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On March 19, 2003, America invaded Iraq. It was a war that would cause tens of thousands of deaths, would exacerbate regional rivalry and tarnish the prestige of the US. Ten years after the start of this war, this film goes back to investigate the events and…the manipulation that made it possible for America to declare war.
The British government of Prime Minister Tony Blair learned that military action against Iraq was in preparation only months after 9/11. In a declassified document from December 2001, Blair accepts that the invasion is a 'fait accompli'. The document points out that justification for the invasion could be constructed around weapons of mass destruction, though it would be “'threadbare'”. But saying no to America was never considered an option…
The world is now better-informed about the details of the formidable machinations of the U.S. administration to politically, legally and morally legitimise a war that increasingly appears to have been a war of aggression. From the Valerie Plame affair to the doctored photos shown by Colin Powell at the United Nations, there are numerous elements indicating that a conspiracy was organised by the principal players in the Bush administration.
With the perspective of ‘historical distance’, it is finally possible to retrace the course of the neo-conservative strategy (in both legal and propaganda contexts) adopted by the Bush administration, and to demonstrate the connections with the ensuing economic and political repercussions.