TV programs worth watching
Sun September 7 — Sat September 13
The Trial Of Henry Kissinger (SBS 8.30pm Sunday) was inspired by
the book by journalist Christopher Hitchens, which called for Henry
Kissinger to be tried as a war criminal.
Hitchens argues that "The hunt for those who will use force against
civilians or against democracy for short-term or fanatical gains of their
own is now a hunt in which the whole world takes part and there can't be
any exceptions."
Kissinger served as National Security Advisor and Secretary of State under
Presidents Nixon and Ford ('69 to '77) and ludicrously won the Nobel Peace
Prize in 1973.
The accusations against Kissinger made in the program include:
Vietnam — that Kissinger supplied information to campaigning presidential
hopeful Richard Nixon in 1968 that prevented the successful conclusion of
peace talks.
Cambodia — that Kissinger oversaw the secret bombing of Cambodia without
seeking the consent of Congress as required by the US Constitution. To
cover it up Kissinger approved a plan in which raids on South Vietnam were
redirected to Cambodia during flight. This meant the attacks were reported
as taking place on Vietnam.
Under Kissinger's supervision, the US flew 3600 secret missions over
Cambodia in 14 months dropping 110,000 tonnes of bombs.
East Timor — that Kissinger and President Ford gave Indonesia a green
light to invade East Timor at a meeting the two men had with President
Suharto on December 5, 1975. One day later preparations for the invasion
began.
Chile — that under a CIA plan overseen by Kissinger the Head of the
Chilean Military, Renee Schneider, was kidnapped. Schneider, who had vowed
to uphold the confirmation of the democratic election of President Allende,
died as a result and in September 2001 his family brought a lawsuit against
Kissinger for murder.
It's the final episode this week of the repeats of series one of Kath & Kim
(ABC 8.30pm Thursdays). Although I often feel after watching an episode
of this popular Aussie comedy series as though I have been battered around
the head with a sockful of sand, I must admit that it can also be both
observant and funny.
The new, second, series begins next week.
Eye witnesses to the numerous shootings of civilians in Iraq by the US
military speak of the way the US troops, when they come under fire or even
think they may be under fire, react with wild panic, firing
indiscriminately in all directions.
In the Vietnam War, the Vietnamese soon discovered that mortar attacks on
US camps produced mass panic and deadly pandemonium: there were graphic
accounts by returning US personnel of troops minced up in the tracks of
armoured personnel carriers being driven wildly around inside camps at
night during mortar attacks.
And more British troops were killed in the Gulf War by US fire than by
Iraqi soldiers.
Intensely fearful, hyped up and zonked out, the US soldier is a trigger-
happy accident waiting to happen.
True Stories: Friend Or Foe? (ABC 10.00pm Thursday) looks at
casualties that have occurred in wars over the past 20 years, from the
Falklands to the Gulf War, Afghanistan and Iraq, from "friendly fire" or in
a "blue on blue" incident as the British military call it.
It's a shocking enough situation in modern warfare for both the
perpetrators and the casualties of friendly fire, but it is made worse when
the military decides to exercise what the program calls "its ingrained
instinct" to cover up such incidents.
As It Happened: Mossad's Hit List (SBS 7.30pm Saturday) begins with
two fallacious contentions. One is that the continuing program of
assassinations of Palestinian leaders by Israeli agents is a "response" to
the 1972 attack on Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics.
The other is that this state terrorism lasted only until 1992. That this
latter claim is patently false is obvious from the events of the last few
weeks: Palestinian "terrorist" leaders are still being murdered by Israeli
Intelligence and military in a futile attempt to crush Palestinian
resistance.
But the assassinations unashamedly carried out by Israel in the 20 years
prior to 1992 were not forced on Israel by the Munich Olympic Games
killings. Terrorism had been a stock in trade of the Zionists since at
least the days of British rule in Palestine.
The recourse to assassinations was the reaction of a right-wing government
to a people's struggle. The action in Munich of the Black September
Palestinian organisation was a response to 25 years or more of Israeli
aggression and terrorism.
To blame the Israeli Government assassinations program on Munich is the
same as blaming Israel's current program of aggression and terror killings
on the Palestinian suicide bombers. They are in fact the overt acts of a
reactionary regime that regards Arabs as inferior.
Screening the following day is the Academy Award-winning documentary One
Day in September (SBS 8.30pm Sunday), which looks at the events of
September 5, 1972, at the Munich Olympic Village.
I have not seen it, and on this subject its Oscar is probably not a
recommendation, but its subject is apparently "the irresponsible actions
made by the parties in charge of the response" [to the capture of the
athletes].
The ABC's season of film noir seems to have finished, being replaced this
week with an RKO classic of an entirely different genre, Morning Glory
(ABC 10.15pm Saturday).
Katharine Hepburn won her first Academy Award for her portrayal of a stage-
struck girl in this drama from 1933. "Dialogue is pointed and terse, and
the photography is magnificent", said Variety.
"A first rate supporting cast gives Hepburn invaluable co-operation,
notably a fine, intelligent handling of the male lead by Douglas Fairbanks
Jr and a characteristically suave performance by Adaolphe Menjou."
And the American Film Institute adds: "The film is sharply and sensitively
directed by the multi-talented Lowell Sherman, who did Mae West's She Done
Him Wrong that same year, while also appearing in What Price
Hollywood? For George Cukor."