Pixelated Semantics

A schizotypical inventory

Manufacturing terror

The transcript of a very worthy documentary (shown recently on SBS-TV here) called "The Power of Nightmares" is now online. It illuminates some very dark corners of the "war on terror", including the vicious circle of black propaganda being used to manipulate opinion and action at the highest levels. The implications are staggering:

"To persuade the President, the neoconservatives set out to prove that the Soviet threat was far greater than anyone [...] had previously shown. They would demonstrate that the majority of terrorism and revolutionary movements around the world were actually part of a secret network, coordinated by Moscow, to take over the world. The main proponent of this theory was a leading neoconservative who was [...] influenced by a best-selling book called The Terror Network. It alleged that terrorism was not the fragmented phenomenon that it appeared to be. In reality, all terrorist groups [...] were a part of a coordinated strategy of terror run by the Soviet Union. But the CIA completely disagreed. They said this was just another neoconservative fantasy [...]. But the neoconservatives had a powerful ally. He was William Casey, and he was the new head of the CIA. Casey was sympathetic to the neoconservative view. And when he read the "Terror Network" book, he was convinced. He called a meeting of the CIA's Soviet analysts at their headquarters, and told them to produce a report for the President that proved this hidden network existed. But the analysts told him that this would be impossible, because much of the information in the book came from black propaganda the CIA themselves had invented to smear the Soviet Union. They knew that the terror network didn't exist, because they themselves had made it up."

To read the transcript, or view the film, is to become acutely aware that much of the current and historical "terrorist" threat is pure fantasy, duly exaggerated and distorted by politicians. As the producers say, "it's a dark illusion that has spread unquestioned through governments around the world, the security services, and the international media." To question the legitimacy of this "war" is not in this light the least part unpatriotic, pro-terrorist, or satanic, but a right, the exercise of which may be essential for the survival of "values" other than extreme conservatism in the guise of moderation.

Item posted by AutoEditor at 2:00 pm ::