General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhy We Fight--documentary made in 2005.
A most excellent film, one that I recommend highly.
From the IMDb website:
Is American foreign policy dominated by the idea of military supremacy? Has the military become too important in American life? Jarecki's shrewd and intelligent polemic would seem to give an affirmative answer to each of these questions.
Link to IMDb site:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0436971/?ref_=sr_1
Octafish
(55,745 posts)...and its role in foisting empire upon our democracy. PNAC Richard Perle. Money. Money. Money.
PS: Great to read you, California Peggy! Hope you're feeling better!
CaliforniaPeggy
(149,583 posts)And thank you, my dear Octafish...I am feeling better, ever so slowly.
Octafish
(55,745 posts)Should've been all over the front pages and airwaves, but the verbatim quote failed to get coverage. Odd, considering how he said it at a press conference.
PS: You are TOPS, Peggy-san!
CaliforniaPeggy
(149,583 posts)He was being unusually frank.
And, thank you...
Octafish
(55,745 posts)I was listening to the presser on the radio. I was stunned to hear what he said. I was furious there was no follow up. Zero.
Money Trumps Peace...Sometimes
by Cindy Sheehan
CommonDreams.org Thursday, February 15, 2007 by
It is always painful to watch George stumble his way through press conferences. He cant get through a sentence without at least two-three uhs, his eye lids flutter up and down in what my daughter, Carly, calls the liars blink and just because it is painful that a human like that is ostensibly the leader of the free world. There is always a plethora of things that he says, does, or screws up on to write about but this time what caught my attention happened during the Q & A. George was asked if he thought the economic sanctions on Iran would work because so many European nations trade with that country.
He stopped to collect his thoughts with what he thought mustve looked like a studied and careful demeanor, but more like someone with a sour tummy, and said: well, lets put it this way: money trumps peace, sometimes. In other words, commercial interests are very powerful interests throughout the world," (I added the italics). It is always interesting with people who frequently play fast and loose with the truth, such as the liars in BushCo, once in awhile, if they talk long enough they tell a truth.
Money trumps peace is the fundamental reason for the invasions and subsequent gory and violent occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. In Richard Behans excellent article: From Iraq to Afghanistan - Connecting the Dots with Oil, he brilliantly follows the history of the oil-money trail in these countries that are one, rich in oil, and two, well placed for the transportation and delivery of oil. Neither Iraq nor Afghanistan, or their leaders or governments had anything to do with 9-11, but they were in the way of oil and other industries that profit from oil, so they had to go. Money trumped peace in those countries and they are destroyed and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, Afghanis and Americans have been slaughtered because they were blocking American imperialistic profiteering.
Money trumps peace is the underlying reason for all wars as two time Congressional Medal of Honor winner and highly decorated Major General Smedley D. Butler wrote in his reflective, yet prophetic, work War is a Racket:
WAR is a racket. It always has been.
It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives.
A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small "inside" group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes.
CONTINUED...
http://www.commondreams.org/views07/0215-29.htm
War is money for such as Bush and his crony capitalist traitor chums. Casey Sheehan paid the ultimate price for their wealth.
CaliforniaPeggy
(149,583 posts)Octafish
(55,745 posts)Hear and see him laugh when he says it around the 25-second mark:
No one makes me angrier than a warmonger.
PS: Not trying to hijack your thread, my Friend, but I can't let the opportunity to spread truth go to waste.
CaliforniaPeggy
(149,583 posts)Far from it. You have provided a prime example of just how wrong Bush was.
Thank you for the clip. Horrifying and shedding light all at the same time.
ANOIS
(112 posts)I read a quote of his. Someone asked him how he was that day. His reply, "It's always a good day when we are at war."
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I just googled it to cite it. Can't find it. How did that get stuck in my brain? You would think if he did, it would be on the Google.
Response to Octafish (Reply #1)
markpkessinger This message was self-deleted by its author.
NYC_SKP
(68,644 posts)CaliforniaPeggy
(149,583 posts)Thank you for the rec...
XRubicon
(2,212 posts)A good one too. McNamara tells all.
IMDB:
The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara
"A film about the former US Secretary of Defense and the various difficult lessons he learned about the nature and conduct of modern war."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0317910/?ref_=sr_1
CaliforniaPeggy
(149,583 posts)Thanks for the link!
Kennah
(14,256 posts)Both are superb
Blue_In_AK
(46,436 posts)We saw it when it first came out.
markpkessinger
(8,392 posts)... At the end, as the final credits were wrapping up, a man stood up from the front row and introduced himself: it was Eugene Jarecki, the film's director. He very graciously stayed for close to an hour, engaging the audience in a fascinating and informative Q&A. One question I remember in particular was an audience member who asked Jarecki how in the world he was able to get so many Bush administration officials, some of them still serving, to speak so candidly, given some of their truly startling admissions made on camera. Jarecki said that it probably had a lot to do with the fact that he was, at the time, a relative unknown. He added, "I rather think that if I had been, say, a Michael Moore, I might have gotten a much chillier reception!" He then added further: "The thing about most of these guys is that they have enormous egos, and it doesn't take all that much to convince them to talk about themselves and their work on camera!"
Great film -- I cannot recommend it highly enough!
CaliforniaPeggy
(149,583 posts)I wondered that too, and I'm glad you knew the answer. It's stories like yours that bring the film to life.
Thank you!
markpkessinger
(8,392 posts)... the fact that my friend and I had no idea it was the premier screening, or that the director would be present. You don't get surprises like that every day!
CaliforniaPeggy
(149,583 posts)Chathamization
(1,638 posts)It's been a while since I saw it, but I remember feeling like most of the movie was surface level stuff that most people already know about (I think they didn't even discuss NSC-68?). To each their own I guess.
For people interested in this subject, I highly recommend The Arms Bazaar by Anthony Sampson (if you can track down a copy). It only focuses on the business side of things, but provides tremendous insight into the mindset of these companies and the role they play internationally. It was written a few decades ago and only goes up to the late 70's, but I felt it made the book more interesting (for instance, the writer wonders if the signs of instability in Iran will lead to the Shah losing power).
CaliforniaPeggy
(149,583 posts)And thank you for the reference to the book. It's always good to have as much information as possible about a topic as complex as this one.