Good documentary to view.

[bourbon]

I have rewatched this a number of times now and it is worth a look if you want to understand the nature behind the radical jihadists worldview.

The Power of Nightmares, the rise of the politics of fear

I do Believe that the maker of this film has allowed it to be downloaded free of charge, so you may want to look on Azureus or something similar, although I am going on reports from the IMDB,

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0430484/

I would also add it is in complete contrast Moore's intellectually flabby bullsh*t farenheit 9/11.

The Power of Nightmares: The Rise of the Politics of Fear
On Google Video
Part 1: Baby it's Cold Outside
Part 2: The Phantom Victory
Part 3: The Shadows in the Cave

Archive.org - Stream and Download in small mpeg4 to dvd quality

Has anyone else seem The Power of Nightmares? If so I would like to know your thoughts on the series.

For those who have not The Power of Nightmares is a three part documentary series, first airing in late 2004, it documents the rise of radical Islamists and the rise of neo-conservative ideology. Going back to Sayyid Qutb and Leo Strauss, it compares the origins of both movements and suggests a parallel/connection between the two. Controversial at the least, I was amazed by it, and will admit it changed some of my thinking. The intellectual scale and scope of the documentary is unlike anything I have ever seen put on screen. And the archival footage used is amazing.

Stealing the promotional info from the BBC:

Should we be worried about the threat from organised terrorism or is it simply a phantom menace being used to stop society from falling apart?

In the past our politicians offered us dreams of a better world. Now they promise to protect us from nightmares.

The most frightening of these is the threat of an international terror network. But just as the dreams were not true, neither are these nightmares.

In a new series, the Power of Nightmares explores how the idea that we are threatened by a hidden and organised terrorist network is an illusion.

It is a myth that has spread unquestioned through politics, the security services and the international media.

At the heart of the story are two groups: the American neo-conservatives and the radical Islamists.

Both were idealists who were born out of the failure of the liberal dream to build a better world.

These two groups have changed the world but not in the way either intended.

Together they created today's nightmare vision of an organised terror network.

A fantasy that politicians then found restored their power and authority in a disillusioned age. Those with the darkest fears became the most powerful.

The rise of the politics of fear begins in 1949 with two men whose radical ideas would inspire the attack of 9/11 and influence the neo-conservative movement that dominates Washington.

Both these men believed that modern liberal freedoms were eroding the bonds that held society together.

The two movements they inspired set out, in their different ways, to rescue their societies from this decay. But in an age of growing disillusion with politics, the neo-conservatives turned to fear in order to pursue their vision.

They would create a hidden network of evil run by the Soviet Union that only they could see.

The Islamists were faced by the refusal of the masses to follow their dream and began to turn to terror to force the people to "see the truth"'.

Part Two: Phantom Victory
The Power of Nightmares continues its assessment of whether the threat from a hidden and organised terrorist network is an illusion. Part two, the Phantom Victory looks at how two groups, radical Islamists and neo-conservatives with seemingly opposing ideologies came together to defeat a common enemy.
On 25 December 1979, Soviet forces invaded Afghanistan.

Moscow was able to install a friendly government in a neighbouring country but at a price.

The invasion gave a common cause to an extraordinary alliance of radical Islamists in Afghanistan and around the world and to the neo-conservatives in the US.

It was a key battleground of the Cold War.

Washington provided money and arms including even Stinger missiles capable of shooting down Soviet helicopters.

But it was Islamic Mujahideen fighters who would fire them.

Among the many foreigners drawn to Afghanistan was a young, wealthy Saudi called Osama Bin Laden.
Long before 9/11, he would have been seen by neo-conservatives in Washington as one of their foot soldiers, helping fight America's cause.

After nearly 10 years of fighting, Soviet troops pulled out of Afghanistan.

Both the neo-conservatives and the Islamists believed that it is they who defeated the "evil empire" and now had the power to transform the world.

But both failed in their revolutions.

In response, the neo-conservatives invented a new fantasy enemy, Bill Clinton, focusing on the scandal surrounding him and Monica Lewinsky.

Meanwhile, the Islamists descend into a desperate cycle of violence and terror to try to persuade the people to follow them.

Out of all this comes the seeds of the strange world of fantasy, deception, violence and fear in which we now live.

Part III: Shadows In The Cave
The Power of Nightmares assesses whether the threat from a hidden and organised terrorist network is an illusion. In the concluding part of the series, the programme explains how the illusion was created and who benefits from it.

In the wake of the shock and panic created by the devastating attack on the World Trade Center on 11 September, 2001, the neo-conservatives reconstructed the radical Islamists in the image of their last evil enemy, the Soviet Union - a sinister web of terror run from the centre by Osama Bin Laden in his lair in Afghanistan.
There are dangerous and fanatical individuals and groups around the world who have been inspired by extreme Islamist ideas, and who will use the techniques of mass terror - the attacks on America and Madrid make this only too clear.

But the nightmare vision of a uniquely powerful hidden organisation waiting to strike our societies is an illusion.

Wherever one looks for this al-Qaeda organisation, from the mountains of Afghanistan to the "sleeper cells" in America, the British and Americans are chasing a phantom enemy.

But the reason that no-one questions the illusion is because this nightmare enemy gives so many groups new power and influence in a cynical age - and not just politicians.

Those with the darkest imaginations have now become the most powerful.

There are somethings I take issue with in it. But on the whole I am amazed by it (ditto his latest series, The Trap: What Happened to our Dream of Freedom, which complements this)

[Tc2642]

Another intresting propaganda video by ALF (Animal Liberation Front)

'All my heros still wear masks'

What gets me about this one is that they see themselves in the same light as the underground railway which freed slaves, john brown et al. Worth a look if you want to see into the psyche of animal extremists.

[bourbon]

Here is a list of interviewees used in the series, in addition to its archival footage:

John Calvert ... Himself - Islamist Historian
Harvey Mansfield ... Himself - Straussian Philosopher - Harvard University (as Professor Harvey Mansfield)
Stanley Rosen ... Himself - Pupil of Leo Strauss 1949 (as Professor Stanley Rosen)
Azzam Tamimi ... Himself - Institute of Islamic Political Thought (as Dr Azzam Tamimi)
Fouad Allam ... Himself - Interrogator Interior Ministry 1958-87 (as General Fouad Allam)
Roxanne Euben ... Herself - Political Scientist
Irving Kristol ... Himself - Founder of Neoconservative Movement
William Kristol ... Himself
Stephen Holmes ... Himself - Political Philosopher (as Professor Stephen Holmes)
Melvin Goodman ... Himself - Head of Office of Soviet Affairs CIA 1976-87
Richard Pipes ... Himself - Adviser to President Reagan 1980-83 (as Professor Richard Pipes)
Anne Cahn ... Herself - Arms Control and Disarmament Agency 1977-80 (as Dr Anne Cahn)
Omar Azzam ... Himself - Cousin of Ayman Zawahiri
Kamal Habib ... Himself - Founder Member of Islamic Jihad
Gilles Kepel ... Himself - Historian of Islamist Movement
Paul Weyrich ... Himself - Religious Activist - Republican Party
Michael Ledeen ... Himself - Special Adviser to the US Secretary of State 1981-82
Jack Wheeler ... Himself - Adviser to the Reagan White House 1981-84
Richard Perle ... Himself - Assistant Secretary of Defense 1981-87
Milton Bearden ... Himself - CIA Field Officer - Afghanistan 1985-89
Abdullah Anas ... Himself - General Commander Afghan Arabs - Northern Afghanistan 1984-89/Member of the Political Council - Islamic Salvation Front - Algeria 1993
Essam El Erian ... Himself - Senior Member of the Muslim Brotherhood - Egypt
Mikhail Gorbachev ... Himself - General Secretary Soviet Communist Party
Michael Lind ... Himself - Journalist and Former Neoconservative
David Brock ... Himself
Robert Bork ... Himself - Senior Member Federalist Society (as Judge Robert Bork)
Joe Conason ... Himself - Author 'The Hunting of the President'
Jason Burke ... Himself - Author 'Al Qaeda'
Sam Schmidt ... Himself - Defence Lawyer Embassy Bombings Trial
Vincent Cannistraro ... Himself - Head of Counter-terrorism CIA 1988-90
David Cole ... Himself - Professor of Law - Georgetown University
Ron Hansen ... Himself - Reporter - The Detroit News
William Swor ... Himself - Defence Lawyer Detroit Sleeper Cell Trial
John Molloy ... Himself - Defence Lawyer Lackawanna Trial
Bill Durodie ... Himself - Director International Centre for Security Analysis - Kings College
John Prados ... Himself - National Security Archive - Washington (as Dr John Prados)
Theodore Rockwell ... Himself - Nuclear Scientist and Radiation Risk Expert (as Dr Theodore Rockwell)
Lewis Z. Koch ... Himself - Bulletin of Atomic Scientists
David Johnston ... Himself - Intelligence Specialist - New York Times