Australian-born, British-based journalist John Pilger’s newest documentary investigates the United States-led “War on Terror” in Iraq and Afghanistan, and raises crucial questions about the real motives behind the violence. The 50-minute video weaves together footage of victims of US bombing in Afghanistan and victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US, people in Afghanistan who claim they are no better off or even in worse shape since their supposed “liberation” by the America, and disturbing interviews with a variety of US experts revealing the long history of American intervention in foreign affairs, including the Carter administration’s authorizing $500 million to the Mujahideen: training and funding Islamic extremists including Osama Bin Laden. “Out of this,” Pilger states, “came the Taliban, Al Qaeda and September 11th.” His gimmick of intercutting footage and sound bites from speeches by President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair with footage of destruction and interviews that directly contradict the figures’ public words is clever and effective.
Pilger’s sharp style of dress, Geraldo-esqe delivery of inflammatory accusations (every bit as carefully worded for effect as the public declarations of the warmongers he seeks to discredit) and the melodramatic music he has chosen to accompany his footage have the unfortunate effect of undercutting the solid reporting and moments of genuine emotional poignancy in the film, and no doubt give his critics ample reason to label him a bit of a self-serving sensationalist, and perhaps he does love the sound of his own voice a bit too much. His statements are broad, and his views at times seem a bit too simplistic. But no matter how smug he may come off, Pilger does make a very valid point about the terrible distance between the public statements of the American and British Governments and the actual actions they have taken, and if it takes a slick format to get more people to wake up to the horrible realities of this supposed “War on Terror,” he has my blessing.
Copies of the VHS video are available from Bullfrog Films, Oley PA (800-543-3764) or at
www.bullfrogfilms.com.