HELIOLITH

I just finished watching “Hijacking Catastrophe.” It is an extremely well made documentary on the deliberate manipulation of public opinion through the skillful delivery of repetitive dogma and public relations. It places the current assault on Iraq clearly in the context of radical conservative expansionist strategy. Unlike some more sensationalized antiwar documentaries (most notably Fahrenheit 9/11, which I thought was great, if perhaps unpalatable to more conservative viewers) Hijacking Catastrophe remains lucid, clear, and methodical in its reasoning.

This movie gives the most basic understanding that everyone in the U.S. should understand: how the ultra-conservative Wolfowitz doctrine morphed and was re-dubbed the Bush doctrine. Medea Benjamin says that as a mother, she realizes that since 9/11 there is “not much more you could have done to make us less safe”

One story I hadn’t heard before was how a

Hollywood set designer [oversaw] feverish efforts to complete a $200,000 stage in time for military briefers to deliver news of that war to gathered reporters and a worldwide television audience… The [7 plasma] screens [displays] all manner of video, computer images, maps and just about anything else officers from America’s Central Command might want to show.

Quote courtesy of armytimes.com.