Leading to War
Leading to War is a film that indicts Bush and his warmongers by using their own words and their own blatant lies. It covers the period following September 11th, 2001 leading up to the onset of the illegal aggression against Iraq.
From the film makers:
How does a government lead its people to war? How does it communicate to its citizens – and to the wider world – the reasons and rationale for initiating military conflict? What rhetorical devices and techniques are employed? And how is a nation brought to support the profound decision to wage war against another nation?
LEADING TO WAR is comprised entirely of archival news footage – without commentary, without voiceover – presented chronologically from President Bush’s State of the Union address in January, 2002 (the “axis of evil” speech), and continuing up to the announcement of formal U.S. military action in Iraq on March 19, 2003.
This compressed, chronological view offers a unique opportunity to examine the media record from a historical perspective, allowing the material to speak for itself.
Looking back on it, it’s both terrifying and comical how so many people were duped by such a wafer thin argument delivered by a gang of utterly unconvincing thugs.
It’s also worth noting that this whole recent business in the UK about whether the war was legal or not is rendered irrelevant as you hear Bush admit on camera that the policy of his administration was regime change in Iraq – a war crime as defined without ambiguity in International law.
Bush’s little helper, Tony Blair, makes a couple of appearances, cutting an absolutely pathetic figure and reminding us it is not only Americans who can be stupidly naive.
The film is free to view online and available with subtitles in a large number of languages. Worth a watch.
Hi AT,
What I find scary [in particular] is the fact that after millenniums of ‘civil’ progress so many are still blind to the truth staring them in the face. If ordinary men [women] like you and I knew from the onset this was all utter BS and a pack of lies, don’t tell me ‘our’ so-called ‘intelligence agencies’ [the biggest oxymoron to-date] were unaware of the ‘crappiness’ of the ‘crapola’ they were dishing out. Bush, Blair and their henchmen are war criminals as was clearly outlined during the Nuremberg trials and any treaty signed ever after. These men should be sitting side by side with those we dare drag to the Hague.
Pure whitewash.
Nothing new, nothing unexpected.
Hi Daniel,
You’re right. The battle is not to change the minds or ways of the corporate crooks and bent politicians, that’s just not going to happen in the current environment. What’s required is to try and bring a wider awareness to the general public about the types of “people” who they (allegedly) choose to lead them. Too many people simply take the word of the highly organised mainstream media machine as fact. Yes, maybe there’s a little scepticism especially following on from the blatant demonstrations of criminality such as Iraq, the great banking swindle and, here in the UK, the expenses scandal. But when you talk to many people they still seem to think the state exists to serve them. Until this myth is exposed we remain distant from even the prospect of progress. It’s depressing but imagine how much worse it would be if the minority who are striving for constructive change gave up in the face of unfavourable odds. The few who can be bothered must keep plugging away, I suppose.
Thanks for your comments.