BRAVE NEW FILMS – In The Media

By Katrina Bisheimer at Bangor Daily News

The election of Barack Obama brought hope for change in our war policy, but this was an illusion. Early in his presidency he negotiated the withdrawal of all U.S. combat troops from Iraq over a 19-month period. However, this has now been extended to possibly 10 years; although this is slightly better than the 100 years suggested by John McCain.

Then came the comprehensive new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan in which he stated, “We have a clear and focused goal: to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al-Qaida in Pakistan and Afghanistan and to prevent their return to either country in the future …”

This column looks at the human costs of escalating the “war of terror” better known as the “war on terror” and offer suggestions for ways to get the voices of peace and sanity heard.

The BBC reported that in the first six months of 2009, the conflict in Afghanistan had resulted in 1,013 civilian casualties compared to only 818 in 2008 and only 684 in 2007. There has been a parallel rise in suicide bombing and roadside explosives, which usually result in many civilian deaths. There were no suicide bombings in Afghanistan before this “war of terror” began. The report says that from 2007 through 2009, insurgents were responsible for more deaths than the government-allied forces were, but two-thirds of the deaths caused by government-allied forces were from airstrikes. Recently, U.S. warplanes dropped bombs in a village in the western province of Farah that resulted in about 100 women, children and men turned into corpses and bits of human flesh by iron fragments. The Afghan survivors carted dozens of corpses in trucks from their village to the provincial capital to publicly denounce the carnage, shouting “Death to America!” U.S. forces have actually killed more civilian Afghans during 2009 than the Taliban has. Our military approach has backfired and has become a great recruiting tool for the Taliban.

By Chris Garofolo at Brattleboro Reformer

BRATTLEBORO — U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders has partnered with media pioneer Brave New Films to produce a weekly online series.

The “Senator Sanders Unfiltered” program will air once a week in five-minute segments featuring the Vermont Independent answering questions submitted by viewers nationwide via Twitter and Twitvid. Producers hope the show will provide an unprecedented look at the political and policy-making process on Capitol Hill while hearing the concerns from regular citizens.

“It is important that we as Americans have direct access to voices that are truthful, dauntless and unapologetic like that of Sen. Bernie Sanders. [This series] is going to provide that access,” said Robert Greenwald, producer and founder of Brave New Films. “Every week, he will talk about the issues that people are concerned about … and really be able to reach a large audience without any reservations or anything standing in the way.”

Sanders is the first senator in history to release a weekly online show addressing the concerns from everyday Americans. He said the move gives him another vehicle to publicize a more progressive perspective that is often overlooked in the national media.

“Frankly, I think that the media in general does not do a great job of keeping people informed about what’s going on in Washington (D.C.),” said Sanders. “I’m going to use this opportunity to provide a progressive analysis to the people of this country, and I feel good about it.”According to Sanders, there is a strong need for progressive voices in the mainstream to counter the right-wing voices and ideologies.

“Our nation is on the brink of tremendous change, with issues like health care reform, the environment and banking regulations. This series will provide alternative, progressive perspectives that are not being covered by the mainstream media, he said. “It just gives me, as a U.S. Senator, the opportunity to speak with people without a filter and respond to the questions they have.”

Greenwald said the Vermont senator has stayed in touch with his constituents throughout his political career using the latest technological advances. Sanders was one of the first to recognize how important the Internet would become for alternative news outlets and reaching out directly to Americans, he said.

“One of my jobs as an elected official is to do my best to explain to people why things are the way they are and what we can do to improve it,” said Sanders. “I think that’s part of what our job is about … not sitting in an office away from people.”

The first online episode (or Webisode) aired Monday, about a week after the site’s trailer appeared showing Sanders arguing against corporate greed and the high costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. More than 41,000 viewers have checked out the initial episode.

“I think we’re off to a good start … it’s kind of an interesting experiment and we’ll see how it works,” said Sanders.

“The response to the first show was really overwhelming,” said Greenwald. The success should come as no surprise to Greenwald — Brave New Films’ online videos have reached more than 45 million viewers.

To watch the online series or to submit a question to the senator, interested residents can visit www.sandersunfiltered.com.

By Stephanie Condon at CBS News

The White House and other Democrats are increasingly taking aim at the insurance industry to promote health care reform, but one Democratic congressman reportedly says House Speaker Nancy Pelosi went too far when she referred to the industry as “villains.”

Rep. John Yarmuth (D- Ky.) sent a letter earlier this month to the chief executive of the Louisville-based insurance company, calling Pelosi’s comments “inflammatory” and “misguided,” according to the Louisville Courier-Journal.

“They are the villains in this,” Pelosi said of the insurance industry in a July press conference. “They have been part of the problem in a major way.”

“Regrettably, with passions inflamed throughout the country, Speaker Pelosi recently made inflammatory statements that assailed the character of health insurers across the board. I unequivocally reject those misguided comments,” Yarmuth wrote in an Aug. 4 letter to Humana executive Michael McCallister, the Courier-Journal reports. “Not only do such overtures distract from a constructive debate, they are simply untrue. That certain insurers have engaged in unscrupulous practices cannot be denied, but to paint an entire industry with a single stroke is unfair.”

Yarmuth reportedly wrote the letter after Humana requested a discussion with Pelosi about her remarks. He said he was concerned about the impressions of the 7,000 Louisville workers employed by Humana.

The insurance industry has warned health care reform supporters that attacking them would be unproductive. The industry is seen as largely responsible for killing health care reform efforts in the 1990’s.

That has not kept President Obama, however, from assailing insurance companies that he said “reaped windfall profits from a broken system.” As doubts have grown about some of the more controversial parts of Mr. Obama’s plans, such as the government-sponsored insurance option, the president has increasingly focused on emphasizing the need for new regulations on the insurance industry.

Meanwhile, outside pro-reform activists are likwise hitting the insurance industry hard. Director Robert Greenwald and Brave New Films, for instance, have launched an online campaign called Sick for Profit that targets well-paid insurance executives.

By Jonathan Kim at Huffington Post

According to the Pentagon, the US will spend more on the war in Afghanistan next year than it will in Iraq — about $65 billion for Afghanistan versus $61 billion for Iraq. With no timetable set for withdrawal and the daunting task of building (not REbuilding) a country that is mostly in the Stone Age, largely illiterate, lacking in basic infrastructure like roads and electricity, and wrecked by 30 years of continuous war, military experts are predicting that the total budget for the war in Afghanistan will eventually cost more than the Iraq war.

So I thought it would be interesting to take another look at Charlie Wilson’s War, the true story of America’s clandestine war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan and the philandering Texas congressman who made it happen. But by radicalizing Afghans, arming and training the mujahideen (who would later become Al Qaeda), then abandoning the war-ravaged country as soon as the Soviets had been defeated, the US arguably sowed the seeds of 9/11 and the war we’re still fighting there today — with no end in sight.

Click the pic below to watch my ReThink Review of Charlie Wilson’s War (you’ll be redirected to YouTube due to copyright silliness).

To see me on Cenk Uygur’s XM/Air America show, The Young Turks, discussing Charlie Wilson’s War, the Soviet Afghan War, and why the US is still blowing our occupation of Afghanistan, click here.
If you want to learn why waging a war in Afghanistan is so much more difficult and expensive than it is in Iraq, I’d recommend checking out part three of Brave New Film’s ReThink Afghanistan series, The Cost of War. I worked on this series and conducted many of the interviews used in the videos. The whole series is definitely worth a watch if you want to learn why our continued occupation of Afghanistan is such a bad idea.