The series demonstrates how the threat of Islamist terrorism has been
distorted and exaggerated by politicians. While there is a terrorist
threat from radical Islamism, the idea that we are faced by a
terrifying hidden organisation orchestrated by evil mastermind Osama
bin Laden is a fantasy.
It is a myth that has spread unquestioned through politics, the security services and the international media.
At the heart of the story are two groups: the American neoconservatives
and the radical Islamists. Both groups were idealistic, born out of the
failure of the liberal dream to build a better world. Together they
created today's nightmare vision of an organised terror network.
The story begins in 1949 with two men. One an Egyptian school inspector
called Sayyid Qutb. His ideas would directly inspire those who flew the
planes on the September 11th 2001 attack. The other was philosopher Leo
Strauss. His ideas would be one of the main influences on the
neoconservative movement that now dominates Washington.
In an age of growing disillusion with politics the neoconservatives
turned to fear in order to pursue their vision. They would create the
spector of a hidden network of evil run by the Soviet Union that only
they could see.
While the Islamists, faced by the refusal of the masses to follow their
dream, began to turn to terror to force the people to see the truth.
They were led by Ayman Zawahiri who would become Osama bin Laden's
mentor.
Subtitles Stereo
Subject: ; Current Affairs
Factual; Documentaries
In the wake of the shock created by the devastating attacks on
September 11th 2001, the neoconservatives reconstructed the Islamists
in the image of their last evil enemy the Soviet Union. They identify a
sinister web of terror run from the centre by bin Laden in his lair in
Afghanistan.
This film makes it clear that there are dangerous and fanatical groups
around the world who have been inspired by extreme Islamist ideas and
who will use the techniques of mass terror. The attacks on America and
Madrid make this only too clear. But the nightmare vision of a powerful
hidden organisation waiting to strike our societies is an illusion.
Wherever one looks for Al Qaeda, from the mountains of Afghanistan to
the 'sleeper cells' in America, the British and Americans are chasing a
phantom enemy.
But the reason that no one questions the illusion is because this
nightmare enemy gives so many groups new power and influence in a
cynical age.
Contains very strong language.
Subtitles
Stereo
Website:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nightmares
Subject: ; Current
Affairs Factual;
Documentaries
The Power of Nightmares - first screened in Autumn 2004 and repeated
this week on BBC2 - questions whether the threat of terrorism to the
West is a politically driven fantasy and if al-Qaeda really is an
organised network.
The BBC was inundated with correspondence, some critical much of it
very positive. Adam Curtis who created the series has responded to some
of the issues raised. And you can put any further points to him using
the form at the bottom of this page.
Can I get a video or DVD of the programme?
Many viewers requested a copy of the programme. Unfortunately, because
of the large and complex amount of archive and music in the series
there are no immediate plans to release the programmes on DVD or video.
If this situation changes, updated information will be posted at this
webpage
<www.bbc.co.uk/nightmares>
Will the programme be shown internationally, in America or online?
We are very keen that the programmes are made widely available
including in America and although the main networks have shown little
interest, we are confident that the programmes will be shown in some
form. There are however no plans for a book or that the BBC should
publish transcripts in addition to the unofficial ones already existing
on the internet.
Are you saying that there is no threat?
No, the series did not say this. It was very clear in arguing that
although there is a serious threat of terrorism from some radical
Islamists, the nightmare vision of a uniquely powerful hidden
organisation waiting to strike our societies is an illusion.
As the films showed, wherever one looks for this "al-Qaeda"
organisation - from the mountains of Afghanistan to the "sleeper cells"
in America - the British and Americans are pursuing a fantasy.
THE POWER OF NIGHTMARES
I: Baby It's Cold Outside
Tuesday 18 January 2005, 2320GMT, BBC Two
II: The Phantom Victory
Wednesday 19 January 2005, 2320GMT, BBC Two
III: The Shadows In The Cave
Thursday 20 January 2005, 2320GMT, BBC Two
The bombs in Madrid and Bali showed clearly the seriousness of the
threat - but they are not evidence of a new and overwhelming threat
unlike any we have experienced before. And above all they do not - in
the words of the British government - "threaten the life of the
nation". That is simply untrue.
OK, so al-Qaeda does not exist as a highly organised and structured
group. But it is a terrifically powerful ideology, which makes it even
more dangerous.
No - the extreme Islamist ideas are dangerous, as Madrid, Bali and 11
September showed, but to portray them as a terrifying new viral form of
terrorism is also part of the politics of fear.
Blair and Bush in the shadow of Osama Bin Laden
The Power of Nightmares re-defined the terrorist threat
If one looks at the history of the Islamist movement and its ideas it
is clear that its high point came in the late 80s when it seemed on the
verge of success across the Muslim world.
But then in the 1990s Islamism failed dramatically in its attempts to
create revolutions because the ideas failed to inspire the masses. They
did not appeal to the majority of people.
The attacks on 11 September were not the expression of a confident and
growing movement, they were acts of desperation by a small group
frustrated by their failure which they blamed on the power of America.
It is also important to realise that many within the Islamist movement
were against this strategy.
The films were biased.
The films were far less biased than the overwhelming majority of media
reporting of the al Qaeda threat over the past three years.
Almost all of this reporting was based solely on unsubstantiated briefings from government and security sources.
As with politicians, the media also stumbled on a way of reasserting
their authority because they could portray themselves as powerful
figures who knew about the terrifying hidden world of "al-Qaeda".
In this way a fantasy became the received wisdom. Just because one is
challenging the received wisdom on the basis of historical facts and
journalistic investigation does not make one biased.
How can the BBC broadcast the Dirty Bomb programme and transmit the Power of Nightmares?
I don't know, you'll have to ask them. But I am really pleased they
were so supportive of the Power of Nightmares. It shows the BBC is a
strong and confident public service broadcaster.
Haven't the actions of the Americans and British in the "war on terror"
turned the fantasy into reality? In particular with the emergence of
Islamist foreign fighters in Iraq.
I think one has to be very careful about this. The anti-war movement
and the Left is just as capable as other politicians of playing the
politics of fear.
There is very little hard evidence of foreign fighters in Iraq, the
majority of the insurgents are Iraqis and despite claims in Washington,
the Commander in Chief in Iraq, General Casey, recently said that as
far as he could discover foreigners were playing a minimal role in the
insurgency.
It starts with conclusions and makes up the evidence to support it. The
neo-Conservatives didn't come to power in the US as a result of 9/11.
Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz were already in the Defence Department before
9/11.
The attacks on 11 September were not the expression of a confident and
growing movement, they were acts of desperation by a small group
frustrated by their failure
The neo-Conservatives were part of the administration but if you talk
to the neo-Cons, which I did, they will tell you candidly that they had
very little influence during the early part of the Bush administration,
particularly in foreign affairs.
It was the events of 11 September that showed the president, they say,
that what they had been warning of since the early 1990s was correct -
that America faced dangerous threats in a new unipolar world, and the
need for America to fight pre-emptive wars. This, as the programme
said, brought them back to power in America. They would agree with this.
Are you saying it's a conspiracy?
No. The use of fear in contemporary politics is not the result of a
conspiracy, the politicians have stumbled on it. In a populist,
consumerist age where they found their authority and legitimacy
declining dramatically they have simply discovered in the "war on
terror" a way of restoring their authority by promising to protect us
from something that only they can see.
I don't think it will last. Already senior parts of the Establishment
are beginning to question the very basis of the politicians' argument -
that "al-Qaeda" is a threat like no other which "threatens the life of
the nation".
In the recent House of Lords ruling which said that the indefinite
detention of foreign nationals without trial was illegal, one of the
Law Lords - Lord Hoffman - publicly challenged the government's
justification.
He said: "This is a nation which has been tested in adversity, which
has survived physical destruction and catastrophic loss of life.
"I do not underestimate the ability of fanatical groups of terrorists
to kill and destroy, but they do not threaten the life of the nation.
"Whether we would survive Hitler hung in the balance, but there is no doubt that we shall survive al-Qaeda.
"The Spanish people have not said that what happened in Madrid, hideous
crime as it was, threatened the life of their nation. Their legendary
pride would not allow it.
"Terrorist violence, serious as it is, does not threaten our institutions of government or our existence as a civil community."
Was the programme trying to change anything?
-Paradoxal war between American Neo-cons and Middle Eastern Islamic
muslim brotherhood based on a parallel ideology opposing the corrupting
influence of bourgoise individualism.
-Neo-Cons, based on the theories of Leo Straus believe in creating a
mythology (which the elite don't need to believe) which forges unity
amongst the general population.... The "grand idea" is a romantic
belief in American supremacy combined with a simplistic view of the
opposition between good and bad which leads to a moral crusade to bring
(American style) "democracy" to the world.
-As a result, they are continually inventing threats to the security of
America which need to be agressively dealt with. During the cold war
they invented weapons that didn't exist -and just as before the
invasion of Iraq -claimed that if these weapons couldn't be found this
only underlined how dangerous the enemy was.....
-The neo-Cons were opposed to the amoral and pragmatic policies of Kissinger and his ilk.
-Francis Fukuyama seems an interesting case -not only did his book
appear to be opposed to the current neo-con approach -he was also an
advisor to a democratic administration (Clinton)....