Product Description

Winner: Cine Eco International Film Festival* Grand Prize *

On August 2nd, 1990, Saddam Hussein launched his troops against Kuwait, triggering the first major international crisis of the post-Soviet Union era. But was this invasion a surprise in the first place? Were all diplomatic means really utilized to try to resolve the issue peacefully? Was there any threat from the part of Iraq against Saudi Arabia or against any of the other Gulf states? Why wasn't Washington's rhetoric against Saddam ever matched by any real support to the Iraqi opposition groups? What purpose can the embargo over Iraq serve if it is not to weaken Saddam Hussein, a result it has evidently failed to achieve to this day? What is true behind this mysterious "Gulf War Syndrome" that goes on affecting hundreds of thousands of Gulf War veterans and local populations and more and more of them every day?

A two-year investigation, "Hidden Wars of Desert Storm" brings answers to all of these questions, basing itself on documents never seen before on television and backed by interviews of such prominent personalities as Desert Storm Commander, General Norman Schwarzkopf, former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark, former UN Iraq Program Director Denis Halliday, former UNSCOM team-leader Scott Ritter and many others. A large selection of archival footage, moving images recently brought back from Iraq, an original soundtrack scored by acclaimed composer Fritz Heede and the narration by two-time British Academy Award-winner, actor John Hurt, all contribute to making "Hidden Wars of Desert Storm" a fast-paced, informative documentary while resolutely accessible to a general audience.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #70705 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-02-25
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 64 minutes

The New York Times
"Hidden Wars emerges as an uncommonly sober, well researched film of its type."

J. Hoberman, The Village Voice
"Hidden Wars of Desert Storm investigates the most significant Bush family operation before the 2000 Florida vote count."

From the Actor
Gerard Ungerman and Audrey Brohy here, from Free-Will Productions in Los Angeles. We are documentary filmmakers specializing in contemporary social and political issues with a historical perspective.

We would like to inform you about our "Hidden Wars of Desert Storm" documentary on the origins of the Gulf war and on the forces at play behind the on-going embargo against Iraq. This award-winning documentary was recently praised by the New York Times as "an uncommonly sober, well researched film" and by the Christian Science Monitor as "well worth seeing by anyone concerned about contemporary world events".

Narrated by British actor John Hurt and with the participation of former U.S. Attorney Gen. Ramsey Clark, General Schwarzkopf, former UN Iraq program Dir. Denis Halliday, former UNSCOM team-leader Scott Ritter and many others, "Hidden Wars" offers insights about the history of Western involvement in the Middle-East, about the origins of the Gulf war and about the very course of the war itself. It also reveals the hidden U.S. Gov.'s political agenda behind the ongoing embargo strangling the population of Iraq and also about the not-so-mysterious Gulf war syndrome plaguing both veterans and local populations. The documentary also features moving images recently brought back from Iraq as well as rarely if ever seen footage from the war and declassified documents. All these shed light on the duplicity of some of our leaders, the same duplicity now exerted in Afghanistan for the sake of oil and territory control, for the sake also of securing gigantic military contracts for the benefit of U.S. arms-makers and at the expense of the U.S. tax-payers and world peace.

Customer Reviews

If the government lied, would anyone be suprised?
Although definitely not unbiased and as emotionally manipulative as any "save the children" late night TV spot, this documentary nontheless examines issues and draws conclusions rarely, possibly uniquely, touched on in the media about the 1990-91 Gulf War with Iraq and the ensuing economic sanctions levied against the country in the following decade. Impossible to merely discount as leftist conspiracy theory, topics are raised that are not mentioned elsewhere:

1. Why didn't we get rid of Saddam back in 1991 when we had the military there, the Iraqi popular support, and the supposed political objectives to do so?

2. What was the real objective of a decade of economic sanctions?

3. What is truth behind Gulf War Syndrome which has affected numerous veterans and civilians in the years following the war?

Watch this video and draw your own conclusions. You wont find coverage on these topics elsewhere easily.

FOUR AND A HALF STARS!!!!!!
A MUST SEE FILM - BUT I WANT TO SAY THIS ABOUT A FORMER REVIEWER:

THE FOLLOWING IS A REVIEW THAT MADE ME CRINGE IN DISBELIEF... Pass the Kool-Aid and the ammunition -- BEGIN THE FORMER REVIEW HERE:
Misleading and Sophomoric (sic)--NO STARS, July 2, 2003
Reviewer: A viewer
Mostly for college kids...Yes, it is. Should work well for inspiring new bumpersticker (also sic) designs and t-shirt slogans.

Now, although I am not the Amazing Kreskin, the reviewer wouldn't leave his name but he does leave a heck of a URL trail.
I did some research on the NO NAME person - Turns out he is Jason P. Williams of Sacramento CA.

He hated this film but he also hated anything by Michael Moore and anything slightly anti the current administration ... He does however think that anything performed by Madonna is a FIVE Star "film." Love Angel by Gwen Stephani gets a 5 STAR rating too. You will be surprised to note that Jason loved the poorly received movie STEALTH, Hated the Last Samurai (Which i didn't see so I haven't got a clue here.) He reviews it at least 4 times... Why? I don't know. Hated Bowling for Columbine but loved T-3 Rise of The Machines. Loved CNN's fantasy film "The War In Iraq - Road To Baghdad" The list of A+ FIVE STAR rated films and games, is, to quote jason "SOPHOMORIC" Just spelled different... Don't believe me... Hell, I wouldn't believe anything here after reading Jason's "list." Just go to his reviews and make some sort of sense out of it... I would bet money that Jason does not own nor has he seen any film by Michael Moore or the film here, "Hidden Wars of Desert Storm" He insists that since it is a film distributed by an Arab company it has no merit. HA!

My personal thoughts on the film after actually watching it are:

Watch this film if you want to know how deeply entrenched the USA and Western Europe is with Middle Eastern Oil concerns - Mainly the House of Saud -- Ya' know, those guys who Bush blithely walks around in Texas, holding hands with and then after 9/11 flies them all out of the country without a single question... Those are the ones.

Watch this film if you want to know what the effects of depleted uranium are on people who ingest it... It is pretty darned ugly but heck, there's oil there and we want it.

Watch this film if you think that we are being led down the primrose path by a bunch of knuckle-draggers who are in bed with:
Religious fundamentalists, money grubbing oil executives, narcissistic idiots AKA the CIA who placed evil overlords in power in the Middle East so we can profit for ever from raping the indigenous people of that region and would like to see that you may be onto something.

Yes, the film drags in places and there could have been a bit edited out just to get to the point a bit quicker.

BUT -- the excellent archival footage was interesting and well placed.

Do not watch this movie if you have a weak stomach. Do not watch this film if you think that GW Bush is really talking to God or just plain want to remain in the confines of your own inner space.

In other words; Jason from Sacramento needs to actually watch or read some of the stuff he reviews with an open mind before going by what he interprets from the Drudge Report or the secret memo's he gets from Scott McClellan every morning.

Excellent documentary, valuable viewing
This excellent film should be seen by everyone -- particularly those looking for insight into why the U.S. has pursued the policy it has in the Middle East, and Iraq in particular. Consider this film to be anti-spin, helping to counter the various Bush administrations' myths and lies about Iraq and the motivations of our policy toward this country.

You will notice the only slightly veiled racism of some of the critical reviewers: "The Distributor is worth noting" says the reviewer from D.C. -- as if calling itself 'Arab Film Distribution' is something the distributor should be ashamed of. I mean, most normal people don't watch "Schindler's List" and say: "Oh look, Stephen Spielberg is a Jew! Gosh! Can't trust this film!" ... if you know what I mean.

Anyway, if the issue is supposed to be the film's objectivity, one should note instead that the filmmaker is from Switzerland, a neutral country. I would trust a Swiss journalist to report objectively about U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East a lot more than I would trust, say, Fox News (which provided targeting information to the U.S. military during the most recent Iraq war, totally destroying any credibility they may have had as objective journalists and seriously endangering their journalist colleagues), as that reviewer probably does.

In any case, great work, great film -- it's nice to know that this information is out there and readily available, any time you want to know part of actual history that you won't read in the official text.