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 the Fourth Estate adopted as indiscriminate cheerleader for the home team; nor was there 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 explicit prohibition against using the funding:
“(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 George W. 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.
Too Late
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 promptly 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 one hundred 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.”
Ray McGovern works with Tell the Word, the publishing arm of the ecumenical Church of the Saviour in Washington, DC. During his 27-years as a CIA analyst, he chaired NIEs: he is now on the Steering Group of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS).
Here is an excerpt of my views on it to a friend who pointed the film out to me:
After seeing it all I can say is what FOX News says about itself. "Fair and Balanced!" By that I mean it was an intentionally tamed down version of Hi Jacking Catastrophe. I would also say for Bob Woodward, it's too little too late. He along with the Washington Post have been sitting on their hands for years. No Pulitzer Bob! Not this time. In many areas it was almost apologetic, at least from the neocon viewpoints. All the pricks that helped Bush lie are suddenly coming forth and putting all of the blame on Cheney and Rumsfeld. They make Powell and Rice look like innocents, saying they were out of the loop when we all know they have intentionally lied to us over and over. Basically they call them stupid rather than complicit criminals. I don't buy it! They even try to make daddy Bush look like a good guy when essentially he chose his son's cabinet. Most of them were all former George H W Bush cabinet members. It even made it look like George Jr. was an innocent dweeb coerced by Cheney when the truth is all of them are in collusion, including Armitage and the pentagon. I can't wait to see part two though. I can only imagine how soft soaked that part will be. It just goes to show you that facts can be spun into any light they wish.
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Michael Shaw (7 articles, 1 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 306 comments)
on Thursday, March 27, 2008 at 1:11:16 PM
I see this film as a gearing up for the forgiving moment similar to Nixon when GWB walks out of the White House. The main message I saw was Bush being naively led and that is bullshit as far as I'm concerned. Granted he's a dummy, but a complicit dummy. Seeing him joke about weapons of mass destruction at that RNC dinner was sickening
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Michael Shaw (7 articles, 1 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 306 comments)
on Thursday, March 27, 2008 at 1:19:23 PM
How unfortunate that Michael Kirk failed to include all but the tiniest reference to the tens of millions of people who marched against the war for months and months.
How unfortunate that Michael Kirk failed to include the reactions from other nations' leaders, with the exception of Tony Blair, who in fact was a co-conspirator with Cheney-Bush.
How unfortunate Michael Kirk failed to include any time to the likes of Scott Ritter, Ray McGovern, Ralph Nader and dozens of experts who spoke out about the hijacking of the military.
How unfortunate -- for us, for the truth.
There is still time to impeach Cheney. It is absolute folly for Dems in Congress to think that Americans will reward them for ignoring the crimes of the most dangerous man on the planet.
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More Voices (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 6 comments)
on Thursday, March 27, 2008 at 7:01:00 PM
" Bush's War" is trying to sell Americans incompetence?... The truth is the MSM is losing their grip on controlling the flow of information and their hold on omitting and constraining the truth. Millions of Americans are aware of the truth of 9/11 and The PNAC document spelling out The NEOCON's intentions waaaay before these so called incompetent people came into power.
"Bush's War" is a FICTION! And PBS is no longer to be trusted as a source for anything remotely connected to truth.
I have one rule I go bye...It it's on your TV... it's Bullsh*t
Stop thinking you can still get the truth from MSM. Stop trusting them.
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Scott Ledger (0 articles, 1 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 135 comments)
on Thursday, March 27, 2008 at 7:03:02 PM
Mr. McGovern I do hope that you are feeling well and I want to again thank you for all of your hard work and dedication in helping bring forth the lies and deceit which this pernicious administration has wrought upon both the United States and Iraq. Hopefully through God's grace we can piece back together our fractured country, and establish peace throughout the world. It is indeed possible. However, it will no doubt be a very long hard slog. No pun intended.
Before the Iraq invasion Frontline ran two programs which I've linked below. Both shows were essentially pro-Bush administration and depicted how much of a tyrant and a threat Saddam and Iraq were to America. The narrator subliminally instilling the fear which was needed for such an invasion.
Looking back, Frontline was merely a "front" that helped sell this horrific and costly war to a credulous America.
With no end in sight to the violence in what was once a peaceful country, and while I truly feel for the innocent Iraqi people, what I fear most is that our troops, many of whom have been in Iraq now for far too long, will become bogged down in the middle of this renewed sectarian strife and for what! Oil and hegemony? This botched PNAC wet dream!
It is high time the American people got off of their duffs and demand that we put an end to this senseless slaughter.
The Long Road to War: A FRONTLINE Special Report (120 minutes) America appears to be within days of attacking Iraq. Many observers believe President Bush may soon signal to weapons inspectors, diplomats and members of ...
Feb. 20, 2003
The War Behind Closed Doors (60 minutes) FRONTLINE examines the hidden story of what is really driving the Bush administration to war with Iraq. The investigation asks whether the publicly reported reasons--fear ...
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Munich (0 articles, 47 quicklinks, 12 diaries, 676 comments)
on Friday, March 28, 2008 at 12:30:19 AM
Bush's yes men run the FCC. We also know they oversea PBS. Let's not forget what they did to Bill Moyers, forcing him off the air. It took thousands of letters threatening boycott to bring him back. When it comes to anything political on PBS, Bill Moyers is the only guy you can trust. Even before Democracy Now he was plugging Body of War.
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Michael Shaw (7 articles, 1 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 306 comments)
on Friday, March 28, 2008 at 11:25:03 AM
