The Power of Nightmares

"The Rise of the Politics of Fear"

Examines how politicians have used our fears to increase their power and control over society.

Created By	Adam Curtis
Status	Ended
Original Name	The Power of Nightmares
First Air Date	October 20, 2004
Last Air Date	November 3, 2004
Seasons	1
Episodes	3
Episode Runtime	1h 0min
Language	English, Arabic, French
Original Language	English
Production Countries	United Kingdom
Production Companies
Networks	BBC Two

S01E03

The Shadows in the Cave

Curtis argues that, after their failed revolutions, bin Laden and Zawahiri had little or no popular support, let alone a serious complex organisation of terrorists, and were dependent upon independent operatives to carry out their new call for jihad. The film instead shows the United States government wanting to prosecute bin Laden in absentia for the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings, and needing to prove him to be the head of a criminal organisation to do so. They find a former associate of bin Laden, Jamal al-Fadl, and pay him to testify that bin Laden was the head of a massive terrorist organisation called "al-Qaeda". With the September 11th attacks, Neo-Conservatives in the new Republican government of George W. Bush use this created concept of an organisation to justify another crusade against a new evil enemy, leading to the launch of the War on Terrorism.

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