THE POWER OF NIGHTMARES is a heavily hyped documentary series by the BBC in three parts pointing out that America neo conservatives and Islamic terrorists are partners in arms with one needing the other in order to survive . It goes beyond shoehorning facts and ends up trying to out Moore the ridiculous style of Michael Moore with half truths and " facts " which aren't facts at all
The series comes in three parts
Part 1 - Baby It's Cold Outside
Part 2 - The Phantom Victory
Part 3 - The Shadows In The Cave
I only caught some of the first part but the programme makes the very subjective point that the rise of Islam came about when a young Egyptian student studied in America and came to the conclusion that Western society was decadent , corrupt and meaningless and it was this that caused the culture clash . Most people would dispute this since they draw the conclusion that Khomeini's 1979 revolution in Iran which created the first theocracy in several centuries was the start of Islam Vs the West . The fact that I can't recall the name of this student from Egypt shows how how important he is in the scheme of things . The neo conservatives at the time also thought there was too much decadence and corruption and meaningless in Western culture . You might be shocked to know that that ALL ideaology is based upon the notion that the society we live in has no moral worth and needs to be changed . Communists believe this , fascists believe this , Maoists believe this , Nazis believe this , it's way of thinking that's not the sole preserve of Muslims or radical right wingers
The first episode seems to be devoid of the mention of communism which was the bogey man of the American right for 50 years . The programme makes up for it be dedicating the second episode to the Reagen right wing admin supplying Islamists with weapons to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan . This edition is so sloppy in its research that you start to think it's been made to misinform the audience . It insinuates that Osama Bin Laden was a war lord in the conflict when he was only a visiting fighter similar to Western mercenaries who volunteered to fight in the Croat HVO in the early 1990s . The Mujahhedeen ( Literal translation " The soldiers of God " ) were split into 6 different factions , three of which were hardline Islamists : Islamic Party , Islamic society , Islamic Unity and three moderate factions : Islamic Revolutionary Movement , National Islamic Front , and National Liberation Front . None of these factions were led by Bin Laden and not all them were supplied by America , the hardliners were supplied by Pakistan , Egypt and Saudi Arabia . You might like to type in " Robert Fisk interview with Osama Bin Laden " and you'll see the last interview he gave to a Western reporter where he states he had no help from the Americans . Who are you inclined to believe ? This subjective pseudo documentary or Bin Laden himself ?
The final part is again debatable where facts are concerned . Al Qaeda is not a cohesive structured organisation . Correct . But does this mean Islamic terrorism is not a threat to the West ? Does this mean for example the Israelis should stop searching Arabs at check points ? Does this mean people should be allowed to carry knives onto jumbo jets ? Again it's a ridiculous notion that because Islamic terrorism is aphallic in structure we've not to worry about terrorist atrocities . It also once again misses out important issues about Afghanistan , for example The Northern Alliance weren't a bunch of warlords but were the same Mujahedeen who defeated the Red Army , the Taliban ( Literal translation " Students of God " ) are Pashtuns from Pakistan not Afghans and it wasn't an Anglo- American invasion of Afghanistan , many countries including France and Germany took part in the invasion which was mandated by the UN .
One last point is the suggestion that a " Dirty bomb " is used by Neo Cons in order to make the terrorists seem a bigger threat than they really are but this fear is actually driven by the media not governments . You might like to remember the BBC made a docudrama a couple of months ago called DIRTY WAR which had the scenario of a dirty bomb exploding in London , and let's not forget the BBc co-production called THE GRID . Perhaps a better title for THE POWER OF NIGHTMARES would be PEOPLE IN GLASS HOUSES SHOULDN'T THROW STONES
The series comes in three parts
Part 1 - Baby It's Cold Outside
Part 2 - The Phantom Victory
Part 3 - The Shadows In The Cave
I only caught some of the first part but the programme makes the very subjective point that the rise of Islam came about when a young Egyptian student studied in America and came to the conclusion that Western society was decadent , corrupt and meaningless and it was this that caused the culture clash . Most people would dispute this since they draw the conclusion that Khomeini's 1979 revolution in Iran which created the first theocracy in several centuries was the start of Islam Vs the West . The fact that I can't recall the name of this student from Egypt shows how how important he is in the scheme of things . The neo conservatives at the time also thought there was too much decadence and corruption and meaningless in Western culture . You might be shocked to know that that ALL ideaology is based upon the notion that the society we live in has no moral worth and needs to be changed . Communists believe this , fascists believe this , Maoists believe this , Nazis believe this , it's way of thinking that's not the sole preserve of Muslims or radical right wingers
The first episode seems to be devoid of the mention of communism which was the bogey man of the American right for 50 years . The programme makes up for it be dedicating the second episode to the Reagen right wing admin supplying Islamists with weapons to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan . This edition is so sloppy in its research that you start to think it's been made to misinform the audience . It insinuates that Osama Bin Laden was a war lord in the conflict when he was only a visiting fighter similar to Western mercenaries who volunteered to fight in the Croat HVO in the early 1990s . The Mujahhedeen ( Literal translation " The soldiers of God " ) were split into 6 different factions , three of which were hardline Islamists : Islamic Party , Islamic society , Islamic Unity and three moderate factions : Islamic Revolutionary Movement , National Islamic Front , and National Liberation Front . None of these factions were led by Bin Laden and not all them were supplied by America , the hardliners were supplied by Pakistan , Egypt and Saudi Arabia . You might like to type in " Robert Fisk interview with Osama Bin Laden " and you'll see the last interview he gave to a Western reporter where he states he had no help from the Americans . Who are you inclined to believe ? This subjective pseudo documentary or Bin Laden himself ?
The final part is again debatable where facts are concerned . Al Qaeda is not a cohesive structured organisation . Correct . But does this mean Islamic terrorism is not a threat to the West ? Does this mean for example the Israelis should stop searching Arabs at check points ? Does this mean people should be allowed to carry knives onto jumbo jets ? Again it's a ridiculous notion that because Islamic terrorism is aphallic in structure we've not to worry about terrorist atrocities . It also once again misses out important issues about Afghanistan , for example The Northern Alliance weren't a bunch of warlords but were the same Mujahedeen who defeated the Red Army , the Taliban ( Literal translation " Students of God " ) are Pashtuns from Pakistan not Afghans and it wasn't an Anglo- American invasion of Afghanistan , many countries including France and Germany took part in the invasion which was mandated by the UN .
One last point is the suggestion that a " Dirty bomb " is used by Neo Cons in order to make the terrorists seem a bigger threat than they really are but this fear is actually driven by the media not governments . You might like to remember the BBC made a docudrama a couple of months ago called DIRTY WAR which had the scenario of a dirty bomb exploding in London , and let's not forget the BBc co-production called THE GRID . Perhaps a better title for THE POWER OF NIGHTMARES would be PEOPLE IN GLASS HOUSES SHOULDN'T THROW STONES