Power of Nightmares

One of the most fascinating, artful, and comprehensive documentaries regarding the War on Terror is available for download. The Power of Nightmares is a three-part, three-hour series that was aired in 2004 on the BBC. It begins by examining the lineage of bin Laden-style Islamic extremism alongside the emergence of Neo-Con ideology. We are taken through the histories of these two groups, side by side. The third part (my favorite) examines the way in which "Al Qaeda" was constructed in 2000-2001 by a series of events following terrorist bombings of Kenya. (Among other things, there is no evidence that Osama used the words "Al Qaeda" before 9/11.) The myth of a vast terrorist network is examined thoroughly and debunked in the last section through an examination of evidence presented by the administration and its claims. This film comes highly recommended.

"In the past, politicians promised to create a better world. They had different ways of achieving this. But their power and authority came from the optimistic visions they offered to their people. Those dreams failed. And today, people have lost faith in ideologies. Increasingly, politicians are seen simply as managers of public life. But now, they have discovered a new role that restores their power and authority. Instead of delivering dreams, politicians now promise to protect us from nightmares. They say that they will rescue us from dreadful dangers that we cannot see and do not understand."

The entire documentary can be 1) viewed in low resolution in-browser, or 2) downloaded as a high-resolution bit torrent file.