
VIDEO
Coverup - Behind the Iran-Contra Affair [VHS]
$39.95
About this product:
Born in 1978, I was awfully young to know what was going on during the Iran-Contra scandals. I vividly remember a vacation at my grandparents' house where we watched hours and hours of Oliver North testifying before Congress, but I had no idea what it was all about. He seemed like a nice guy to me, but my parents didn't have anything nice to say about him. What I did know was that what my parents said about North, Ronald Reagan, and George Bush was not be repeated in mixed company.
This user-friendly 1988 film documents the many atrocities the United States spearheaded during the Reagan-Bush years (as well as some of those in the years prior). The information is disgusting. It is angering. And unfortunately, it seems to be the truth. The CIA were involved in cocaine and arms trafficking. Reagan made a deal to delay the release of hostages in Iran until he took office. The CIA had plans to round up political dissidents and hold them in detainment camps. Etc., etc., etc.
This kind of material always runs the risk of being dismissed as leftist propaganda and paranoia - especially when, as is the case here, the allegations are so extreme as to seem implausible. "Coverup," however, nicely maintains superb objectivity. First, none of what we learn is told to us by the narrator, but instead by a variety of interviewed authorities. Second, those authorities aren't obscure political analysts, cynical history professors, renegade journalists, and conspiracy theorists, but actually United States Congressmen (both Dem. and Rep.!), Reagan-Bush campaign managers, formerly high-ranking CIA operatives, New York Times editors, etc. Third, archived news footage is used to let the likes of Reagan and North incriminate themselves. Rather than rely on speculation, "Coverup" lays down facts.
This documentary is a great and easy way to bone up on some of the recent horrors of recent American history, which is great for someone like me who simply doesn't know much. It seems particularly worth watching now that baby Bush is bringing the legacy into the 21st Century. (But do beware of some awful bad 80s hair.)