OMNI SPECIAL NEWSLETTER #4, FILMS ON IRAQ
APRIL 3, 2008,
BUILDING A CULTURE OF PEACE TO REPLACE THE CULTURE OF WAR, Dick Bennett, Editor. (#3 March 24, 2008, #2 Jan. 16, 2008, #1 Nov. 2, 2007).
WE, THE PEOPLE.
The USA was created BY AND FOR THE PEOPLE, AND THE STRUGGLE FOR THIS USA CONTINUES.
“PEACE IS NOT HEALTHY FOR GENERALS AND OTHER KILLING THINGS.”Lorraine Schneider, US artist and activist.
“THE COST OF THE WAR [i.e., illegal occupation] EXCEEDS HALF A TRILLION DOLLARS--$10.3 BILLION A MONTH, ACCORDING to the Congressional Research
Service.” TMN (April 3, 2008, p. 1B). See The Three Trillion Dollar War by Stiglitz and Bilmes.
SENATOR LINCOLN (202) 224-4843 Fax: (202) 228-1371.
Fayetteville office: 251-1380
Senator Mark Pryor: Phone: (202) 224-2353 Fax: (202) 228-0908
CONGRESSMAN Boozman: Lowell office: 479-725-0400.
DC address: 1708 Longworth House Office Bldng., Washington, DC 20515; 202-225-4301.
Contents
CAUSES
“Buying the War”: Mainstream Media No Watchdog
The Bush Gang: PBS Frontline’s “Bush’s War,” Part I
CONSEQUENCES
“Bush’s War” Part II
“No End in Sight” (now supported by the full investigative record behind the film, by PublicAffairs)
“Taxi from the Dark Side”: Torture
“Body of War” documentary about Tomas Young, Bush, and Congress
“Meeting the Resistance” (to the occupation)
“Stop Loss” (involuntary return to Iraq)
“The Valley of Elah,” soldiers made psychopathic and sociopathic (Tommy Lee Jones nominated for an Academy Award)
CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES
“Bush’s War,” Ray McGovern’s Critique
Letter from Edrene citing several films.
Google list (most films made prior to 2003 deleted)
Buying these films supports not only these filmmakers, producers, and distributors, but encourages the making of additional films about wars
and our dysfunctional leaders. Buy and show these films.
CAUSES OF THE WAR
“Buying the War” http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/btw/watch.html
In the run-up to war, skepticism was a rarity among journalists inside the Beltway. The [PBS "Buying the War"] program analyzes the stream of unchecked
information from administration sources and Iraqi defectors to the mainstream print and broadcast press. While almost all the claims would eventually prove to be
false, the drumbeat of misinformation about WMDs went virtually unchallenged by the media. "Buying the War" examines the press coverage in the lead-up to
the war as evidence of a paradigm shift in the role of journalists in democracy and asks, four years after the invasion, what's changed? "More and more the
media become ... common carriers of administration statements," says the Washington Post's Walter Pincus. "We've sort of given up being independent on our
own."
The Bush Gang
“FRONTLINE” presents "BUSH'S WAR"on the Fifth Anniversary of the Iraq Invasion.
.... The Definitive
Chronicle of Bush's War on Terror
Monday, March 24, 9pm to 11pm (ET) and
Tuesday, March 25, 9pm to 11pm (ET) on PBS
See: Info and Preview: www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/bushswar
From the horror of 9/11 to the invasion of Iraq;
the truth about WMD to the rise of an insurgency;
the scandal of Abu Ghraib to the strategy of the surge -for six years, FRONTLINE has revealed the defining stories of the war on terror in meticulous detail, and the political
dramas that played out at the highest levels of power and influence.
Veteran producer Michael Kirk (The Torture Question, The Dark Side) draws on one of the richest archives in broadcast
journalism -- more than 40 FRONTLINE reports on the war on terror. Combined with fresh reporting and new
interviews, Bush's War will be the definitive documentary analysis of one of the most challenging periods in the nation's
history.
"Parts of this history have been told before," Kirk says. "But no one has laid out the entire narrative to reveal in one
epic story the scope and detail of how this war began and how it has been fought, both on the ground and deep inside
the government."
Since the war on terror began, FRONTLINE's award-winning reporting has gone behind the headlines to connect the
dots and reveal the true story of an administration at war with itself over how to respond to the devastating 9/11
attacks.
In the fall of 2001, even as America was waging a war in Afghanistan, another hidden war was being waged inside
the administration. Part 1 of Bush's War, airing Monday, March 24, from 9pm to 11:30 P.M. ET, tells the story of this
behind-the-scenes battle over whether Iraq would be the next target in the war on terror.
On one side, Secretary of State Colin Powell and Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet squared off against
Vice President Dick Cheney and his longtime ally, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. The battles were over policy
-- whether to attack Iraq; the role of Iraqi exile Ahmad Chalabi; how to treat detainees; whether to seek United Nations
resolutions; and the value of intelligence suggesting a connection between Saddam Hussein and the 9/11 attacks -- but
the conflict was deeply personal.
"Friendships were dashed," Powell's deputy Richard Armitage tells FRONTLINE. As the war within the administration
heated up, Armitage and Powell concluded that they were being shut out of key decisions by Cheney and Rumsfeld.
"The battle of ideas, you generally come up with the best solution. When somebody hijacks the system, then, just like a
hijacked airplane, very often no good comes of it," Armitage adds.
Others inside the administration believe they understand the motivation behind some of the vice president's actions.
"I think the vice president felt he kind of looked death in the eye on 9/11," former White House counterterrorism
coordinator Richard Clarke says. "Three thousand Americans died. The building that the vice president used to work in
blew up, and people died there. This was a cold slap in the face. This is a different world you're living in now. And the
enemy's still out there, and the enemy could come after you. That does cause you to think [about] things differently."
More than anything else, the Iraq war will be the lasting legacy of the Bush presidency.
Part 2 of Bush's War, airing Tuesday, March 25, from 9pm to 11p.m. ET, examines that war -- beginning with the
quick American victory in Iraq, the early mistakes that were made, and then recounting the story of how chaos, looting
and violence quickly engulfed the country.
As American forces realized they were unprepared for the looting that followed the invasion, plans for a swift
withdrawal of troops were put on hold. With only a few weeks' preparation, American administrator L. Paul Bremer was
sent to find a political solution to a rapidly deteriorating situation. Bremer's first moves were to disband the Iraqi
military and remove members of Saddam Hussein's party from the government. They were decisions that the original
head of reconstruction, Gen. Jay Garner (Ret.), begged Bremer to reconsider at the time. Now they are seen by others as
one of the first in a series of missteps that would lead Iraq into a full-blown insurgency.
But Bremer has his defenders: "We believed, Bremer believed, and I think the leadership in Washington believed that it
was very important to demonstrate to the Iraqi people that whatever else was going to happen, Saddam and his cronies
were not coming back," Walter Slocombe, the national security adviser to Bremer, tells FRONTLINE.
Garner was not the only one on the outside. As senior officials complained about inattention at the top, Gen. Tommy
Franks and his deputy, Gen. Michael DeLong -- the generals who had planned the war -- found that decisions were
being made without them as well.
"All the recommendations that we were making now in the Phase IV part weren't being taken -- weren't being taken by
Bremer or Rumsfeld," DeLong tells FRONTLINE. "That's when Franks said, 'I'm done.' They said, 'Well, you'll be chief of
staff of the Army.' He said, 'No, I'm done.'"
What followed is well documented: insurgency, sectarian strife, prisoner abuse and growing casualties. But within the
administration, a new battle over strategy was being fought -- this one between a new secretary of state, Condoleezza
Rice, and Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld. The clash between America's top diplomat and its chief defense official would
go on for more than two years and be settled only after the Republican loss in the 2006 congressional elections. It was
then that the president forced Rumsfeld out, ended his strategy of slow withdrawal and ordered a surge of troops.
FRONTLINE goes behind closed doors to tell the most recent chapter in this ongoing story, and asks what Bush will
leave for a new U.S. president both in Iraq and in the larger war on terror.
Bush's War is a FRONTLINE co-production with Kirk Documentary Group, Ltd. The writer, producer and director is
Michael Kirk. The producer and reporter is Jim Gilmore. FRONTLINE is produced by WGBH Boston and is broadcast
nationwide on PBS. Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers. Major funding for
FRONTLINE is provided by The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Additional funding is provided by the
Park Foundation. FRONTLINE is closed-captioned for deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers and described for people who
are blind or visually impaired by the Media Access Group at WGBH. FRONTLINE is a registered trademark of WGBH
Educational Foundation. The executive producer of FRONTLINE is David Fanning.
COMING MARCH 24, MARCH 25
FRONTLINE's New TV/Web Experience
Across the entire four-hour Bush's War series that will be streamed online, FRONTLINE will integrate and embed in its
video player an array of related interviews, background material and video that can be viewed with just a click. In
addition, more than 100 video clips of key moments and events in the Iraq war will be the centerpiece of an annotated
master chronology which FRONTLINE will publish on the Bush's War site.
The interviews, video and background material are drawn from one of the richest archives in broadcast journalism: FRONTLINE's
40+ hours of documentaries and 400 interviews done since 9/11 on Iraq and the war on terror, as well as new interviews
conducted for Bush's War.
pbs.org/pressroom
Promotional photography can be downloaded from the PBS pressroom.
Press contacts
Diane Buxton
(617) 300-5375
diane_buxton@wgbh.org
Alissa Rooney
(617) 300-5314
alissa_rooney@wgbh.org
Books to read in conjunction with the film: James Mann, The Rise of the Vulcans; Steve Coll, Ghost Wars; James Bamford, A
Pretext for War; Bob Woodward, Bush at War; Thomas Ricks, Fiasco; Mark Danner, The Secret Way to War ; Ron Suskind, The 1%
Solution. (I may not have these titles exact.)
CONSEQUENCES OF THE WAR
“Taxi to the Dark Side”: Torture
Taxi to the Dark Side (2007)
Directed by Alex Gibney. With Alex Gibney. An in-depth look at the torture practices of the
United States in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, ...
imdb.com/title/tt0854678/ - 52k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
Taxi To The Darkside
www.taxitothedarkside.com/ - 4k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
Taxi to the Dark Side - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Taxi to the Dark Side is an Academy Award winning 2007 documentary film directed by
American filmmaker Alex Gibney, and produced by Eva Orner and Susannah ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxi_to_the_Dark_Side - 36k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
Apple - Trailers - Taxi To the Dark Side - Trailer
Jan 18, 2008 ... The latest prize-winning documentary from Oscar-nominee Alex Gibney,
confirms his standing as one of the foremost non-fiction filmmakers ...
www.apple.com/trailers/thinkfilm/taxitothedarkside/trailer/ - 11k - Cached - Similar pages Note this
YouTube - "Taxi To The Dark Side" - Trailer
This documentary murder mystery examines
the death of an ...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WX0MPcN08Zc
Taxi to the Dark Side Movie Reviews, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes
Taxi to the Dark Side movie reviews, trailers - Check out Rotten Tomatoes Taxi to the Dark
Side clips, pictures, critic and user reviews, forums and the ...
www.rottentomatoes.com/m/taxi_to_the_dark_side/ - 88k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
Why Democracy > films
Taxi to the Dark Side takes an in-depth look at one case: an Afghan taxi driver ... Taxi to
the Dark Side has won the Best Documentary Award at the Tribeca ...
www.whydemocracy.net/film/4 - 37k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
WOUNDED US SOLDIERS: “BODY OF WAR”
“Body of War” documentary film by Phil Donohue and Ellen Spiro about Tomas Young, paralyzed by a bullet in Iraq, Pres. Bush’s obsession for war, and Congress’s
unconstitutional abdication of its authority. Buy it, see it, give it—a great anti-war film. Donohue and Spiro were interviewed on “Bill Moyers’ Journal” (March 21) and Amy
Goodman’s “Ðemocracy Now” (March 25). Another hero in this story is Senator Robert Byrd who tried to stop the Senate from approving the invasion (and the 22 other Senators).
Body of War
Body of War is an intimate and transformational feature documentary about the true face of
war today. Meet Tomas Young, 25 years old, paralyzed from a ...
www.bodyofwar.com/ - 6k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
Trailer
Synopsis
Eddie Vedder DONAHUE Statement
Tomas Young Bios
More results from bodyofwar.com »
YouTube - Body
of War
Sire
Records to
Release
Compilation
Album
Curated by
Iraq War ...
Body of War (2007)
Directed by Phil Donahue, Ellen Spiro. With Robert Byrd, Cathy Smith, Nathan Young. The
story of an injured American veteran returning home from the war ...
www.imdb.com/title/tt1068634/ - 39k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
News results for Body of War
StarPhoenix
Will ‘Stop-Loss’ be another box office casualty? - Mar 26, 2008
Tivoli also screened “Body of War,” a devastating look at a paralyzed soldier from KC who
has become an antiwar activist. To see most of these anti-war docs ...
Kansas City Star - 463 related articles »
"Body of War" Depicts Personal Cost of War in Iraq - AlterNet - 9 related articles »
Body of War - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Body of War, directed by Ellen Spiro and Phil Donahue, is a 2007 documentary following
Tomas Young, an Iraq War veteran paralyzed from a bullet to the spine ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_of_War - 30k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
SENATOR BYRD AND THE NOBLE 23 are an important part of this film.
Senator Byrd and 23 senators tried to stop the invasion. Let us find ways to celebrate them.
MEETING THE RESISTANCE
“Meeting the Resistance : In Baghdad’s Back Alleys Speaking with the Iraqis Fighting the Occupation”
This important article is written
by Steve Connors, co-filmmaker of the film "Meeting Resistance". "Meeting the Resistance: In Baghdad’s Back Alleys Speaking
with the Iraqis Fighting the Occupation":
There had long been a campaign of assassinations against nationalist intellectuals — doctors, lawyers, university professors — primarily, but not
exclusively, in the Sunni community.
Full text of article:
http://www.indypendent.org/2008/03/14/meeting-the-resistancetwo-western-journalists-venture-into-baghdad%e2%80%99s-back-alleys-to-speak-with-the-iraqis-fighting-the-occupation/
Article taken from The Indypendent - http://www.indypendent.org (from Sue S)
See at end for promo.
“STOP LOSS”
I saw this film and as an anti-war film it ranks with “The Valley of Elah,” but more violent. Only about a half-dozen people attended (at 1:10), so try to see it and urge others to
see it. It will wake up the unaware and the deniers and perhaps bring them to act publicly against this remorseless tyrant who has usurped the presidency.
News results for STOP LOSS
StarPhoenix
"Stop-Loss" - 13 hours ago
By Stephanie Zacharek Ryan Phillippe is a soldier who is called back to Iraq in "Stop-Loss."
March 28, 2008 | Like so many movies these days, ...
Salon - 463 related articles »
'Loss' doesn't look like any Iraq movie - Los Angeles Times - 8 related articles »
Ryan Phillippe: Seeing Reese with Jake is 'bizarre' - New Zealand Herald - 46 related articles »
Stop Loss (2008)
Directed by Kimberly Peirce. With Ryan Phillippe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rob Brown.
Decorated Iraq war hero Sgt. Brandon King makes a celebrated return to ...
www.imdb.com/title/tt0489281/ - 50k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
STOP-LOSS Movie | Opens March 28 | Official Movie Site
MTV Films Presents: STOP-LOSS. In theaters March 28. STOP-LOSS, starring Ryan
Phillippe, Abbie Cornish, Channing Tatum, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ciarán Hinds, ...
www.stoplossmovie.com/ - 7k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
Stop-loss policy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Stop-loss, in the United States military, is the involuntary extension of a service member's
enlistment contract in order to retain them beyond the normal ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop-loss_policy - 32k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
Apple Trailrs - STOP-LOSS
Decorated Iraq war hero Sgt. Brandon King (Ryan Phillippe) makes a celebrated return to
his small Texas hometown following his tour of duty.
www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/stoploss/ - 7k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
“Bad Voodoo’s War” by PBS/Frontline, shown April 1 (to see go to PBS.org). A filmed self-portrait of a few of the soldiers of one platoon
in Iraq assigned to escorting truck convoys, and the effects of the dangers.
CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES
FRONTLINE’S “BUSH’S WAR,” A CRITIQUE BY RAY MCGOVERN
From: Tom Klammer Sent: Wednesday, March 26, 2008 3:48 PM (from Sue S)
consortiumnews.com
Frontline's Timid Iraq Retrospective
By Ray McGovern
March 26, 2008
Frontline’s “Bush’s War” on PBS Monday and Tuesday evening was a nicely put-together rehash of the top players’ trickery that led to the attack on Iraq, together with the
power-grabbing, back-stabbing and limitless incompetence of the occupation.
Except for an inside-the-beltway tidbit here and there – for example, about how the pitiable Secretary of State Colin Powell had to suffer so many indignities at the hands of other
type-A hard chargers – Frontline added little to the discussion.
Notably missing was any allusion to the unconscionable role of the Fourth Estate as indiscriminate cheerleader for the home team, nor any mention that the invasion was a serious
violation of international law. But those omissions, I suppose, should have come as no surprise.
Nor was it a surprise that any viewer hoping for insight into why Cheney and Bush were so eager to attack Iraq was left with very thin gruel.
It was more infotainment, bereft of substantive discussion of the whys and wherefores of what in my view is the most disastrous foreign policy move in our nation’s history.
Despite recent acknowledgements from the likes of Alan Greenspan, Gen. John Abizaid and others that oil and permanent (or, if you prefer, “enduring”) military bases were among
the main objectives, Frontline avoided any real discussion of such delicate factors.
Someone not already aware of how our media has become a tool of the Bush administration might have been shocked at how Frontline could have missed one of President George
W. Bush’s most telling “signing statements.”
Underneath the recent Defense Authorization Act, he wrote that he did not feel bound by the law’s specific prohibitions:
“(1) To establish any military installation or base for the purpose of providing for the permanent stationing of United States Armed Forces in Iraq,” or
“(2) To exercise United States control of the oil resources of Iraq.”
So the Frontline show was largely pap.
At one point, however, the garrulous former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage did allude to one of the largest elephants in the living room – Israel’s far-right Likudniks –
and their close alliance with the so-called neo-conservatives running our policy toward the Middle East.
But Armitage did so only tangentially, referring to the welcome (if totally unrealistic) promise by Ahmed Chalabi that, upon being put in power in Baghdad, he would recognize
Israel.
Not surprisingly, the interviewer did not pick up on that comment; indeed, I’m surprised the remark avoided the cutting room floor.
Courage No Longer a Frontline Hallmark
Frontline has done no timely reportage that might be looked upon as disparaging the Bush administration – I mean, for example, the real aims behind the war, not simply the gross
incompetence characterizing its conduct.
Like so many others, Frontline has been, let’s just say it, cowardly in real time — no doubt intimidated partly by attacks on its funding that were inspired by the White House.
And now? Well the retrospective criticism of incompetence comes as polling shows two-thirds of the country against the Iraq occupation (and the number is surely higher among
PBS viewers).
So, Frontline is repositioning itself as a mild ex-post-facto critic of the war, but still unwilling to go very far out on a limb. Explaining the aims behind war crimes can, of course,
be risky. It is as though an invisible Joseph Goebbels holds sway.
On Monday evening I found myself initially applauding Frontline’s matter-of-fact, who-shot-John chronology of how our country got lied into attacking and occupying Iraq. Then I
got to thinking – have I not seen this picture before? Many times?
It took a Hollywood producer to recognize and act on the con games that sober observers could not miss as the war progressed: Where were the celebrated “weapons of mass
destruction” (WMD)?
Robert Greenwald simply could not abide the president’s switch to “weapons of mass destruction programs,” which presumably might be easier to find than the much-ballyhooed
WMD so heavily advertised before the attack on Iraq.
You remember – those remarkable WMD about which UN chief inspector Hans Blix quipped that the U.S. had 100 percent certainty of their existence in Iraq, but zero percent
certainty as to where they were.
Robert Greenwald called me in May 2003. He had read a few of the memoranda published by Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) exposing the various charades
being acted out by the administration and wanted to know what we thought of the president’s new circumlocution on WMD.
I complimented him on smelling a rat and gave him names of my VIPS colleagues and other experienced folks who could fill him in on the details.
Wasting no time, he arrived here in Washington in June, armed simply with copious notes and a cameraman. Greenwald conducted the interviews, flew back to his eager young
crew in Hollywood and, poof, the DVD “Uncovered: The War on Iraq” was released at the beginning of November 2003.
So Frontline is four and a half years behind a Hollywood producer with appropriate interest and skepticism. (Full disclosure: I appear in “Uncovered,” as do many of the
interviewees appearing in Frontline’s “Bush’s War.”)
Actually, the interviewing by Frontline occurred just a few months later. I know because I was among those interviewed for that as well, as was my good friend and former
colleague at the CIA, Mel Goodman.
I was struck that Mel looked four years younger on this week’s Frontline. It only then dawned on me that he was four years younger when interviewed.
Have a look at “Uncovered,” [http://www.truthuncovered.com/index.php ] and see how you think it compares to Frontline’s “Bush’s War.”
Safety in Retrospectives
It also struck me that producing a Frontline-style retrospective going back several years is a much less risky genre to work with. Chalk it up to my perspective as an intelligence
analyst, but ducking the incredibly important issues at stake over the next several months is, in my opinion, unconscionable. The troop “surge” in Iraq, for example.
Only toward the very end of the program does Frontline allow a bit of relevant candor on a point that has been self-evident since Cheney and Bush, against strong opposition from
Generals Abizaid and Casey (and apparently even Rumsfeld), decided to double down by sending 30,000 more troops into Iraq.
A malleable new Secretary of Defense [Robert Gates] would deal with the recalcitrant generals and pick a Petreaus ex Machina of equal malleability and political astuteness to
implement this stop-gap plan.
One of the last Frontline interviewees concedes that the purpose of the “surge” was to stave off definitive defeat in Iraq, so that Bush’s war could be handed off to his successor
somewhat intact. (Even that seems doubtful at this point.)
“That decision [to order the ‘surge’] at a minimum guaranteed that his [Bush’s] presidency would not end with a defeat in history’s eyes, that by committing to the ‘surge’ he was
certain to at least achieve a stalemate,” said journalist and author Steve Coll.
Okay, a small kudo to Frontline for including that bit of truth – however obvious.
Rather Not, Thank You [Dick: I have placed some following words in bold.] [Coward Dan Rather, Brave Hero Borjesson]
Intimidation of the media is what has happened all around, including with Frontline, which not so many years ago was able to do some gutsy reporting. Let me give you another
example about which few are aware.
Do you remember when Dan Rather made his Apologia Pro Vita Sua, admitting that the American media, including him, was failing to reveal the truth about things like Iraq?
Speaking to the BBC on May 16, 2002, Rather compared the situation to the fear of “necklacing” in South Africa.
"It's an obscene comparison," Rather said, "but there was a time in South Africa when people would put flaming tires around peoples' necks if they dissented. In some ways, the
fear is that you will be necklaced here, you will have a flaming tire of lack of patriotism put around your neck."
Talking to another reporter, Dan told it straight about the careerism that keeps U.S. journalists in line: "It's that fear that keeps [American] journalists from asking the toughest of
the tough questions and to continue to bore-in on the tough questions so often."
The comparison to “necklacing” may be “obscene” but, sadly, it is not far off the mark.
So what happened to the newly outspoken Dan Rather with the newly found courage, when he ran afoul of Vice President Dick Cheney and the immense pressure he exerts on the
corporate media?
We know about the lies and the cheerleading for attacking Iraq. But there is much more most of us do not know and remain unable to learn if Rather and other journalists keep
acting the part of the lion in the Wizard of Oz, before he gets his courage.
For Dan Rather, the fear would simply not go away – even after leaving CBS for HDNet and promising that, on his new “Dan Rather Reports” show, viewers would see
hard-hitting and courageous reporting that he said he couldn’t do at CBS.
Will it surprise you that Dan Rather cannot shake the necklace?
I refer specifically to a program for “Dan Rather Reports,” meticulously prepared by award-winning producer, Kristina Borjesson. The special included interviews with an
impressive string of first-hand witnesses to neocon machinations prior to the U.S. attack on Iraq, and provides real insights into motivations – the kind of insights Frontline did not
even attempt.
Nipped in the Bud
Last year Borjesson’s taping was finished and the editing had begun.
Borjesson’s requests to interview people working for the vice president had been denied. But, following standard journalistic practice (not to mention common courtesy), she sent
an e-mail to John Hannah in Cheney’s office in order to give Hannah a chance to react to what others – including several of the same senior folks on Frontline last evening – had
said about him for her forthcoming report.
At that point all hell broke loose. Borjesson was abruptly told by Rather’s executive producer that by sending the e-mail, Borjesson could have “brought down the whole (‘Dan
Rather Reports’) operation.”
The show was killed and Borjesson sacked.. For good measure, she was also accused of “coaching” interview subjects and taking their words out of context.
Since neither Rather nor his executive producer would provide proof to substantiate that allegation, Borjesson took the unprecedented step of sending her script and transcripts to
all her interview subjects and asking them to confirm or deny that she had coached them or taken their words out of context.
Not one of them found her script inaccurate or said they were coached. She has the e-mails to prove this.
[White House Information Control and Resistance]
This sorry episode and Frontline’s careful avoidance of basic issues like the strategic aims of the Bush administration in invading and occupying Iraq are proof, if further proof
were needed, that the White House, and especially Cheney’s swollen office, exert enormous pressure over what we are allowed to see and hear.
The fear they instill in the corporate press, and in what once was serious investigative reporting of programs like Frontline, translates into programs getting neutered or killed
outright – and massive public ignorance.
Some consolation is to be found in the good news that, in this particular case, Kristina Borjesson is made of stronger stuff; she has not given up, and was greatly encouraged by how
many of the very senior officials and former officials she had already interviewed consented to be re-interviewed (since the tapes belonged to the “Rather Not” folks).
Now who looks forward to being re-interviewed?
Borjesson’s original interviewees took into account her problems with the cowards and the censors – and her atypical, gutsy refusal to self-censor – and went the extra mile. A
tribute to them as well, and their interest in getting the truth out.
Borjesson is now completing the program on her own. Look for an announcement in the coming months, if you’re interested in real sustenance rather than the pabulum served up,
no doubt under duress, by Frontline.
Ray McGovern works with Tell the Word, the publishing arm of the ecumenical Church of the Saviour in inner-city Washington, DC. He was an Army
infantry/intelligence officer in the early sixties, then a CIA analyst for 27 years. He now serves on the Steering Group of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity
(VIPS).
To comment at Consortiumblog, click here. (To make a blog comment about this or other stories, you can use your normal e-mail address and password. Ignore the
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[End of McGovern’s critique of Frontline’s “Bush’s War”]
After viewing this series earlier this week, I was impressed with PBS's openness in treating the steps leading up to the
war, the power struggle between the CIA and the Defense Department (Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Wolfowitz) for control
of the war, and how the war was a disaster, costing countless numbers of American and Iraqi lives, from the very
beginning. It is not the sort of thing that you will find on FOX news or other mainstream media networks. However,
when I was alerted to this article by former CIA analyst Ray McGovern, who spoke at the UofA last year, my
enthusiasm for the series diminished somewhat:
"Frontline's Timid Iraq Retrospective" by Ray McGovern, March 26, 2008
http://consortiumnews.com/2008/032608a.html
The Robert Greenwald film that McGovern says was based on interviews with experts (including former Colonel Ann
Wright, who spoke in Bentonville last October) and had the Frontline revelations years ago is available in six parts on
YouTube. If you are persistent, you can view the entire film. The lineup of experts is impressive.
Uncovered - The Truth About the Iraq War
http://youtube.com/watch?v=UkcWkSRTHzQ
In addition, there are lots of YouTube videos involving interviews with Ray McGovern and a sampling indicates that
they make very worthwhile viewing. However, if you have time for only one, and haven't seen this one yet, check out
this four-minute exchange between McGovern and Rumsfeld. It is priceless.
Ray McGovern Confronts Rumsfeld
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1FTmuhynaw&feature=related
Although the Frontline series might not be "news," it is still worth viewing. If you or your students missed it, it's now
available for viewing online:
FRONTLINE: Bush's War | PBS
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/bushswar/?campaign=pbshomefeatures_1_frontlinebrbushswar_2008-03-26
I hope that they keep it online for a long, long time. It will make good primary source material for our classes.
Dr. Edrene S. McKay, Associate Faculty, NWACC
Bella Vista, AR 72714, (479) 855-6836
LIST OF FILMS FROM imdb.com (thanks to Chris D)
search
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iraq
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Keywords (Exact Matches) (Displaying 1 Result)
1.
Titles (Partial Matches) (Displaying 53 Results)
1. Kurtlar vadisi - Irak (2006)
aka "Valley of the Wolves: Iraq" - (English title)
2. Iraq in Fragments (2006)
3. Gomgashtei dar Aragh (2002)
aka "Marooned in Iraq" - (English title)
4. In the Shadow of the Palms - Iraq (2005)
5. Uncovered: The Whole Truth About the Iraq War (2003)
6. American Soldiers (2005)
aka "American Soldiers: Dateline Iraq" - Philippines (English title)
aka "American Soldiers: A Day in Iraq" - Australia (DVD title)
7. The Blood of My Brother: A Story of Death in Iraq (2005)
8. Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers (2006)
9. Uncovered: The War on Iraq (2004)
10. Alive Day Memories: Home from Iraq (2007) (TV)
aka "Occupation Iraq" - USA (working title)
11. Last Letters Home: Voices of American Troops from the Battlefields of Iraq (2004) (TV)
12. Voices of Iraq (2004)
13.
14. Visit Iraq (2003)
15. Between Iraq and a Hard Place (2003) (TV)
16. Paying the Price: Killing the Children of Iraq (2000)
17. Soldiers Pay (2004)
aka "Untitled David O. Russell Iraq Documentary" - USA (working title)
18. Alpha Company: Iraq Diary (2006) (TV)
19. Back from Iraq: The US Soldier Speaks (2005) (V)
20. Beyond Iraq and a Hard Place (2003) (TV)
21. I Am an American Soldier: One Year in Iraq with the 101st Airborne (2007)
22. In Shifting Sands: The Truth About Unscom and the Disarming of Iraq (2001)
23. Inside Iraq: The Untold Stories (2004)
24. A Journey to Iraq (2006)
25. Mission Accomplished: Langan in Iraq (2007) (TV)
26.
27. Between Iraq and a Hard Place (2006)
28. Beyond Iraq (2006)
29. CBS News Special Report: Iraq Study Group News Conference (2006) (TV)
30. Churches in Iraq (1988)
31.
32. Eyewitness in Iraq (2004) (TV)
33.
34. Iran: The Next Iraq? (2005) (TV)
35. Iraq: A Look Baq (Or, How We Learned to Stop Reporting and Love the War) (2003) (TV)
36. Iraq: A Tale of Censorship (2007)
37. Iraq: Frontline ER (2005) (TV)
38. Iraq: Irak & Internet (2006)
39.
40.
41. Iraq: The Cameraman's Story (2004) (TV)
42. Iraq with Love (2008)
43. The Kings of Babylon (2005) (TV)
aka "The History of Iraq" - USA (working title)
44. Make Peace or Die: The First Days of War in Iraq with 1st Battalion 5th Marines (2006) (V)
45. Missing: Prisoner of Iraq? (2003) (TV)
46. Off to Iraq (2007)
47. One Year On: Iraq - A Newsnight Special (2004) (TV)
48. Road to War: Iraq (2007) (TV)
49. Rory Bremner: Beneath Iraq and a Hard Place (2006) (TV)
50. Targets: Reporters in Iraq (2005) (TV)
51. Two Days 'Til Iraq (2004)
52. War, Love, God & Madness (2008)
aka "Shooting in Iraq ... a Cinderella Film" - UK (working title)
53. Where Is Iraq? (2005)
Names (Partial Matches) (Displaying 2 Results)
1.
2. People of Iraq (Director,
Voices of Iraq (2004))
Keywords (Partial Matches) (Displaying 11 Results)
1. iraq-war (199 titles - Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004), ...)
2. ...)
3. iraq-iran-war (11 titles - Persepolis (2007), ...)
4. war-in-iraq (2 titles - CBS News Special Report: Iraq Study Group News Conference (2006) (TV), ...)
5. baghdad-iraq (1 title - Live from Baghdad (2002) (TV))
6. iraq-veteran (1 title - Stride (2009))
7. iraq-veterans-against-the-war (1 title - Back from Iraq: The US Soldier Speaks (2005) (V))
8. lord's-prayer-soldier-iraq-ww2 (1 title - Hallowed Be Thy Name (2005))
9. najaf-iraq (1 title - Iraq in Fragments (2006))
10. us-iraq-war (1 title - Lakposhtha parvaz mikonand (2004))
11. voices-of-iraq (1 title - The Dreams of Sparrows (2005))
.
Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2008 3:23 PM
To: Sue Skidmore
Subject:
MEETING RESISTANCE -- APRIL SCREENINGS, DVD RELEASE, & ARTICLE BY STEVE CONNORS
A. MEETING RESISTANCE
a documentary film by Steve Connors & Molly Bingham now on DVD!
We have sold out of the Limited Edition DVD of MEETING RESISTANCE
but LOOK OUT FOR THE RELEASE OF The OFFICIAL DVD of MEETING
RESISTANCE on Tuesday, May 20.
IN APRIL MEETING RESISTANCE WILL SHOW IN THE FOLLOWING CITIES:
** indicates that directors Steve Connors & Molly Bingham will be in attendance for post-screening Q&A
www.meetingresistance.com/screenings.html
TO READ STEVE CONNORS' ARTICLE IN THE SPECIAL IRAQ ISSUE OF THE INDYPENDENT CLICK HERE
To watch the trailer click here
For further information about MEETING RESISTANCE please visit
www.meetingresistance.com