New Film: "War Made Easy how Prez & Pundits Keep Spinning...

[katty]

more: http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=51&ItemID=13038

War Opposition Made Easy
by David Swanson
June 11, 2007

After Downing Street Printer Friendly Version


The new film "War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death" makes arguing against wars easy. If you get into a debate about war, just make the points made so clearly in this film, or - better yet - convince a war supporter to watch the film. Best of all would be to persuade every American to read Norman Solomon's book of the same title, on which the movie is based.

The book has the greatest depth, but the movie has much to add even for those who've read the book. It's simply stunning to watch this brilliantly edited video of numerous past presidents using identical lines to promote equally fraudulent wars, and to watch how the media gives the propaganda the same basic spin for each new war. The quality of the video improves; the callous cruelty and deception remain the same.


We like to think that the media has grown drastically worse in recent years, but Solomon and narrator Sean Penn make a compelling case that the fundamental lies used to sell wars to the American public have not changed over the past 50 years. The Bush Administration's campaign to take the country to war in Iraq on the basis of lies was remarkably similar to President Lyndon Johnson's use of the media when he wanted to attack the Dominican Republic and Reagan's when he was inclined to invade Grenada, not to mention Bush the First's when Panama was his chosen victim. In fact, Solomon draws disturbing parallels to Johnson's and Nixon's lies about Vietnam, Reagan's about Libya and Lebanon, Bush the First's about the First Gulf War and about Haiti, Clinton's about Haiti, Yugoslavia, the Sudan, Afghanistan, and Somalia, and Bush Jr.'s all too recent lies about Afghanistan. There just doesn't seem to be anything new about a president taking this country to war on the basis of laughably bad lies that anyone who was paying attention never fell for. Those who do not learn to see through these war lies are condemned to fight more wars, and the more such wars we put behind us the more we should be blamed for allowing each new one.

[RufusTFirefly]

1. Was featured on Democracy Now, May 29th

Here's a link to that segment.

[katty]

2. great, thanks.