"Control Room" DVD: Some great Rumsfeld and Bush quotes, incl. Abu Ghraib

[Fire Walk With Me]

This is a film, if anyone doesn't know about it, documenting the days just before and through the start of the Iraq invasion, from the POV of the Al Jazeera network.

Biased? Of course. However, it holds a few bits which are quite nice.

First and foremost, Bush saying "...just like we're treating the prisoners we've captured: humanely."

(Pause, inhale, pause, exhale...)

Just prior to the invasion, Bush said: "Many Iraqis can hear me tonight in a translated broadcast and I have a message for them: If we must begin a military campaign, it will be directed at the lawless men who rule your country and not against you. Your fate will depend on your actions."

One reporter notes "The Arabs are saying nothing, objecting to nothing, and sleeping."

Interesting lack of interest from BushCo friends...

One reporter asks a US military man: "WHEN did Saddam threaten us with WMD?"

Another said "I have absolute confidence in the US Constitution...I have absolute confidence in ability of the American people. The US people are going to stop the United States (in this matter)."

Rumsfeld?

"We know that Al Jazeera has a pattern of playing propagando over, and over, and over again. What they do is when a bomb goes down, they grab some women and children and pretend that the bomb hit the women and children. And it seems to me that ti's up to all of us to try to tell the truth, to say what we know, to say what we don't know, and recognize that we are dealing with people who are perfectly happy to lie to the world; to attempt to further their case. And to the extent people lie, ultimately they are caught lying and they lose their credibility and one would think it wouldn't take very long to happen, dealing with people like this."

This may vary slightly from the source due to haste in transcription. The irony stands.

One reporter from CNN noted that the US military "buried the (lead) story. And they were pretty good at it." Charles Mintier?

[Sal Minella]

1. This movie is haunting -- the incredulous looks on the faces

of the Al Jazeera staffers when they realize the U.S. is bombing the station.....the boss who sheepishly admits that he would like his children to have educations and jobs in the United States, even after what the U.S. government has done.....the U.S. official who may or may not have a deck of the Terrorist Playing Cards locked away somewhere -- this turns into a really nasty confrontation, in which the press people are obnoxious and the military rep more obnoxious.

Highly recommended movie -- POV other than what we usually see.

[jonnyblitz]

2. one of my favorite films of this genre.

It made me quite angry. great film though.