John Simkin Posted July 17, 2009 Share Posted July 17, 2009 Adam Curtis is an amazing documentary-maker. I fully recommend The Century of the Self (2002) and The Power of Nightmares (2004). His latest film, Felt Like a Kiss, is partly about the CIA in the 1960s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Thorne Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 I think these are all available at www.911tv.org - apparently with the tacit approval of Adam Curtis himself. I've seen NIGHTMARES but haven't caught the others yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Len Colby Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 The embrace of the film by many truthers is quite odd because despite Curtis’ extensive research, obvious hostility towards the neo-cons and willingness to question the “official story” he fully accepted that the 1998 African embassy bombings and 9/11 were carried out by Islamic extremists tied to bin-Laden and even hinted that he believed they were fronts US, European, Israeli etc groups or governments or that these westerners knew the attacks were forthcoming and intentionally facilitated them. His most contentious conclusion was that the level of organization of OBL’s group was greatly exaggerated and that AQ was basically a fiction invented by US prosecutors in 2001, OBL supposedly only adopted the name after this. These conclusions contradict the research of people like Peter Lance, Lawrence Wright, Peter Bergen and others http://www.peterlance.com/TRIPLE%20CROSS%20Timeline.pdf http://www.amazon.com/Looming-Tower-Al-Qae...1/dp/037541486X http://tiny.cc/Bergen Bergen wrote a very lengthy piece for the Nation and Curtis seems to have overstated his case far more so than the neo-cons. Curtis is even contradicted by one of his main sources. I agree with Bergan that the documentary is “is arguably the most important film about the "war on terrorism" since the events of September 11. It is more intellectually engaging, more historically probing and more provocative than any of its rivals, including Fahrenheit 9/11” but its thesis “that the war on terrorism is driven by nightmares rather than nightmarish potentialities--is one that merits considerable skepticism.” I recommend watching it then reading his cometary as companion pieces http://www.thenation.com/doc/20050620/bergen/6 Curtis seems to failed to do simple media searches at a library or available through sites such as Lexis-Nexis, Find Articles, the NY Times and NewsLibrary. The first is subscription only so I used the latter three and found numerous results dating back to August 1998 when Clinton ordered the retaliatory bombing of targets (supposedly) tied to the group and a suspect was indicted. Just on NewsLibrary there were 448 hits for 1998. Thought the keywords qaeda OR qaida don’t appear in the free previews they do in the full texts: http://findarticles.com http://query.nytimes.com/search/query?srch...t=a&srchr=n http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archiv...mp;p_nbid=& Here are the last four: 444. Charlotte Observer, The (NC) - August 21, 1998 TERRORIST UNIVERSITY' WAS TARGET The lightning U.S. cruise missile strikes Thursday damaged a remote ``terrorist university'' unusually crowded with trainees and a thinly disguised nerve gas plant, senior U.S. intelligence officials said.The attacks, using 75 to 100 missiles fired from ships, were intended to reduce the power of Saudi financier Osama bin Laden, suspected mastermind of the Aug. 7 U.S. embassy bombings in Africa, and to stop impending terrorist attacks on other U.S. outposts,... Purchase Complete Article, of 803 words 445. The Washington Times - August 21, 1998 Terrorist is driven by hatred for U.S., Israel Osama bin Laden, the Saudi millionaire whose operations were the target of yesterday's U.S. air strikes, is a devout Muslim who for the last decade has dedicated himself to killing as many Americans and Israelis as he can.Mounting evidence that he was behind the attacks that killed 12 Americans and 245 others at two U.S. embassies this month is the latest sign of his hatred for the United States.The State Department describes him as "one of the most significant... Purchase Complete Article, of 900 words 446. USA TODAY - August 21, 1998 The hunt for bin Laden All signs pointed to bin Laden From his remote hideout in Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden in February issued a chilling fatwa, or religious order: ``Kill Americans.'' That's just one reason why bin Laden was suspect No. 1 in the Aug. 7 bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa almost before the dust had settled from the explosions. Bin Laden, who terrorism experts say is passionate about his desire to force U.S. troops to leave the Mideast, had threatened to send Americans home ``in... Purchase Complete Article, of 1539 words 447. USA TODAY - August 21, 1998 The hunt for bin Laden All signs pointed to bin Laden From his remote hideout in Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden in February issued a chilling fatwa, or religious order: ``Kill Americans.'' That's just one reason why bin Laden was suspect No. 1 in the Aug. 7 bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa almost before the dust had settled from the explosions. Bin Laden, who terrorism experts say is passionate about his desire to force U.S. troops to leave the Mideast, had threatened to send Americans home ``in... Purchase Complete Article, of 1576 words 448. The Hartford Courant - August 11, 1998 A WEALTHY EXILE `LOOKING FOR REVOLUTION' A top suspect in the bombings of two American embassies in Africa is a wealthy Saudi construction engineer who has twice threatened holy war against the United States and is now believed to be living in exile with radical Muslim freedom fighters in Afghanistan. Osama Bin Laden is considered by U.S. officials to be one of the world's most significant sponsors of terrorist groups affiliated with Islam's Sunni sect. He has a personal fortune wildly estimated at between... Purchase Complete Article, of 746 words The first mention of the group I found on the Times was an excerpt from the indictment: 9. On or about Aug. 20, 1998, the defendant stated among other things, the following: a. That he was trained in a number of camps in Afghanistan, including a number of camps affiliated with al Qaeda, an international terrorist group, led by Osama bin Laden, dedicated to opposing non-Islamic governments with force and violence. b. The defendant stated that, while in the Afghanistan camps, he was trained in explosives, hijacking, and kidnapping. c. He attended conferences and meetings with Osama bin Laden, including a press conference, in Khost, Afghanistan, which followed a recent interview of bin Laden by ABC News. The defendant also stated that he was aware of a fatwah against the United States by the International Islamic Front which was signed by Osama bin Laden and the leaders of other jihad groups, stating that it was proper to kill Americans worldwide. . . . http://www.nytimes.com/1998/08/28/world/af...aeda&st=nyt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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