The Power of Nightmares - Shadows In The Cave - Adam Curtis - 3/6

The final episode addresses the actual rise of al-Qaeda. Curtis argues that, after their failed revolutions, bin Laden and Zawahiri had little or no popular support, let alone a serious complex organisation of terrorists, and were dependent upon independent operatives to carry out their new call for jihad. The film instead argues that in order to prosecute bin Laden in absentia for the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings, US prosecutors had to prove he was the head of a criminal organisation responsible for the bombings. They find a former associate of bin Laden, Jamal al-Fadl, and pay him to testify that bin Laden was the head of a massive terrorist organisation called "al-Qaeda". With the September 11th attacks, Neo-Conservatives in the new Republican government of George W. Bush use this created concept of an organisation to justify another crusade against a new evil enemy, leading to the launch of the War on Terrorism.

Many thanks to Adam Curtis and his team at the BBC for producing this fascinating and brilliant documentary!!

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Power of nightmares
• adam curtis
• shadows in the cave
• bin laden
• afghanistan
• war on terror
• september 11th
• george w bush