Between Art and Politics: When Filmmaking Is an Arm of US Intelligence

Followers of American movies depicting military operations, in the “action” genre, may notice something odd: It is reflected in the use of real military technology by filmmakers and producers. Some movies use aircraft carriers and sophisticated submarines, others have featured some of the most sophisticated fighter jets and bombers like the B2, considered to be the latest fifth-generation bomber, even before its existence was announced to the American public. Hence, we wonder: Is the U.S. taking a risk by disclosing and leaking the secrets of its advanced military technology, which should be a state secret?! Or does the quandary lay within the film industry and its marketing? We do not believe that this is possible, so we assume that such movies are part of ongoing preparations to launch a military operation and to groom the public opinion to accept it. We can even go beyond that assumption, namely, to the continuous and genuine coordination between the American film industry and the U.S. intelligence community, with its 15 or more agencies. The film industry translates military tactics and exercises to a virtual war that closely mimics the real one. In other cases, there is a real relationship between soft war, as in psychological warfare, and the film industry.

Accordingly, the mysterious death of the famous actress Marilyn Monroe comes as no surprise and so does the relationship between the UN Goodwill Ambassador — the glamorous Angelina Jolie — and the CIA. The facts speak for themselves: we have witnessed a correlation between the imagination of some American movies and major political events, which left a significant impact at the international and regional levels. Nevertheless, the relationship went beyond imagination to reach the level of true integration and continuity. For example, in one of the old issues of “Al-Arabi” magazine (April 1988) there was an article about the image of Arabs in American movies. It was amazing how that article addressed a number of movies, including “Best Defense” and “The Jewel of the Nile”; the first one was released in 1984 and was filmed in Israel, with a plot that described an attack by the Iraqi army on Kuwait. The article’s writer was surprised by the selection of such a scenario as a cinematic material; he wrote: “anyone who knows even a little about the Arab world would not be showing Iraqi forces ravaging Kuwait; Kuwait and Iraq are two neighboring Arab countries, and Kuwait will never ask the U.S. help to face the forces of an Arab ally.”

At the time of the movie release in 1984, Arab-Americans were preoccupied with the Iraq-Iran war and were giving generously to abort the nascent Iranian revolution that would destroy Iraq. Nevertheless, based on data from that era and the alliances map of the time, it was impossible to imagine an Iraqi invasion of Kuwait – which did later occur in 1990 — six years after the release of the movie. Furthermore, the unthinkable, according to the article’s writer, had happened: Kuwait requested an American military intervention. Were the producers of the movie some exceptional forecasters?!

The CIA and its proxies planned, painted and programmed a big war game. They also simulated military exercises on the big screen, and then laid the groundwork for this intervention. I’m not talking about a conspiracy, but about real facts that are many times more serious than the shrewdest of all conspiracies. In fact, the American intelligence community has achieved two objectives simultaneously: the occupation of oil resources and the undermining of Iraqi capabilities by the attack. More seriously was the shifting of the major conflict in the region from an Arab-Zionist conflict to an Arab-Arab one and sealing the deal with the occupation of Iraq which, subsequently, transformed the intra-Arab conflict into many internal conflicts along sectarian and ethnic lines, among many others.

Speaking of movies, we must address the topic of the film offending the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. The movie is not of a high scientific, artistic, cultural or documentary quality. Why would the American movie industry release such a movie knowing that it would instantly provoke a wave of discontent and unrest in more than one place in the Islamic world? It is absurd to keep playing the broken-record of “freedom of expression.” So what are the political objectives and the intelligence goals behind the film?

I think that the goal is to test the reaction of the Islamic world toward the colossal events that will take place in the foreseeable future. It is likely that the release of this movie is a prelude for a new Zionist-Western aggression on the Arab world. Moreover, we should pause at news of the participation of Egyptian Copts in that movie, as if the film is saying: “Egypt is the goal.”

After the invasion of Iraq, one of the neocon philosophers declared: “Iraq is a step, Saudi Arabia is a stage, and the Grand Prix will be Egypt.” As to why we speculated it will be Egypt, and not some other county, the answer lies in another movie: “The Jewel of the Nile.” It was released in 1985 and, according to the same issue of “Al-Arabi” magazine, the movie shows how the Arabs fight each other. In addition, the movie talks about tribal conflicts on both banks of the Nile, the great river that carries within its water a big part of the answer. The water is a focal point for the West and the Zionists; hasn’t Israel demanded, on many occasions, its rights to the waters of the Nile?

Based on the events of the Arab Spring and the attempts to destroy Syria and strain Egypt, we say: Watch for a colossal event in the land of Egypt, a country that lost its army without a war in the Camp David Accords, lost its intelligence apparatus in the Arab Spring, lost control to the Islamic-Zionist party and, above all, lost its strategic depth due to the division of Sudan and the incineration of Syria.

From filmmaking to politics and the intelligence activities in between, the Arab world remains the last to wake up. Will Egypt ever wake up? How long will the Arabs remain unable to read the signs on the wall? Still, if they were to read, they do not comprehend, and should they comprehend, they do not act!