact same_ playbook as they did in the 70s! "Exact" is what people have said, picking their jaw up off the floor as they realize how transparent the play actually is.

There's been quite a bit of BLUSTERING lately from la main droit... maybe their shell game is starting to look shell-thin?? :)

Remember history is not always as it seems

FULL_METAL_HAT

p.s. I'll leave you with some of their actual "codes" -- run it pass your own litmus test compared to what the ** has been doing and see how well they match up to your own recollection of events and stratergeries(tm)!

First: Strauss believed that a leader had to perpetually deceive the citizens he ruled.

Secondly: Those who lead must understand there is no morality, there is only the right of the superior to rule the inferior.

Thirdly: According to Drury, Religion “is the glue that holds society together.”<40> It is a handle by which the ruler can manipulate the masses. Any religion will do. Strauss is indifferent to them all.

Fourthly: “Secular society…is the worst possible thing,” because it leads to individualism, liberalism, and relativism, all of which encourage dissent and rebellion. As Drury sums it up: “You want a crowd that you can manipulate like putty.”<41>

Fifthly: “Strauss thinks that a political order can be stable only if it is united by an external threat; and following Machiavelli, he maintains that if no external threat exists, then one has to be manufactured.”<42>

Sixthly: “In Strauss’s view, the trouble with liberal society is that it dispenses with noble lies and pious frauds. It tries to found society on secular rational foundations.”

[harris8]

12. ...renamed to "The Rise of Dominionism", I assume?

The Theocracy Watch media catalog (http://www.theocracywatch.org/materials.htm) has "The Rise of Dominionism" rather than "The Rise of the Religious Right" - do you know if this is the same movie?

Description: "October 11 video of Joan Bokaer describing the rise of Dominionism in the U.S. government. Joan explains how the Religious Right took over the Republican Party, and how President Bush, along with his Religious Right allies in Congress, are attempting to transform the United States into a Christian nation. Even more relevant now, after the 2004 election."

[Lydia Leftcoast]

7. I watched this online, thanks to my blazing broadband connection

and even on my little 12" laptop screen, it was mind-blowing.

In recent history, the UK has experienced more terrorism than the US has, and, I believe, it has a higher percentage of resident Muslims, and has had these Muslim communities for decades.

Yet the BBC has broadcast a documentary that says, "The bogeyman is a pipsqueak, and the PNACers are making him look like a giant."

I do think this documentary should be seen on US television, and I'd like to suggest contacting the Sundance Channel, which has a good track record of showing daring material and which broadcast a televised version of Al Franken's show before the presidential election.

[bpcmxr]

10. Where online did you find it?

I don't see it on the BBC site. TIA.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

11. Part I is here

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/video1037.htm

with links leading to Parts II and III.

[bpcmxr]

16. Thanks! n/t

[judy]

8. For SF DU'ers, the SF International Film Festival

is going to show it.
The Festival runs from April 21st to May 5.
They don't have their schedule up yet (usually appears around the end of March) but you can check at

http://www.sffs.org.

I saw the film, it is fascinating and very well researched.

[da_chimperor]

9. Awesome documentary. I saw both BBC airings of it

EVERYONE needs to see this.

[whistle]

19. How can we see it if it is not broadcast in the U.S. media....

....these things should be out there, but you have to go the Barnes & Nobel Video and pay $29.00 for the documentary. These conspiracy theories sure make for a nice industry for someone.

[da_chimperor]

27. Go to this link

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/video1037.htm

You can either watch it on-line (which I wouldn't do, because the quality is crappy) or download it via bit torrent and watch it on your computer. Oh, and this is not a conspiracy theory. It's a debunking of the war on terror and a look at it's origins.

[dave420]

14. Worth a look

*AHEM!*

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=filetype%3Atorrent+%22power+of+nightmares%22&meta=

[whistle]

20. Bittorent files, what are those exactly and how can I access them

...I'm getting all sorts of messages and errors, even though I have realplayer. Does it require a special player?

[dave420]

22. It's called bittorrent :)

They're not the actual video files, but an index of other people who have the files, and an address of a server that co-ordinates all the computers, and gets them to talk to each other.

To download the actual files, you need a bittorrent client, I recommend Azureus, at http://azureus.sourceforge.net/. Install that, and when you click those torrent files, Azureus will start up and download them for you. If you feel a bit brave, you can fiddle with your firewall and accelerate it - it's all covered in the help files.

let me know how you get on ;)

[whistle]

25. Wow, that sounds a little tech-no-geekish for me, not that there...

...is anything derogatory about that, in fact to the contrary, I admire people with those skills. So, I shall defer to my youngest son and hopefully he'll do his dad a favor and give me a little one-on-one assistance with this. Thanks for the explanation.

[manxkat]

24. LINKS to the BBC video HERE

LO-FI HERE
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/video1037.htm

HI-FI BitTorrent files here:
http://www.uknova.com/browse.php?search=power+of+nightmares&cat=0

Download BitTorrent from the official site at http://www.bittorrent.com/


THIS IS A MUST-SEE MIND-BLOWER OF A FILM!