The Power of Nightmares

This is kind of mind-blowing and I would definitely call this a "MUST SEE." In order to save some time, I lifted the following description of this video trilogy from Wikipedia. Each part runs about 59 minutes and plays via flash media player. As always, your comments are not only welcome but sought after.

The Power of Nightmares, subtitled The Rise of the Politics of Fear, is a BBC series of documentary films, written and produced by Adam Curtis.

This documentary argues that during the 20th Century politicians lost the power to inspire the masses, and that the optimistic visions and ideologies they had offered were perceived to have failed. The film asserts that politicians consequently sought a new role that would restore their power and authority. Curtis, who also narrates the series, declares in the film's introduction that “Instead of delivering dreams, politicians now promise to protect us: from nightmares”. To illustrate this Curtis compares the rise of the American neoconservatives and radical Islamists, believing that both are closely connected; that some popular beliefs about these groups are inaccurate; and that both movements have benefited from exaggerating the scale of the terrorist threat.

The Power of Nightmares was first broadcast on BBC Two in three hour-long parts on consecutive Wednesday evenings in the autumn of 2004. The series was rebroadcast in late January 2005 on three consecutive nights, with the final part updated to reflect the Law Lords ruling from the previous December that detaining foreign terrorist suspects without trial is illegal.

Although the series has not been shown on U.S. television, its three episodes were shown in succession on 26 February 2005 as part of the True/False Film Festival in Columbia, Missouri, USA. After the film, Curtis made a public appearance and led a discussion in which he expressed pessimism about an eventual American TV airing or DVD release. It has, however, played in some small independent theaters.

Curtis has also stated: "Something extraordinary has happened to American TV since September 11. A head of the leading networks who had better remain nameless said to me that there was no way they could show it. He said, 'Who are you to say this?' and then he added, 'We would get slaughtered if we put this out.' When I was in New York I took a DVD to the head of documentaries at HBO. I still haven't heard from him."

The BBC's The Power of Nightmares (part 1 of 3)

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1002626006461047517

The BBC's The Power of Nightmares (part 2 of 3)

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7930933565201168

The BBC's The Power of Nightmares (part 3 of 3)

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8732625326538179377