Farenheit 9/11

Last night I saw Michael Moore's Farenheit 9/11.

What a film. I read Stupid White Men a couple of years back and was left shaking my head in astonishment and pain many times while reading it; this film is much the same, except condensed into two hours, rather than over a few days.

What can I say? It portrays the Bush government as an Old Boys Network, carving up Iraq for profit, giving huge favours to various Saudis in return for huge amounts of cash... it shows US Army recruiters going to the less well-to-do malls and signing up people who have no prospect of getting a job otherwise... it shows how un-democratic the USA really is.

Well anyway, the whole situation in Iraq is sick and twisted, and if you feel the need to see why - this film is a good one to show you one viewpoint.

I think that I can accept that there is some conflict of interest if the Bush family is deeply involved in the defence industry, and hence stands to gain from war; when the Vice President is deeply involved in one company that gets a good proportion of the contracts available in Iraq.

This is old news, I guess - from 2004 no less. But it's still shocking. How humans can deceitfully subject people to such pain and suffering, even more shocking when the people doing this are from "civilised" "democratic" "free" countries (and I'm talking about the UK as well as the US).

Well.

What have I learned? I guess that I want even more strongly to make a difference, to be the change I wish to see. That love and compassion build bridges, and that greed and power break them down.

It's a good film, well worth watching. But don't watch if you're unhappy already - watch My Neighbour Totoro instead!!