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America claims to promote freedom and democracy abroad but does history really support this rhetoric?

US involvement in places like Vietnam or Guatemala indicate that the main factors motivating American foreign policy are economic concerns. “We have about 50% of the world’s wealth but only 6.3% of its population. Our real task is to maintain this position of disparity,” states a US internal memo from 1948. Maintaining this ‘position of disparity’ has led to the torture and murder of hundreds of thousands. One notorious example is Guatemala, where an American endorsed dictatorship overthrew the democratically elected government. Recently declassified documents show that US corporation United Fruit lobbied for the CIA sponsored coup, after the democratic leader began handing out valuable fruit growing land to peasants. “The United States intervened in Guatemala precisely because it was democratic,” argues Noam Chomsky. A similar pattern of intervention emerges in Vietnam, El Salvador and East Timor. Perhaps most oppressive yet is US policy in the Middle East: America provides Israel with more than $3 billion per year in military assistance, more aid than they give to the entire continent of Africa. ‘[Palestinians] have essentially nothing to offer to the United States'. explains Chomsky. He claims American policy is determined by: “A small corporate sector, tightly linked to the state … which makes decisions in their own interest.” An informative, disturbingly honest account of post WWII American foreign policy.

David Bradbury

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VIDEO V TC START V TC END AUDIO (NARRATION IN IN CAPS) AUD TC START AUD TC END
Countdown 01:01:00:00 01:01:09:29
Atomic bomb explosion 01:01:10:00 01:01:30:22 IN TWO DAYS IN AUGUST OF 1945, THE UNITED STATES EMERGED AS THE WORLD'S LEADING POWER. 01:01:11:23 01:01:16:29
(music, dark piano stuff)
(Senator Stennis) It is a fact of life that following World War II was a new beginning—a new beginning for the United States in world affairs, in foreign policy, in foreign affairs. 01:01:17:14 01:01:30:14
Animation: atomic bomb grows into giant atomic man HOW WOULD THAT POWER BE USED? 01:01:31:11 01:01:32:25
Slow motion flag superimposes, atomic man fades underneath to full shot of waving flag. 56 YEARS LATER, AS ALL OF US WERE SEARCHING IN SOME WAY AFTER SEPTEMBER 11, 2001, MY OWN SEARCH BEGAN WITH A SIMPLE QUESTION: WHY WOULD IT HAPPEN? IN THE WAKE OF THE ATTACKS, THE QUESTION WAS OBSCURED BY A SEA OF RED, WHITE, AND BLUE. 01:01:34:21 01:01:49:21
American national anthemSUBTITLE (embedded in footage): "O say can you see" 01:01:49:17 01:01:53:07 Oh say can you see 01:01:49:22
SUBTITLE (embedded in footage): "By the dawn's early light" 01:01:53:08 01:01:56:14 By the dawn's early light 01:01:53:08
SUBTITLES (embedded in footage): "What so proudly we hailed""At the twilight's last gleaming" 01:01:56:1501:02:00:10 01:02:00:09 AFTER SEPTEMBER 11, I WONDERED IF OUR NATIONAL INTEREST CONFLICTS WITH THE INTERESTS OF OTHERS. 01:01:56:12 01:02:01:12
Kissinger (upper left) 01:02:01:27 Self-interest 01:02:01:27
Map of Central America (upper right) 01:02:02:24 Vital interest 01:02:02:24
Deak Rusk (lower left) 01:02:03:23 National interest 01:02:03:23
Kissinger (lower right) 01:02:04:26 Vital American interest 01:02:04:26
National anthem continues:SUBTITLE: (embedded in footage):"Whose broad stripe and bright stars" 01:02:06:23 WHAT'S DRIVEN OUR NATIONAL INTEREST? IN A GLOBALIZED WORLD, IS PUTTING NATIONAL INTEREST OVER A BROADER HUMAN INTEREST ACTUALLY IN OUR INTEREST? 01:02:06:28 01:02:15:14
Quick moving (1/2 sec each) clips of government and media. AND DO THE GOVERNMENT AND MEDIA TELL US THE REALITIES OF U.S. FOREIGN POLICY? 01:02:17:24 01:02:21:19
President Truman (zoom in from nothing, upper right) 01:02:23:18 Throughout the world, our name stands for international 01:02:23:18
President Reagan (lower right) 01:02:26:17 Justice. 01:02:26:17
President Nixon 01:02:27:06 We must complete a structure of 01:02:27:06
President Ford (lower left) 01:02:29:11 peace. 01:02:29:11
President Ford (upper right) 01:02:29:28 I pledge an uninterrupted and sincere search for 01:02:29:28
President Nixon (lower left) 01:02:34:16 peace. 01:02:34:16
President Reagan (upper left) 01:02:35:03 For the sake of peace and 01:02:35:03
President Truman (lower right) 01:02:36:08 justice, 01:02:36:08
President Reagan, zoom in to big. 01:02:37:00 let us move toward a world in which all people are at last free to determine their own destiny. 01:02:37:00 01:02:34;12
Tri-split military screen 01:02:45:05 01:02:52:23 I'VE HEARD THAT SPEECH A THOUSAND TIMES, TO THIS VERY DAY, BUT WHEN WE LOOK AT U.S. ACTIONS, DOES IT REALLY RING TRUE? 01:02:44:29 01:02:51:22
Kennan book, zoom out 01:02:52:01 01:03:01:07 IN FACT, PLANNING DOCUMENTS JUST AFTER WORLD WAR II SHOW THAT ABOVE ALL, U.S. ACTIONS AIM TO MAINTAIN A HUGE ECONOMIC ADVANTAGE. 01:02:52:21 01:03:00:28
PHOTO: George Kennan, zoom from close 01:03:01:08 GEORGE KENNAN, HEAD OF THE STATE DEPARTMENT POLICY PLANNING STAFF IN 1948, IS CONSIDERED BY MANY TO BE THE ARCHITECT OF POST WORLD WAR II US FOREIGN POLICY. HIS WORDS WERE CLEAR. 01:03:01:27 01:03:12:18
TITLE CARD (white text on black):“We have about 50% of the world's wealth but only 6.3% of its' population...Our real task in the coming period is to... maintain this position of disparity.” 01:03:12:24 01:03:23:02 music
TITLE CARD (white text on black):“...We should cease to talk about such vague and unreal objectives as human rights, the raising of living standards and democratization.”24-Feb-48Document PPS23 01:03:23:03 01:03:32:24 music
Explosion with SUBTITLE from national anthem:“The bombs bursting in air” 01:03:32:27 01:03:35:06
US Map superimposed on world mapUS Map dissolves to world mapCountry names pop up in sync with naration. Then the screen fills with other country names.5 main countries come to foreground 01:03:45:0701:03:39:1901:03:41:0701:03:42:2101:03:44:0701:03:45:2201:03:56:27 01:03:40:13 THE UNITED STATES HAS HAD ITS HAND IN A LOT OF PLACES SINCE WORLD WAR II:GUATEMALAVIETNAMEAST TIMOREL SALVADORPALESTINE AND ISRAEL.IN WHOSE INTEREST WERE THESE INTERVENTIONS? 01:03:35:1301:03:39:1901:03:41:0701:03:42:2101:03:44:0701:03:45:2201:03:57:16 01:03:59:20
Rotating globeTITLE: IN WHOSE INTEREST? 01:04:01:24 01:04:04:20 (music)
Map zoom in from world to Guatemala, title: GUATEMALA 01:04:05:20 01:04:15:01 (music)
Animated map of Guatemala Our trip began in Guatemala. 01:04:14:21 01:04:16:24
Newsreel Text on Screen: “Report on Revolt in Guatemala” 01:04:17:29 01:04:20:19 (music)
Newspapers fall from sky into frameHEADLINES:"ANTI-REDS INVADE GUATEMALA""REBELS INVADE GUATEMALA BY LAND, SEA, AIR" 01:04:20:20 01:04:24:00 Father Stephen Privett: The Story of Guatemala is a really sad, awful story. 01:04:20:20 01:04:23:23
TITLE:Father Stephen PrivettPresident, University of San Francisco 01:04:24:14 01:04:29:00 And in large part, it's a story that was financed by the US—we have major responsibility for what happened in Guatemala. 01:04:24:01 01:04:35:13
Black and white map of Guatemala war 01:04:33:20 01:04:36:14 And I don't know that most people even know about it. 01:04:33:20 01:04:36:14
Photo: Jacobo Arbenz 01:04:36:15 01:04:43:03 SO IN 1951, JACOBO ARBENZ WAS DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED PRESIDENT BY A WIDE MARGIN. 01:04:36:20 01:04:41:24
Footage: workers in GuatemalaFootage: land in Guatemala 01:04:42:2201:04:44:13 01:04:44:1201:04:47:02 HE STARTED A PROGRAM OF SOCIAL REFORMS, DISTRIBUTING LAND TO HALF A MILLION PEASANTS. 01:04:42:16 01:04:47:00
TEXT: “Journey to Bananaland”“United Fruit Company” 01:04:47:0301:04:49:19 01:04:49:1801:14:52:26 NOW ONE MAJOR US CORPORATION, UNITED FRUIT, HAD OWNED A LOT OF THAT LAND. 01:04:47:19 01:04:51:19
DOCUMENT: highlighting “United Fruit” 4 timesTelephone linesHarbor, shipsBananas on beltsRailway 01:04:57:0301:04:58:2101:05:00:1701:05:02:05 UNITED FRUIT WIELDED A LOT OF POWER IN GUATEMALA, OWNING OR CONTROLLING ITS TELEPHONE SYSTEM, ITS MAJOR ATLANTIC HARBOR, ITS BANANA EXPORTS, AND ITS RAILWAY SYSTEM. 01:04:53:0201:04:57:0301:04:58:2101:05:00:1701:05:02:05 01:05:02:28
DOCUMENT:“United Fruit gives Arbenz ultimatum.”“The CIA's operation to overthrow the government of Guatmala.” 01:05:05:1801:05:08:29 01:05:08:0901:05:13:11 VEHEMENTLY AGAINST ARBENZ'S GOVERNMENT, UNITED FRUIT USED ITS INFLUENCE WITHIN THE UNITED STATES TO PUSH FOR A COUP, WHICH TOOK PLACE IN 1954. 01:05:04:01 01:05:12:06
Guatemalan womenChopping cocnutsCarrying bananasChopping bananas 01:05:13:1201:05:16:2101:05:19:2901:05:22:00 01:05:16:2001:05:19:2901:05:21:2901:05:26:29 ARBENZ'S PROGRAM BENEFITTED THE PEOPLE OF GUATEMALA AND HAD HAD THEIR OVERWHELMING SUPPORT, AND ALTHOUGH THE SPEECHES SAY THE UNITED STATES STANDS FOR DEMOCRACY—BUT MAYBE NOT WHEN DEMOCRACY THREATENS U.S. ECONOMIC INTERESTS. 01:05:13:14 01:05:21:02
TITLE:Noam ChomskyProfessor, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyDOCUMENT: "“U.S. business interests in Guatemala, a sweeping agrarian reform…”DOCUMENT: “Jacobo Arbenz elected President. Arbenz inaugurated.”DOCUMENT: “National Security Council authorizes covert action against Guatemala.” 01:05:27:2701:05:37:1801:05:42:1701:06:00:09 01:05:33:2801:05:42:1601:05:46:0301:06:03:23 The United States intervened in Guatemala precisely because it was democratic. They wanted to prevent the democratic revolution. We have rich internal records on this. The concern was that the social reforms undertaken by the first democratically elected government in Guatemala—ever— had the overwhelming support of the population, represented the interests and concerns of most of the people of Guatemala, and worst of all, were being looked at by others in the region as a kind of a model that they might want to follow themselves, and therefore it had to be aborted.(faint bells) 01:05:27:00 01:06:01:15
TITLE CARD over Guatemalan military photo:AFTER THE CIA-SPONSORED COUP IN 1954, THE GUATEMALAN MILITARY BEGAN A CAMPAIGN OF REPRESSION. 01:06:05:07 01:06:12:07 (faint bells)
TITLE CARD over gravesite of one of the massacres in Guatemala: BETWEEN 1954 AND 1990, SUCESSIVE U.S.-BACKED MILITARY REGIMES KILLED MORE THAN 200,000 CIVILIANS, MOSTLY INDIGINOUS MAYANS. 01:06:13:27 01:06:21:15 (faint bells)
BLACK 01:06:21:15 01:06:22:03
USIA tape showing Guatemalan hospital, military storming a building. 01:06:22:04 “Guatemala.”(ominous music, dogs barking)
SUBTITLE: They said we were Mayans and students, Spanish voice - Am'it Cox 01:06:27:21 01:06:32:11
SUBTITLE: which was a crime to them. 01:06:32:28 01:06:34:06
SUBTITLE: They began to follow us. 01:06:34:19 01:06:36:16
SUBTITLE: They killed many of the group. 01:06:36:22 01:06:38:27
SUBTITLE: In the towns, they killed entire families. 01:06:39:06 01:06:41:24
Slow motion soldiers walking through villageMore soldiers moving through forest AM'IT KOX, AN ARTIST AND A STUDENT IN THE 80S, WAS TARGETED BY THE MILITARY. NOT A HARDCORE ACTIVIST, HE DESCRIBED HIMSELF AS SIMPLY NOT LIKING WHAT WAS GOING ON. BUT ANY DISSENT WAS DANGEROUS IN THOSE YEARS, AND AM'IT WAS FOLLOWED, CAPTURED, AND BROUGHT TO PRISON. 01:06:43:03 01:06:58:00
Am'it Kox Spanish voice.
SUBTITLE: They punished me—someone came in and took my clothes. 01:06:58:17 01:07:03:02
SUBTITLE: Then they tied my penis—with something in Guatemala we call a pita. 01:07:04:08 01:07:11:23
SUBTITLE: and every once in a while they pulled it up. 01:07:12:01 01:07:13:16
SUBTITLE: They tied my hands. 01:07:14:24 01:07:18:11
SUBTITLE: I felt—I even told them to kill me, I asked them “please kill me” 01:07:18:26 01:07:23:22
SUBTITLE: Because it was cruel what they were doing to me (fade to black). 01:07:24:16 01:07:28:00
BLACK 01:07:27:27 01:07:28:23
(30 frame fade up from black)Massacre gravesite, slow fade to black 01:07:28:25 01:07:42:08 WHY IS IT THAT MASSACRES AND TORTURE WERE BEING CARRIED OUT BY A MILITARY BACKED BY MY GOVERNMENT AND WITH THE SUPPORT OF OUR TAX DOLLARS? AND WHY IS IT THAT A LOT OF THE TIME, WE DON'T KNOW ABOUT IT? 01:07:29:24 01:07:40:06
Map zoom in from world to Vietnam, title: VIETNAM 01:07:43:00 01:07:50:12 (music)
Footage, Vietnam. Music, “The goddess of peace turned her face toward Southeast Asia and wept. For man was at war again.” 01:07:53:09 01:08:01:17
Footage, burning villages, soldiers WHY DO WE KEEP COMING BACK TO VIETNAM? IT SEEMS TO BE ONE OF THOSE PLACES THAT WE TALK ABOUT AGAIN AND AGAIN. BUT THIS WAS A LONG WAR, AND THAT THOSE THAT MADE IT BACK ARE STILL TELLING THEIR STORIES. 01:08:02:28 01:08:14:12
TITLE:George JohnsonVietnam War Veteran, U.S. Navy, 1965Photo: close, Vietnamese woman and child in fear, zoom out to full photo, group of Vietnamese 01:08:17:21 01:08:22:20 We fired some barrages into this village, and the guy told me, “good shot, you got the chicken coop, the clothes line, and you should see granny and the kids run.” (music fades up) And I still dream about that because that was the first time I realized that we weren't just shooting soldiers, we weren't bombarding military targets, we were actually bombing villages where ordinary people lived and worked. 01:08:15:0701:08:31:28 01:08:31:1201:08:44:08
TITLE CARD: THE UNITED STATES DROPPED THE EXPLOSIVE EQUIVALENT OF ONE NAGASAKI BOMB PER WEEK FOR SEVEN AND A HALF YEARS ON SOUTHEAST ASIA. (Over colorized freeze frame of bomber) 01:08:44:10 01:08:50:19 (music)
Bomber drops lots of bombs,pan down to ground where explosions are taking place.TITLE: Harlow Williams, Vietnam War Veteran, U.S. Marines, 1968-1969 Footage: b&w dead VietnameseHarlow Williams 01:09:15:15 01:09:19:17 VO: those who fought the air war, or they were on ships at sea—they never heard the screams, saw the blood, saw the body parts. I saw the blood. I had clothing that I had to literally peel off my body it was so encrusted and covered with blood after battles. That I saw the body parts of my fellow marines, and I certainly saw the enemy's body parts. But what happened to me was, I had a job to do, and if I survived, and if I was doing my job well, that's all that really would count. 01:08:58:25 01:09:29:14
Photo: Older Vietnamese on ground holding child, zoom out to US soldiers with guns hovering over.Harlow Williams It was always—the enemy—that we were fighting. And that's a very important psychological realization to have, because if you really feel you're killing fellow human beings who are living, breathing parents or children of other living human beings, it's a very different thing than if you feel there's an enemy to kill. So I went over and I killed an enemy. 01:09:30:03 01:09:49:18
Close up of machine gun firing Machine gun.
US military in Vietnam footagePrisoners VO: What would the world look like if we hadn't fought against Communism at the time of Vietnam? I think I may have been sold a bill of goods and I think maybe this culture was sold a bill of goods, posing the Communists as a great enemy. 01:09:55:01 01:10:05:29
Huge explosions working their way through dense forest land in Vietnam.Noam Chomsky It was the same concern as Guatemala. Namely, successful independent development in some area might stimulate others to try to do the same, and then the dominoes start to fall, and maybe it spreads as far as Indonesia or Japan, and the US would lose its dominant role in the region. 01:10:08:00 01:10:26:09
Rockets fired from underside of bomber, reverse angle, seeing the rockets fired into the mountains. Rockets fired
Explosions from above, bombs dropped.Soldier with gun in boatGeorge JohnsonPhoto: Solider setting fire to thatched housePhoto: Ships at seaPhoto: group of dead Vietnamese at My LaiPhoto: child and mother dead at My Lai VO: WWII vets could always talk about how they liberated Europeand stopped the Nazi slaughter of innocents in the death camps and stuff like that. We don't have those stories. We have stories of burning down peoples' villages, of shore bombarding fishing villages, of laying people in the ditch at My Lai, and killing over 400 old men women and children. That's our stories, and that's what we have to live with. 01:10:41:0401:10:48:03 01:10:48:0201:11:05:27
Map zoom in from world to East Timor, title: EAST TIMOR 01:11:07:29 01:11:19:25 Music
TITLE:Joseph NevinsResearch Fellow, University of California at Berkeley 01:11:21:29 01:11:26:27 East Timor in and of itself never mattered to the United States. The U.S. couldn't have cared less if East Timor became independent or not. What mattered, and what had long mattered was Indonesia. 01:11:16:26 01:11:27:07
DOCUMENT: “Indonesia, the fifth most populous nation in the world.”DOCUMENT: “The Indonesians” “moderate role at OPEC”DOCUMENT: “The United States accounts for the bulk of Indonesia's oil investment (about 86%)”DOCUMENT: “geographic location”DOCUMENT: “Indonesia controls the sea passages between the Pacific and Indian oceans.” 01:11:27:2601:11:31:1301:11:34:1401:11:42:0701:11:44:00 01:11:01:2201:11:03:00 V.O.: Indonesia was the fifth most populous country in the world. it was a leading member, and a moderate one at that, of OPEC, the oil cartel. It was also a very lucrative center for multinational corporate activity, and at the same time geopolitically, Indonesia sits astride very key sea lanes. 01:11:27:2801:11:31:0501:11:35:2201:11:42:16 01:11:30:2101:11:35:1201:11:42:15
Joseph NevinsDOCUMENT: “of major strategic importance in the region.”Cut back to Nevins. 01:12:01:11 01:12:04:02 Remember, this is 1975 in Southeast Asia. The US had just quote un quote lost Vietnam, lost Cambodia, and what the primary U.S. objective in the region at that time was the maintenance of pro-American regimes. And Indonesia was probably the most important country.So when Indonesia wanted to annex East Timor, the United States was more than willing to go along. 01:11:47:2701:12:01:1101:12:04:03 01:12:01:0101:12:03:2601:12:09:08
Village shotInvasion footage ON DECEMBER 7, 1975, THE INDONESIAN MILITARY INVADED THE NEARBY ISLAND OF EAST TIMOR.Radio report: …(fades up) a senior member of the left-wing Freitelin movement said in his first message, “we need help, paratroopers are dropping everywhere.” At times, nearly hysterical, he said that women and children were being fired on, and the Indonesians were killing indiscriminately. 01:12:09:2001:12:15:08 01:12:15:0901:12:27:27
Torture photo Strange audio loop fades up and grows.
TITLE CARD FADE UP: 60,000 EAST TIMORESE DIED IN THE FIRST FEW MONTHS OF THE INVASION.TITLE CARD: IN THE FOLLOWING 24 YEARS OF INDONESIAN OCCUPATION, ONE-THIRD OF THE EAST TIMORESE POPULATION LOST THEIR LIVES. 01:12:29:2401:12:36:15 01:12:35:0201:12:42:27
DOCUMENT: “Memorandum for: The President, From: Henry A. KissingerRe: Your visit to Indonesia”DOCUMENT: “KISSINGER: YOU APPRECIATE THAT THE USE OF US-MADE ARMS COULD CREATE PROBLEMS.” 01:12:42:2801:12:49:23 01:12:50:2101:12:57:12 JUST 2 DAYS BEFORE THE INVASION, US PRESIDENT GERALD FORD AND SECRETARY OF STATE HENRY KISSINGER HAD VISITED INDONESIA. FORD AND KISSINGER WERE CONCERNED THAT THE USE OF US ARMS IN THE INVASION COULD CREATE PROBLEMS AT HOME. 01:12:43:0401:12:50:29 01:12:50:0401:12:56:03
DOCUMENT:“HOW WE CONSTRUE IT” “SELF DEFENSE” 01:12:56:25 01:12:59:00 BUT CONCLUDED THAT THEY COULD CONSTRUE THE ACTION DEFENSIVE. 01:12:56:15 01:13:00:02
DOCUMENT: “I AM ONLY SAYING IT WOULD BE BETTER IF IT WERE DONE AFTER WE RETURNED.” 01:13:00:19 THE POWER THE US HELD IN THE SITUATION IS APPARENT—KISSINGER SAID IT WOULD BE BETTER IF THE INVASION STARTED AFTER HE AND FORD RETURNED TO THE UNITED STATES. 01:13:00:17 01:13:09:11
PRESIDENT FORD AND INDONESIAN PRESIDENT SUHARTO CLINKING GLASSESSUBTITLE: “PRESIDENT FORD AND INDONESIAN PRESIDENT SUHARTO” 01:13:11:28 01:13:16:26 14 HOURS AFTER THE US LEFT, THE INDONESIAN MILITARY INVADED. 01:13:10:03 01:13:14:03
Demonstration footage “INDEPENDENT IS WHAT WE INSPIRE” 01:13:16:28 01:13:23:15 THIS WAS THE BEGINNING OF A 24-YEAR STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE IN EAST TIMOR. 01:13:15:18 01:13:19:14
Noam Chomsky Technically they did get independence finally, but that's after near genocide. 01:12:50:12
Santa Cruz Massacre, 1991 FootageSUBTITLE: “Santa Cruz Massacre, East Timor 1991” 01:13:27:13 01:13:29:18 Which was backed by the United States overwhelmingly, the US and Britain were primarily responsible for it. It's one of the worst crimes of the late twentieth century. 01:13:30:12
Torture photo VO: We have a lot of painful stories. (Music Indonesian vocal) 01:13:31:24 01:13:34:04
Torture photoGravesite photo, dead bodies 200,000 people killed. And more than them disappeared. 01:13:36:02 01:13:40:14
TITLE:Filomena Barros Dos ReisAdvocacy Director, East Timor NGO Forum 01:13:42:10 01:13:46:09 The bodies never come back. 01:13:44:09 01:13:45:28
Noam ChomskySanta Cruz Massacre, 1991 FootageSUBTITLE: “Santa Cruz Massacre, East Timor 1991” 01:13:48:23 01:13:54:19 V.O.: Both the US and Britain continued to support it, right to the end. Right through 1999, Britain and the United States knew perfectly well that the Indonesian forces they had armed and trained were carrying out major atrocities. 01:13:47:00 01:14:00:22
NEWS REPORT:“TIMOR VOTE: FOR INDEPENDENCE 78.5%”Military trucksBurning buildings, 01:14:04:21 01:14:08:00 IN 1999, 78% OF THE EAST TIMORESE POPULATION VOTED FOR INDEPENDENCE. JUST AFTER THE VOTE, THE INDONESIAN MILITARY AND ITS MILITIA GROUPS WENT ON A RAMPAGE, DRIVING 75-80% OF THE PEOPLE FROM THEIR HOMES AND DESTROYING MUCH OF THE COUNTRY. US SUPPORT CONTINUED EVEN THEN, UNTIL PUBLIC PRESSURE IN AUSTRALIA AND IN THS US BECAME TOO STRONG. 01:14:02:04
Post-election rampage continues. [Chomsky]: Clinton finally told the Indonesian army, “it's over. Call it off.” And the relations of power are so overwhelming that within 48 hours, the Indonesian army had began to leave. Which tells you just what could have been done 25 years earlier, in fact all the time through. 01:14:24:06 01:14:39:15
Filomena Barros Dos Reis They are very cruel. They didn't consider the people as human beings, but they considered East Timorese people as—mosquitoes. Even the animals. 01:14:41:07 01:14:59:16
Joseph Nevins What happened in East Timor has entered into what we might call the national forgettery. Most people are well aware that something terrible happened in East Timor. What we don't know, on a collective level, is what the U.S. role was. 01:15:02:11 01:15:15:15
SEGUE
Video footage of various war scenes over a TV screen. Peace 01:15:22:12
Democracy 01:15:23:00
Peace 01:15:23:22
Peace 01:15:24:12
Peace 01:15:25:03
Democracy 01:15:25:22
Freedom 01:15:26:13
Peace 01:15:27:04
Democracy 01:15:29:02
Human Rights 01:15:30:28
Peace 01:15:32:23
Democracy 01:15:34:28
Democracy 01:15:36:07
Freedom 01:15:37:19
Peace 01:15:40:04
Human Rights 01:15:42:19
Democracy 01:15:45:02
People in the U.S.—in the bottom of themselves—understand that in order to have this comfort that we have here in the U.S., there must be poverty somewhere else. 01:16:02:05 01:16:16:18
Map zoom in from world to El Salvador, title: El Salvador 01:16:23:23 01:16:33:09
Map into children playing, happy families, rice farming, dreamy musicSUBTITLE: US INFORMATION AGENCY TAPE 01:16:37:25 01:16:41:23 VO: For the United States, the biggest role to be played in El Salvador is that of a friend. A friend helping the El Salvadoran people create an atmosphere of peace. An atmosphere in which the democratic system which already exists, can grow and flourish. 01:16:34:12 01:16:51:19
IMAGES OF WAR, OMINOUS MUSIC AND SOUND EFFECTSSUBTITLE: US INFORMATION AGENCY TAPE 01:16:56:22 01:17:00:21 VO: El Salvador. [Screams, bodies being carried away. Burning tires on street.] 01:16:54:04 01:16:54:28
REAGAN SPEECH: A determined propaganda campaign has sought to mislead many in Europe, and certainly many in the United States, as to the true nature of the conflict in El Salvador. 01:17:03:07 01:17:12:12
SOLDIERS FIRING SOLDIERS FIRING
LARGE GROUP OF SOLDIERS RUNNING AWAY:DEAD BODIESTITLE:FATHER STEPHEN PRIVETTPresident, University of San Francisco 01:17:22:01 01:17:26:05 V.O. How do you define the price?I mean if you want to talk about 75,000 innocent people killed,and paid for by our tax dollars, no I don't think intervention was worth it—I think it was a horrible mistake. 01:17:16:19 01:17:26:03
El Salvador people scenes: farming, village, farming, village SO BY NOW IT SEEMS TO BE A FAMILIAR STORY—THE POPULATION OF EL SALVADOR WANTED TO PURSUE A PATH THAT DEVIATED FROM THE US MODEL. SO THE US PUMPED $1 MILLION A DAY INTO THE WAR TO PREVENT THAT PATH, WHILE TELLING US OTHERWISE. 01:17:26:11 01:17:39:14
REAGANSUBTITLE (embedded in video):February 24, 1982, Organization of American States 01:17:39:16 01:17:43:06 Our principles are rooted in self-government and non-intervention. 01:17:39:26 01:17:43:22
TITLE:JOSE ARTIGADIRECTOR SHARE FOUNDATIONmap, El Salvador to USA 01:17:46:23 01:17:51:22 They wanted to impose a model. And we Salvadorans were rejecting that model, and we were very loud. So it was the tiny little country going against the will of the giant. 01:17:44:04 01:17:58:13
DOCUMENT: “Department of State, Unclassified”DOCUMENT: “THE UNITED STATES HAS TRADITIONALLY CALLED THE TUNE IN EL SALVADOR” 01:18:00:0501:18:01:14 01:18:06:0101:18:06:01 SO WHAT WAS THAT WILL? IT'S CLEAR THAT THE UNITED STATES CALLED THE TUNE IN EL SALVADOR7, BUT TO WHAT END? 01:17:59:06 01:18:05:12
DOCUMENT: “CONTAGION OF SOCIAL CHANGE” 01:18:07:06 01:18:10:03 THE MAJOR CONCERN WAS THAT SOCIAL CHANGE COULD BECOME CONTAGIOUS 01:18:06:27 01:18:10:15
DOCUMENT: “CRUCIAL IMPACT ON THE…” “NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES” 01:18:11:0101:18:13:09 01:18:13:0801:18:14:12 AND IMPACT NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES. 01:18:10:20 01:18:12:13
Noam Chomsky The US instituted a military coup, the usual reaction. Called it a democracy, it was in fact a military regime. 01:18:14:13 01:18:21:13
El Salvador people scenes: farming, village, farming, village THAT MILITARY REGIME WAS FIGHTING A GROUP OF GUERILLAS THAT IS GENERALLY THOUGHT TO HAVE REPRESENTED MOST OF EL SALVADOR'S PEOPLE. THE TACTICS USED TO FIGHT THE GUERILLAS HAD A DIRECT IMPACT ON THOSE PEOPLE. 01:18:22:00 01:18:32:25
Fish/water graphic VO: The people were the water, and the guerillas were the fish. So the government said in order to kill the fish, we need to take all the water away so the fish will die. 01:18:34:17 01:18:45:02
PRIVETT: There were no holds barred. I remember talking to a lieutenant at a roadblock, and a person from one of the villages where I was working had been tortured by the army—been filled up with water, forced water and then jammed out of his stomach. And I said to the guy, what is this? How do you do this to people? And he said, “well he's a communist.” 01:18:45:23 01:19:03:17
ARTIGA: AS I would be waiting for the bus, in the porch of the mayor's office, there would be one, two, three bodies, dismembered, every day. And that was sort of normal, uh, during those years. 01:19:03:27 01:19:18:26
MOTHER CRYING, ZOOM OUT TO DEAD BODY VO (artiga): The 80s was the years when the most people were killed during the period of the war. 01:19:19:02 01:19:25:02
PRIVETT:livestock footagewater scenes They simply defined an area as the enemy and obliterated it—slaughtered livestock, poisoned water. I mean it was this incredibly brutal and non-strategic approach to, to war. 01:19:26:14 01:19:42:13
ARTIGA:PHOTO: Close-up of Rufina, slow zoom out The one survivor of the massacre of El Mozote, this woman, her name is Rufina—she said that it's good that the U.S. government and the Salvadoran government have come to help rebuild the town that they destroyed. She said, I am still waiting for one of them to come and apologize. For what they did. 01:19:42:13 01:20:03:21
El Mozote photo fading to black underneath: (music, dark piano stuff)VO PRIVETT: The fundamental flaw of foreign policy at that time was not telling people the truth. And I have no doubts that if people knew the truth, it would have stopped. 01:20:13:11 01:20:22:15
PRIVETT But we were really fed a steady diet of untruths. About what was going on, what we were doing—and what was being done in our name. 01:20:22:19 01:20:32:10
Map zoom in from world to Palestine/Israel, title: Palestine/Israel 01:20:34:11 01:20:42:05 MUSIC
UN file footage on the creation of the state of Israel. The state of Israel had been proclaimed, and the people rejoiced in their new nation, a haven of refuge for the displaced and persecuted members of the Jewish faith from all over the world. 01:20:34:12 01:20:54:12
TITLE (embedded in footage):Rabbi Elmer BergerSUBTITLE: "1970" 01:20:57:2001:21:01:09 01:21:04:2401:21:04:24 There is first of all what one dissident Israeli has called Israel's Original Sin. This is the realization that Zionism could not establish a Zionist state, in a Palestine already inhabited by a majority of Arabs, without seriously impairing the rights of the Palestinians. The reluctance, if not the refusal of the Israelis and their sponsors among the great powers to make this confession is one obstruction in the way of a just peace. 01:20:55:12 01:21:23:19
TITLE CARD (over image of F-16s)The United States provides Israel more than $3 billion per year in military assistance:More aid than any country gives to any other countryMore aid than the United States gives to the entire continent of Africa 01:21:23:2101:21:27:2301:21:31:01 01:21:34:1601:21:34:1601:21:34:16 (sfx)
Slow pan and zoom out of Palestinian refugee camp. (String music) WHILE THE U.S. HAS PRESENTED ITSELF AS AN HONEST MEDIATOR IN THE DISPUTE BETWEEN ISRAEL AND PALESTINE, IN FACT THE U.S. HAS OVERWHELMINGLY SUPPORTED ONE SIDE.WHY IS THIS? 01:21:35:14 01:21:46:05
Noam Chomsky Because, and not out of any particular hatred for the Palestinians, it's just they have essentially nothing to offer to the United States. They have no wealth, they have no power. In contrast, Israel is a rich, advanced industrial society, military-based economy, tightly linked to the US, base for projection of US power in the region—has a lot to offer. So therefore they ought to control the region, therefore no right for the Palestinians. 01:21:47:06 01:22:16:10
I.L. Kenan, at meeting, large table We must make certain that Israel does get all the planes and other sophisticated equipment that she must have. 01:22:16:16 01:22:22:23
TITLE:Hanan RashidNational Executive Secretary, Palestinian-American CongressImages of Apache helicopters and F-16s 01:22:23:04 01:22:28:27 We're sending all these ammunitions and weapons, yearly over $3 billion of weapons, the latest most sophisticated weapons that America can produces, is what's killing the Palestinian children. How would that make people feel? What kind of message are we, as Americans, sending the Palestinian people? (music fades up) 01:22:23:06 01:22:40:21
Images of rubble and people in the occupied territories HIGH-LEVEL ISRAELI PLANNING DOCUMENTS FROM1948 INDICATE THAT PALESTINIAN REFUGEES WOULD EITHER ASSIMILATE ELSEWHERE, OR WOULD BE CRUSHED. THE DOCUMENTS CONTINUE, STATING THAT SOME OF THEM WOULD DIE AND MOST OF THEM WOULD TURN INTO HUMAN DUST AND THE WASTE OF SOCIETY, AND JOIN THE MOST IMPOVERISHED CLASSES IN THE ARAB COUNTRIES.IN THE EARLY ‘70S, ISRAELI LEADER MOSHE DYAN ADVISED HIS LABOR PARTY TO TELL THE PALESTINIANS THAT “YOU SHALL CONTINUE TO LIVE LIKE DOGS, AND WHOEVER WISHES MAY LEAVE.”IN SUCH AN ATMOSPHERE, AND WITH ISRAEL'S BACKING FROM THE WORLD'S LEADING POWER, THE SITUATION FOR PALESTINIANS SEEMS DESPERATE. 01:22:42:0301:22:51:2601:23:04:2201:23:16:09 01:22:50:2901:23:03:0901:23:14:2601:23:23:15
Hanan Rashid They see no hope and they see no future. And that's where all the violence I believe is coming to. 01:23:24;26 01:23:29:22
TITLE: Chistopher Mayhew1970, Former member, British Parliament 01:23:32:13 01:23:38:12 People think, you see, that the Arabs, or the Palestinians are some peculiarly fanatical and militant people. As though the American people, or the British people, undergoing the same experience as the Palestinians wouldn't react in exactly the same manner, or more militant still. 01:23:30:26 01:23:50:09
TITLE: AS'AD ABUKHALILPROFESSOR, POLITICAL SCIENCE, CAL STATE STANISLAUS 01:23:53:09 01:23:59:07 A movement which is so national and political like Zionism couldn't foresee that it's own action is going to produce a movement that is equally forceful in assertion of it's right over the land. I mean, and in a way just as Zionism was born, so to speak, in the womb of anti-Semitism. The more the anti-Semites wanted to crush Jewish identities the more forceful Jewish identity became - that's what happened to the Palestinians. 01:23:50:20 01:24:14:20
Chistopher Mayhew Suppose we, like the Palestinians, who after all were 93% of the population of Palestine in 1917, suppose we had to accept immigration on a Palestinian scale—30 million say, or 40 million. And suppose these immigrants had come not to share our society with us, but to build their own society in Britain. To raise their own flag over London. How would the British react? Are you telling me that there wouldn't even be a small minority of our more unstable young men who would not react just as brutally as the PFLP have reacted? The British would react in such a way as to make the Palestinians look like flower children. 01:24:15:05 01:24:55:21
Rabbi Berger, fade to DOCUMENT: “All men created equal” zooming in on “created equal” 01:25:05:23 01:25:13:17 It is just possible that if the United States exerted itspower and influence in ways which are consistent with our own laws and values, we might break out of a vicious circle. 01:24:57:03 01:25:08:04
Hanan Rashid Yes there is hate. Yes there is mistrust. But I think when people start building it, all these boundaries will be removed, occupation will end, the rights of the Palestinians are met, I think with time things will heal. People forget. People forget. I don't know if they can forgive, but people want to move on. They are so sick and tired of seeing blood. On both sides. 01:25:15:05 01:25:38:00
MAP: THE WORLD 01:25:39:11
Noam Chomsky In each one of the countries you mentioned, 5 countries, there were independent forces that were seeking a way out of this system of domination, and they therefore had to be crushed. And they were crushed in different ways. 01:25:40:15 01:25:54:00
Kissinger Americans have every reason to take pride of what their country has achieved in foreign policy. 01:25:55:04 01:26:02:15
HELICOPTERS LANDING IN VIETNAM WITH THE GUIDING FACTOR IN US FOREIGN POLICY BEING THE MAINTENANCE OF THE US'S DOMINANT ROLE, IN WHOSE INTEREST IS OUR INVOLVEMENT AROUND THE GLOBE? 01:26:04:01 01:26:12:03
Noam Chomsky It's in the interest of those who dominate decisions internal to the United States. 01:26:12:21 01:26:17:19
Corporate building after corporate building Economic power is very narrowly concentrated in a small corporate sector, tightly linked to the state, controls both political parties, owns the media. Yeah, they naturally make decisions in their own interest. (Corporate march underneath) 01:26:18:22 01:26:33:03
Father PrivettMother washing child in VietnamMother & child in El SalvadorWoman washing clothes in El Salvador, train passingCity scene in Guatemala I think the hope lies in the people—not in apolitical theory, not in smart US foreign policy, but in these people who are becoming more and more aware of their inherent human dignity and an increasing determination to live in a way and to create a system and a place that will respect that and honor that and allow that to unfold. 01:26:33:13 01:26:54:23
Koran:DOCUMENT: “killed all mankind…”DOCUMENT: “and whoso saveth the life of one…”DOCUMENT: “had saved all of mankind”DOCUMENT: “And they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation Neither shall they learn war any more."George Johnson 01:26:56:0401:26:58:1701:27:00:1401:27:02:1201:27:04:05 01:26:57:2501:26:59:2201:27:01:2501:27:03:1101:27:10:05 The Koran says that if you take one life it's as if you kill the whole world. If you save one life, it's as if you save the whole world. And then the Bible says they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. So, it seems to me, both those ideas are pretty good ideas and if we could—Moslem, Christian, and other folks could come together around those kind of ideas we'd be a lot better off than around the ideas of trying to kill each other. 01:26:56:0501:27:00:0001:27:03:1101:27:09:13 01:26:59:2401:27:02:1901:27:08:1801:27:20:06
CREDITSRotating Globe(each box below is a new cut with text specified) Music
written, produced, and directed byDavid Kaplowitz 01:27:23:11 01:27:26:02
associate producer Madlyn Ray-Jones 01:27:26:03 01:27:28:22
creative advisorJon Else editorial advisor Debbie Hoffmann technical advisors Kean Sakata Milt Wallace online editor Karen Everett 01:27:28:23 01:27:31:16
principal camera Dan McKinney additional cameraKelly DavisMegan LardnerFaye LedermanKathleen Rhodes 01:27:31:17 01:27:34:09
principal location sound Matt MacLeanadditional location soundCarlos CruzKerry EleveldYvonne KennedyMegan LardnerKathleen RhodesMabel Tampinco 01:27:34:10 01:27:37:01
political advisors Mel Gurtov Stephen Zunes translation assistanceAnnelise WundelichMegan Lardner 01:27:37:02 01:27:39:22
footageU.S. National Archives www.archive.org/American Enterprise InstituteElaine BriereMax StahldocumentsEl Salvador: U.S. State Department FOIA websiteGuatemala and East Timor: C.I.A. and State Department (provided by the National Security Archive) 01:27:39:23 01:27:42:14
photosSusan MeiselasMark RhombergSteve CoxStephen FerryAdam KufeldUNRWAEast Timor Action NetworkU.S. Department of DefenseIsraeli Defense ForceMiddle East Children's AllianceU.S. National Archives 01:27:42:15 01:27:45:06
credits music Revolutions by Double Life ©1997, Raw Elements Records sound mixThom CanovaCoast Recorders additional music and sound design David Kaplowitz 01:27:45:07 01:27:47:27
special thanksMom & DadAll who watched the film along the wayBetty Kaplowitz and Kristen BachlerSamantha LekusWilliam Blum for list of interventionsFish animation by Robert ZhimintasTerry Carmajani and her students, Washington High Scool, SFAmmon HaggertyFacilities use, internartional version: Raymon Shomon, Digital JusticeProduction facilities provided by the Univerisity of California at Berkeley 01:27:47:28 01:27:52:21
IN MEMORY OF ALL LIVES LOST BY AGGRESSION 01:27:52:22 01:27:55:17