Customer Reviews

Bill Moyers Journal Buying the War

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While the only other review gave "Buying the War" one star and called it "Bush bashing," I found this video to be informative and objective. At first I, too, was taken aback by Bill Moyers opening statement since it didn't hedge the way reporters usually do. But, when the evidence shows that we were told outright lies, are "unbiased" statements appropriate? Unfortunately, this selling of war to the American public on false pretenses is not new.

The Spanish probably did not sink the USS Maine in Havana harbor in 1898. What would have been their motivation? Yet "Remember the Maine" propelled us to war.

It is now known that the Gulf of Tonkin Incident that Lyndon Johnson used as the legal basis for his Viet Nam buildup never happened.

And, in 1961, in Operation Northwoods, all members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff had signed off on a plan for a Remember-the-Maine-type-incident to create public support for an invasion of Castro's Cuba. Among other options, the plan suggested that "We could blow up a US ship in Guantanamo Bay and blame Cuba."

Unfortunately, Nazi war criminal Hermann Göring hit the nail on the head when he said, "Of course the people don't want war. ... But after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it is a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. ... Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger. It works the same way in any country."

More Bush bashing. This documentary by Bill Moyers was very well filmed as far as style, but Bill's message is typically to the left.