Movie Review: The Power of Nightmares

I remember hearing good reviews about "The Power of Nightmares" about a year ago. But I never tried to watch it. Fortunately, I was recently given a copy of the DVD and sat down to watch it last night. Around 1:30 AM I finally went to bed. 

"The Power of Nightmares" is a three-part BBC documentary about the rise of the neo-cons and the influence of Leo Strauss, paralleled with the rise of radical Islamic fundamentalism. 

I have a number of criticisms of the series, so I'll concentrate on them and thereby give you a picture of what the documentary details. 

One of my first criticisms has to do with the proposition that prior to the rise of the neo-conservative movement, politicians and governments pointed the way forward to a better future. That they gave hope and promises of prosperity to the citizens of their country. In contrast, the neo-cons create and use existing myths to rally the citizens. These myths include religion and the myth of the nation. But they also use scare tactics (nightmares) to maintain a greater hold over society and justify authoritarian measures.
Now this all good and well, but as far as I can see it, using myths and lies to justify their hold on power is not peculiar to the neo-cons. It is a prescript that has long been written in the codes of rulers. There are plenty of examples throughout history. However, I do agree that the neo-cons have taken it a degree higher than has been done in US history since Joseph McCarthy.
But there is another level to this proposition, which relates to how the neo-cons view history, the role of leaders, etc. And this since it is very interesting.

It is also disappointing that criticism throughout the movie is laid upon the neo-cons without implicating the democrats and others. Clinton, for example, was also very guilty of playing into neo-conservative strategies on various issues.

Perhaps the most interesting segment to me was Part III. In this segment a very good case is presented to the effect that al Queda has never really been the world-wide terrorist network that is presented as. That  it is in fact another myth that the neo-cons have created and have in ways legitimized. I am not going to comment on this, except to say, I had always been amazed at how much al Queda was presented so much like a jamesbondian Specter network. Haven't I seen this movie a million times in my youth?

Criticisms aside, it is a shame that this program has not been aired on PBS nationwide (I think it was shown on a few PBS stations, but very few I'm sure). If you can download or get a copy of it somewhere, definitely watch it!