PBS Frontline: The Definitive Account of "Bush's War"
By SilentPatriot Monday Mar 24, 2008 7:59pm
Tonight on PBS, part two of the Frontline special "Bush's War" (or as I would call it, McCain's War) will air. Part one -- which covered the period from 9/11 to March 2003 -- aired last night was absolutely remarkable in it's grasp of the entire picture of how and why we are in Iraq. Although things will certainly evolve from where we find ourselves today, this special will undoubtedly be viewed as the definitive account of the Iraq War.
![](http://static.crooksandliars.com/files/uploads/2008/03/yt_logo.jpg" height="29" width="26" /> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maOZwxVA3X4">Play</a> <em>(h/t Heather)</em><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maOZwxVA3X4"><br /></a></p>
<p>Check your local listings or watch the entire program online <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/bushswar/#">here</a>. Also be sure to check out all the supplemental material that wasn){kind=logo}
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Too bad that this magnificant account can't be consendensed into a 3 minute YouTube video because 3 minutes seems to be the maximum attention span of the typical American voter.
You know, I'm Bushed out. Nothing is ever going to happen to this man. No justice will be enacted. It's sad that a program like this is considered news, when other nations have pretty much said the same things years ago. And still nobody listened. He did it. And like OJ, he will get off.
Oh wow, thanks SilentPatriot.
Thanks a lot for the link to the You Tube version, instead of
the embedded player. My CPU utilization after opening C&L
dropped from 100% down to 8%, and navigating the site is
once again very fast, nothing hangs, et cetera. Yay!!
part one was GREAT.
i suggest everyone watch. grab a bottle of wine, a blunt, whatever your poison is, and ENJOY. PBS nailed it.
An excellent program and insight into the BushCo brain damaged philosophy.
Begs the question-- "WTF are these war criminals STILL in power?"
While it was and still is Bush's War, it also is the responsibility of the Democrats, who have the power to end the occupation by not voting for the funds for this ill-conceived war. Yet [ perhaps due to political expediency? ] they refuse to act, thereby needlessly condemning many American soldiers to the physical and psychological traumas that they will have to continue to endure for this most unjust occupation of Iraq.
Bring them home-alive and in one piece-now.
Watching it now.
"Why We Fight" is very good too.
http://www.sonyclassics.com/whywefight/
You can also watch it online. The entire special is already up.
There's no excuse TIVO it, tape it, watch it online, forward the links.
Saw this the other night. Great stuff though so unbelievably frustrating to watch.
Screaming at the screen won't do any good. I tried. They still go right on ahead with the madness. And they still are.
Support your local PBS stations, it is one of the voices we have left!
Bently @ 6:
Simple: Because these criminals won't do anything about it.
Bush's Legacy will be carved in Stone, on Mount Rush-to-War.
http://satiricalpolitical.com/?p=624
Oh I can't wait to hear what O'reilly has to say about PBS. Standby for calls for the annihilation of PBS by every Republican and rightard on the spectrum.
JohnnyTYPICAL WHITE PERSON2Bad @ 13:
I can only assume the Republican members of the House and Senate are innocent.
getalife @ 8:
Excellent recommendation, which should be required viewing for every thinking American. To reiterate a phrase from the 60s, one should always question authority, no matter if the administration is Democrat or Republican.
I have decided to change my name for all the obama bashers.
xoites Hussein defends Constitution @ 9:
Thanks X. Watching it right now.
Erroll @ 17:
Reminds me, Jefferson said something about dissent...
xo, you could just use atypical...
At this time they just stated that as of 5/9/03, Bremer and company were not listening to commanders on the ground, but instead listening to the civilians at the pentagon. Rummy, Wolfowitz, and company.
What happened to listening to the commanders on the ground. They must have been talking about listening to Bremer as a commander as he seemed to be an "emperor".
EliteLemming @ 21:
I could, but as many typos as i commit it could be misread.
God, I love it when liberals get themselves worked into a lather and fire off laughable, unsupportable comments like this. It's great fodder.
xoites Hussein (non typical white person) defends Constitution @ 23:
true. &)
I watched last night. It made my fucking blood boil. I won't watch tonight. I won't subject myself to it anymore.
It did not present anything I didn't know already. So I'll take a pass tonight.
RH Potfry @ 24:
Well since your going to help work it up, I have a spot needs special attention...
RH Potfry @ 24:
Obviously this guy is either joking, or does not realize that much of the senior leadership that was first sent to Iraq are actually speaking on this broadcast
FOX is State Sponsored TV @ 26:
That was part 1, tonight part 2. It's painful at times but theraputic... I hope.
EliteLemming @ 20:
As well as Howard Zinn, who correctly noted that "Dissent is the highest form of patriotism."
I'm watching part two as i type. It appears many folks who shouldn't have got cut out of the "loop" around BushCo and Iraq. In fact , it appears the "loop" itself was just Chimp and Dick most of the time. The Decider and the Derider
I think this episode needs to be redone once the war is over with, and we have a chance to sort out all the facts and reflect on what went wrong when, and what opportunities existed to exit and why they weren't seized.
EliteLemming @ 12:
Indeed. Our local PBS station almost went under, and in a strongly Repug district, it had tons of donations pour in to pay off its debt on its station (the bank demanded immediate payment)
I think it shows the importance of truth in journalism, even Repugs want it.
Frontline is the best program on television today. I'll have to watch this special later though, not in the mood for a complete overview of Iraq, I've been thru it many times already
Col Kilgore @ 31:
Don't forget Rummmey*burp*!
odanny @ 33:
It's all about the Friday night lineup, too!
Erroll @ 30:
The quickest way to tell you are living in a free country is if you have access to hear dissent. If you pick up a magazine in a store and want to find out if it is any good, read the letters to the editor. No complaints? Put it back, it is a rag.
Gen Jack Keane takes partial responsibility for a lack of a plan from the offset. He was Army chief of staff. And who does he take orders from directly?
If this evidence exists to display to the American public, why is it coming from PBS and not the Unites States Legislature?
Pawn @ 38:
Because Bush has used the NSA to get enough dirt on enough of them to blackmail them into submission.
That it goes from 911 shows some level of acceptance of the regimes framing, however good it may be it is fundamentally flawed at a conceptual level. Much as calling it Bush's war. America's conflict with Iraq began long ago and continued through Bush (1) and Clinton's terms. It is the American empire's war.
Who Would Jesus Bomb?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJQ4ibSH_uQ&feature=related
The main thing that struck me from watching the first half of this (another) great Frontline doc. is what a bunch of petty, self-centered kindergarteners these so-called powerful men (and a woman) are. It's... baffling. To these people, all of these lives, interests, treasure and responsibilities are mere wooden building blocks with pretty letters painted on them.
Ladies and gentleman... we got him.
Ryan From Portland @ 5:
Can't do it. It's like reliving a "long national nightmare" again. I had to turn it off.
Those of us who already know this stuff - read fiasco, cobra II, emerald city, lots of others - don't need to see it again.
Those who don't - the faux news, ditto head crowd - wouldn't be caught dead watching PBS. It harshes their collective buzz.
Cheers
Ooh they're showing McCain confronting Rommey on torture!
We are now on General #3, Gen Casey Jr. in less than 2 years. Not to mention he is the second with no real war experience.
Peace is bought, not created with mutual reconciliation at no cost besides time and communication.
They just showed video of white phosphorous being used over Fallujah, that was so vehemently denied in the past.
*munch, munch, chomp* mmphphphughmutphagurt!
Powell = military experience
Dick Cheney + Don Rumsfield = non-experienced military war profiteers
Pawn @ 50:
They were experianced war profiteers, Nam ring a bell, but they were just shareholders then.
It's like watching a train wreck. I don't have the stomach for it. I'm turning it off.
Maybe I was drunk, but it sure seemed to me like it was a piece set up to make everyone BUT the administration look at fault. That Bush and Co. was going to bring home troops just days after the fall of Bagdad, but someone forgot to think about the post-war decisions and jobs that needed to be done. B.S.
In part 2, the blame is led at Tenet's feet because he offered up bad intelligence. Ugh, excuse me, but what about the dozens of CIA intel-guys who resigned because they wouldn't go along with faking/dressing up intel to suit the purpose of invasion? I guess Tenet just assumed the whole time it was "real" intel he was receiving and asked no questions about it.
Riiiiight. Not saying he was not to blame and not part of the gang who wanted things skewed to a certain point, but where did he get the idea he needed to do such a thing? He could've done what Joe Wilson did and call a spade a spade.
Then there was Gen. Sanchez, who they said was inexperienced and didn't know what to do. That Abu Gharib was just a mistake that happened to screw up intelligence gathering.
Odd. The whole piece was one that deflected accountability (again) except amongst "smaller fish". It actually makes Condi Rice look like the only one with an idea of what is going on. Hmmmmm.
One thing it absolutely does underline and reinforce is the absolute FUBAR method that this administration has utilized time and time again to make very bad mistakes even worse. A Three Stooges meets the Keystone Cops movie times two trillion.
I prefer the film "No End In Sight". Frontline, in this instance, seemed to be using some velvet gloves.
This Frontline series is a good recap of some of the best pieces of the past few years, with some new material as well. I'm looking forward to seeing part 2 in a couple of hours.
RMac @ 53:
I disagree with one part of your comment, I think it was made clear that Tenet wanted to be part of the inner circle and included in closed meetings. He therefore framed "intelligence" in a way that was exactly what the administration wanted to hear.
No dount this 'Frontline' piece will be good (I've yet to see anything not very well done on 'Frontline', see their program on private contractors in Iraq, it's excellent) but the No End In Sight doc. on Iraq is the best summation of Iraq that I have seen to date. I will have to watch Bush's War in small portions, the gag reflex makes itself known.
the problem is that Frontline and many americans think that Iraq was a reaction to 9/11, when in fact, looking at the Downing street memo, and memoirs by people who worked in the Bush Admin (Oneill, Clark, etc) all state that Bush planned to invade iraq upon inauguration in 2000...
odanny @ 56:
Similar to Bush's gut feeling of Al-Maliki.
john @ 57:
The real problem is how much of the resulting chaos was planned and expected from the neocons, I have yet to hear any real explanation of the way who stood to benefit from it and why the flames were fanned by actions that went beyond incompetence.
They guarded the oil ministry and stood around while the Baghdad burned, against the advice of many senior commanders, who knew damn well the signal of such inaction to the Iraqis.
That was when the war was lost, every Iraqi saw U.S. troops do nothing while the country was under their control.
i don't recall FRONTLINE ever covering the PNAC in detail or exploring the fact that the war in iraq was years in the making and not just some kneejerk reaction to 9/11
And also be sure to at least consider giving whatever you can to PBS. Yes they get grants, can be gluttonous, aren't really in need of the public's money, etc etc, but at least they are willing to give you the truth, and for more than just a soundbite, which is not the case anywhere else on TV. Throw in the science and music, and it's a bargain.
john @ 57:
I agree with you, Bush stated in his campaign in 2000 that we are not nation builders, while at the same time looking to correct a wrong that his father left behind. Not to mention Saddam tried to kill his dad.
Noat as good as Part1 but still exellent.impo
time for stewart
EliteLemming @ 64:
damn rerun
odanny @ 59:
I have a feeling that we will hear much more about this if we ever have access to Dick Cheney's records or staff that had insight. Eerily, all that we really heard about Cheney in this episode was that he steered and protected his good buddy Rummy. Cheney holds the key to many of our questions that may very well never be answered. The guarding of the oil ministry, the oil investments that, uh hum, Cheney used to have prior to being VP, and the over 300,000/day of missing crude seems to bring to question what his input was through this entire sequence of events. The lack of intelligent decision makers in this administration does not seem to be an ongoing mistake as it is pefectly designed and implemented.
PBS must never be cancelled. Their 2 part presentation made me ashamed of what we have done to the people of Iraq. Without broadcasts like this we may never comprehend what really went on to bring this horror story to light. I am a contributor to public broadcasting but intend on doubling my donation. You would never find facts liked these on any network or cable program.
I don't know about you guys, but I had to turn this off after the first segment. I've lived this for the past 7 years.
But goddamn were they easy on the administration for their idiocy on 9/11.
RH Potfry @ 24:
If I were you I would not be so sure and arrogant to not only address god but that he is even listening to you.Or are you just mumbling to yourself as the messiah, deluded and blithering, like your fuhrer does?
john @ 60:
I agree. The history of this catastrophe can never be complete without first understanding the key roots of the war, with the maniacal Machiavellian ideas of PNAC, but because most of these members were Zionist neocons, most Americans have never even heard of it. Most Europeans know all about PNAC.
Frontline just re-catapults the propaganda. If only, according to the line I get from Frontline, Condi's strategy of "Clear, Hold, and Build" had been implemented sooner intead of Rumsfeld's get the hell out strategy. Give me a break. Loads of BS from serial New York Times stenographer Michael Gordon smells the whole program up. Sorry, children, Frontline laments the failures of imperialism, not its fundamental turpitude.
xoites Hussein (non typical white person) defends Constitution @ 18:
you have traveled a far piece little grasshopper!
George W Bush and his entire criminal regime have committed war crimes against humanity. Bush, Rumsfeld, Cheney, Powell and Rice are international WAR CRIMINALS. Where is the American outrage? Where is the justice in a country that claims to live by the rule of law?
I watched most of the show last night. I asked myself how cheney allowed it to be broadcast. Well, the show was high end propaganda for thinking folks. There was no discussion about cheney engineering and performing the demolition of the twin towers. There was no discussion about cheneys secret oil and energy talks that concerned Iraq. There was no discussion about demolishing Iraq and enabling genocide to take their oil. In short, the film is another, well done, attempt to re-write history. Let's hope that history writers can see through the smog.
ConcernedCanuck @ 2:
How do you know someone won't file charges on him once he leaves office? Don't ever give up hope!
Pawn @ 48:
as i recall they the military claimed that willy pete was used for illumination!!on thoes people at falugia! haveing been trained in gunney , and haveinf fired willy pete ill say !!!!!!!bullshit!!!!!!!! its used to burn people and kill them, the correct projectile for illumination and wich the militaty has in its arsanal is star shells !!!!!!!!!!!
for purposes of the CIA and DOD here is my address and phone number
Patrick Cleary
1213 howard Circle
Wheaton, IL 60187
630 790 6314
Pawn @ 55:
personally thiers more truth in LOOSE CHANGE 2 then any of that hoky piece of crap!
See above.
Violent action against pres Bush
VP Cheney
Donald Rumsfeld
Sec Rice
phil Zelekow
would be justified because of this.
i am an old man, but my fury is real.
However, my will is weak.
I look forward to being added to the no fly list at the least.
RH Potfry @ 24:
...and I love it when regressive Repugs show their ignorance by posting stupid comments like yours Potf**k...it only serves to clarify the difference between thinking rational folks like us and delusional, reactionary mo-rons like yourself...thanks for showing everyone just how much of an irrational idiot you are?! ;)
This documentary is pretty depressing considering that they really didn't do anything that remarkable or creative to sell everyone on the war. It was simple cherry picking of the intelligence and repeating of half-truths. I would find more fault with their enablers (Congress and the media) than anyone else.
All of this would've been avoided if they would've asked follow-up questions and done some investigative reporting instead of taking everything they presented on face value.
Okay, I just watched the first half of this, and so far I have to say is that this is JUNK. JUNK!
This documentary is obvious apologizism for Bush-co. All the most infuriating acts and lies which we all watched unfold since 911 are couched in this documentary in the very rationalizations used by Whitehouse spin-doctors to sell them later on. --Not a hint of wrong-doing; this propaganda piece presents the situation, then dresses the presidential response as making the common sense any normal human in that position would recognize, and then paints a picture of a struggle with a stodgy system so that the "necessary" work can be done. This PBS piece is not an indictment, it's a bloody endorsement!
How can you tell this was a piece of propaganda within the first five minutes? (Aside from having eyes.) --Because it didn't include Bush reading an upside-down kid's book. That's how. --It tries to make the U.S. leadership look like responsible human beings when in actuality they are a collection of idiots and/or psychopathic lunatics.
It uses the "Very Serious Narrator" mixed with darkly emotive music, trying to re-kindle the same fear and dire importance which was used to shock the American people into that nice state well understood by advertisers and politicians alike, where rational thought takes a back-seat to the fight or flight instinct everybody needs to adopt before they can possibly accept the repealing of major portions of the constitution.
It is also hugely telling that they failed to mention any of the other various weird details surrounding that day. Like the military exercises which included terrorist-piloted jet-liners. Or those high-profile letters containing weapons-grade Anthrax spores which were traced back to a fucking U.S. military lab, and which the FBI has "failed" to make any arrests regarding. Gee. Three guesses why not.
Any documentary which shies away from the biggest, shadiest question on the books, ("were parts of the U.S. Intelligence community/shadow government involved in deliberately making 911 happen?"), is a documentary which has nothing at all of any positive value to bring to the table. This documentary so far is total bullshit.
Oh, and I love how they actually use the term "going to the Dark Side" and spend a lot of subtle energy rationalizing this thinking. (More Psyche 101; if you are a psychopath, part of your goal is to not just enact evil upon your victims, but to also to create a social environment which sustains your own sickness. When you can make rational people knowingly choose to embrace the fricking Dark Side, then you win).
Sigh. Okay. I'm about to embark on Part II. . .
Vacsuit, I disagree. This was no apology for Boy George.
Within the *obvious* limits within which PBS operates, this is a very damning and rock-solid report.
Did it leave out much, even most of the truly bad, devious, nefarious activity, and did it not examine the war in a more basic, radical way? Yes. But I was very satisfied that it captured to some degree the depth of the incompetence, hubris, and even evil that American voters twice allowed to run our country.
The first-person interviews mean that the storyline is unimpeachable. The Dick Cheney can't object--the evidence is conclusive.
That this is shown on a major network is truly a brave feat. Yes, it could have been deeper, but look at who the audience is. Be a little less harsh and a bit more understanding.
Everyone should see this.
Ryan From Portland @ 5:
How about not drugs?
ConcernedCanuck @ 2:
exactly. the democrats are either pussies or complicit..i don't know which for sure but probably the latter. if they weren't the war would have ended a long time ago or not even happened at all.
ConcernedCanuck @ 2:
exactly. the democrats are either pussies or complicit..i don't know which for sure but probably the latter. if they weren't the war would have ended a long time ago or not even happened at all.
exactly. the democrats are either pussies or complicit..i don't know which for sure but probably the latter. if they weren't the war would have ended a long time ago or not even happened at all.
I'll stick to reading. Such video overwhelms me these days. But I already observed the whole thing happening the first time. A rehash won't change anything.
If they pointed out that everything Bush and Chaney has done has been exactly what the Saudis wanted done, then good for them. If not, I have no use for whatever they are calling such presentations these days.
John West @ 86:
"has done" = "have done"
Oh my. It's getting late. Bed time.
Ok watched the first part. Lots of interviews and everyone seems to be blaming the other guy. So nobody is guilty in the end, it just kinda happened. It was all just a typical day at the office for the US empire, and in the end nothing really changed.
Having seen both Part 1 and now also Part 2 I came away with the sense that the many of the perps in Bush WH regime were allowed to cast themselves in better light than they deserved.
The film seems to have been shaped and formed to lead one to conclude that the "surge" came too late and now with the "success" of the 2007 Surge Campaign all is now so much better and on track.
It comes across as a piece in which large parts of the history were deleted or reshaped to benefit some of the films participants and what they did or did not.
This is not the whole story. Seems to have been preshaped to create paths and trails that lead the unwary to make conclusions in ways that full history and complete disclosure of records and deeds done would not support.
Where are the Democrats in this piece? Seems like they are not even in WashingtonDC for much of the film.
This is not the definitive Iraq War/Occupation film expose.
Comes across like a GOP approved/centered 2008 election year effort that leads to John McCain being seen as the natural choice to follow G.W.Bush.
It is full of omissions,reset optics and convenient scapegoat pinups.
Where is Bush WH 2002 UN coercion/blow-off story?
Where is Coalition of the Willing story and how it was/is ludicrous in details and numbers?
Where is Halliburton,KBR or Blackwater?
Where is the missing/lost $$ billions or CPA staffing scandal?
Where is American troop multiple equipment/supply failure(s) and repeated tours/stop loss?
Where is Iraq infrastructure multiple contractors rebuild failure(s)?
Where is the new Baghdad American super embassy story?
Where is American military Iraq super bases story?
Where is AQI fallacy reveal?
Where is anything about Iraqs oil and American intents for control of Iraqi oil whether directly or through western corporate proxy?
Where?
For those of us who have been paying attention from the beginning, Bush's War was a crashing bore. I couldn't handle the last 30 minutes for either episode. The folks who really need to watch and absorb it, won't.
Too much objectivity and inside baseball. How about reporting on the culture of death, here and there?
My only problem, was they gave short shrift to the deliberate mishandeling of evidence to justify war in Iraq, and made it seem like policy differences.
They underplayed the Wilson scandal and the loss of Civil Liberties in the country.
It was particularly galling that what trapped us in Iraq is all these backstage in-fighting between boosh's inner circle.
A number of conclusions may be drawn from watching this five-hour two-part documentary, none of them nice:
1. George W. Bush is either an inept bungler, a fool, or a monomaniacal imperialist tyrant, set to go down in history as the Worst President America Ever Had;
2. He selected Dick Cheney as his running mate because (a) he has no brains of his own and desperately needed someone to guide him in foreign policy as a compliment to Karl Rove's political mentoring, (b) he was told to do so, (c) he worked out participation deals in the hidden agenda of the neocons, including cronyism, war profiteering, and worse, or (d) all of the above;
3. He kept his first secretary of state, Colin Powell, in the dark about everything concerning foreign policy he knew Powell would disagree with, and anytime Powell voiced misgivings, Cheney, who hated Powell, took Bush aside and "brought him around";
4. The Bush White House kept Rumsfeld in place because of the long-running Cheney-Rumsfeld friendship, and even when Rumsfeld's stubborness and bullying tactics became clearly disastrous, Bush kept him on because Cheney wanted it that way;
5. Having no idea what to do in Iraq once it became clear that a civil war was underway, the Bush White House simply tried a bit of this and a bit of that, and when nothing worked, someone was singled out to be a scapegoat for failures so that it would not reflect badly on the Boss;
6. Bush could have pulled the troops out at several junctures, but chose not to, not because "losing" was not an option but because Daddy lost his second term and son realized Americans would not vote him out during a Mideastern war, and
7. Rumsfeld, the Architect of Abu Graib and Gitmo, is a war criminal on the order of a Slobodan Milosevich and should be bound over to the authorities in The Hague, tried, convicted, and sentenced to life imprisonment.
The overwhelming conclusion is that George W. Bush is no better than Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, or any other evil thug who ever walked the earth. Reverand Wright was, indeed, right.
Watching the finely detailed Bush's War,
Frontline strategically disconnected Bush-Cheney from their pre-911 oil-colony motive expressed in The Energy Task Force business-plan: Operate Iraq & Iran as Texas' new oil colonies. What a monumental obfuscation. The amazing diversion by PBS.
We were shown how aggressive, and corrupt the naughty Fascist appointees of Bush were, herded by PNAC-GOP Crime Boss-Cheney. Yet Frontline paints Cheney with zealous if sympathetic "security" motives for the GOP's largest treasons and war crimes committed in US history..period. What's left is the sanitized war with PBS' mis-ascribed motive: The myth of security obsession.
Now examine the oil-fortune M-O-N-E-Y obsession based in fact rather than in PBS' strategic omissions. It's as if Tony Soprano runs a criminal empire, not for the suitcases of corrupt money gained, but for the sheer security Carmella & his kids. How stupid does PBS artfully supose us? PBS promotes that self-comforting myth....nary a mention that the dreaded and looming "WMD's" were not sought for the entire first month of our invasion of Iraq. No folks, the Bush-Cheney forces of security-zealots immediately assiduously captured and secured the oil wells and refinery infrastructure ...set up their pre-911 task force corporations in business immediately. WMD's be damned. WMD's were neither sought nor investigated until months after the invasion. Bait & switch...now with PBS' newsy blessing.
PBS fails to see the Texas Oil-Colonizers at work using OPM...tax-paid other peoples' (US) money for Exxon, Chevron and British Petroleum and Halliburton to exclusively operate Iraq's $300 trillion oil reserrves at US gunpoint. Hence the new US military bases to stay the Texas course. It's Bush-Cheney's identical who's-who oil buddies from Texas replete wit patriotic $300 million bonuses.
.
PBS-Frontline carefully dis-informs, carefully disconnects the Texas oil mafia from its new oil reserves worth more each second, disconnects criminals from obscenely lucrative no-bid contracts.....all other-worldly-disconnected from their new Iraq oil colony of cash loaded with the Earth's 4th largest oil reserves. Motives of the GOP zealots....unblemished security zealotry. Joke.
So in PBS's august expose, it's stiil about "security" for the patriot GOP Crime Family: Never the oil riches into Exxon's bonuses!....just patriotic security & WMD bungled obsession.
That is transparent Frontline farce. all that "research" yet unwilling or unable to follow the money? Right....
Any member of the US armed forces that still stand behind George Bush and his crimes against humanity administration deserves whatever happens to them. If "supporting the troops" means I support these policies, then I do NOT SUPPORT THE TROOPS.
92 James M. Martin
A Nation is its ideals and it's people, not just those in power.
Especially when those in power sell out our ideals and our people.
this series is a grand piece of shite and it was made for the ignorent public that paid no attention to the events of 911 ,wich is the key to the whole five hours! after watching allmost an hour of this puke i turned it off, that gave me four more hours of reality! that some ,too many believe that america was attacked by 19 mideasterners and did all that dammage shows the mentality of the american people , and that they can believe that this governments whitewash that was printed in the 911 comishion report shows just how retarded americans have become!
what???????
i'm almost done watching part 1... the best part is when Cheney says in some speech, "we won't leave this for some future administration to resolve"... this was in the first term. Looks like he was off a bit.
Amazing documentary. Too bad almost no one will care or see it. I agree with first poster, it should be condensed into a 3 minute YOUTUBE clip, maybe more will see it.
I was glad to see that so many saw through the deception of this Frontline "propaganda" piece. Five hours and not one mention of OIL! Ridiculous. No mention of the plans to take over Iraqs' oil fields well before 9/11 or the fact that the only ministry that was protected after the fall of Baghdad was the OIL MINISTRY. Come on Frontline. you've done some good work in the past but like many have said on this post, this documentary only sought to rationalize the decisions by these neo-con-artists as motivated by security concerns. That just feeds into the propaganda. I'm sure Cheney and his bunch loved this because they are laughing all the way to the bank with billions and billions in their pockets. Thanks for nothing Frontline. See "NO End In Sight" for the real story or read Naomi Kleins' "Shock Doctrine" for the real truth.
I would love it if Frontline did a story on all of the evidence that ties OBL to the attacks...
Shouldn't take more than 30 seconds...LOL
john @ 60:
CBC's Fifth Estate just showed a great doc on Sunday.
"Lies That Led to War"
http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/
check it out
According to PBS "patriotic" expose':
The GOP Oil-Crime Family enabled by fax-opposition-Democrats who write tax-paid $3 trillion deficit checks...didn't steal Mideast oil colonies for operating boat-loads of oil cash....on and on and on into the 21st century. Nope!
Nosiree folks, The GOP-Dem Oil Crime Family lucked-into trillions of dollars in Iraq oil-reserves operated by to their largest oil-company CEO's because the GOP Oil Crime Family who invents fake WMD's and pre-911 maps of their soon-to-be new Mideast oil colonies, simpl;y arises....from security-obsessed oil-patriots: The houston-Dallas GOP concerend citizens. Their security concerns are now marketed by well-intentined folks at PBS-Frontline, their bait & switch publicists.
The PBS-Frontline "research" reveals that the GOP-Texas-Oil Crime family simply bungled a well-intentioned invasion-search for fake WMD's. Iraq's 4th largest in the world oil reserves mapped pre-911 by Dick Cheney's Exxon, BP, Chevron, KB&G, Halliburton no-bid oil fraternity from Houston and Dallas luckily rode along with our taxpaid invasion. The worlds largest oil companies and par-military oil-fraternity simply lucked into exclusively operating the new Iraq oil colonies .....based on "security concerns."
PBS patriotically preserves the GOP Crime Family lie that scarey fake WMD's compel Oil Criminals to save our gas-guzzling freedoms from evil-doers. Witness PBS carefully assiduously omit the trillions of dollars in motives in The Bush-Cheney Oil Crime Family.
The GOP Oil-CEO campaign funders' pre-911 Energy Task Force just got lucky and got rich...nmore each day as oil escalates.
What a sad fact that PBS is now mere coopted media with patriotic Fox Noise...funded owned and operated by GOP appointees. PBS grasps how its GOP-appointed masters reward "patriotic" GOP propaganda.
Unlike the PBS-Frontline whitewash: Rx, simply follow the money. It leads to PBS's enabling the largest most vicious war-criminals on planet Earth: Those wacky security obsessed GOP-Dem Oil Criminals. They get greased greased with tons of Iraq (next Iran) oil cash campaign contributions. That's our red, white and blue star-spangled GOP-Dem enabled 5 mpg crime family.
Thank goodness PBS stays away from money-motives. When the GOP murders tortures and uses the former US Constitution as their personal tiolet-paper.....PBS carefully reassres us that those wel-intentioned GOP knuckleheads got rich by accident in the oil-wars. Dang the good-luck!
Thank goodness for the tissue of PBS assuaging lies and strategic omissions. They join the GOP Oil Crime family as patriotic oil-war yellow-press.
More fake WMD';s and boatloads of no-bid contract cash anyone? Maybe we will luck-into Iran's 3rd largest oil business by accident...again. All safely motivated by PBS-GOP "security obsession."
102 richard thompson....
Impressive summary!
I wonder how many tv stations and markets blacked this out in favor of re-runs of Reba?
@102
I have only watched Part 1 to this point and I have to say that while it fell short of praising the Administration or letting it off the hook completely, I did feel very strongly that it was smoothing over and spreading out the blame in a very soft and congenial way. It made the whole thing look like an, ahem, already complicated situation made harder by the egos of willful, intelligent and ambitious men. Feh! I think I will go over your points again and give them fair consideration rather than just sucking down what the teevee had to say, even Frontline, y'know?
xoites Hussein (non typical white person) defends Constitution @ 39:
[DING! DING! DING!]
Been speculating on that point for years, ever since I first heard about warrantless wiretapping and the "coincidental" rolling-over of seemingly every Democrat and semi-moral Repug in Congress.
Bonkers Hussein @ 106:
Don't forget the anthrax like EVERYBODY else does...
tyree @ 76:
Damn! I thought phosphorous weapons were outlawed during Viet Nam...and among the many (BS) reasons we are in Iraq, is also to get rid of old ordinance. Those poor defense contractors can't make billions of taxpayer dollars with old stock just sittin on the shelves.
Big John @ 107:
I did not, sir, but thank you for the reminder!
Indeed, this stinky onion has many, many layers.
Big John @ 107:
Yeah...that story has kinda dropped off the radar hasn't it...odd.
Bonkers Hussein @ 104:
Or Tora Tora Tora.
Watched all 4 hours. An amazing account. I've read several books on this administration and the buildup to the war, so probably the biggest surprise would still have to be how surprised these guys were that when you send soldiers into an unknown situation in a part of the world and a culture their government and the military don't seem to know much about, it would be a disaster.
Our "leaders" had no good intelligence, no understanding of the history of this part of the world and were unwilling to listen to neutral parties who actually could have told them what they were getting into. "Bush's War" makes all these serious errors crystal clear.
Now if we could all quit worrying about celebs and sports, and start thinking about our country's tomorrows, perhaps we can pick a better leader next time.
Poor Colin Powell - a sane man in an insane world.
Stunning and well done- No surprise, the right dismisses it as left wing propaganda....
I guess the rights really think Bush and his puppet masters have been honest with America- Are these people plain stupid, or delusional?
This was one THE best Frontlines to date...
I chatted with one fellow liberal who thought this episode of Frontline was accurate on the lies of Bush- but missing one major thing- the coverup of 9/11 being an inside job..So he asserts all the backroom talks should have been about how to carry out and cover up 9/11. I think that's absurd.
With respect to my friend- I just don't but that Bush and Cheney could carry out 9/11- The various players under Bush were never on the same page at the same time, and their lies have always been hidden in plain sight...Am i the only liberal left who sides with Noam Chomsky and thinks the 9/11 conspiracy is nuts?
It's sad how Blair let Bush play him and a nation for a fool...It cost Blair his reputation...
[No, you aren't "the only liberal left..." We don't allow 9/11 conspiracy chatter on this site-Sitemonitor]
it's only Bush's war because the Congress unconsitutionally handed over it's war-making powers to him. without a compliant Congress, and a culture that repeatedly choses to overlook the Constitution, there would be no Bush's war.
too bad this is just a compilation of a few of their older episodes (rumsfelds war, the dark side, the war within, etc....) not too much new stuff here. still f***n great tho.
I wonder who the "dark side" really is.
Who manipulates the "dark side"?
No one ever dares touch this subject.
Some have said so, but are called out as anti-semitic.
I watched every minute of Parts 1 and 2, because C&L brought my attention to it and provided the link.
Thank you, John Amato & Co.
Hard to believe all these PROBABLE war criminals are still in office, in power, or just not in prison, or haven't been put to death as war criminals yet. You can trash Rummy all you want, but the buck stops with BUSH, who is responsible for ALL of this. Too bad he's too much of an idiot to really know what he did.
Frontline actually did talk about the PNAC (although they didn't refer to it by that name). And they actually did so in a special report 1-2 weeks before we actually invaded Iraq. Go back and look at the transcript yourself:
The Long Road to War (Aired 3/17/2003)
Here's the relevant passage:
NARRATOR: Right after the gulf war, Paul Wolfowitz began to work on a new policy for dealing with Saddam -- and the rest of the world. Wolfowitz believed containment was an old idea, a relic of the cold war. America should talk loudly and carry a big stick and use it before weapons of mass destruction could be used. And if America had to act alone, so be it.
Wolfowitz was busy writing it all down in a top-secret set of military guidelines when a draft was leaked to the press.
BARTON GELLMAN, "The Washington Post": Inside the U.S. defense planning establishment, there were people who thought this thing was nuts, and they wanted a public debate about it. And that's why they talked to me and that's why they talked to The New York Times.
Well, it was very controversial in Congress, and it was an election year. The first draft said that the United States would be prepared to preempt the use of nuclear, biological or chemical weapons by any other nation, even, the document said, where our interests are otherwise not engaged. That is to say, in a war somewhere else that's not about us. It spoke of punishing or retaliating for that use, but it also said preempt. This is the first time.
ConcernedCanuck @ 2:
US citizens have been complaining since the beginning and Bush continues, even as his approval rating slowly dwindles to nothing. We have as little control over what our executive branch does as you do (and don't say "you voted for him". I never did, and many others also did not, but we have corrupt people in power). Even if it's late, why would you think that a documentary about the situation is unwarranted? Personally, since I live here and am directly affected by Bush's policies, I will never be "bushed out", because giving up doesn't solve anything more than complaining without doing something about it.
Rico @ 1:
Ooooh looky! A tax cut, and no gay marriage! This guy cares about what's IMPORTANT!!!!! Wait, what were we talking about again? Honey, the game is on, grab me a beer will ya?
RH Potfry @ 24:
God, I love it when some neocon sheep parrots the baseless soundbites they hear on Rush, Hannity, et al. They've been hoodwinked completely, fed a trough of BS via the pro-gov't propaganda machine, and gobbled it down eagerly. Now, with nothing to stand on, they try to continue with phony patriotism and nationalism, still not realizing that this is the height of unpatriotic behavior.
America was founded by independent thinking rebels, not gov't toadies. The administration using 911 as an excuse to put into effect misguided neocon plans to reform the Middle East -- plans published a decade earlier -- is loathsome, cold stuff. The sheep in Congress, unfortunately, fell for the "with us or against us" false dichotomy, and we lost focus of the goal of destroying the terrorists and disempowering radical Islam. That's right, the "flash and awe" campaign soothed your desire for blunt revenge but was and is plainly stupid and counterproductive to real goals of maintaining our strength and leadership in the world while taking out the trash in smart, planned, sophisticated ways.
Righty smugness used to be great joke fodder. That got old years ago. Now you're just sad.
Do something to have a good search result --- http://www.perfectse.com
It seems virtually certain that much more has been going on behind the scenes than we can guess. The obsessive secrecy of the Bush administration is legendary, it seems that nearly each new day something comes to light that has happened under cover of 'National Security'.
Given the information presented on the PNAC website it is obvious that this has been brewing for quite some time, perhaps since Nixon was ousted.
Bush and the Neocons have kept us off balance with Security Alerts, overt threats to civil liberties and the haranguing voices of Limbaugh, Hannity, Savage and Dr. Laura preaching hatred of Democrats to keep us all at each other's throats while they do what they want.
The first thing we have to do is to begin to see each other as Americans, not liberals or conservatives. Only by coming together can we reassert our proper authority over the government and begin to assess the damage done by Bush, Cheney and the rest of the hostile rebel faction known as the Neocons. From their actions it seems that their intent is to take over the government and install an oligarchy.
We need solidarity.
Why not publish the frontline site? http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/view/ You can view all the frontline documentaries there including Bush's War.
Mike @ 128:
FAIL. I see you did post it right there as the first link. Forgive me, reading is hard.
only an idiot would refer to this film as a resource of truth...
every member of the administration is a tyrant. everything negative uttered, at this point, is an understatement. seriously, though? are people getting hyped about this misleading, brain-washing piece of propaganda? it's so so sad...
please, watch this:
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/3/27/in_new_book_chilean_ambassador_to
the right-wing approach, or media's in general, is to eclipse the fatal wounds inflicted on the world by the Bush gulag with scapegoat after scapegoat, leveraging "bush has failed" whilst pointing to the wrong reasons; in turn, alleviating the fault with distraction and exonerating all of the petty tyrants of the administration...ode to ignorance...and i detest swearing as it derails syntax, but FUCK!
Erroll @ 7:
Sadly I think this video makes the point that if somebody competent and pragmatic takes over the reins something can be achieved. Leaving now will just cause it to fracture like Yugoslavia and it will end up a bigger shit storm than Afghanistan. Also morally it's not right to invade a nation, truly fuck it up and then piss off thinking there won't be repercussions.
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