WAR MADE EASY - DVD review

NIXON: "I still think we ought to take the dikes out now. Will that drown people?"
KISSINGER: "That would drown about 200,000 people."
NIXON: "Well, no no no… I'd rather use the nuclear bomb."
KISSINGER: "That, I think, would just be too much."
NIXON: "The nuclear bomb? Does that bother you?... I just want you to think big, Henry, for Christ's sakes!"
-From the Nixon White House Tapes

George W. Bush's most vocal critics may be disappointed by two new DVD releases. Just as certain Christian fundamentalists derive a sense of satisfaction from being witness to the ever-impending end times, Bush-haters cherish the notion that they have endured a unique period in American history during which the Chief Executive has invaded a sovereign nation under false pretenses and unleashed unspeakable destruction on the native population. I'm sorry to say this, but there's nothing special about the Bush administration save perhaps the fact that its incompetence is so all-encompassing that it cannot ever cover up its own incompetence.

"Walker" (1987), directed by Alex Cox, proves that we have been "bringing Democracy" to other countries for more than 150 years under cover of virtually the same rhetoric used today. Its critique of Reagan's policy n Nicaragua is so relevant to today's war in Iraq, it seems downright prescient. I hope you will click the above link to read my review of that remarkable and eccentric film.

"War Made Easy" (2007) feels very much like the documentary echo of "Walker," even though it was made twenty years later and bears no direct relationship to Alex Cox's film as far as I know. Based on a book by journalist Norman Solomon, this documentary, directed by Loretta Alper and Jeremy Earp, provides a depressing and frightening journey through post-WW2 American military rhetoric. Even before Ike decried the influence of the military-industrial complex, American presidents have been perfecting ways to portray the wholesale slaughter of foreigners as patriotic and noble.

In one sense, it's not terribly shocking. One of the roles of the President is to function as America's lead salesman, and his job is to depict America as "good" and our enemies du jour as "evil." In one of the film's most powerful sequences, we see a montage of clips of Presidents soberly declaring how reluctant the United States is to use military options. LBJ: "We still seek no wider war." Reagan: "The United States does not start fights." George Bush the First: "America does not seek conflict." Clinton: "I don't like to use military force." Dubyah: "Our nation enters this conflict reluctantly." Yet, somehow, the world's most reluctant warrior has managed to find a reason to sustain a perpetual global war dating at least to the start of the Korean "conflict."

Salesmanship may be the President's job, but surely it is the job of a free press to question that sales pitch. Alas, the so-called liberal media has always eagerly sounded the drumbeat of war leading into each new noble battle. It's almost as if the media serves as a willing adjunct to the government's propaganda. Almost? Fuck almost. That's exactly what they do. Sometimes they even brag about it: "We've got generals!". The news media flaunts its government sources, as if the mere mention of a "U.S. official" as the source somehow proves that the information provided must be accurate. In one of the funniest/saddest moments in the film, Eason Jordan, CNN Chief News Executive, actually went on the air to assure viewers that he got "a big thumbs up" from the Pentagon which approved the list of experts he was planning to use on air. How surreal. Did he also get Kenneth Lay to personally approve all the sources he planned to use to cover the Enron scandal? Can we please lie to rest the notion of a "liberal" media? There is only a corporate media whose only ideology is that of achieving higher ratings and higher profits. If that means cheerleading the war one day and pooh-poohing it the next based on the most recent poll numbers, then that's what we're going to see.

"War Made Easy" focuses heavily on the Iraq war mostly because it's easier to dig up recent footage, but the film also provides a broader historical perspective. The media has always glorified American military might, from its basic nobility of purpose to its awesome killing efficiency. We only target "bad guys" and any civilian casualties are simply an unfortunate accident because, after all, we're the "good guys" and we would never intentionally harm the innocent.

Even if you're inclined to dismiss the film's politics as "America-bashing" it's difficult to reject the movie's main thesis about the media's complicity in America's multiple marches to war. "War Made Easy" is not easily forgotten.

Video

The documentary is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio. The image quality ranges from mediocre to poor with the new interviews (mostly of Norman Solomon) looking best, and much of the media footage, even the recent stuff, looking pretty shaky. The transfer is merely adequate, but it's not like there's any way this source image is ever going to look particularly good.

Audio

The DVD is presented in Dolby Digital Mono. No subtitles are provided.

Extras

None.

Film Value

After watching "War Made Easy," you may be tempted to kill your television, but the sad fact is that there is really no alternate media, not print journalism and not the internet, that provides a clearly superior option. For all the valid criticism the film offers, the only alternate solution appears to be to have faith in the people but have you seen the people lately? Am I too pessimistic? I don't believe the democratization of the media does much to improve the signal/noise ratio, but I'd love to be proven wrong.