Breaking The Silence: Truth And Lies In The War On Terror
'Breaking The Silence: Truth And Lies In The War On Terror' (2003) was screened six months after the invasion of Iraq in March 2003 and two years after the invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001. The film dissects the truth and lies behind the 'War on Terror', investigating the discrepancies between American and British justification for 'war' and the facts on the ground in Afghanistan and Washington DC.
The film opens with a harrowing series of photographs showing the carnage inflicted on Iraqis by the United States and British military forces in 2003. In the background, President George W Bush declares America "will bring to the Iraq people food, medicine, supplies and freedom... we have shown Freedom's power and in this great conflict we will see Freedom's victory" while British Prime Minister Tony Blair claims the war in Iraq is a “fight for freedom” and "a fight for justice".
Pilger explains that US actions have nothing to do with fighting terrorism but are instead part of an opened-ended war for global dominance and control of valuable oil resources in the Middle East. The real danger facing humanity, he says, is the increasingly aggressive military action of American imperialism and the state terrorism orchestrated by the White House. He asks: "What are the real aims of this war and who are the most threatening terrorists? Who is responsible for far greater acts of violence than those committed by the fanatics of Al-Qaeda, crimes that have claimed many more lives than September 11th and always in poor, devastated, faraway places? "This film", he says, "is about the rise and rise of rapacious imperial power and a terrorism that never speaks its name - because it is our terrorism."
The film opens with a harrowing series of photographs showing the carnage inflicted on Iraqis by the United States and British military forces in 2003. In the background, President George W Bush declares America "will bring to the Iraq people food, medicine, supplies and freedom... we have shown Freedom's power and in this great conflict we will see Freedom's victory" while British Prime Minister Tony Blair claims the war in Iraq is a “fight for freedom” and "a fight for justice".
Pilger explains that US actions have nothing to do with fighting terrorism but are instead part of an opened-ended war for global dominance and control of valuable oil resources in the Middle East. The real danger facing humanity, he says, is the increasingly aggressive military action of American imperialism and the state terrorism orchestrated by the White House. He asks: "What are the real aims of this war and who are the most threatening terrorists? Who is responsible for far greater acts of violence than those committed by the fanatics of Al-Qaeda, crimes that have claimed many more lives than September 11th and always in poor, devastated, faraway places? "This film", he says, "is about the rise and rise of rapacious imperial power and a terrorism that never speaks its name - because it is our terrorism."
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