The War on Drugs has become the longest and most costly war in American history, the question has become, how much more can the country endure? Inspired by the death of four family members from “legal drugs” Texas filmmaker Kevin Booth sets out to discover why the Drug War has become such a big failure. Three and a half years in the making, the film follows gang members, former DEA agents, CIA officers, narcotics officers, judges, politicians, prisoners and celebrities.

Most notably the film befriends Freeway Ricky Ross; the man many accuse for starting the Crack epidemic, who after being arrested discovered that his cocaine source had been working for the CIA.

AMERICAN DRUG WAR shows how money, power and greed have corrupted not just drug pushers and dope fiends, but an entire government. More importantly, it shows what can be done about it. This is not some ‘pro-drug’ stoner film, but a collection of expert testimonials from the ground troops on the front lines of the drug war, the ones who are fighting it and the ones who are living it.

After 4 years of production including several sold out test screenings in New York, Austin & Los Angeles, the final version of American Drug War “the last white hope” is locked and loaded.

Title: American Drug War – The Last White Hope

Director: Kevin Booth

Running time: 120 min
File: AVI XVID 576×432, 1394MB
Language: English
Year: 2007

IMDB: link
Website: link

Watch here! > link or Download here! > link or link

“American Drug War is the most realistic documentary I have ever been featured in. For the first time ever, someone has finally kicked open the dark closet of America’s drug epidemic. Now the world can finally see the whole truth; why tons of drugs make it across US borders and why the United States prison population is the largest in the world… there has never been a war on drugs; the truth is America has declared war on its own citizens.”

- Freeway Ricky Ross – former L.A. Drug Kingpin

“There is no doubt in my mind that those that are conscious, those that are hit, those that are struck by this film, that this film puts a call to action in them.  We are definitely going to see some things… the truths in this film cannot be denied.”

- T Rodgers, original co-founder of the Bloods street gang

Reviews

CBS Radio (PDF)

AMERICAN DRUG WAR
FOUR STARS (Highest Rating). A mind-altering experience. This is an exceedingly important documentary. It makes a clear case for why the so-called ‘war on drugs’ has been — and will continue to be — such a colossal failure. We have spent billions upon billions of dollars trying to prevent the influx of substances so many Americans demand to have, and the availability of illicit drugs is at an all-time high.

This ‘war on drugs’ is one of the worst examples of our government’s embarrassing close-mindedness and immaturity, not to mention lack of sophistication, bravery, and foresight.

The film depicts the hypocrisy of this failed policy: marijuana and cocaine are illegal, yet alcohol and tobacco are perfectly legal, these latter two substances having caused more damage and ruination than any other substances to which our government has given its stamp of approval.
And speaking of hypocrisy, the film also chronicles the Iran Contra scandal, our government’s sickening, morally debauched effort to actually facilitate the introduction of illegal drugs into society, utilizing the profits to finance a wholly illegal military operation.
While Booth quite understandably argues that this ‘war’ is a ludicrous waste, he is open-minded and intellectually honest enough to show the devastation that drugs (mostly of the legal variety) have wreaked upon close friends and members of his family. So, in the end, he presents a wide-ranging, multi-faceted look at the problem: Yes, drugs destroy lives, but this ‘war’ has proven to be a meaningless and ill-conceived solution. There’s so much to consider here, and Kevin Booth has done an outstanding job of providing the appropriate fodder for contemplation and, hopefully, political action.
– Todd David SchwartzContributing Arts & Entertainment Critic, The Paul Mitchell Show, CBS Radio
The Texas Observer (Blog Article) By Brad Tyer

This Is Your War On Drugs
Got pot? If so, take comfort that you’re one of an estimated 80 million Americans who’ve at least tried the supposedly dangerous Schedule 1 drug, But do you know where your drug money actually goes? Is it funding terrorists, as the post-9/11 advertising campaign would have you believe?

Well, no, according to American Drug War: The Last White Hope, a compellingly researched new documentary by Austin filmmaker Kevin Booth that does an admirable job of following the money.

In the case of the United States’ war on drugs, the modern incarnation of which was launched by Richard Nixon in 1971, Booth makes the case that the ostensible battle is more accurately an economic incentive program for the private prison industry, funded out of self-interest by the Partnership for a Drug Free America (essentially a front group for legal drug industries, i.e. pharmaceuticals, alcohol, and tobacco) and waged by a series of increasingly ineffective administration-appointed Drug Czars, including current title-holder John Walters. You’ve never heard of him, Booth argues, because the current drug economy is working the way it should: drugs are flowing, prisons are full, and Wall Street is happy.

In painting this ugly picture, Booth traces the connections between the Iran/Contra debacle, infamous Los Angeles street dealer Ricky Ross, controversial CIA-cocaine connection journalist Gary Webb, Oliver North, Panamanian henchman Manuel Noriega, Phoenix’s tough-love anti-drug sheriff Joe Arpaio, pro-pot comedian/martyr Tommy Chong, the PATRIOT ACT, and the equally inscrutable war of terror.

Along the way, Booth questions why Afghanistan’s heroin production actually increased after the American invasion, gives Clinton-era Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey enough on-camera rope to make him look like a self-satisfied and not entirely bright tool, recontextualizes Osama bin Laden as a drug kingpin propped up by prohibition, and makes a convincing case that the drug war is not so much winnable as fund-able. The Office of National Drug Control Policy is budgeted at $18.5 billion for 2008.
Meanwhile, the burgeoning private prison industry finds itself a beneficiary of the million-plus nonviolent drug offenders currently behind bars in the U.S.
Observer fans will be curious to see reference to staff reporter Forrest Wilder’s Daily Texan reporting on the for-profit prison industry, and yet another examination of the drug war gone awry in Tulia, told through interviews with lawyer Jeff Blackburn and recently deceased fall-guy Joe Moore.

Booth’s narrative is hardly subtle (though he does manage to make it personal by including the legal and illegal drug-related deaths of his brother and friend), and the slightly ham-handed approach (Booth would have you believe that the solution to all these problems is to be found in Amsterdam-style decriminalization of “organic” drugs like marijuana and mushrooms) does a good job of hammering home the essential point: America’s war on drugs is incredibly costly, appallingly ineffective, and irretrievably entrenched.

American Drug War is strong medicine, impeccably sourced, and the DVD – which recently took top honors in four consecutive film festivals – is due to hit stores May 27. If you already agree with its premise, you’ll find further ammunition for your next argument. And if the film’s hypothesis sounds to you like just another round of paranoid conspiracy-theorizing, you just might learn something from it.
Austin Chronicle (PDF)
What’s It Good For?Kevin Booth examines our country’s disastrous ‘War on Drugs’ BY JOSH ROSENBLATT

Six years and countless billions of dollars into the global war on terror, it’s clear we’re in this thing for the long haul. Fortunately for our current policy-makers, the United States has a little experience waging perpetual war against nebulous foes. Take our War on Drugs, now 36 going on 37, which is the perfect example of a war without end, one waged by an ideologically entrenched government against multiple invincible enemies. Each year the budget for this war grows larger, and each year it becomes more profitable for those who support it. Turns out there’s money to be made in selling supplies to people bringing drugs into this country and in incarcerating those unlucky enough to get caught holding them.

This is the tangled world director/writer/former Austinite Kevin Booth dives into with his new documentary, American Drug War: The Last White Hope, which is having its Austin premiere this Thursday, Dec. 20, at Antone’s before screening on Showtime in March. The film is a two-hour trip through the looking glass of American drug policy, taking viewers from the crack-strewn streets of Los Angeles to the meth-fueled prisons of Arizona, from the halls of Congress to Booth’s own family kitchen, in an effort to make sense of a national drug policy that manages to cost $60 billion a year and imprison 1 million nonviolent offenders yet has no discernible effect on the sale or use of drugs. Along the way, Booth introduces us to soldiers from all sides of the war (any movie that features interviews with comedian Tommy Chong, a former drug czar, and the founder of the Bloods street gang is doing something right) and takes us inside the vast, corporate prison-industrial complex/CIA-funded machine profiting off its proliferation.

If you’re beginning to suspect American Drug War is some kind of conspiracy movie (a suspicion that won’t be allayed by the fact that Thursday’s premiere is being hosted by Alex Jones), Booth assures me the facts are much more harrowing than any theory could ever be. While shooting the film over 41/2 years (during which time he saw several friends and family members die as a result of their own legal addictions to alcohol, tobacco, and over-the-counter medications), he says, “I learned that you don’t need to use conspiracy theories to expose what’s going on with our government or our world these days.”"Most generations have their own war,” he continues. “My parents fought in World War II, but what’s going on with this new era of corporatism really is our generation’s war. When private corporations become responsible for imprisoning us, sickening us, looting us, I think it’s a war.” In other words, the Drug War now exists on three fronts: the war against the distributors, the war against the users, and now the war by concerned Americans against government institutions and corporate entities profiting off the casualties of fronts one and two. Who needs bin Laden when we’ve got ourselves to fight?
Wallingford Neighbors for Peace and Justice
What an incredible film you’ve produced. We had a nearly SRO crowd of about 160 folks. This was on the evening of the last public testimony at the FCC hearings (scheduled by our commissioners with only a few days notice), and I thought the crowd would be unusually light. Thousands did go to the hearings and we still had a crowd. Clearly there is a hunger for information on this subject.
This is a much longer film than we usually show, but all were still glued to the screen to the end. I haven’t seen a film that covered the breadth of a topic like this one in a very long time.

Our panelists all had great points to make and complemented the film well, bringing the issue home to Seattle and Washington State; but the LEAP representative, Matt McCally, was incredible with his very clear explanation of the absurdity of our current drug laws. Council Member Larry gusset discussed the hard statistical facts as they impact us here, as well.

I think that many were not aware of the depth and impact of this drug war. Even some of our savvy political folks where taken aback by some of the information on the Iran Contra affair, particularly the history of Ricky Ross. Our facilitator, Sunil Aggarwal, a researcher in medical geography, esp cannabinoids, thought that the portions on psychedelics, medical applications, and the death and dying aspects were particularly good.
Many had great comments on the bitter-sweet humor in the Sherriff Joe Arpaio story. The testimony of Judge Gray could have been a film all by itself – incredible. The street scenes and interviews were profound. It’s amazing that you got the coverage you did (in all portions of the film). Glad you’re still with us!
Thanks again for such an incredible film. And for allowing us to be part of it.
All the very best!
Rick TurnerWallingford Neighbors for Peace and Justice

Cinephelia.com

Title: American Drug WarDirector: Kevin BoothCountry: United StatesRating: 8Reviewer: C Dempsey

America. Home of the free, home of the brave and home of excess. We like to eat, we like to fuck and more importantly we like to get fucked up. Drugs have become a part of our very foundation. Apple pie has given way to China white. A great pudding recipe handed down from your grandmother will get you nowhere, but a solid crystal meth recipe handed down from your uncle Carl will get you everywhere. Is it sad? I’m not sure, but it is a long way from happy. Just in my lifetime drug use has come out from behind closed doors, stereotypes of users have been abolished, it is in the media, it is a part of the people we are… and all of this happened while an invisible war has been in action.

American Drug War is a documentary that will show you just how well the war on drugs is going. And let me tell you it really seems to be going great. Drug use is up, education is down and all while you the taxpayer keep pouring the money in. Seriously, I knew a lot of this stuff from reading my left wing propaganda for years, but man the whole thought of our government running both sides of this war is enough to make anyone’s blood pressure rise. As with anything there are going to be non-believers as the film’s credits roll. Those same people though have the internet at their fingertips and still don’t know that it is for more than downloading music and porn. Eventually Darwin will take over and those people will phase themselves out. For the rest of us, those with a wider grasp for the bigger picture there are films like American Drug War that remind us that we aren’t along as we struggle to find truth in the bullshit.

Kevin Booth has constructed a film that is worth more than a watch. American Drug War is worth some serious frontal lobe absorption. The film moves in and out of every aspect of the growth and use of drugs in the American culture. For example, do you remember Oliver North before Fox News fame? All I could remember was his involvement in the Iran-Contra scandal… which he came out a hero. What if I told you that he could be one of the main drivers of the crack epidemic that destroyed the parts of California. I won’t tell you though, I’ll let Kevin. What if I told you that the spread of crack can be attributed to one central marketing mastermind. I won’t tell you about Freeway Ricky Ross though, I’ll let Kevin. If you can think it and it has to do with the spread of drugs Booth has it covered. The only agenda that Booth has is promoting a new kind of awareness through the facts that aren’t always presented through the media. The facts presented shed some light on the black market. You will realize that you have seen commercials for crack, that you marijuana isn’t even close to heroin and that Joe Arpaio is a delusional lunatic.

American Drug War is a serious film and yet another film that questions the intentions of the government who watches over us. The film is full of interview after interview that creates a central idea for the viewer to walk away from and break down. I loved the footage with Tommy Chong, truly a great camera capture. Booth got close to Joe Arpaio and showed me how far to the right a person can possibly go. The gem in the film to me however was the interview footage with Freeway Ricky Ross. Booth did not get into the prison to sit with Ross, the conversations take place over the phone. I believe this works out better than an actual in person would have. For some reason when you hear Ross’ voice you don’t hear a drug dealer, you hear a man. With no image for you to look at, no prison blues, Ross comes across like the common man. He comes across like a man you can believe. Maybe this fooled me, but I like to think not. I guess though that very idea on Ross sums up the movie pretty well. The film isn’t over your head, it isn’t too smart for it’s own good, it isn’t tailored for a side. The film is a question, a question in tolerance. The tolerance of American citizens putting up with the bullshit of their government versus the tolerance of the US government on it’s drug using citizens.
THCene – Martin Muncheberg “Berlin”

AMERICAN DRUG WAR
Es war fast zwei Uhr morgens, als ich Kevin Booth in Los Angeles anrief. Fur ihn war der spate Nachmittag die bevorzugte Tageszeit fur ein ausfuhrliches Gesprach uber Drogen, Politik, Versagen und seinen Film:
Obwohl ich zunachst nur eine Rohschnitt-Fassung des Films sehen konnte, erschien mir das politische Potential dieser spannenden Dokumentation gewaltig zu sein und ich war uberaus beeindruckt. Diesem Film ist ein groBes Publikum zu wunschen, da er sehr kritisch, aber auch auf unterhaltsame Weise den amerikanischen “War on Drugs” analysiert. Die Ruckschlusse aus dieser Analyse scheinen unglaublich und sind doch logisch. Und beangstigend dazu.
Text: Martin Muncheberg

English Translation
AMERICAN DRUG WAR
It was nearly two o’clock in the morning, when I called Kevin Booth in Los Angeles. For it the late afternoon was the preferential time of day for a detailed discussion over drugs, politics, failure and its film: Although I could see first only one raw cut version of the film, the political potential of this exciting documentation appeared to me to be enormous and I was extremely impressed. A large public is to be wished to this film, since it was very critically, in addition, in unterhaltsame way the American “on Drugs” analyzed. The conclusions from this analysis seem unbelievable and are nevertheless logical. And frightening to it.

Text: Martin Muencheberg
Further information: www.sacredcow.com
Ain’t it Cool News

Elston Gunn Interviews Director Kevin Booth Of AMERICAN DRUG WAR

I’m Elston Gunn…

Kevin Booth’s film AMERICAN DRUG WAR, an eye-opening and compelling examination of the war on drugs, won the Best Documentary awards at both the DIY and Evil City film festivals, the latter of which featured filmmakers Morgan Spurlock and Mary Harron as judges.
Additionally, High Times magazine gave the film four full buds, it’s highest rating (no pun intended). Booth, who authored the book BILL HICKS: AGENT OF EVOLUTION about his best friend and notable cult comedian, was inspired by the loss of those close to him to legal substances to try and make sense of what is dubbed “the longest, most costly and destructive war in American history.” And oh, the things he discovers. Three minutes into the doc we are told the main source of funding for Partnership of a Drug Free America comes from the tobacco and alcohol industries. Booth captures the perspectives from a former LAPD narcotics officer, gang members, prisoners, cops, a sheriff, a former New Mexico governor, civil rights attorneys, Tommy Chong and Ricky Ross from jail and a host of others.

AMERICAN DRUG WAR along with the Bill Hicks karate comedy epic NINJA BACHELOR PARTY will be screening at the Druid Underground Film Festival at the Il Corral in Los Angeles this Sunday, March 11, at 7 pm.

Booth took some time to answer questions for AICN.

[Elston Gunn]: You were prompted by the alcohol, cigarette and prescription drug related deaths of family members and friends to personally find out exactly why these drugs are legal and others are not. At what point did you realize you should make a documentary about this? Where did you start?

[Kevin Booth]: When my mom was dying from liver failure, she was in an ICU unit with several others facing the same fate, all from a life of hard drinking. I was hit with this horrible smell that sickened me so deeply that I instantly lost my appetite for alcohol. After attending my third funeral in a row, I realized that the corporate culprits, Smirnoff, Dewar’s, RJ Reynolds, DuPont and others, would never be punished. Perhaps the last straw that angered me was the brilliant Nick & Norm ad campaign launched by the post-9/11 Bush administration in which the government was claiming that pot smokers support terrorism. So, in a way, this three and a half year journey has been fueled by hatred for a government that has long sold out to corporations.

[EG]: At any point did you think the topic was too broad? From prisons to medical marijuana,to gangs to the CIA and Afghan poppy farmers to Joe Rogan smoking weed on camera, you could’ve made a miniseries.

[KB]: It’s a good thing you didn’t see the first cut. I suppose my aim with this film was to show the many fronts that this war is being waged against the American people. I guess the trick is getting all these subjects together in one film and not having it feel like the ramblings of a schizophrenic. Hopefully, the final edit currently under way will achieve this, but perhaps someday it could be a miniseries.

[EG]: Why do you think the drug war seems to be such a huge failure? Is it simply money?

[KB]: For those waging the war it has been an incredible success, it’s a perfect business model, the government profits from distributing drugs into the ghettos of America and then profits from locking people up for using those drugs. The drug war is only a failure for the rest of us who must suffer from the greed of these corporate shills.

[EG]: The privatization of prisons and the part that plays in the drug war was particularly fascinating. When did you first learn about that?

[KB]: It’s the coincidences that kill me, such as during the Reagan administration, oddly enough, we had mandatory minimum sentencing for drug possession. Reagan’s Drug Act that made the penalties for crack a hundred times worse than powdered cocaine and, lo and behold, private corporations being allowed to build and run prisons. What’s the point of building all those new Wal-Mart’s if you can’t fill them with customers?
[EG]: The comparison of the Prohibition era to the drug war was interesting and you raised the question “Is meth a modern day moonshine?” Plus, you had people who were unfamiliar with meth in Amsterdam.

[KB]: The problem is that most young people today don’t know anything about Prohibition. It’s interesting to note that Prohibition didn’t end because they decided booze was good for glaucoma or even some moral issue. The number one killer drug, alcohol, was legalized because they realized it was so profitable. People should also note that when alcohol was made legal the moonshine business became non profitable. When the police ask users if they prefer crystal meth to cocaine they never add “what if cocaine was cheap?” Because when I ask meth head tweakers that question they always say they would rather have cocaine.

Why would people do crystal meth if they could have a real drug that comes from the Earth? I wish everyone who considers themselves to be a Christian would examine the organic basis of the drug laws in Amsterdam. Do you trust guys in white lab coats who only answer to a board of directors, or do you trust a plant that has been growing on this Earth long before mankind existed? Believing that both evolution and all of the religions that preach brotherhood are true, I’m am going to have to go with God and not the lab guys, even if he or she is only the lesser of two evils.

[EG]: In your own words what was it about Ricky Ross’ story that you felt was important to the film as opposed to other individuals you could have talked to?

[KB]: To me the story of Freeway Ricky Ross is as American as apple pie a la crack. Not only is it the “Scarface” rags-to-riches tale, it’s also the story of Oliver North and the Iran Contra scandal that most Americans seemed to have forgotten. It’s outrageous enough that Rick is the only one of those guys serving time, but the co-conspirators of North/Reagan are back to their old tricks working in the new Bush White House. For those of you rolling your eyes, Google “Crack & CIA.”

[EG]: Interesting that you have a former smuggler, a former DEA agent and a former Republican governor of New Mexico essentially saying the same similar things.

[KB]: I guess its nice to know that folks on both sides of the law are still willing to tell the truth even though it may not always be the most profitable choice. I believe that this tidal wave of indignation focused toward the Bush administration is long overdue. It’s like a domino effect; once people wake to the scam of Waco, Okalahoma City or 9/11 all these phony drug laws become more and more politically obvious. I thank God that the average American seems to have gotten over the “the government cares about me” hurdle that everyone seemed to be stuck on after 9/11.
[EG]: I’m sure investigative journalist Gary Webb was someone you would’ve really wanted to interview, whose story prompts me to ask… any concern for your safety? Mike Ruppert said some pretty ballsy things, too.

[KB]: I know it may sound trite, but Gary Webb was one of the next people I was going to interview when I got the news about his “death” – “suicide” – “assassination?” But for me I’m not really worried, because it’s not like I’m pointing fingers at individual people like Ruppert or Webb. I mean, nobody ever got harmed exposing an evil government or corporation, did they? I mean, the government and the large corporations care about me, why would they want to harm me?
If the DEA says smoking POT will kill you and Bush’s Texas body-double Rick Perry has mandated every young woman to take a cancer vaccination or they will face penalties, you got to believe it’s true! Of course, the fact that Merck Pharmaceutical gave Rick Perry a quarter million dollars is pure coincidence. The drug war is proof positive that they care about us like a rancher cares about his herd. It’s PROFIT & CONTROL.

[EG]: How important do you think it is to focus on the decriminalization of drugs versus legalization? Sometimes people use the terms synonymously, but there is a difference.

[KB]: I would be lying if I told you that we should legalize crystal meth, or many other strong drugs that will cause people to do crazy things. That said, does someone belong in prison for possessing these substances? And how do you draw a line between the type of person who would sell to a child or someone who is responsible and simply wishes to use behind closed doors, perhaps harming themselves, but not harming others. Seems like the basis of all laws in a free country should be based on Ye Old Ten Commandments deal.

Though shalt not Steal, Kill, Rape, you know all the real crimes. But as Republican Governor Gary Johnson says “we give people in some cases longer sentences for possession of marijuana than we do for murder or rape.” I would like to hear Mr. DEA or Mr. Undercover Narc explain that one when someday he or she must pass through the pearly gates. “You see, God, we decided this plant you left growing everywhere poses too much of a threat to our entire industrial, war, pharmaceutical, prison machine… AHHH OK, you caught me, I just wanted to keep my job and I didn’t care whose lives I destroyed.”

[EG]: What was the most surprising aspect of the drug war to you?

[KB]: That none of these gung ho drug warriors have the guts to be on camera. In a way I really respect Sheriff Joe because he has the balls to allow everyone to see who he is, which is more then I can say for the bulk of them. If you’re willing to ruin people’s lives because of your personal beliefs, then have the balls to stand up and say why. But they don’t because its all a bunch of gray-haired fearful little men who fight to protect Nixon’s fraudulent war that in turn protects their profit margins.

Most every black person living in the ghetto will tell you that they hate the police. I don’t hate the police; I hate the fact that these drug warriors are using my tax money to pay police for basically protecting the interests of the Alcohol, Tobacco and Pharmaceutical corporations. Don’t take my word for it, look up the yearly death stats of all illegal drugs vs. Alcohol, Tobacco and Pharmaceutical.

Then look up the yearly death stats of marijuana and ask yourself, “Why would they lock people up for this?” Superior Court judge Jim Gray puts it best, “Eighty five percent of all illegal drug users only use marijuana, so if you took marijuana out of the equation, the entire drug war machine would crumble.” It breaks my heart to think of all those prison guards losing their jobs, and they couldn’t start selling drugs because if you end the drug war, dealing would cease to be profitable. Maybe all these drug warriors would be forced to get educations and real jobs. I’m a dreamer!

[EG]: What have been some of the biggest challenges in making the film and getting it seen?

[KB]: Prisons are as hard to get in as they are to get out, especially these private prisons. I think I could have had an easier time finding Bin Laden than what I went through trying to interview Tommy Chong while in federal prison. I also wanted to portray gangs in a different light, because I’m so sick of the same tired headline about the murderous gangs of Los Angeles, I always knew that these are people who are just playing the cards they have been dealt.

I highly recommend BASTARDS OF THE PARTY out on HBO to learn the true history of gangs in Los Angeles. I’m no journalist, who am I kidding, I’m so involved in everyone’s lives now its ridiculous. I helped Bloods co-founder get a Paypal account and web site, trodgers.com, and I plan on starting a business with Ricky Ross when he gets released, not because he is some famous kingpin with his own BET special, AMERICAN GANGSTER, but because he is one smart motherfucker who I happen to like and respect as a person. (I could start the Adopt-a-Crack-Kingpin Foundation for guilty white people.)

[EG]: Any advice for aspiring documentarians?

[KB]: God, you better LOOOOVE your subject, and make sure the people your surrounded with are prepared to watch you transform into an obsessed single minded broken record. My poor wife, Trae, has been listening to me ramble every single day for the last 1350 days about the drug war, but I could have never done it without her. I’m coming on four years now, and even though I have won best documentary at the Evil City fest in NYC and the DIY fest in Hollywood, I am still working on the gersh-dang thing. Four years ago, I thought I would film for a few months and edit for a few months then watch the big bucks come rolling in. Classically, I chose a subject that is just so huge and complicated, but, truth-be-told, I love working on it and I will miss it when its all over.

[EG]: What projects are you working on next?

[KB]: After three years of doom and gloom I could use a change of pace. I’m currently in talks with director Curt Johnson about several different projects from a HALF BAKED pot comedy to another serious doc about the Patriot movement in Texas. The other night I actually attended a private Bloods rally to investigate the idea of setting a different type of story in a certain South Central neighborhood. At the rally I was exposed to this brown cylindrical shaped object with smoke trickling out of one end that caused me to become disoriented, the gang members call them “Blunt” or “da-Blunt?” I’ll be able to tell you more about this curious artifact when the test results come back from the lab.

[EG]: I know you were close friends with Bill Hicks, any upcoming Hicks-related plans?

[KB]: Many American Hicks fans don’t know that I have a book out on Harper Collins U.K,. BILL HICKS: AGENT OF EVOLUTION, available at sacredcow.com. Yes, there is a new Hicks doc in the works and it looks like it will be the best one yet, but my pale-skinned pals across the pond want to keep a lid on it for now.

For more info and updates on AMERICAN DRUG WAR, Hicks, Alex Jones, and other works of Kevin Booth check out SacredCow.com
Elston Gunn, elstongunn@hotmail.com, http://www.myspace.com/elstongunnaicn

High Times Magazine
Magazine Article by Mary Ought Six

Inspired by the tragic loss of his best friend, savvy and lovably raunchy comedian Bill Hicks, plus three members of his immediate family to “legal drugs”–inlcuding alcohol, tobacco and prescribed pharmeceuticals–director Kevin booth set out to make sure that he was “not the next victim of the Drug War.” His documentary, The Last White Hope: America’s War on Drugs, takes and ambitious and comprehensive look at the history of America’s longest losing battle.

Starting off with Bush Sr. and the media’s “encouragement” of crack cocaine use by their wide-spread plugs of “America’s most profitable and addictive substance,” the movie befriends infamous kingpin dealer Freeway Ricky Ross, the man some say is solely responsible for the rise of crack out of LA’s South Central, and other say was led with a golden carrot by the CIA and Oliver North. It is Ricky who labels the Drug War “the last white hope,” noting that the judge, jury, police officers, attorneys and DEA agents who convicted him were all white.

Racism is a running theme as a tool to keep government profits rolling in, and in some cases points to ethnic cleansing, as in the 1999 Tulia, TX, drug sting that put 10 percent of that city’s black population behind bars in one fell swoop.

Then there’s Sheriff Joe Arpaio with his painted tanks proudly advertising Maricopa County’s personal War on Drugs. The sheriff is shown inflicting his own brand of psychological torture throughout “Tent City,” requiring prisoners to take–with a smile–signed postcards of himself and the rescue dogs enjoying indoor air-conditioning while inmates bake in the Phoenix heat.

If you hate the Drug War–and I know you do–you’re going to love this documentary from Booth and production company Sacred Cow. Brace yourself for Afghani opium, interviews with a former drug czar and Amsterdam’s lone crack connoisseur, and the basic bad-guy bedlam in this informative documentary.
– Mary Ought Six

(source: americandrugwar.com)

Research conducted by NHK in various locations recently yielded a glimpse of al-Qaeda’s media war. A secretive al-Qaeda media group known as As-Sahaab produces propaganda videos on an ongoing basis using advanced computer graphics and video processing techniques and distributes them on video CDs and via the Internet for viewing by Muslims all over the world. At the same time, As-Sahaab skillfully manipulates a satellite television station in the Middle East as a way of using the airwaves to spread messages intended to justify terrorism in the eyes of the world.

Title: Media Jihad

Directed by: Masanori Iwahori & Hajime Ota

Running time: 45 min
Year: 2005
File: AVI  XVID 640×480, 688MB

Download here! > link or Watch here! > link

Al-Qaeda’s media output is believed to inspire yet more terrorist acts. The United States government is devoting huge financial resources to countering al-Qaeda’s propaganda but has yet to achieve major success.

NHK’s ‘Media Jihad’ sheds light on the media war that continues to rage between al-Qaeda and its enemies.

> Al-Qaeda’s Growing Online Offensive

By Craig Whitlock
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
CAIRO
(Second of two articles)

Early this year, a religious radical calling himself Abu Hamza had a question for the deputy leader of al-Qaeda regarding the Egyptian secret police. “Are they committing unbelief?” he tapped on his keyboard. “And is it permissible to kill them?”

A few weeks later, an answer came from a man with a $25 million bounty on his head, Ayman al-Zawahiri. Killing the police is justified, Zawahiri replied, because they are “infidels, each and every one of them.”

The exchange was part of the latest propaganda coup orchestrated by al-Qaeda: an online chat between Zawahiri — one of the world’s most wanted fugitives — and hundreds of curious people around the globe. After announcing in a Web forum in December that he would entertain questions on virtually any topic, Zawahiri received 1,888 written queries from journalists and the public. He patiently answered about one-fifth of them, even hostile postings that condemned al-Qaeda for harming innocents and perverting Islam.

The war against terrorism has evolved into a war of ideas and propaganda, a struggle for hearts and minds fought on television and the Internet. On those fronts, al-Qaeda’s voice has grown much more powerful in recent years. Taking advantage of new technology and mistakes by its adversaries, al-Qaeda’s core leadership has built an increasingly prolific propaganda operation, enabling it to communicate constantly, securely and in numerous languages with loyalists and potential recruits worldwide.

Every three or four days, on average, a new video or audio from one of al-Qaeda’s commanders is released online by as-Sahab, the terrorist network’s in-house propaganda studio. Even as its masters dodge a global manhunt, as-Sahab produces documentary-quality films, iPod files and cellphone videos. Last year it released 97 original videos, a sixfold increase from 2005. (As-Sahab means “the clouds” in Arabic, a reference to the skyscraping mountain peaks of Afghanistan.)

U.S. and European intelligence officials attribute the al-Qaeda propaganda boom in part to the network’s ability to establish a secure base in the ungoverned tribal areas of western Pakistan.

Some U.S. officials acknowledge that they missed early opportunities to disrupt al-Qaeda’s communications operations, whose internal security has since been upgraded to the point where analysts say it is nearly bulletproof.

“In many, many ways, the damage has already been done,” said Evan F. Kohlmann, an expert on al-Qaeda’s online operations who serves as a consultant to the FBI, Scotland Yard and other agencies. “It certainly would have been a lot easier if the U.S. government had taken this seriously back in 2004. Back then, these guys were looked upon as miscreants and cretins, like they were just Internet terrorists and not for real.”

U.S. officials have also acknowledged their inability to counter al-Qaeda’s ideological arguments, despite a multibillion-dollar investment in public diplomacy and covert propaganda efforts aimed at Muslims.

“It is just plain embarrassing that al-Qaeda is better at communicating its message on the Internet than America,” Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said in a speech in November. “As one foreign diplomat asked a couple of years ago, ‘How has one man in a cave managed to outcommunicate the world’s greatest communication society?’ “

High-End Tools

When Osama bin Laden wants to deliver a speech, a trusted video cameraman is summoned to a safe house somewhere in Pakistan, according to U.S. counterterrorism officials and analysts.

The video file is then edited, stored on a tiny computer memory stick and given to a human courier. The memory stick usually passes through several sets of hands to disguise its route, until an operative finally sits down in an Internet cafe and saves the data to a password-protected Web site, they said.

Analysts said that as-Sahab is outfitted with some of the best technology available. Editors and producers use ultralight Sony Vaio laptops and top-end video cameras. Files are protected using PGP, or Pretty Good Privacy, a virtually unbreakable form of encryption software that is also used by intelligence agencies around the world.

“We all think of them as a bunch of guys living in caves, and Miran Shah may be the other side of the moon,” said a senior U.S. counterterrorism official speaking on the condition of anonymity, referring to a Pakistani town near the Afghan border that has served as a refuge for al-Qaeda operatives. “And yet their guys are all communicating on laptops, just like I do from one of the most wired buildings in Washington.”

Speeches by bin Laden and other al-Qaeda leaders can appear online less than a week after being recorded, although it usually takes two to three weeks before they are released, officials and analysts said.

“It is clear that they are under no real pressure,” said Diaa Rashwan, an analyst at al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo. “They are very relaxed. They have plenty of time to go to their film archives and edit their productions.”

Despite years of trying, U.S. intelligence agencies have been unable to trace the videos of bin Laden and his lieutenants back to their origins. But officials said the network’s leaders expose themselves to risk every time they make a new recording.

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaeda’s franchise in Iraq, was killed in a U.S. military airstrike in June 2006, two months after he showed his face on a video for the first time. In May 2007, Mullah Dadullah, a senior Taliban commander, was killed by NATO and Afghan forces in Helmand province 36 hours after he surfaced to give a television interview.

A New Distributor

In 2005, al-Qaeda’s propaganda machine was seriously ailing.

Al-Jazeera, the terrorist group’s channel of choice, had stopped airing al-Qaeda videos in their entirety. Many bin Laden followers complained bitterly in Web forums that al-Jazeera was distorting the leader’s speeches by playing clips out of context.

Meanwhile, the U.S. government and its allies were successfully pressuring Internet service providers to shut down Islamist Web sites. Many key technology experts had been captured or killed. The founder of one influential Web forum was killed in Saudi Arabia.

In October 2005, British police arrested Younis Tsouli, a Moroccan-born webmaster who had played an instrumental role in building communication networks for Iraqi insurgents and other al-Qaeda affiliates.

About the same time, al-Qaeda supporters designed a new propaganda distribution network called al-Fajr Media Center. Al-Fajr, which means “dawn” in Arabic, eventually linked dozens of anonymous webmasters around the world.

U.S. intelligence officials and analysts still know very little about the network’s inner workings. But over time, it has taken over the dissemination of online propaganda for scores of radical Islamist groups. In addition to as-Sahab, it distributes material for al-Qaeda affiliates in Iraq, Somalia, North Africa and Yemen, as well as for the Taliban and other militant groups. Many of the videos ultimately are subtitled in English as well as German, Italian, French, Pashto, Turkish and other languages.

Al-Fajr is heavily decentralized, with its webmasters generally unaware of one another’s true identities for security reasons, intelligence analysts said. It also has separate “brigades” devoted to hacking, multimedia, cybersecurity and distribution.

The network receives propaganda material from individual terrorist groups and then posts it online. Each release is announced on popular Islamist Web forums, where thousands of members are encouraged to copy the videos and redistribute them on other sites.

The Web forums are password-protected and highly regulated. In certain sections, only high-ranking moderators have the authority to post material — such as bulletins announcing a new bin Laden video. As a result, al-Fajr and others can quickly spot fake material, ensuring that the propaganda maintains a high level of reliability and consistency, analysts said.

“By controlling that content, al-Fajr Center can make sure everybody who is getting that information knows they’re getting it from an authentic source,” said Josh Devon, senior analyst at the SITE Intelligence Group, a private firm that monitors Islamist terrorist groups online and serves as a consultant to U.S. and foreign government agencies. “It’d be extremely difficult for the CIA or another intelligence agency to introduce credible and effective counterpropaganda.”

Al-Fajr is extremely security-conscious, Devon said. It distributes a manual called the “Technical Mujahid,” which advises how to cover electronic footprints and avoid infiltration.

Devon and other analysts said al-Fajr may have had security weaknesses in its early days but is well protected now. It is designed so that new webmasters can be recruited to replace others if necessary.

“Even if you arrested 20 people, the long-term effects would be minimal,” he said. “You could disrupt things and create some chaos, but it’d only be a temporary measure. There’d be a pool of over 50,000 other people to draw from to take their spot.”

Some U.S. lawmakers are trying to attack the distribution system anyway.

Last month, Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, wrote to Google officials, urging them to take down YouTube videos produced by al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups. YouTube said that it pulled some videos but that others targeted by Lieberman were not violent or did not qualify as “hate speech.”

Other officials said such an approach was unlikely to be effective because the videos are so widespread and can resurface almost immediately on other sites.

“Initially, that was reflexively the first option people came to — ‘Let’s not let Osama bin Laden speak’ or ‘Let’s not let the extremists on the Internet,’ ” the senior U.S. counterterrorism official said. “I don’t think that’s possible. Yes, we could go around shutting down Web sites, but it doesn’t really work as a strategic weapon against al-Qaeda.”

Stars of As-Sahab

One of the more visible and intriguing faces on al-Qaeda videos is that of Adam Gadahn, a California native and convert to Islam who moved to Pakistan a decade ago.

Gadahn, who calls himself “Azzam the American,” first appeared in a video in 2005, when he threatened attacks on Los Angeles. He’s been cast as the star of several productions since then, and analysts said it is clear that al-Qaeda’s leadership turns to him for advice on how to address a U.S. audience.

“I don’t know how well he actually understands the U.S. market, but he understands it a whole lot better than any of them,” the senior U.S. counterterrorism official said. “Al-Qaeda doesn’t have a whole lot of choice. If they want to know something about the U.S., they either go to Gadahn or to Wikipedia.”

While many analysts have dismissed Gadahn as a bit player, his videos are wildly popular among al-Qaeda foot soldiers in Europe.

British police, for instance, regularly find copies of Gadahn’s videos during their investigations of homegrown terrorist cells, said Kohlmann, the consultant, who works as a senior investigator for the NEFA Foundation, a terrorism research group based in Charleston, S.C.

“His slogans become mantras for these people,” Kohlmann said. “They find Gadahn to be a heroic figure, as a symbol, as a leader.”

The man as-Sahab turns to most often, however, is Zawahiri, al-Qaeda’s chief ideologue. He has appeared in 20 different videos and audios since January 2007, according to IntelCenter, a terrorism research firm based in Alexandria, Va.

In contrast to the charismatic bin Laden, who speaks in poetic Arabic and projects the image of a statesman, Zawahiri is an uncompromising pedant who tailors his messages to other radicals. He defends al-Qaeda’s brutal tactics unflinchingly, justifying the killing of civilians by invoking a greater struggle against nonbelievers and corrupt Arab regimes.

“He resonates with the militants because he gives them tightly constructed Islamist arguments,” said S. Abdallah Schleifer, a former NBC News bureau chief in Cairo who has known Zawahiri and his family for decades. “He’s offering them a patterned, ideological take on life.”

Some U.S. officials and analysts have questioned whether Zawahiri has become overexposed and whether his message is losing its bite. They point to surveys showing a plunge in public support for al-Qaeda, particularly in countries where the network has organized attacks against Muslim civilians, such as Jordan, Pakistan and Indonesia.

But others warn against underestimating Zawahiri’s skill at keeping the debate focused on U.S. policy in the Middle East, a subject that strikes a chord with millions of Muslims, even those otherwise unsympathetic to al-Qaeda.

Perhaps his most effective video, they said, is an 80-minute documentary released last September titled “The Power of Truth.”

In the film, Zawahiri and other al-Qaeda leaders offer a long narrative of alleged offenses by the U.S. government against Muslims, using video excerpts of U.S. leaders and commentators to bolster their argument.

“It’s beautifully crafted propaganda, and it’s a huge problem for us,” said Jarret Brachman, research director at the Combating Terrorism Center at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. “You’re left shaking your head and saying, ‘Yeah, I guess they’re right.’ “

(Special correspondent Munir Ladaa in Berlin contributed to this report. source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/23/AR2008062302135.html?sid=ST2008062302295)

Salvador Allende, President of Chile, reportedly committed suicide during the Chilean coup of 1973. Since that time, there has been great controversy between supporters and detractors of Allende on the circumstances of his death, since the military junta’s version of his suicide was discounted by his supporters. Questions continue to surround the events that led to his death.

The Chilean coup d’état of 1973 was a watershed event in the history of Chile and the Soviet-American Cold War. On 11 September 1973, the democratically elected President of Chile Salvador Allende was overthrown in a CIA-backed Chilean military coup d’état.

A military junta took control of the government, composed of the heads of the Air Force, Navy, Carabineros (police force) and the Army led by General Augusto Pinochet. General Pinochet assumed power and ended Allende’s democratically elected Popular Unity government.

During the air raids and ground attacks that preceded the coup, Allende gave his last speech where he vowed to stay in the presidential palace. Direct witness accounts of his death agree that he committed suicide in the presidential palace. After the coup Pinochet established a military dictatorship that ruled Chile until 1990 and that was marked by severe human rights violations. A weak insurgence movement against the Pinochet government was maintained inside Chile by elements sympathetic to the former Allende government.

Title: Political Assassination: Betrayal in Chile: Who Shot Salvador Allende?
(original title: Betrayal in Santiago: Who Shot Salvador Allende?)

Directed by: Wilfried Huismann

Broadcasted by: CBC, News World (broadcast date unknown)
Running time: 52 min
File: AVI 480×320, 386 MB
Language: English (voice-over)  |  Spanish
Year: 2003
IMDB: link

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On September 11, 1973, just prior to the capture by the military of the Palacio de La Moneda (the presidential palace), while gunfire and explosions were clearly audible in the background, President Salvador Allende made what would become a famous farewell speech to Chileans on live radio (Radio Magallanes), speaking of his love for Chile and of his deep faith in its future. He stated that his commitment to Chile did not allow him to take an easy way out and be used as a propaganda tool by those he called “traitors” (accepting an offer of safe passage, like Carlos Altamirano), clearly implying he intended to fight to the end.

Shortly afterwards, Allende reportedly committed suicide. An official announcement declared that he had committed suicide with an assault rifle, and an autopsy labeled his death as suicide. The weapon purportedly used by Allende to commit suicide was an AK-47 assault rifle given to him as a gift by Fidel Castro and which bore a golden plate engraved To my good friend Salvador from Fidel, who by different means tries to achieve the same goals.

This (now) general acceptance is based on statements given by two doctors from the Moneda Palace infirmary who witnessed the suicide: Dr. Patricio Guijón, who made a statement at the time, and Dr. José Quiroga who only confirmed it many years later.

“Workers of my country, I have faith in Chile and its destiny. Other men will overcome this dark and bitter moment when treason seeks to prevail. Keep in mind that, much sooner than later, the great avenues will again be opened through which will pass free men to construct a better society. Long live Chile! Long live the people! Long live the workers!”

- President Salvador Allende’s farewell speech,
September 11, 1973.

The military coup against President Salvador Allende began to take shape even before he came to office in 1970. The right-wing and the CIA organized several attempts, first to prevent his ascent to the presidency and then to destabilize the country during his government.

Following the elections on September 4, 1970 in which Salvador Allende won but not as a required absolute majority as established by the Constitution of Chile, the United States President Richard Nixon ordered the intelligence services of their country to prevent the Allende presidency.

Elections were characterized by the interference of the two warring powers in the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union. The United States had supported and financed the candidacy of right-wing former president Jorge Alessandri

Allende contested the 1970 election with Jorge Alessandri Rodriguez of the National Party and Radomiro Tomic of the Christian Democratic Party. Despite the tough competition, Allende won the election by winning 36.6% of the votes (around 1,070,334 votes). Alessandri was a very close second with 35.3%, and Tomic third with 28.1%. In total, 2,954,799 people voted. Allende won despite the United States spending around $430,000 on anti-Allende propaganda during the election period. However, according to the Chilean constitution, because none of the candidates won by an absolute majority, the National Congress had to decide between candidates. Alessandri announced on 9 September that if Congress decided on him, he would resign – which would then require another election. Congress then decided on Allende. Soon after hearing news of his win, Allende signed a Statute of Constitutional Guarantees, which stated that he would follow the constitution during his presidency. The United States feared “an irreversible Marxist regime in Chile” and exerted diplomatic, economic, and covert pressure upon Chile’s elected socialist government.

Allende’s presidency was a busy one. During his presidency, Allende nationalized US copper firms (in July 1971), nationalized banks and other large industries such as Purina, and sped up land distribution (by 1972, peasants lived in around 1700 rural properties). Total expenditures for social programs increased from $562.8 million to $828.5 million under Allende’s rule; this includes health, education, housing, child assistance, and social assistance. Between 1967-1969 and 1973, employment in mines increased by 45% — however, per capita production decreased by 28%. This wasn’t the only disappointment the Allende administration faced. By 1973, the amount of land in Chile under cultivation fell by 20%. Allende installed a price freeze and increased wages in the industry, which resulted in Chile spending 56% of its export earnings on food (the country was producing 2/3 of what Chileans consumed). Also, Chile’s trade deficit increased from $18 million to $255 million from 1971-1972. Exports fell by 25%, and imports increased by 40%, which caused an economic imbalance. Inflation became another problem during Allende’s reign, due to Allende’s wage increases and increase in spending. Inflation doubled in 1972, and the cost of living increased by nearly 50%. Not only did Allende have to deal with economic troubles, but there was rebellion from the people as well. In 1972, a group of truckers went on strike due to Allende’s plan to create a state transportation enterprise. In its prime, 23,000 trucks refused to drive. This strike ignited many strikes that occurred all over Chile.

At the end of 1971, Cuban President Fidel Castro visited Chile in a four-week state visit giving credence to the belief that the Chilean Way to Socialism placed Chile en route to Cuban Socialism, i.e. soviet Communism.

In 1972, the monetary policies increasing the amount of circulating currency, adopted by economics minister Pedro Vuskovic, devalued the escudo, provoking inflation to 140 percent in 1972 and engendering a black market economy. The Allende Government acted against the black market with organised distribution of basic products. In October 1972, Chile suffered the first of many socially confrontational strikes — led by the Chilean rich — openly supported by U.S. President Richard Nixon via the CIA.

Soon, small-scale businessmen, some professional unions, and student groups joined the strike. Its leaders — Vilarín, Jaime Guzmán, Rafael Cumsille, Guillermo Elton, Eduardo Arriagada — expected to depose the elected government. Other than damaging the national economy, the principal effect of the twenty-four-day strike was drawing Army head, Gen. Carlos Prats, into the government as Interior Minister, an appeasement to the right wing. Gen. Prats succeeded Gen. René Schneider after his assassination on 24 October 1970, by the groups of Gen. Roberto Viaux and Gen. Camilo Valenzuela whom the CIA financed and logistically supported. Moreover, Gen. Prats supported the legalist Schneider Doctrine and refused military involvement in a coup d’état against President Allende.

Despite the declining economy, President Allende’s Popular Unity coalition increased its vote to 43.2 percent in the March 1973 parliamentary elections, however, by then, the informal alliance between Popular Unity and the Christian Democrats ended. The Christian Democrats allied with the right-wing National Party, who were opposed to Allende’s Socialist government; the two right-wing parties forming the Confederación Democrática (CODE) (The Democratic Coalition). The internecine parliamentary conflict, between legislature and the executive branch paralyzed practical government. To destabilise the Allende Government, the CIA paid some U.S.$8 million to right-wing opposition groups to “create pressures, exploit weaknesses, magnify obstacles” and hasten President Allende’s deposition. The CIA report released in 2000 records some U.S. $6.8 million spent for the deposition.

Official version of the death
At approximately 1:50 PM local time, President Allende ordered the defenders of the La Moneda Palace to surrender. The defenders then formed a queue from the second floor, down the stairs and onto the Morande street door. The president went along this queue, from the ground floor up the stairs, shaking hands and thanking everyone personally for their support in that difficult moment. After he finished, he directed himself toward the Independence salon, located in the north-east side of the Palace’s second floor. At the same time, Dr. Patricio Guijón (a member of La Moneda’s infirmary staff) decided to return upstairs to recover his gas-mask as a souvenir. He heard a noise, and opened the door of the Independence salon in time to see the president shoot himself with his AK-47 assault rifle. From the other side of the salon and through an open door Dr. José Quiroga, Arsenio Poupin, a member of the cabinet, Enrique Huerta, a palace functionary, two detectives from the Presidential security detail, and some GAPs (Presidential Security) were able to see the moment of death, or arrive a few seconds afterwards, attracted by the noise.

Witnesses
All sources seem to agree that at least the following witnesses were present:
> Dr. Patricio Guijón – member of the Presidential Medical Staff – Survived
> Dr. José Quiroga – member of the Presidential Medical Staff – Survived
> Arsenio Poupin Oissel – Presidential Assesor and member of the cabinet – Executed a few days later
> Enrique Huerta Corvalán – Palace Intendant – Executed a few days later
> David Garrido – Detective (Presidential Security Detail) – Survived
> Ricardo Pincheira – Detective (Presidential Security Detail) – Survived
> Pablo Manuel Zepeda Camillieri – GAP (Presidential Security) – Survived

Of these witnesses, only Dr. Guijón spoke about the events immediately after they happened, and was roundly vilified for doing so. Some sources misattribute Guijón’s declarations to “Allende’s personal doctor”: Dr. Enrique Paris Roa, who was at La Moneda not on his professional role but as a member of Allende’s cabinet. He does not appear to have made any such statement as he was executed shortly afterwards.

Controversy
At the time and for many years after, his supporters nearly uniformly presumed that he was killed by the forces staging the coup, and many theories have been put forward to imply he was ruthlessly assassinated. This view was first expressed in a speech given in Havana’s Plaza de la Revolución on 28 September 1973 (only two weeks after Allende’s death.) On that day Fidel Castro told a crowd of about 1 million Cubans that Allende had died in La Moneda wrapped in a Chilean flag, firing at the army with Fidel’s rifle. Another version stated that Allende was killed in combat on the steps outside the Presidential Palace.

The “murder-in-battle” theory that states that Allende was killed by Pinochet’s military forces while defending the palace was officially set forth in 1975 by Robinson Rojas in his book The murder of Allende and the end of the Chilean way to socialism.

For years after Allende’s death, Fidel Castro in public addresses continued to express the view that Allende had died while exchanging gunfire with Chilean troops. In 2002, however, he spoke of Allende’s death as a suicide, changing his earlier opinion.

In recent years, the view that Allende committed suicide has become more accepted, particularly as different testimonies are confirming the details of the suicide in news and documentary interviews. Also, members of Allende’s immediate family including his wife and his daughter, always outspoken, never disputed that it was a suicide.

However, some supporters still dispute the idea that it was suicide. In 2008 the Chilean doctor Luis Ravanal published an article in the magazine El Periodista stating that Allende’s wounds were “not compatible” with suicide. Asked to comment on Dr. Ravanal’s hypothesis, the Chilean congresswoman Isabel Allende, the President’s daughter, said that the suicide version is the correct one.

————————————————————————

THE SPEECH (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YUx5Zp0Z9A)

My friends,

Surely this will be the last opportunity for me to address you. The Air Force has bombed the antennas of Radio Magallanes.

My words do not have bitterness but disappointment. May they be a moral punishment for those who have betrayed their oath: soldiers of Chile, titular commanders in chief, Admiral Merino, who has designated himself Commander of the Navy, and Mr. Mendoza, the despicable general who only yesterday pledged his fidelity and loyalty to the Government, and who also has appointed himself Chief of the Carabineros [paramilitary police].

Given these facts, the only thing left for me is to say to workers: I am not going to resign! Placed in a historic transition, I will pay for loyalty to the people with my life. And I say to them that I am certain that the seeds which we have planted in the good conscience of thousands and thousands of Chileans will not be shriveled forever.

They have force and will be able to dominate us, but social processes can be arrested by neither crime nor force. History is ours, and people make history.

Workers of my country: I want to thank you for the loyalty that you always had, the confidence that you deposited in a man who was only an interpreter of great yearnings for justice, who gave his word that he would respect the Constitution and the law and did just that. At this definitive moment, the last moment when I can address you, I wish you to take advantage of the lesson: foreign capital, imperialism, together with the reaction, created the climate in which the Armed Forces broke their tradition, the tradition taught by General Schneider and reaffirmed by Commander Araya, victims of the same social sector who today are hoping, with foreign assistance, to re-conquer the power to continue defending their profits and their privileges.

I address you, above all, the modest woman of our land, the campesina who believed in us, the mother who knew our concern for children. I address professionals of Chile, patriotic professionals who continued working against the sedition that was supported by professional associations, classist associations that also defended the advantages of capitalist society. I address the youth, those who sang and gave us their joy and their spirit of struggle. I address the man of Chile, the worker, the farmer, the intellectual, those who will be persecuted, because in our country fascism has been already present for many hours — in terrorist attacks, blowing up the bridges, cutting the railroad tracks, destroying the oil and gas pipelines, in the face of the silence of those who had the obligation to act. They were committed. History will judge them.

Surely Radio Magallanes will be silenced, and the calm metal instrument of my voice will no longer reach you. It does not matter. You will continue hearing it. I will always be next to you. At least my memory will be that of a man of dignity who was loyal to his country.

The people must defend themselves, but they must not sacrifice themselves. The people must not let themselves be destroyed or riddled with bullets, but they cannot be humiliated either.

Workers of my country, I have faith in Chile and its destiny. Other men will overcome this dark and bitter moment when treason seeks to prevail. Go forward knowing that, sooner rather than later, the great avenues will open again and free men will walk through them to construct a better society.

Long live Chile! Long live the people! Long live the workers!

These are my last words, and I am certain that my sacrifice will not be in vain, I am certain that, at the very least, it will be a moral lesson that will punish felony, cowardice, and treason.

Santiago (Chile), 11 September 1973

Whenever a major news event is reported by the mainstream media, it will invariably be illustrated with photographs or videos in order to convey to the public some visual impressions of the event. Undeniably, the imagery connected with any given news story enhances our emotional relation to it. The way we relate to news imagery has an almost hypnotic effect on our psyche: we have come to consider the visuals of any given news story asproof of that news story’s authenticity. This is truly a ‘weak spot’ of our brains’ readiness for critical-thinking. Thus follows, unfortunately, that to challenge the authenticity of a catastrophic event shown on Live TV is way beyond what most people are willing to contemplate. However, the time has come for everyone to call television by its most appropriate, military-sounding name: “Weapon of Mass Distraction”.

The 9/11 psyop relied foremostly on that ‘weak spot’ of ours. We all fell for the images we saw on TV at the time – understandably so, as the sheer horror of the proposed imagery generated a wall of outrage and fear – thick enough to discourage any critical review of it. In hindsight, we can only wonder why so few questioned the absurd TV coverage proposed by all the major networks.

WHAT TELEVISION VIEWERS SAW ON 9/11
The 9/11 TV imagery (of the crucial morning events) was just a computer-animated, pre-fabricated movie. It featured for the most part what were meant to be “chopper shots” of the smoking towers – and very little else. The sum total of “Action Shots” (“Planecrash” and “Tower collapses”) amounted to little over 30secs of the entire morning’s TV broadcasts ! Needless to say, much as the rest of the animation movie, none of these “Action Shots” depicted any sort of reality. Now, it may be difficult for many to understand why the 9/11 plotters needed to fake even the tower collapses; yet this was undoubtedly the most crucial aspect of the entire operation – and needs to be fully understood in its plain logic: The unprecedented WTC demolition job was far too risky an affair to be shown on LIVE TV – (or to let any amateur cameraman capture it on film). The 9/11 conspirators had no intention whatsoever to offer such a “pyrotechnical” spectacle to world scrutiny – just imagine how unspeakably foolish this would have been. Thus, in all probability, the oldest trick in the manuals of covert military ops was used: smokescreens. More recent technology deactivated temporarily all cameras within sight of the area. In reality, the towers were most likely enveloped in thick smoke (military obscurants) as they collapsed – and no real footage exists of that brief event. Thankfully – for all normal people of this world – the 9/11 planners hired a poorly skilled animation crew : in their efforts to simulate reality, their crass ‘artistry’ and countless mistakes provide ample and repeatable proof of the trickery – forever engraved in the TV archives.

Title: September Clues (Definitive Edition)

Made by: Simon Shack

Running time: 92 min
File: AVI XVID 720×486, 493 MB
Language: English
Year: 2008
Website: link

> Download here (1) [singel file, 493 MB] torrent

> Download here (2) [full pack, 1214 MB] torrent

> Watch here (google video)

WHY FAKE THE NEWS BROADCASTS ? The 9/11 TV broadcasts were designed to ‘sell’ a fictitious terror attack to the world– by replacing the real-life events of the day (the WTC demolitions) with fake imagery. The official story was quite surreal – as were the TV images of the day and the preposterous tale of 19 kids roundly outfoxing the US Air Defense. It is essential to judge with one’s own eyes the broadcasts actually aired by ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC and CNN.

WHAT ABOUT THE “AMATEUR” VIDEOS ? All the other videos (endlessly replayed on TV) were released only later. They have all been extensively analyzed by scores of video analysts; each and every video snippet of “amateur imagery” has been methodically dissected and compared – and empirically proved to be nothing else than computer-generated fabrications.

HOW WERE PRIVATE VIDEOS IMPEDED ? In order for the 9/11 TV-deception to succeed, full visual control of the Manhattan area had to be in place. The existence of EMP/HERF technology is undisputable: only the hypothesis of it being used on 9/11 remains unverifiable. It is, however, a reasonable postulation supported by a series of electronic blackouts which occurred in NYC that morning. In any event, the logic of using EMP/HERF holds water and effectively explains the ruse with disarming simplicity: NO private photography of the real-life events was allowed: thus, the imagery aired by the TV networks feared no comparison and was passed off as reality

THE RATIONALE OF THE 9/11 HOAX
by Simon Shack – January 1, 2010
If you have come to terms with the fact that 9/11 was a massive money-making scheme and – of course – a pretext to wage hugely profitable wars, the basic rationale behind this Grand Deception should, hopefully, become clearer. It is essential to consider all the variables which such an audacious false-flag operation would entail and what precautions its plotters must have observed: The Grand Deception plan was undoubtedly meant to be foolproof and, ideally, free of unnecessary elements of risk and opposition. There was simply no rationale for the 9/11 plotters to commit a mass murder of some 3,000, mostly white-collar professionals (brokers, bankers, financial analysts, etc.) whose families would likely have access to first-rate, ‘uptown’ legal assistance. Surely, killing that many people would have been an utterly senseless, self-inflicted aggravation on the part of the perpetrators. Since they could reliably rely on the fully compliant ‘top-brass’ of the mainstream media, they would have used this unique, exclusive asset to its full potential.

Ever since day one, the major hurdle for many people to even start considering 9/11 being an ‘inside job’ has been: “I can’t believe my own government would murder 3000 of their own people”. Once that psychological obstacle is removed, it should become apparent that the whole operation consisted essentially of a covert demolition of a redundant, asbestos-filled building complex. To kill thousands of people in the process never was an envisaged proposition as it would have encountered severe resistance among the insiders involved. The second objective was to blame this destruction on a foreign enemy; an inanely fanciful, outlandish tale involving hijacked airliners used as missiles was concocted, to be supported by digital imagery and special movie effects. How this was done is thoroughly illustrated in my September Clues video analyses.

WHAT DIDN’T HAPPEN ON 9/11 ( the deceptive imagery )
No unauthorized, private imagery was captured on September 11, 2001. Most – if not all – of the imagery we have of that morning’s events is prefabricated and/or manipulated. The September Clues video research – and many similar independent studies – have amply demonstrated the unfettered complicity of the mainstream media – a disturbingly ‘reliable’ partner in crime. The 9/11 morning broadcasts were, by and large, digital computer-animations and all successive, so-called “amateur” video snippets (featuring crashing planes or collapsing towers) have likewise been methodically exposed as a series of poorly crafted forgeries. The defining time-windows of the day (tower strikes and tower collapses) were certainly not meant to be captured on film – much less aired on television: As it is, no real footage of the real-life morning events is to be found. To be sure, the existence of specific, military-grade technology able to achieve this precise aim is well documented. In all likelihood, electromagnetic weaponry (EMP/HERF) routinely employed in war zones was employed, causing the temporary jamming of all unshielded camera equipment *. With no real footage being captured, the TV networks could ‘safely’ broadcast their substitute, artificial imagery of the morning’s events.

find more info on http://www.septemberclues.info/ or google.com

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>> DEBUNKING “SEPTEMBER CLUES” A POINT-BY-POINT ANALYSIS by Nick Irving
Scholars for 9/11 Truth (10 October 2007)
> Debunking September Clues (PDF file, 3.13 MB)
– This article is a point-by-point analysis of each of the eight episodes in the “September Clues” series. This article willdemonstrate that none of the alleged proofs presented in the series has been proven conclusively to be an artefact of ‘TVFakery’, and that every alleged proof has a more rational and likely explanation. Nick Irving

American Blackout (2006) is a documentary film directed by Ian Inaba. It premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. The film chronicles the 2002 defeat, and 2004 reelection, of Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney to the U.S. House of Representatives; it also discusses issues surrounding alleged voter disenfranchisement and the use of voting machines in both the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections.

The film focuses heavily on McKinney, and claims that her 2002 loss in a Democratic primary to Denise Majette (who, like McKinney, is African-American) was part of an effort to disenfranchise minority voters. McKinney claims that Republican voters in her district tipped the primary election to Majette. This itself is legal, as Georgia law opens primaries to all voters irrespective of party. After losing, McKinney filed a lawsuit claiming that open primaries are a violation of the 14th Amendment, but a court dismissed the case.Whatever you think you know about our election systems or Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, this film will make you question further why the news media fails to accurately inform the public. Directed by GNN’s Ian Inaba, creator of Eminem’s “Mosh” music video, American Blackout critically examines the contemporary tactics used to control our democratic process and silence voices of political dissent.

Many have heard of the alleged voting irregularities that occurred during the presidential elections of 2000 and 2004. Until now, these incidents have gone under- reported and are commonly written-off as insignificant rumors or unintentional mishaps resulting from an overburdened election system.

American Blackout chronicles the recurring patterns of voter disenfranchisement from Florida 2000 to Ohio 2004 while following the story of Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. Mckinney not only took an active role investigating these election debacles, but has found herself in the middle of her own after publicly questioning the Bush Administration about the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Featuring: Congressional members John Conyers, John Lewis, Stephanie Tubbs-Jones, Bernie Sanders and jounalists Greg Palast and Bob Fitrakis.

Title: American Blackout

Director: Ian Inaba
Company: Guerrilla News Network

Running time: 89 min
File: AVI XVID 608×336, 696 MB
Language: English
Year: 2006
IMDB: link

Watch here! > link

This was one of the best documentaries I’ve seen in a while. I missed it at Sundance and sat between two people on the plane who had seen it and were having a lively conversation about it, which only furthered my interest. When I saw that it would be showing at the San Francisco International Film Festival, I went into it thinking, OK, I’m finally going to see what this is all about, and I came out totally blown away.

Going into this, I knew about the Florida voter fraud in the 2000 election, I had a slight understanding of who Cynthia McKinney was, and I knew less about the Ohio voter fraud in the 2004 election. Wow, I was really missing out on some serious issues that were taking place in this country — issues that get to the absolute root of who and what we are as a quote-unquote democratic country. Our elections are being rigged as badly as any un-democratic country out there.

The film itself is very well done, as is the music. Nice job all around.
(comment from IMDB.com)

This is a strong statement about the problems encountered during the last four national elections. It effectively addresses these by focusing on House Representative Cynthia McKinney’s travails as she butts heads with the Powers That Be.

It’s a strong message about voting and voting rights, showing how politics are always played with the electorate; this time it’s the Republicans, but it’s so true of either of the major parties. A significant point in Inaba’s documentary is how NOT VOTING BENEFITS THE POWERS THAT BE. Irregularities in the last four elections are highlighted, with McKinney’s in-out-and-back in journeys providing a focal point.

Some of the facts will only be known to political cogniscenti; people who worked the elections and saw first-hand how minority voters were effectively disenfranchised (often abetted by “minority” politicos who both made rulings on the elections and acted as party leaders in their own states (e.g. Harris in Florida and Blackwell in Ohio).

And aside from a short but interesting foreshadowing of McKinney’s tendency to believe in her own self-importance and its subsequent (and recent) self-inflicted wounds from her own hubris, this movie still has relevance. It should show up again this fall before the 2006 elections, in primarily a grassroots mode. See it. Get upset. And then go out and help with the vote. And vote.
(comment from IMDB.com)

Sorry to say but this is what our so-called democratic state has come too. Do not believe anything you see or read. Research for yourself if you ever want to know the truth about anything. The media in this country will never give you the full stories. Go look at independent news organizations around the web and world for you news about America. Just like other countries do when they want to know about their country. Wake up America, we have become a fascist state. Not the country that we once were. Look up quotes of your for fathers to see that what they feared is exactly what is happening. Many presidents have for warned of what is happening. From Washington, Jefferson, to newer presidents like Eisenhower. Once again, please if you do anything, at least take notes on this film, then research those names and documents you see. That way you can form your own opinion and not those given too you. That is what America is truly about, forming your own opinion, not what the government wants you too think. I will leave you with some quotes from great leaders of our time:

“The jaws of power are always open to devour, and her arm is always stretched out, if possible, to destroy the freedom of thinking, speaking, and writing.”

“There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty.”

“Power always thinks it has a great soul and vast views beyond the comprehension of the weak; and that it is doing God’s service, when it is violating all His laws.”

John Adams

“The power of the Executive to cast a man into prison without formulating any charge known to the law, and particularly to deny him the judgment of his peers, is in the highest degree odious and is the foundation of all totalitarian government whether Nazi or Communist.”

Winston Churchill, November 21, 1943

“I look upon an increase of the power of the State with the greatest fear, because although while apparently doing good by minimizing exploitation, it does the greatest harm to mankind by destroying individuality, which lies at the root of all progress. We know of so many cases where men have adopted trusteeship, but none where the State has really lived for the poor.”

Mahatma Gandi

America please wake up, and rise up to take your country back from those who wish to steal your rights. I should say stand up to get your rights back since the “MILITARY ACT” has stolen your rights to Habeas Corpus, and the Bill of Rights. I ask you, what type of Constitution do you have in the land of the free if you do not have Habeas Corpus and the Bill of Rights? My only logical answer is that we do not live in the land of the free anymore, maybe we never did. America is an “idea” not a country if you ask me. It is no different than “Camelot” of its time. An unbelievable “idea”, but just that, only an “idea” not reality.
(comment from IMDB.com)

Cyntha McKinney isn’t the only one in Congress who knows the truth about 9/11.

A Republican congressman (Curt Weldon, PA 7th) has publicly praised an anti-Bush video. And not just any anti-Bush video, but the one by BYU physics professor Steven E. Jones which accuses the Bush administration of deliberately allowing 9/11 to happen and placing explosives in the three tallest World Trade Center buildings to make sure that they would be totally destroyed on 9/11. Unbelievable? Just have a look here:

http://republican.meetup.com/92/boards/

A bombshell from the FBI: The Muckraker Report spoke with Rex Tomb, Chief of Investigative Publicity for the FBI. When asked why there is no mention of 9/11 on Bin Laden’s Most Wanted web page, Tomb said, “The reason why 9/11 is not mentioned on Usama Bin Laden’s Most Wanted page is because the FBI has no hard evidence connecting Bin Laden to 9/11.” For details, see http://www.teamliberty.net/id267.html
(comment from IMDB.com)

A thought-provoking and powerful documentary film on the current and historical root causes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Unlike any other film ever produced on the conflict — ‘Occupation 101′ presents a comprehensive analysis of the facts and hidden truths surrounding the never ending controversy and dispels many of its long-perceived myths and misconceptions. The film also details life under Israeli military rule, the role of the United States in the conflict, and the major obstacles that stand in the way of a lasting and viable peace. The roots of the conflict are explained through first-hand on-the-ground experiences from leading Middle East scholars, peace activists, journalists, religious leaders and humanitarian workers whose voices have too often been suppressed in American media outlets. The film covers a wide range of topics — which include — the first wave of Jewish immigration from Europe in the 1880′s, the 1920 tensions, the 1948 war, the 1967 war, the first Intifada of 1987, the Oslo Peace Process, Settlement expansion, the role of the United States Government, the second Intifada of 2000, the separation barrier and the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, as well as many heart wrenching testimonials from victims of this tragedy.

Occupation 101 features a leading list of some of the most credible Middle East scholars, historians, peace activists, journalists, and humanitarian workers.

Title: Occupation 101
(full title: Occupation 101 – Voices of the Silenced Majority)

Directed by: Abdallah Omeish & Sufyan Omeish

Running time: 90 min
Language: English  |  Arabic
Year: 2006

IMDB: link

Watch here! > link

In light of recent events regarding the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict—including U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s statement on Monday that it’s in the U.S.’s interest to see the creation of a Palestinian state—the issue has again become a hotbed for discussion.

First-time director Sufyan Omeish, together with his brother Abdallah, wanted to provide an alternative view of the conflict in their documentary “Occupation 101: Voices of the Silenced Majority.”

The film was screened to a crowd of about 30 people on Friday night in Dunning room 14.

The Queen’s chapter of Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) hosted the event.

Dana Olwan, chair of the Queen’s chapter of SPHR, said the group decided at the national level to screen the documentary at different universities because it introduces the history of the conflict to people who don’t know about it.

“It begins an analysis … in terms of talking about similar modes of resistance,” Olwan said. “It’s really important, we felt, for students to begin to make those comparisons.” Jared Giesbrecht, Law ’08, said he attended the screening to get a different perspective of the conflict.

“I guess you see inspiration for violence and terrorist acts coming out of Palestine,” Giesbrecht said. “It’s deserving of our attention.”

Omeish was on hand to answer questions after the viewing.

Omeish said he and his brother, who live in New York City, became interested in the situation after the second intifada began in September 2000.

They were planning a trip to the Middle East and added a stop in Gaza to see the conflict first-hand because they weren’t satisfied with the news they were getting.

“Living in New York and seeing how the media presented the conflict, we didn’t like it,” Omeish said. “There’s a misrepresentation in the media and there’s a misunderstanding in general.”

Omeish said the American media is sympathetic to Israel because it focuses on Palestinian militants’ attacks and ignores the Palestinian refugees. After their visit, Omeish and his brother felt they needed to make a film to address the issue from a different angle.

The documentary looks at the issue of American support for Israel. It states the U.S. has given more aid to Israel in the last 50 years than it has to sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America combined. Omeish said a lot of U.S. tax money is sent to Israel, so Americans have the right to know what their money is being used for.

“If any real change can happen, it has to start in the U.S.” he said.

The film consists of interviews with prominent Israeli scholars who support an end to the Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, which Israel took over during the Six-Day War in 1967.

Omeish said they purposely avoided interviewing Palestinian officials who would be critical of the occupation, choosing to interview Israelis opposed to it instead.

“It probably will seem more credible,” he said.

He also interviewed many humanitarian workers.

“It brings a voice of these people who actually go and see it … and don’t have a political agenda.”

Omeish said one of the greatest difficulties was making the documentary to target an American audience.

“Most Americans think they already know about the conflict,” he said.

Because of the nature of his film, which includes interviews with Palestinians living in the occupied territories, Omeish and his brother met with difficulties from the Israeli army.

Once they were detained in Gaza for seven hours by the Israeli army and their tape was taken away from them.

Omeish said the officials held him and his brother because their American passports listed Libya as their country of birth.

When they called the U.S. embassy for help, it “essentially took the army’s side,” he said. He said they questioned him on why he was making the film.

Footage in the film included aerial shots of the Israeli army shooting at, and bombing, Palestinian villages, killing many civilians in the process.

Omeish said people who gave them footage wanted Americans to see what hadn’t been shown on U.S. news channels.

The response to the film has been overwhelmingly positive, he said, among critics, audience members and even Jewish groups.

The documentary most recently won the Golden Palm Award—equivalent to Best Picture—at the 2007 Beverly Hills International Film Festival.

“We’re actually looking into distribution [on TV],” Omeish said.

The film will have its European release on Nov. 6 in Ireland.

Omeish said they chose Ireland because of its struggle with British occupation.

“They’re sympathetic,” he said.

The documentary’s main purpose is for it to serve as “a catalyst for a debate on this issue,” Omeish said.

“We’re having people do with it what they want to do.”

(source: http://www.queensjournal.ca)

As seen in Borat, the remains of cars are something that are mounted on top of carts here and dragged around by horses. It’s also a place without running water where the locals shower in buckets and have to take their clothes down to a stream to wash. It’s definitely not somewhere you can get to on EasyJet. It’s a forgotten corner of the world where the people have little to no chance of ever improving their lot.

When Borat Comes to Town focuses on the lives of one family, and in particular, 17-year-old Carmen and her father Ion, who is something of a leader in the village. He runs, what appears to be, the only shop and he was responsible for bringing cable TV to the village. The local men watch it in his shop-come-pub, where they get tanked and have very little by way of entertainment.

The well spoken and attractive Carmen understands that there is more to life than this; she was raised by intelligent parents and got to watch the outside world via cable televised soap operas. She realises that she has different expectations to other villagers, including her parents, and is confused as to what to do. She’s already being labeled an “old cow” by some in the village because she didn’t get married at 15 or 16, like most girls are expected to.

The locals are angry at being portrayed as idiots in Borat, and can’t understand the injustice at having not received a single cent for their embarrassment or hospitality. The film asks the viewer whether it was fair to take advantage of their naivete for self profit and to mock and laugh at their poor lifestyle.

I find myself torn. I can understand their shame and desire for a piece of the pie, yet, I thought Borat was funny and can see how the town offered Baron-Cohen some irresistable comic material. Afterall, the Romanian government is responsible for these people’s situations, not Baron-Cohen himself. But what would be a cool million be to Baron-Cohen? Why not send it the way of the villagers of Ghod? as a way of saying thanks for being good sports.

The villagers’ hopes of getting a share of the profits are raised when slick lawyers roll into town and tell Carmen’s father that they can sue Baron-Cohen for $30 million. Carmen’s father has plans to use the money to fix the town and bring running water to its houses, but ultimately the people of Ghod get screwed a second time, when the lawyers stop returning their calls when the lawsuit falters.

Life is indeed spectacularly unfair for some. That part is definitely not funny.

Title: When Borat Came To Town
(original title: Carmen Meets Borat)

Director: Mercedes Stalenhoef

Broadcasted by: BBC Four Storyville (broadcast date unknown)
Running time: 60 min (original length: 84 min)
File: AVI XVID 640×352, 550 MB
Language: English   |   Romanian
Year: 2008

IMDB: link

Download here! > link

Ionela is a 17 year old girl whose family owns a small shop in the Romanian village of Glod (which in English is “Mud”). She dreams of more than the godforsaken world of Glod, where she is considered “old” as she is 17 but is yet to marry and nothing ever really happens day-to-day. However this changed when a film crew came to the village making a documentary and there was a lot of excitement. Only later did the villagers discover that they had been had and that the film was to be the Borat movie, with them unwittingly playing the backward idiots of his fictional homeland. This film follows Ionela in the village while her father and grandfather are recruited by lawyers seeking to sue 20th Century Fox for misrepresentation.

A strange beast this film because of how it doesn’t really achieve much that it could have done but yet still remains an interesting

film despite itself. The film could have done a couple of things. It could have set the record straight by presenting Glod in an honest way – whether that makes it look “better” than in Borat or not. It could have followed the lawsuit against the film to see where that went and made a film of that. It could also have told a different story by following the real life within Glod of one person. Instead of doing one of these things it tries to do all three by following Ionela and her family and, while it makes the film feel a bit unfocused and messy, it does still hold the interest.

Personally I would have liked it to have settled on one thing to make the heart of the film and done a really good job on that, but it still works. The image of Glod is depressing – everyone lives in poverty, a lot of alcohol is being consumed all the time and it is unmistakably the world I see when I think of rural Eastern Europe. The film builds on this with the focus on Ionela and, in doing so starts to suggest that the film is not really about the Borat movie so much as that being used as a way into the story. This would have been the better film but it doesn’t push forward with this idea and it does do as much with this as I would have liked. The introduction of the lawyers adds to the feeling of misery because yet again you get the impression that these people are perhaps being taken for a ride again – used to as long as they are useful but then cast to one side. We get to see this happen and we get to see the damage done generally to the people by the ongoing legacy of the film and it does make for generally grim but engaging viewing.

The problem is that I didn’t know or care more at the end of the film than I did ten minutes into the film, which is a not really what you want to happen over an hour long film. The makers appear to have good access but by not picking a direction for sure they end up not getting anything brilliant out of their access. So, while this film is interesting, it is far from being insightful or fascinating as it never really decides what the “matter” is, far less get to the heart of it.
(comment from IMDB.com)

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I attended the US Premiere of “Carmen Meets Borat” at the 2009 Los Angeles Film Festival, and it was truly delightful. The film was shot in Romania and hails from The Netherlands.

Written and directed by Mercedes Stalenhoef, this poignant documentary takes us to the town of Glod, the “fictional” Kazakhstan village which served (somewhat unwittingly) as Borat’s hometown in Sacha Baron Cohen’s film of the same name. “Carmen Meets Borat” benefits from the latter character’s name in its title but deservedly so.

The story of the film’s origins is fascinating. While on vacation, Stalenhoef initially had a chance encounter with Carmen, a charming but feisty resident of a small country town in Romania. Intrigued by the description of her rich and colorful life in the former Communist country, Stalenhoef decided to travel to Glod and shoot a film about its people.

Serendipitously, 20th Century Fox just happened to show up in Glod during the filming of her documentary. In presenting its simple townsfolk as backwards and even somewhat perverted, “Borat’s” presence caused Stalenhoef’s film to evolve into something completely different — an exposé of sorts, following the ensuing lawsuit which the residents of Glot filed against “Borat’s” filmmakers for their negative portrayals and defamations. The residents there speak no English and had no awareness of Fox’s intentions to portray them as prostitutes and sexual deviants.

Because we get to know and develop an affinity for the people of Glod long before Fox rolls into town, we can’t help but sympathize with these folks when the big Hollywood studio crew shows up to exploit their innocence and naiveté. The film mixes cinema verité with a narrative style, as the residents occasionally address the camera directly with an eagerness to show the viewer just how full of life they really are. That said, the film can be uncomfortable to watch at times since these country folk can be viewed as “backwards” to some extent when compared to many in more developed areas, although nothing like what “Borat” depicts.

The soundtrack is similar to that used in “Borat,” helping to illustrate the stark contrast between the reality of this peaceful village with the fictionalized town presented in the Fox movie. “Carmen Meets Borat” is as humorous and awkward as the residents of Glod. It may not be the best place to live, but it’s nice to have visited. (comment from IMBD.com)

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People featured in the film include Lieutenant Josh Rushing, a press officer from US Central Command, David Shuster, an NBC correspondent, and Tom Mintier, a CNN correspondent. Al Jazeera was represented by Samir Khader, a senior producer, Hassan Ibrahim, a Sudanese journalist who attended American universities and headed the BBC Arab News Service before joining Al Jazeera, and Deema Khatib, a Syrian journalist and a producer at Al Jazeera. Samir Khader later became the editor of Al-Jazeera. Josh Rushing has also started working for Al Jazeera.

One of the first words spoken in Jehane Noujaim’s captivating documentary is “propaganda.” This is fitting, since the question of who is controlling the truth goes to the very heart of her film, which follows events at Al Jazeera, the largest Arab news network, during the war in Iraq. At once a clear-eyed document of the war, an inquiry into the way events are filtered into “news,” and a complex, surprising portrait of the personalities behind the scenes, “Control Room” is a must-see movie.
The initial shots are bound to reinforce stereotypes: in the network’s headquarters in Qatar, shaded by palm trees, men in Muslim headgear are working the controls, jeering at the monitors when President Bush gives the ultimatum to Saddam Hussein which will lead to war. But when Samir Khader, the network’s senior producer, speaks about his commitment to democracy, openness, and free speech, and reporter Hassan Ibrahim insists that he has unwavering faith in the American constitution, the stereotypical image of the inflammatory network that incites the “Arab street” begins to crumble. What are we to make of the fact that Khader professes he would love to work for Fox News?
At the American PR headquarters, press liaison Lt. Josh Rushing emerges as an equally contradictory personality. Surprisingly open, the former Hollywood contact for the military seems to genuinely believe in his mission, and appears hopelessly bewildered when his apparent good intentions meet with suspicion and worse.

“Control Room” is also a document of a vastly different perspective on the war in Iraq. Al Jazeera showed footage of the bloodied, wounded, mutilated, and the dead, images of the true cost of war that were largely absent from American TV. The network was called “Osama bin Laden’s mouthpiece” and attacked by Donald Rumsfeld for inciting anger and “being subjective.” But as Al Jazeera producer Deema Khatib puts it, if there really was no agenda, wouldn’t we welcome all information, all images? Isn’t omission, the failure to report dead civilians or American coffins, equally a distortion of the truth? Can real images be propaganda?
Al Jazeera paid very little attention to Jessica Lynch, whose story CNN correspondent Tim Mintier characterizes as an attempt to manage the news and “bury the lead” on the day of the coalition forces’ entry into Baghdad. From an Arab perspective, the famous toppling of Saddam’s statue and the death of an Al Jazeera reporter in a US air strike also appear in a very different light.

But Noujaim does her best not to add another layer of distortions to the already highly charged topic and wisely avoids all Michael Moore style editorializing. In the spirit of welcoming all information, she refuses to draw conclusions–these are left to the audience. Even the most staunch supporter of President Bush’s “with us or against us” rhetoric will find “Control Room” a fascinating look over our medial horizon, and a necessary reminder that all news is manufactured.  (from: worldfilm.about.com)

Title: Control Room

Directors: Jehane Noujaim
Writers: Jehane Noujaim, Julia Bacha
Producers: Jehane Noujaim, Abdallah Schleifer, Alan Oxman, Andrew P. Hurwitz, Andrew Rossi

Running time: 85 min
File: AVI AVID, 699 MB
Language: English  |  Arabic
Year: 2004

IMDB: link

Watch here! > link

Download here > link or link or link

Startling and powerful, Control Room is a documentary about the Arab television network Al-Jazeera’s coverage of the U.S.-led Iraqi war, and conflicts that arose in managed perceptions of truth between that news media outlet and the American military. Egyptian-American filmmaker Jehane Noujaim (Startup.com) catches the frantic action at Al-Jazeera headquarters as President Bush stipulates his 48-hour, get-out-of-town warning to Saddam Hussein and sons, soon followed by the network’s shocking footage of Iraqi civilians terrorized and killed by invading U.S. troops. Al-Jazeera’s determination to show images and report details outside the Pentagon’s carefully controlled information flow draws the wrath of American officials, who accuse it of being an al-Qaida propagandist. (The killing of an Al-Jazeera reporter in what appears to be a deliberately targeted air strike is horrifying.) Most fascinating is the way Control Room allows well-meaning, Western-educated, pro-democratic Arabs an opportunity to express views on Iraq as they see it–in an international context, and in a way most Americans never hear about. –Tom Keogh

Title: Inside Indonesias War On Terror

Reported by: David O’Shea

Broadcasted by: SBS Dateline (12 October 2005)

Running time: 43 min
File: AVI DIVX 720×400, 700 MB
Language: English  |  Indonesian  (with English subtitles)
Year: 2005

Watch here! > link

Download here! > …

Indonesia’s recent history of terrorist attacks began with a deadly campaign that unfolded on Christmas Eve 2000. Bombs exploded almost simultaneously at 18 sites, mostly churches, across six provinces, 19 people died and 120 were injured. Jemaah Islamiah took the blame. It was the first real mention of the group in Australia. But

Indonesians had another theory – they suspected the military, the only organisation with the capacity to pull off an operation of this scale, a full two years before the first Bali bomb. The respected news magazine Tempo even splashed the allegation on its front cover as part of a special investigation. The most revealing information in the report related to the bomber’s network operating in Medan, North Sumatra. The man convicted of making the bombs in Medan is somewhere behind these prison walls. Our repeated requests

to interview Edi Sugiarto over many months have been ignored by the Indonesian authorities. Guilty or not, reputable sources claim he was so severely tortured before his trial he would have admitted to anything. But it’s clear he wasn’t acting alone. The Tempo investigation included telephone records revealing sensational information of direct links between the bombers and military intelligence. The records also show that Fauzi Hasbi, the military intelligence agent in Jemaah Islamiah who we mentioned earlier, was at the centre of the plot. He had spoken to Edi Sugiarto, the bomb maker, seven times and had also called a businessman well connected with the military 35 times. That businessman in turn rang a Kopassus special forces intelligence officer 15 times and the officer had called the businessman 56 times. With Edi Sugiarto in jail, all further investigation ceased and five years on, sources in Medan are too afraid to talk. The trail has gone stone cold.

Two weeks after the second Bali attack and despite plenty of help from the Australian Federal Police, Indonesian authorities are still pursuing the culprits. But a familiar pattern has emerged. Asia’s most wanted men, the so- called masters of disguise, Dr Azahari and Noordin Top have been named as the masterminds. And once again everyone is insinuating Jemaah Islamiah is behind the bombs. That may eventually be proved correct, but so far no evidence has been produced, at least publicly, to back that claim. As we’ve shown tonight, after enduring years of state-sponsored terror, it’s no wonder many Indonesians question what they’re being told about this latest atrocity.

Inside Indonesia’s War on Terror Today – as you would almost certainly know – is the third anniversary of the first Bali bombing and our major report tonight provides an alarming twist to the ongoing terror campaign being waged in Indonesia. David O’Shea, a long-time “Indonesia-watcher”, reports that where terrorism is concerned in that country – with its culture of corruption within the military, the police, the intelligence services and politics itself – all is never quite what it seems. REPORTER: David O’Shea

When the second Bali bomb exploded, Australia once again found itself on the front line in the war on terror. But for Indonesians, this was simply the latest in a long line of atrocities. They have born the brunt of hundreds of attacks over the years, most of them unreported in the West. Once again Australia and Indonesia joined forces in the hunt for the Bali killers.

Abdurrahman Wahid, President of Indonesia 1999 - 2001

Da'i Bachtiar, Chief of Indonesian National Police 2001 - 2005

Hamzah Haz, Vice-President of Indonesia 2001 - 2004

The Transcript - SBS DATELINE Archives – October 12, 2005 >  link

We are determined to continuously fight terrorism in Indonesia with an effective global, regional and international cooperation.

SUSILO BAMBANG YUDHOYONO, INDONEASIAN PRESIDENT

Tragic incidents such as this so far from driving apart the people of Australia and Indonesia would only bring us closer together.

JOHN HOWARD, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER

> This show of unity is impressive and it plays well to Australian audiences but many Indonesians don’t see it that way.

(Translation): Why this endless violence? Why are there acts of terrorism year in, year out? Regimes change, governments change, but violence continues. Why? Because there is a sort of shadow state in this country. A state within a state ruling this country.

JOHN MEMPI, SECURITY AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST

> For seven years I’ve reported from every corner of this vast nation and seen first hand the havoc that terrorists wreak. Tonight I want to tell you a very different story about Indonesia’s war on terror. It contains many disturbing allegations even from a former president.

The Australians if they get the truth, I think it’s a grave mistake.

ABDURRAHMAN WAHID, FORMER INDONESIAN PRESIDENT

REPORTER: What do you mean?

ABDURRAHMAN WAHID: Yeah, who knows that the owners to do this, to do that — orders to do this, to do that came from within our own forces, not from the culprits, from the fundamentalist people.

(1) TERRORISM – THE CASH COW:

Indonesia’s police are doing very nicely, thank you very much, out of the war on terror. They now have all the latest equipment, courtesy of the millions of dollars pouring in from the West. The money ensures the world’s most populous Muslim nation remains on side in the fight against terrorism. Mastering all of this new technology represents a steep learning curve for the Indonesian police. Unfortunately today they forget to set up the X-ray machine properly.

POLICE (Translation): Is the film in?

POLICE 2 (Translation): I haven’t put it in yet.

Luckily there’s an old print lying around from a previous exercise. Because of the war on terror, American and Australian support for the Indonesian police has never been stronger. During Dai Bachtiar’s 5-year reign as police chief, Indonesia endured countless act of terror including three major ones – in Bali, then the Marriott Hotel and the Australian Embassy in Jakarta. These massive blasts might have forced the resignation of any other senior official but Dai Bachtiar managed to survive with the backing of powerful friends at home and abroad.

POLICE CHIEF (Translation): I met Paul Wolfowitz.

In Indonesia’s parliament earlier this year, I found the police chief boasting about how he gets the star treatment when he visits Washington.

POLICE CHIEF (Translation): I went to Washington, to the White Hosue, to the West Wing. I spoke to Colin Powell in his office. I went to the Pentagon, I met the director of the CIA, the director of the FBI, I met them all.

Indonesia’s police are in charge of the war on terror. Years of human rights abuse by the Indonesian military, or TNI, mean it’s now out of favour in Washington, but it seems the police can do no wrong.

POLICE CHIEF (Translation): I asked Powell. “You say the TNI has to reform, don’t the police have to as well?” Building trust takes time.

Many Indonesians would find the idea of trusting the police laughable. It has long been regarded as one of the most corrupt and incompetent institutions in the country. Former president, Abdurrahman Wahid sums up what many people here belief.

ABDURRAHMAN WAHID: All of them are liars.

REPORTER: Just to be clear, you have your doubts about the police ability to investigate properly all of this?

ABDURRAHMAN WAHID: Oh, yes.

But none of this seems to worry Indonesia’s allies in the war on terror.

POLICE (Translation): Have you just got back?

DAI-BACHTIAR, POLICE CHIEF (Translation): I see this man a lot.

POLICE (Translation): Were you in America? Did you get any more money?

DAI-BACHTIAR (Translation): 10 million. We get big bucks. We got 50 million all up. Sure. They keep asking about 88.

That’s Detachment 88, the police counter-terror unit which receives a great deal of the international aid, including substantial assistance from Australia. Like the military, Detachment 88 is controversial. Its members stand accused of repeatedly using torture in interrogation of suspects. But these allegations don’t seem to even raise an eyebrow.

DAI-BACHTIAR (Translation): The Secretary-General of Interpol came to visit Aceh. I met him. He said our police were dealing with terrorism in a professional manner. 500 million euros. For the police. Long term. So far I’ve received directly 500 from Denmark. They gave 5, but 500 all up. The Dutch gave 2.

The money is flowing like water but outside the chamber, unrelated to the anti-terror funding, is a scene that should make donors think twice. A man from the Religious Affairs Commission sitting next door counts cash to be distributed amongst voting politicians. Call it corruption or even the trickle down effect, but it’s this kind of informal funds distribution which keeps the wheels turning in the Indonesian economy.

DAI-BACHTIAR (Translation): Well now, for example, the other day I got 2 million from Holland… From America… it was 50. Is it 50 already? You know how much the army got? 600. Then they had to get involved.

With all the cash flowing about, some politicians want to stay as close as possible to Dai Bachtiar.

POLITICIAN (Translation): Isn’t our police chief great? That’s obvious.

With the cash cow growing fatter by the day, some analysts even suggest the police now have too much to gain from the war on terror.

JOHN MEMPI (Translation): But why is there always this worry about bombings? This subservience to foreigners, this paranoia about bombs. You must help us with money, with equipment and training, so that we can do something. We need funds to combat these terrorists. And to convince the foreigners bombings do happen. Indeed there are acts of terrorism in Indonesia but done by “terrorists” in inverted commas.

(2) A TERRORIST ON THE PAYROLL:

To most Australians terrorism in Indonesia means Jemaah Islamiah. Abu Bakar Bashir, Dr Azahari and Noordin Mohammed Top have become household names and we’re led to believe they’re the masterminds behind every atrocity. But there’s another side to the JI story that Australia hasn’t heard and it’s part of the extraordinary family history of this man.

LAMKARUNA PUTRA (Translation): This is Tengku Fauzi Hasbi after he was released. He returned to working and supporting his family.

Lamkaruna Putra’s father was an Acehnese separatist leader descended from a long line of Acehnese fighters. He went on to become a key figure in Jemaah Islamiah. Fauzi Hasbi who used the alias Abu Jihad was in contact with Osama bin Laden’s deputy. He lived for many years in the house next door to Abu Bakar Bashir in Malaysia and was very close to JI operations chief Hambali. Umar Abduh is an Islamist convicted of terrorism and jailed for 10 years under the Suharto regime. He belonged to a group that attacked police stations and hijacked a Garuda flight to Bangkok. He remembers Fauzi Hasbi as a hardliner who traded arms was willing to commit acts of violence.

UMAR ABDUH (Translation): Fauzi Hasbi is known in the Islamic movement as someone who, from the beginning, has supported the Jihad as the struggle of the Muslim people, aside from his background in the Free Ache Movement.

Fauzi Hasbi was so relaxed amongst the militants, and they with him, that he even took his son to a critical meeting in Kuala Lumpur in January 2000 as JI was preparing for its violent campaign. The attendance list was a who’s who of accused terrorists.

LAMKARUNA PUTRA (Translation): There was someone from MILF in Mindanao, his name was Ustad Abu Rela, commander of the Abu Sayyaf. Ustad Abdul Fatah from Patani was there. People from Sulawesi and West Java came to the meeting. The organisation was managed by Hambali. Rabitah means organisation. It linked Islamic organisations.

REPORTER (Translation): So Hambali was chairman?

LAMKARUNA PUTRA (Translation): Yes, Hambali chaired it.

Hambali and co would have known their colleague Fauzi Hasbi had been captured in 1978 by this Indonesian military special forces unit but they wouldn’t have known that he became a secret agent for Indonesian military intelligence. The commanding officer that caught him was Syafrie Syamsuddin, now a general and one of Indonesia’s key military intelligence figures. These documents obtained by Dateline prove beyond doubt that Fauzi Hasbi had a long association with the military. This 1990 document, signed by the chief of military intelligence in North Sumatra, authorised Fauzi Hasbi to undertake a special job. And this 1995 internal memo from military intelligence HQ in Jakarta was a request to use brother Fauzi Hasbi to spy on Acehnese separatist, not only in Indonesia but in Malaysia and Sweden. And then this document, from only three years ago, assigned him the job of special agent for BIN, the national intelligence agency. Security analyst John Mempi says Fauzi Hasbi alias Abu Jihad played a crucial role within JI in its early years.

JOHN MEMPI (Translation): The first Jemaah Islamiyah congress in Bogor was facilitated by Abu Jihad, after Abu Bakar Bashir returned from Malaysia. We can see that Abu Jihad played an important role, he was later found to be an intelligence agent. So an intelligence agent has been facilitating the radical Islamic movement.

The extraordinary story of Fauzi Hasbi raises many important questions about JI and the Indonesian authorities. Why didn’t they smash the terror group in its infancy? Do they still have agents in the organisation? And what information, if any, have they had in advance about the recent deadly spate of terror attacks? The Indonesian intelligence chief refused Dateline’s request for an interview and dead men tell no tales. The man who held all the secrets, Abu Jihad was disembowelled in a mysterious murder in early 2003, just after he was exposed as a military agent. His son, Lamkaruna Putra died in this plane crash last month.

(3) PROMOTING TERRORISM:

Fauzi Hasbi’s death led to a flurry of speculation about shadowy intelligence links to Indonesia’s terror networks.

UMAR ABDUH (Translation): So there is not a single Islamic group, either in the movement or the political groups that is not controlled by Intel. Everyone does what they say.

Umar Abduh says his terrorist group was incited to violence after infiltrators showed a letter saying Muslim clerics would be assassinated.

UMAR ABDUH (Translation): There is a document stating that the Muslim leaders would be executed, we as a younger generation were immediately angered. Damn it, this is not right, we have to kill all those Cabinet members and military leaders, that was our plan.

And he’s not the only one who says he was used by intelligence agents. Another convicted terrorist is Timsar Zubil who exploded three bombs in Sumatra in 1978. Although no-one was killed, he paid a heavy price.

TIMSAR ZUBIL (Translation): At first I was sentenced to death, it was changed to a life sentence, I served 22years.

Zubil now believes he was set up by former president Suharto’s intelligence agency.

TIMSAR ZUBIL (Translation): We may have deliberately been allowed to grow in such a way, that we young people who were very emotional, were provoked into committing illegal acts.

REPORTER (Translation): Who let this happen?

TIMSAR ZUBIL (Translation): The ones who had the authority to ban us, in this case the ones in power, the Suharto regime. I have only started thinking of this recently, but at the time I was active, I didn’t think it through.

After Zubil was captured, beaten and tortured, something remarkable occurred. The authorities made up a provocative name for his group – Komando Jihad.

TIMSAR ZUBIL (Translation): It hadn’t occurred to us to use that name, but they told us that was to be the name of our organisation. We had no plans to use the name Komando Jihad. They told us to just accept it for the time being and if we wanted to deny it later in court, that was up to us. But it made no difference to the court, they insisted that the name was indeed ours.

(4) STATE SPONSORED TERROR:

Indonesia’s recent history of terrorist attacks began with a deadly campaign that unfolded on Christmas Eve 2000. Bombs exploded almost simultaneously at 18 sites, mostly churches, across six provinces, 19 people died and 120 were injured. Jemaah Islamiah took the blame. It was the first real mention of the group in Australia. But Indonesians had another theory – they suspected the military, the only organisation with the capacity to pull off an operation of this scale, a full two years before the first Bali bomb. The respected news magazine Tempo even splashed the allegation on its front cover as part of a special investigation. The most revealing information in the report related to the bomber’s network operating in Medan, North Sumatra. The man convicted of making the bombs in Medan is somewhere behind these prison walls. Our repeated requests to interview Edi Sugiarto over many months have been ignored by the Indonesian authorities. Guilty or not, reputable sources claim he was so severely tortured before his trial he would have admitted to anything. But it’s clear he wasn’t acting alone. The Tempo investigation included telephone records revealing sensational information of direct links between the bombers and military intelligence. The records also show that Fauzi Hasbi, the military intelligence agent in Jemaah Islamiah who we mentioned earlier, was at the centre of the plot. He had spoken to Edi Sugiarto, the bomb maker, seven times and had also called a businessman well connected with the military 35 times. That businessman in turn rang a Kopassus special forces intelligence officer 15 times and the officer had called the businessman 56 times. With Edi Sugiarto in jail, all further investigation ceased and five years on, sources in Medan are too afraid to talk. The trail has gone stone cold.

(5) TERROR IN TENTENA:

George Aditjondro is an early riser. As Indonesia’s leading researcher into corruption in high places there never seem to be enough hours in the day. For two years he’s been investigating a terror campaign in Poso, Central Sulawesi. His research reveals that terror in Indonesia is much more complex than we are led to believe.

GEORGE ADITJONDRO: There is a mafia, a corruption mafia in Poso who were defending the interests of themselves because if the corruption leaked, the corruption mafia could be exposed, that means the end of their career and also the end of their additional income.

Aditjondro says this corrupt network of local government officials, police and others is using terror to protect a local racquet in Central Sulawesi.

GEORGE ADITJONDRO: Between corruption and terror, there is a very close link because those who were carrying out the terror were paid with corruption money.

Central Sulawesi had just emerged from years of conflict before the latest outrage on May 28 this year. In the predominantly Christian town of Tentena, 60km to the south of Poso, two bombs left 23 people dead. A blast that claimed more victims than the second Bali attack, but received scant coverage outside Indonesia. The first foreign journalist to arrive on the scene, without any evidence at all reported Jemaah Islamiah was to blame for the attack and then promptly flew back to Jakarta. Like the latest Bali bombs, the two bombs that exploded here were full of shrapnel, designed to kill and maim. The first one went off at 8.05 in the morning when the market is busiest.

WOMAN (Translation): This is a thoroughfare, people are always passing, people who want to go there pass here.

This woman is one of thousands of Christian refugees who found sanctuary in Tentena during sectarian violence that cost hundreds of lives in recent years.

WOMAN (Translation): I’m still traumatised. We were chased out of our villages and came here, but it is not safe here either.

A second bomb blew 10 minutes later around 200m away on the other side of the market. Reverend Rinaldy Damanik says it was placed and timed to cause maximum casualties.

REVEREND RINALDY DAMANIK (Translation): The bits of metal in the bomb flew as far as that church. What’s really going on? They showed they can do it under the police’s noses. That’s the police station, imagine this happening in front of the police station.

Reverend Damanik is a powerful figure in this Christian stronghold. For years he defended his community as Islamic fighters swarmed in to wage jihad. I first met him at Christmas in 2001 after villages all around Tentena were razed. He was convinced the army was behind the violence and had even left a calling card.

REVEREND RINALDY DAMANIK (Translation): This is an ammunition box that we found at the time of the attacks in Sepe. It is clearly labelled, Department of Defence, Republic of Indonesia. 1400 pieces of 5.56mm calibre munitions. This means it was meant for M-16s.

George Aditjondro says that in every Indonesian hotspot, the army foments trouble by funding and arming both sides. In the case of Central Sulawesi, both Muslim and Christian militia.

GEORGE ADITJONDRO: So the money do not have to come from rich people like Osama bin Laden and the weapons doesn’t have to come from southern Philippines or from other exotic places but is actually coming from the official sources and that is why I am saying that the kind of terrorism which we see in Indonesia is home grown terrorism. It’s a kind of duel function or triple function of the armed forces.

The late reverand Agustina Lumentut told me in 2001 that the Indonesian military was using proxy armies to do their dirty work.

THE LATE REVEREND AGUSTINA LUMENTUT: It is for sure, for sure that the army is behind the jihad, or in front of jihad, yeah. No other interpretation.

It was proved beyond all doubt that one of the extremist groups, the Laskar Jihad, was supplied, transported and incited by the central government to go on its murderous spree.

THE LATE REVEREND AGUSTINA LUMENTUT: Who dare among them to say “Stop going that.” Because they have reason for doing that, they are registered officially by the government, the central government.

Indonesia’s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is applauded in Australia as a moderate Muslim leading the fight against terror in Indonesia. But as the influential coordinating minister for politics and security, he chose not to stop the Laskar Jihad and was even supporting them.

SUSILO BAMBANG YUDOYONO: They also play a role in defending truth and justice that is expected by Muslims in Indonesia. For me, as far as what they are doing is legal and not violating law, then this is OK. This was a ridiculous statement.

Yudhoyono was well aware of the carnage that was under way. Since 2001 things had improved somewhat, as Reverend Damanik tells these politicians from Jakarta visiting after the May 28 bombs. But local leaders are afraid terrorism is being used to derail reconciliation between Muslims and Christians.

REVEREND RINALDY DAMANIK (Translation): The wounds are very deep but they can be endured. But the question is, what is happening to this country? People can’t work because they’re always on their guard, what can we achieve when we’re like that? What’s happening to our country? We need to think about this, but it’s hard to answer right now.

With weapons handed in and a peace deal holding up well, Reverend Damanik’s former sworn enemy is also very suspicious about the times of the bomb in May. Muslim leader Adnan Arsan wonders whether the attack was designed to prevent the army from leaving.

ADNAN ARSAN (Translation): Just when a security unit’s work is over and someone says “We’re going home and I hope there’s no more trouble…”Just as they are being recalled there’s another explosion and more killing.

In the days following the blast, all the big names in Indonesian security and intelligence descend on the area. Central Sulawesi police commander Arianto Sutardi tells me the investigation is going well.

REPORTER (Translation): Sir, have you any idea who the perpetrators are?

ARIANTO SUTARDI, POLICE COMMANDER (Translation): We’ve arrested some already and we’re pursuing others.

Then national police chief Dai Bachtiar, the man receiving all the foreign cash arrives to assert his authority. After less than one hour on the ground, he’s made his assessment.

DAI-BACHTIAR (Translation): We all hope… incidents like this are criminal acts, we need to expose the perpetrators and put them on trial. People entrust this task to the security forces.

Considering the evidence of corruption here and the police chief’s record of enforcing justice, that’s unlikely. George Aditjondro’s research has uncovered a scam involving local police who have looted up to $2 million for the resettlement of refugees.

GEORGE ADITJONDRO: You can see a cabal involving both the district head, the acting district head at the time, certain police agents, certain people within the department of social affairs and their friends. They were carrying out both the corruption as well as using the corruption money to pay the terrorists. So you can see we are talking about home grown terrorism paid by home grown corruption.

He says the May 28 Tentena blasts were an attempt to stop honest police uncovering more about their scam.

GEORGE ADITJONDRO: You can say that the bombing can be seen as the apex, the ultimate development of the kind of terror which they were committing. It had gone as far as paying police to decapitate a village head man, the village head man of Pinadapa.

The corrupt and murderous cabal identified by Aditjondro is now suing him and the police seem to be in no hurry at all to follow up the leads as he identified. Instead on his departure the police chief Dai Bachtiar offers another bland statement about the certain groups responsible for the violence.

DAI-BACHTIAR (Translation): The situation seemed so promising but certain groups have taken advantage of it to carry out actions such as bombings, which of course will again cause fear and anxiety.

As Dai Bachtiar’s plane heads back to Jakarta, more bigwigs arrive. Syamsir Siregar is the recently appointed head of the national intelligence agency BIN. His appearance is supposed to inspire confidence in this investigation. But BIN has a long-standing dismal reputation in Indonesia for dirty tricks. The agency is currently fending off damning evidence that it was behind the poisoning of Indonesia’s best known human rights campaigner, Munir Said Thalib. As I reported earlier this year, Munir was given a lethal dose of arsenic in his orange juice on a Garuda flight to Europe. On the Tentena bomb investigation, Siregar has nothing to say.

REPORTER (Translation): If you don’t want to talk about this, what about the Munir case? How’s the internal investigation into the involvement of…

SYAMSIR SIREGAR (Translation): You speak good Indonesian!

REPORTER (Translation): If any rogue elements are involved, what will you do? …

SYAMSIR SIREGAR (Translation): We’ll take action. I’ve given orders to act against rogue elements.

Rogue elements indeed. Travelling with him is Timbul Silaen, he was police chief during the carnage in East Timor. He was acquitted of crimes against humanity, one of several commanders who escaped justice for orchestrating the bloodshed. Now he’s officially retired from the police force. So what on earth is Timbul Silaen doing here with the new chief of intelligence? Is he just along for the ride or is he now on the intelligence payroll? Whatever the answer, the continuing role of these same old state terrorists is truly disturbing. It’s no wonder the locals are now deeply suspicious of anyone sent in to protect them. While the police can claim some success arresting terrorists in Java, in this region results are few and far between. After years of state sponsored terror, no-one wants to help the authorities. This woman jokes that fear of talking to the police has become a popular movement.

WOMAN (Translation): The tight lipped movement. People don’t want to be witnesses. They are scared so they shut up, if they see something they deny it, they’re scared.

The first real break in the investigation comes a week after the attack and leads police to, of all places, Poso prison. Incredible as it may sound, a police forensics team finds evidence the bomb was manufactured in the workshop, used for prisoner rehabilitation.

POLICE (Translation): It’s a workshop for teaching them welding skills.

The fact that the bomb may have been assembled in a state-run facility further bolsters the central thrust of Aditjondro’s remarkable research. That there is high level involvement in terror in Sulawesi.

GEORGE ADITJONDRO: What we have found out is just the tip of the iceberg. It shows a permanent pattern which has been going on for the last five years.

For the record, the authorities reject his allegations.

(6) QUESTIONS ABOUT BALI:

Two weeks after the second Bali attack and despite plenty of help from the Australian Federal Police, Indonesian authorities are still pursuing the culprits. But a familiar pattern has emerged. Asia’s most wanted men, the so- called masters of disguise, Dr Azahari and Noordin Top have been named as the masterminds. And once again everyone is insinuating Jemaah Islamiah is behind the bombs. That may eventually be proved correct, but so far no evidence has been produced, at least publicly, to back that claim. As we’ve shown tonight, after enduring years of state-sponsored terror, it’s no wonder many Indonesians question what they’re being told about this latest atrocity.

GEORGE ADITJONDRO: You hear again the sources – the statements that it was carried out by Azahari and Noordin Mohammed Top and a radical Muslim groups behind it. Although what I heard is this actually shows a rivalry, internal rivalry within the armed forces.

George Aditjondro didn’t provide any evidence to back his allegation, but theories like this are hard to write off just yet. Former president Abdurrahman Wahid tried in vain to rein the military and it cost him the presidency. In 2003 just after the Marriott Hotel blast, he was clearly frustrated by foreign intelligence claims that JI were to blame.

ABDURRAHMAN WAHID: They can say whatever they want but we are here, we live here, we know them. But I won’t say who.

REPORTER: But you know who it is, you think?

ABDURRAHMAN WAHID: No, no, I don’t know. When I said that I meant we cannot know – we cannot know the truth about that. That is the problem always.

REPORTER: But that bomb has been blamed also on Jemaah Islamiah.

ABDURRAHMAN WAHID: Yeah, I know but you don’t have any kind of proof. The proof is that the bomb is similar to that belong to the police. It’s a problem for us then. Every bomb there until now it belongs to the government.

Today is the third anniversary of the first Bali attack that saw 202 people killed, including 88 Australians. Abdurrahman Wahid now has questions about that attack as well. While some regard him as an Eccentric, he is the former president and is often described as the conscience of the nation, revered by tens of millions of moderate Muslims. As such, he’s one of only a few people publicly prepared to canvass the unthinkable – that Indonesian authorities may have had a hand in the Bali atrocity. He believes that the plan for the second, massive at the Sari Club, which caused the majority of casualties, was hatched way above the head of uneducated villagers like Amrozi.

ABDURRAHMAN WAHID: Amrozi was involved in the lighter bomb. That’s a problem always. Even though I agree that he should be given a stiff punishment, but it doesn’t mean that he is involved. No, no, no.

REPORTER: So you believe that the Bali bombers had no idea that there was a second bomb?

ABDURRAHMAN WAHID: Yeah, precisely.

REPORTER: And who would you suggest planted the second bomb?

ABDURRAHMAN WAHID: Well, it looks like the police.

REPORTER: The police?

ABDURRAHMAN WAHID: Or the armed forces, I don’t know.

Wahid’s speculation is chilling and again there’s no evidence to support it. But there’s no doubt that he’s a barometer of how many Indonesians view the whole terror campaign.

(7) BACK TO THE FUTURE:

This ceremony in July marked a significant moment in the evolution of Indonesia’s fight against terrorism. The nation’s most senior police watched as their chief, Dai Bachtiar, was replaced by General Sutanto, touted as a cleanskin. Following his swearing in, he made an impressive start – launching a high profile anti-drug campaign and promising to crack down on rampant corruption within the police force. But for now, he’s getting familiar with the rhetoric required for the job.

GENERAL SUTANTO (Translation): We are sharing experience with other countries in order to eradicate the terrorism.

But it’s not the experience sharing with other countries that matters, like every police chief before him, he will only ever play second fiddle to the army and will struggle to control the cabal of rogue elements who still wield massive power here. Abdurrahman Wahid says that no policeman would dare to properly investigate repeated allegations that their big brothers in the military are involved in the terror campaign.

ABDURRAHMAN WAHID: They know it’s against see, what they do – was against you see, several, you know, senior officers, even of the police itself. So they don’t want to be involved.

REPORTER: Because?

ABDURRAHMAN WAHID: Of the fear.

REPORTER: The fear of what? Of the senior officers that are involved in this?

ABDURRAHMAN WAHID: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

At the moment it’s the police who are receiving all the equipment, support and training to take on the terrorists. At the opening of this multimillion dollar training facility, which is part funded by Australia, the Indonesians were keen to show off their skills. The war on terror has brought the two nations closer together, but any Australian concerns about corruption and human rights in this new partnership appear to have been put aside for now. But the Indonesian police’s leading role in the fight against terror may be about to change anyway. In the wake of the latest attack in Bali, President Yudhoyono has taken steps to rehabilitate the military’s tarnished name and bring them back into the counter terror drive. For those who risked their lives opposing Suharto’s brutal military, it’s a disturbing thought. That the retired general, President Yudhoyono, known in Indonesia by his initials Sbyeah, may be ushering in a return to those bad old days.

GEORGE ADITJONDRO: Now, General SBY, himself, he doesn’t like to be called general SBY, he likes to be called Dr SBY has made the statement that the military is ready to help, to assist the police in chasing the terrorists. In other words, the military is looking for an alibi for a reason to reconsolidate their power as during the Suharto period.
(source: http://www.globalresearch.ca)

Camp prisoners worked primarily as forced labour in local armament factories. Inmates were Jews, Poles, political prisoners, Roma and Sinti, Jehovah’s Witnesses, religious prisoners, criminals, homosexuals, and prisoners of war (POWs). Up to 1942 the majority of the political prisoners consisted of communists and Anarchists; later the proportion of other political prisoners increased considerably. Among the prisoners were also writers, doctors, artists, former nobility, and princesses. They came from countries as varied as Russia, Poland, France, Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Denmark, Latvia, Italy, Romania and Spain (some Second Spanish Republic exiles). Most of the political prisoners from the occupied countries were members of the resistance.

From 1945 to 1950, the camp was used by the Soviet occupation authorities as the NKVD special camp number 2.

In 1937, the Nazis constructed Buchenwald concentration camp, near Weimar, Germany. Placed over the camp’s main entrance gate, was the slogan Jedem das Seine (literally “to each his own”, but figuratively “everyone gets what he deserves”). The Nazis used Buchenwald until the camp’s liberation in 1945. From 1945 to 1950, the Soviet Union used the occupied camp as an NKVD special camp for Nazis and other Germans. On 6 January 1950, the Soviets handed over Buchenwald to the East German Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Buchenwald (German for beech forest) was chosen as the name for the camp because of the close ties of the location to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who was being idealized as “the embodiment of the German Spirit” (Verkörperung des deutschen Geistes). The Goethe Eiche (Goethe’s Oak) stood inside the camp’s perimeter, and the stump of the tree is preserved as part of the memorial at KZ Buchenwald.

Between April 1938 and April 1945, some 238,380 people were incarcerated in Buchenwald by the Nazi regime, including 350 Western Allied POWs. One estimate places the number of deaths in Buchenwald at 56,000 (discussed further below).

During an American bombing raid on August 24, 1944 that was directed at a nearby armament factory, several bombs, including incendiaries, also fell on the camp, resulting in heavy casualties amongst the prisoners.

Title: Buchenwald, A Dumb Dumb Portrayal of Evil

Directed by: Unknown

Running time: 142 min
Language: English
Date: 2008

Watch here! > link

The liberation of Buchenwald was an opportunity for an allied Psyche Warfare Operation involving planting objects like shrunken heads. The operation was meant to denazify the German population. The person in charge reported directly to Eisenhower. President Barack Obama visiting in June 2009 showed that everyone is still misled.

“Buchenwald, A Dumb Dumb Portrayal of Evil” was released in August 2008. It has been pointed out correctly that the part in the video about DDT and the Germans knowing about DDT is somewhat inaccurate. Besides that, as of June 2009, no one, including any history professor, has attempted to refute any aspect of the video.

Download here! > …

Although Buchenwald technically was not an extermination camp, it was a site of an extraordinary number of deaths.

A primary cause of the deaths was illness due to harsh camp conditions, with starvation – and its consequent illnesses – prevalent. Malnourished and suffering from disease, many were literally “worked to death” under the Vernichtung durch Arbeit policy (extermination through labor), as inmates had only the choice between slave labour or inevitable execution. Many inmates died as a result of human experimentations or fell victim to arbitrary acts perpetrated by the SS guards. Other prisoners were simply murdered—the two primary methods of execution were shooting and hanging.

Summary executions of Soviet POWs were also carried out at Buchenwald. At least 1,000 Soviet POWs were selected in 1941–2 by a task force of three Dresden Gestapo officers and sent to the camp for immediate liquidation by a gunshot to the back of the neck, the infamous Genickschuss.

The camp was also a site of large-scale trials for vaccines against epidemic typhus in 1942 and 1943. In all 729 inmates were used as test subjects, with 280 of them dying as a result. Because of their long association in cramped quarters in Block 46, the typhus vaccine killed more people, with infections that lasted longer than would have been the case had healthy adults been infected with the disease.

The SS left behind accounts of the number of prisoners and people coming to and leaving the camp, categorizing those leaving them by release, transfer, or death. These accounts are one of the sources of estimates for the number of deaths in Buchenwald. According to SS documents, 33,462 died in Buchenwald. These documents were not, however, necessarily accurate: Among those executed before 1944 many were listed as “transferred to the Gestapo”. Furthermore, from 1941 forward Soviet POWs were executed in mass killings. Arriving prisoners selected for execution were not entered into the camp register and therefore were not among the 33,462 dead listed in SS documents.

One former Buchenwald prisoner, Armin Walter, calculated the number of executions by shooting in the back of the head. His job at Buchenwald was to set up and care for a radio installation at the facility where people were executed and counted the numbers, which arrived by telex, and hid the information. He says that 8,483 Soviet prisoners of war were shot in this manner.

According to the same source, the total number of deaths at Buchenwald is estimated at 56,545. This number is the sum of:

* Deaths according to material left behind by SS: 33,462
* Executions by shooting: 8,483
* Executions by hanging (estimate): 1,100
* Deaths during evacuation transports: 13,500

This total (56,545) corresponds to a death rate of 24 percent assuming that the number of persons passing through the camp according to documents left by the SS, 238,380 prisoners, is accurate.

On April 4, 1945, the U.S. 89th Infantry Division overran Ohrdruf, a subcamp of the Buchenwald. It was the first Nazi camp liberated by U.S. troops.

Buchenwald was partially evacuated by the Germans on April 8, 1945. In the days before the arrival of the American army, thousands of the prisoners were forced to join the evacuation marches.

Thanks to efforts of Polish engineer Gwidon Damazyn (inmate from March 1941) had a secret radio transmitter and a small generator he had built. On April 9 at 1pm Damazyn sent the radio message prepared by leaders of prisoners’ underground (Walter Bartel and Harry Kuhn):
“To Allies. To General Patton’s Army. This is concentration camp Buchenwald. SOS. We need help. They’re trying to evacuate us. The SS try to exterminate us.”

The text was repeated four times, each time in English, German and Russian. After 15 minutes the headquarters of the US Third Army answered and promised help as quickly as they could send it.

After this news had been received, Communist inmates stormed the watchtowers and killed the remaining guards using arms they had been collecting since 1942 (one machine gun and 91 rifles).

A detachment of troops belonging to the US 9th Armored Infantry Battalion, U.S. 6th Armored Division, US Third Army arrived at Buchenwald on April 11, 1945 under the leadership of Captain Frederic Keffer. The soldiers were given a hero’s welcome, with the emaciated survivors finding the strength to toss some liberators into the air in celebration.

Later in the day, elements of the U.S. 83rd Infantry Division overran Langenstein, one of a number of smaller camps comprising the Buchenwald complex. There the division liberated over 21,000 prisoners, ordered the mayor of Langenstein to send food and water to the camp, and sped medical supplies forward from the 20th Field Hospital.

Third Army Headquarters sent elements of the U.S. 80th Infantry Division to take control of the camp on the morning of Thursday, April 12, 1945. Several journalists arrived on the same day, perhaps with the 80th, including Edward R Murrow, whose radio report of his arrival and reception was broadcast on CBS and became one of his most famous:
“I asked to see one of the barracks. It happened to be occupied by Czechoslovaks. When I entered, men crowded around, tried to lift me to their shoulders. They were too weak. Many of them could not get out of bed. I was told that this building had once stabled 80 horses. There were 1,200 men in it, five to a bunk. The stink was beyond all description.
They called the doctor. We inspected his records. There were only names in the little black book, nothing more. Nothing about who these men were, what they had done, or hoped. Behind the names of those who had died, there was a cross. I counted them. They totalled 242. 242 out of 1,200, in one month.
As we walked out into the courtyard, a man fell dead. Two others, they must have been over 60, were crawling toward the latrine. I saw it, but will not describe it.”

After liberation, between 1945 and 10 February 1950, the camp was administered by the Soviet Union and served as a Special Camp No. 2 of the NKVD. It was part of a “special camps” network operating since 1945, formally integrated into the Gulag in 1948. Another infamous “special camp” in Soviet occupied Germany was the former Nazi concentration camp Sachsenhausen (special camp No. 7).

Between August 1945 and the dissolution on 1 March 1950, 28,455 prisoners, including 1,000 women, were held by the Soviet Union at Buchenwald. A total of 7,113 people died in Special Camp Number 2, according to the Soviet records. They were buried in mass graves in the woods surrounding the camp. Their relatives did not receive any notification of their deaths. Prisoners comprised alleged opponents of Stalinism, and alleged members of the Nazi party or Nazi organization, others were imprisoned due to identity confusion and arbitrary arrests. The NKVD would not allow any contacts of prisoners to the outside world and did not attempt to determine the guilt of any individual prisoner.

On 6 January 1950, Soviet Minister of Internal Affairs Kruglov ordered all special camps, including Buchenwald, to be handed over to the East German Ministry of Internal Affairs.

In October 1950, it was decreed that the camp would be demolished. The main gate, the crematorium, the hospital block, and two guard towers escaped demolition. All prisoner barracks and other buildings were razed. Foundations of some still exist and many others have been rebuilt. According to the Buchenwald Memorial website, “the combination of obliteration and preservation was dictated by a specific concept for interpreting the history of Buchenwald Concentration Camp.”

The first monument to victims was erected days after the initial liberation. Intended to be completely temporary, it was built by prisoners and was made of wood. A second monument to commemorate the dead was erected in 1958 by the GDR near the mass graves. Inside the camp, there is a living monument in the place of the first monument that is kept at skin temperature year round.

BONUS:

Title: The Holocaust Story and the Lies of Ulysses
Author: Paul Rassinier
Language: English

Paul Rassinier was a French socialist and fierce opponent of National Socialism. He participated in the French Resistance and was interned in German labor camps during the war. What he saw there was real life and after the war he returned to France where he pondered over all the lies, the stories about the places where he had been. Nothing voted with his experiences. Everything was a lie and the imagination to get the money, medals and attention in the media and society in general. He went around and interviewed every single person who told these lies. He tried a couple of times to follow the court cases in Germany and act as a witness, but was refused to enter Germany. Troublesome witnesses who speak the truth destroy the whole Holocaust industry. And that can not be allowed!!!

“I know this is a subject that we are all expected to have one view on, but that is difficult when the “facts” are always changing. First six million. Then four million. Now, well, nobody’s really sure. Rassinier’s book is an intelligent, well-presented and scholarly approach to a volatile subject, and if you can maintain your open-mindedness and objectivity, you may learn some very interesting things. You may even have the words “outrageous”, “obscene” and “abhorrent” running through your mind, but not concerning the author or his thesis.” (comment from amazon.com)

“Holocaust Revisionism is a dangerous area. It is filled with some people who are very smart and others that are dangerously stupid. This book by Paul Rassinier is considered the touchstone work of revisionism. Rassinier was an inmate of Buchenwald, but lived in great denial. He claims that only around a million Jews were killed in the holocaust and the Jews themselves ran the camps in a Judeo-Communist conspiracy. To be honest this book gave me a headache, page after page made me sick. I do however recommend reading it, it is fascinating study of what lengths the revisionists will go to support their various theses, borrow it if you can find it, buying it, if from Revisionist groups only gives them more money to spread their…well crap.” (comment from amazon.com)

On June 30, 1937, Buchenwald was only what its name means, a forest of beech trees, a place perched on a foot hill of the Harz mountains, five and a half miles from Weimar. One reached it by a stony, winding path. One day some men came by car to the foot of the hill. They climbed to the top on foot, as though it were an excursion. They carefully inspected the area. One of them pointed out a clearing; then they returned after having had a good luncheon at Weimar.

“Unser Führer wird zufrieden werden,” they said. (Our Fuhrer will be pleased.)

Sometime later others came. They were chained together by fives, one to the other and constituted a detachment of a hundred men, surrounded by about twenty S.S., guns in hand. There was no more room in the German prisons. They climbed up the path as best they could, sworn at and kicked. When they reached the top exhausted, they were put to work without any delay. A group of fifty put up tents for the S.S., while the other group put in place a circle of barbed wire, three strands high and about a hundred yard sin diameter. The first day that was all that could be done. They ate a meagre meal in a hurry and almost without stopping work and, very late in the evening, they went to sleep right on the ground, wrapped in thin coverings. The next day, the first group of fifty unloaded all day long construction materials and sections of wooden barracks which heavy tractors managed to bring about half way up the hill; they carried this material the rest of the way up on their backs and placed it inside the barbed wire. The second group cut down trees to clear the area. They did not eat that day because they had started off in the first place with food for one day only. But, they slept better that night in the shelter of the branches and among the piles of boards.

Beginning with the third day, sections of barracks began to arrive at a faster rate and began to pile up half way up the hill. There were also a kitchen outfit, quantities of striped clothing, some tools, and some supplies. The S.S. stated in their daily report that with one hundred men they could not keep up with material delivered. Others were sent them. The rations then were insufficient. At the end of the week, some fifty S.S. struggled with about a thousand prisoners who they did not know where to put at night, who they could barely feed, and who overwhelmed their ability to supervise. The prisoners were made up into several groups, or Kommandos, each detailed to a particular job: the kitchen for the S.S., the orderlies for their camp, the kitchen of the prisoners, the construction of the barracks, the transport of material, the administration accounting. All of these operations were called S.S. Küche, Häftlingsüche, Barrakenkommando Bauleitung, Arbeitsstatistik, etc., and on paper, in reports, it looked like a simple and methodical organization. But it was, in fact, a complete mess, a horrible swarming of men, who went through the motion of eating, who worked haphazardly, and who barely slept covered in a jumble of branches and boards. Since it was easier to keep them under surveillance when they were working than when they were sleeping, the days were twelve, fourteen or sixteen hours long. Since there were not enough guards, they were forced to select a complement of trustees out of the whole lot of the prisoners on appearances alone, who, since they had uneasy consciences, created a reign of terror by way of excusing and justifying themselves. Blows rained, not just insults and threats.

The bad treatment, the poor and insufficient food, the super-human work, the lack of medicines, and the pneumonia created conditions that caused this gang of men to die at an alarming rate, endangering the general health. The S.S. had to think of another way to get rid of the bodies other than by burial which took too much time and which was too often repeated: so they had turned to cremation, a procedure that was much faster and in conformity with Germanic traditions. Another Kommando, in its turn, became indispensable, the Totenkommando, and the construction of a crematorium was put on the list of “urgent” work to be done. Thus it happened that a place was built for men to die in, before the place was built for them to live in. Everything is linked together: evil attracts evil, and when one is caught in the mesh of evil forces…

Moreover, the camp was not conceived in the minds of the National-Socialist authorities to be just a camp, but a community working under supervision for the building of the Third Reich, just like the other individuals of the German community who remained in relative liberty. As a consequence, after the crematorium came the factory, the Guzlow. So it is seen that the order of precedence for all the installations was determined first by the need to keep everything well under guard, second by hygienic requirements, and third by the demands of work that constituted the raison d’être for the camp. Everything was subordinate to the collective interest which trampled down and crushed the individual.

Buchenwald was thus, during the period of the first installations, a Straflager (punishment camp) where only those considered incorrigible in other prisons were sent. Then, from the moment that the factory, the Guzlow, was ready to go, an Arbeitslager (labor camp) with Strafkommandos. Finally, it was transformed into a Konzentrationslager (concentration camp) which is what it was when we knew it, a camp equipped with all the amenities of a small city, where everyone was sent without discrimination. Around the central camp there were satellite camps, which it kept supplied with human material. All the camps went through these three stages successively. Unfortunately, with the war breaking out, prisoners from all places, of all kinds, in for all kinds of reasons, and under all kinds of disciplinary punishment, were haphazardly, because of the disorder of the circumstances, and indiscriminately sent to a Straflager, an Arbeitslager, or a Konzentrationslager. The result was a frightening mixture of all kinds of humanity which resembled, under the sign of the truncheon, a gigantic basket of crabs, over which National-Socialism, so sure of itself and so methodical in its operations, but overwhelmed on all sides by events which were beginning to master it, threw an immense Noah’s mantle.

Dora was born under the sponsorship of Buchenwald and in the same way. It grew and prospered following the same process.

In 1903, German engineers and chemists had discovered that the stone of the Harz mountains in that area was rich in ammonia. Since no private company was willing to risk capital in its extraction, the Government undertook it. Germany did not possess, as did her neighbors, colonies that were able to put at her disposal men from Cayenne or Nouméa. Because of this fact, together with the fact that she was obliged to keep her convicts inside the country, they were imprisoned in certain places where they were used for especially disagreeable labor. As a consequence, a convict prison, like all convict prisons in the world, except for a few minor differences, was created at Dora. In 1910, for reasons unknown, but most likely because the yield of ammonia was much smaller than was anticipated, quarrying the stone was stopped. It was resumed during the war of 1914-1918, as a sort of punitive camp for prisoners of war at a time when Germany was already beginning to think of going underground to escape some of the devastation of bombing. Again the operation was interrupted by the Armistice. Between the two wars, Dora was completely forgotten: wild tangled growth masked the entrance to the excavations and, all around, vast fields of sugar-beets were cultivated to supply the sugar refinery at Nordhausen, three and a half miles away.

It was into these beet fields that on September 1, 1943, Buchenwald disgorged a first well escorted Kommando of two hundred men. Germany, again feeling the need to go underground or at least to put her war industries underground, had taken up the project of 1915 again. Construction of the S.S. camp and of the crematorium was begun, underground factory was set up, and the kitchens, showers, the Arbeitstatistik, the Revier, or infirmary, were built, last of all. So long as the underground work existed, the S.S. delayed as long as possible, putting off always a little longer, the unprofitable work of constructing Blocks for the prisoners, preferring instead to dig the gallery of the tunnel farther in, and to make it possible to get as many factories as possible under protect from the ever increasing threats from the open sky.

When we arrived at Dora, the camp was still in the Straflager stage. We made an Arbeitslager out of it. When we left it with its 170 Blocks, its infirmary, its theater, its brothel, and with all its installations in place and its tunnel completed, it was on the point of becoming a Konzentrationslager. Already, at the other end of the double tunnel, there was another camp, Ellrich, its offspring, and which was itself in the Straflager stage. There could be no break in the descending curve of human misery.

But, the English and Americans and the Russians had decided otherwise, and, on April 11, 1945, they came to free us. Since then the penitentiary system of East Germany has been in the hands of the Russians who haven’t changed things a fraction. Tomorrow, it will be in the hands of… who knows? Since there must be no gap in history.

—–

A concentration camp, when it is completely set up, is a regular city which is isolated from the outside world which conceived it, which is surrounded by fences of electrified barbed wire, and which is guarded with special guards every fifty yards on platforms, armed to the teeth. To make the screen between the two even more dense, an S.S. garrison bordered the camp and at a distance of three or four miles all around sentinels were encamped. Thus, anyone trying to escape would have a certain number of obstacles to overcome, or perhaps it would be better to say that any attempt would be doomed to failure. This isolated city had its own laws and its own particular social phenomena. Any ideas born there, individually or collectively, were stopped at the barbed wire and remained unsuspected by the rest of the world. By the same token, almost everything that took place in the outer world, was unknown on the inside, any penetration being made almost impossible by that screen. Newspapers came in; but, they were carefully selected and said nothing but those things that had been especially printed for the inmates in the concentration camp. It did happen in wartime that the “news” for the concentration camp inmates was the same as that which the Germans were supposed to take as gospel, and that is why the newspapers were the same for both, but it was pure chance. Use of the radio was punishable. It follows that camp life, organized on the other moral and sociological principles, had quite a different orientation from that of normal life. As a consequence, it revealed aspects that could not be judged by standards common to mankind in general. But, it was a city, and a human city.

Inside – or on the outside, but near by – a factory was the reason for its existence and its means of existence: at Buchenwald, the Guzlow; at Dora, the Tunnel. The factory was the keystone of the entire edifice, and its needs, which had to be satisfied, were the iron laws. The camp was made for the factory, and not the factory to keep the camp busy.

The most important department of the camp was the Arbeitsstatistik, which kept a strict accounting of the entire population, and kept track of each man day after day in his work. At the Arbeitsstatistik the personnel could tell you at any moment whatsoever of the day what each prisoner was doing and where he could be found. This department, like all the others, too, was entrusted to prisoner trustees and kept busy a considerable and privileged number of them.

Then came the Politische-Abteilung, which kept track of the political aspects of the camp and which was able to give for any prisoner any information wanted about his previous life, his moral conduct, the reasons for his arrest… It was the department of the anthropometry of the camp, its Sicherheitsdienst (security police), and employed only those prisoners in whom the S.S. had confidence. Once again the privileged.

Then the Verwaltung, or the general administration, which kept track of everything that came into the camp: food, material, clothing, etc… It was the quartermaster of the camp. Those prisoners employed in office work always occupied a privileged position.

These three big departments ran the camp. They had at their head a Kapo who ran them under the supervision of a non-commissioned officer of the S.S., or Rapportführer. There was a Rapportführer for all the key services, and each one of them reported every evening to the Rapportführer-general of the camp, who was an officer, generally an Oberleutnant. This Rapportführer-general communicated with the prison camp through the intermediary of his subordinates and the Lagerültester, or the doyen of the prisoners, who was responsible in general for the camp and who answered for its smooth running even with his life.

Similarly, the departments of the second level: the Sanitatsdienst, or health service, which included doctors, male nurses, disinfection, infirmary and crematorium services; the Lagerschutzpolizei, or camp police; the Feuerwerk, or fire protection; the Bunker, or jail for those prisoners caught breaking the rules of the camp; the Kino-Theater, or movie, and the brothel, or Pouf.

There were also the Küche, or kitchen; the Effecktenkammer, or clothing store, which was attached to the Verwaltung; the Häftlingskantine, or canteen, which supplied the prisoners with extra food and drinks in exchange for the coin of the realm; the Bank, where the special money good only in the camp was issued.

And, now to describe the mass of workers… They were divided up into Blocks constructed on the same plan as that of Buchenwald 48, but of wood, and with only one floor. They lived there only at night. They returned there at night after roll-call at about nine o’clock, and they left every morning before dawn, at half past four. They were supervised by the Block Chiefs who were surrounded by their Schreiber, Friseur, Stubendienst, who were veritable satraps. The Block Chief governed life in the Block through the supervision of an S.S. soldier, or Blockührer, who reported to the Rapportführer-general. The Blockführer were only rarely seen; generally they confined themselves to one friendly visit with the Block Chief during the day, that is, when the prisoners were away, so that it was the latter who was in effect the only authority, and practically all of his exactions were without appeal.

—–

The population of the camp, its social composition, and its origins were also elements that were de-humanizing. I have already remarked that National-Socialism drew no distinctions between political crime and common crime, and that consequently, there was in Germany no distinction between the civil and the political regime. As in the prisons of most civilized nations, there was something of everything in the camps – of everything and something else besides. All of the prisoners, whatever social or criminal element they came from, lived together, under the same regulations. The only thing that distinguished them was the colored triangle on their prison clothing which was the insignia of their classification – i.e. their reason for being there.

Red was reserved for political crimes. For common crimes, there was a green triangle; it was plain for Verbrecher, or petty crimes; it was embellished with an “S” for Schwerverbrecher, or serious crimes, and a “K” for Kreigsverbrecher, or war crimes. Thus, a gradation was made from common crimes, such as a simple theft, to murder and to the theft of supplies or armaments.

Between these two extremes, there was a whole series of intermediary crimes; the black triangle (professionally unemployed); the pink triangle (pederasts and homosexuals); the yellow triangle reversed over a red one so as to form a star (Jews); purple triangle (conscientious objectors). In addition, those who had done a certain term in prison, and then, following their release, were incarcerated again for committing new crimes wore instead of the triangle a black circle on white background with a large “Z” in the center, which stood for those freed from the Zuchthaus or prison. And, finally, those who wore a red triangle with the point up had committed minor crimes in the army and had been sentenced by a court-martial.

To these were added a few special ones: the red triangle with a transverse bar for those sent to the Konsett for the second or third time; three black dots on a yellow and white brassard for the blind; the Wifo, the same circle as for the Zuchthaus people with the “Z” replaced by a “W.” These latter had originally been volunteer workers. They had been employed by the Wifo firm which had been the first to try to achieve the Cergeltungfeurer, the famous V1 and V2 rockets. One fine day, and for no apparent reason, they got the striped clothes and were put into concentration camps. The secret of the V1 and V2 having gone through the trial period and into the intensive production stage was not to be freely circulated, even among the German people. In other words, they were interned for reasons of State security. The Wifo were the most unfortunate people in the camp: they continued to be paid their salary, half of which was paid them in the camp itself, the reset being sent to their families. They had the right to keep their hair and to write whenever they wanted to, on condition that they said nothing about what had happened to them; and since they were the best off, they introduced the black market into the camp and raised the exchange.

As far as the population was concerned, the concentration camps were regular towers of Babel in which personalities clashed because of differences of origin, of their sentences, and previous social standing. The common law offenders hated the political criminals whom they didn’t understand, and the latter returned the feeling. The intellectuals looked down on the manual laborers, and the latter rejoiced to see the former “working at last.” The Russians wrapped the whole of the West in the same icy contempt. The Poles and the Czechs couldn’t stand the French, because of Munich etc… On the nationality level, there were enmities between the Slavs and Germanic people, between the Germans and the Italians, between the Dutch and the Belgians, or between the Dutch and the Germans. The French, who came last and began to receive the most magnificent parcels of food, were looked down on by everybody except the Belgians, who were pleasant, frank, and good. France was regarded as a land of milk and honey, and her inhabitants as sybaritic degenerates, who were incapable of work, who ate well, and who were occupied only with making love. To these sentiments the Spaniards added the concentration camps of Daladier. I remember having been accosted in Block 24 at Dora by a vigorous: “Ah! The French; now you know what a Lager means. No harm, it’ll teach you!”

It was one of the three Spaniards (there were 26 in all at Dora) who had been interned at Gurs in 1938, enrolled in labor companies in 1939, and sent to Buchenwald after Rethel. The three maintained that the only difference between the French and the German camps was the work; all other things, treatment, food, being just about the same. In fact they added that the French camps were dirtier.

Oh, Jircszah!

—–

The S.S. guards lived in a parallel camp. In general, they were a company. At first, this company was a training unit for young recruits, and only Germans were in it. Later on, the S.S. became more international in composition: Italians, Poles, Czechs, Bulgarians, Rumanians, Greeks, among others filled the ranks. The necessities of war had compelled the Germans to send the Young recruits to the front, often with limited military instruction, or even without any special preparation, and the young were replaced by the old, those who had already served in the war of 1914-1918, on whom National Socialism had made scarcely any imprint. They were less hard. In the last two years of the war, when there were not enough S.S., the rejects from the Wehrmacht and the Luftwaffe, who couldn’t be used for anything else, were assigned as guards to the camps.

All the services of the camp had their parallel in the S.S. camp where everything was centralized, and from which daily or weekly reports were sent directly to Himmler’s offices in Berlin. The S.S. camp was, therefore, the administrator of the other. When the camps were just beginning during the Straflager period, they were administered directly; afterwards, and as soon as possible, the S.S. carried on the camp administration only through the prisoners themselves as intermediaries. One would think that this arrangement was used out of sadism, and, after the ware was over, that is what was said. But, it was really out of necessity to economize personnel that the system was used, and for that reason, in all prisons in all countries, the same situation holds. The S.S. itself only administrated the camp when it was impossible for them to do otherwise. We know what self-government by the prisoners in the camps was. All of the old hands who have experienced both systems are unanimous in recognizing that the former was in principle the better and more humane, and that if it was not in fact, it was because wartime circumstances and the pressure of events did not permit it. I believe it; it is better to deal with God than with the saints.

So the S.S. guarded the perimeter of the camp, and it can be said that we hardly ever saw them inside the camp, except when they simply went through to take the salute of the prisoners, the famous “Müntzen ab.” They were helped in their guard duty by a company of marvelously trained dogs, always ready to bite and capable of hunting out an escaped prisoner tens of miles away. Every morning, the Kommandos that were to work outside the camp, often they traveled three or four miles on foot – when they had to go farther, they used trucks or trains – were accompanied, according to their importance, by two or four S.S., guns in hand, each with a muzzled dog on a leash. This special guard, which complemented the surveillance of the Kapos, just kept watch from afar, and did not intervene in supervision of the prisoners unless a show of force was called for.

In the evening, at the roll-call by Block, when everyone was there, at a whistle, all the Blockführer turned toward the Block for which they were responsible, counted those present and then went back to report. During this operation non-coms went around the Blocks to enforce silence and attention. The Kapos, Block Chiefs, and Lagerschutz greatly helped them in making this task easy. From time to time an S.S. man stood out from the others for his brutality, but it was rare; and in no case was he ever more inhuman than the prisoner trustees who filled the positions that are mentioned in the preceding sentence.

—–

Once again, my personal testimony: I refer to a group of Hungarian Jews whose convoy, originally bound for Auschwitz, had arrived at Dora at the end of May 1944. Of the 1,500 or so people of this convoy, a certain number were sent to satellite camps around Dora as soon as they arrived. How many remained with us I do not know; maybe they filled an entire block. Because of the racist policies of Nazism, they were to be completely isolated from the other prisoners. That block was surrounded by barbed wire. And from that protected block they went to work like everyone else, but as a separate Kommando. For them, assembly took place within the block, before their leaving for work and on their return. We envied them. Fifteen days after their arrival, if your clogs had been stolen in the night, if you wanted more bread, or if you required some tobacco or something else, you only had to make a quick dash to the Jewish block in the morning between reveille and roll-call, or in the evening before lights out, and, in exchange for something else, you could get just about anything you wanted: it was a regular market. We admired them; at the gate of the camp they had been made to undress completely, and had been sent to be disinfected; they went in completely naked, their contact with the other prisoners was limited, and, all the same, they had succeeded in procuring a little of everything that could be obtained in the camp only with the greatest difficulties and at a very high price.

After a little while, the special surveillance over them became hardly more than a facade: once in a while we could exchange a few words with them, and even have short conversations. Thus it was that we learned about their odyssey. They told us about what they had had to leave behind when they came into the camp, and, since we were old hands in their eyes, they asked if they would get it back, when, how, and so on… They had been transported from Hungary to Dora, 70 to 80 persons in a car, with all of their baggage. They had made a long periplus of six to seven days before arriving. They had been told when leaving that they were being taken to Auschwitz, and when they learned that it was at Dora that they would be unloaded, they were pleased. They told the most appalling things about Auschwitz. There were neither women nor children among them. The latter had been separated out on departure, and at the moment it did not surprise us since that is what happened to us.

From Paul Rassinier: The Holocaust Story and the Lies of Ulysses, Institute for Historical Review, 1978, pp. 43-47, pp. 47-49, pp. 51-53, pp. 53-54, p. 365