Checkmate - Strategy of a Revolution
- a documentary
(poster's comment: it gives you some parallels regarding the situation in Libya/Syria etc.)
2003, 60’, ORF/3sat, ZDF/ARTE, Looks Medienproduktionen, Parallel 40;
How do you trigger off a revolution? “Checkmate” reveals how and why the United States was involved in the Romanian Revolution.
When Ceausescu refused to accept the reforms sweeping Eastern Europe in 1989, the ruthless Romanian dictator rushed headlong into his own destruction. As the last of the hard-liners in the Warsaw Pact, only Ceausescu stood in the way of Europe’s reunification…. Upon the backdrop of one of the most exciting episodes of history, an intricate web of international political strategies is unfolded. The Romanian revolution of 1989 seemed spontaneous. But, as this investigative documentary proves, history is not that simple. In actual fact, the Romanian revolution was a strictly managed operation, controlled from the outside. Hungary, Germany and especially the USA had big fingers in the pie. For the first time, the events in Romania are put in an international context, revealing surprising connections. It was an international chess game – a game of power with
far-reaching results...both for Europe and the USA. In this highly convincing work, filmmaker Susanne Brandstätter clarifies the larger issues on the political world stage, but also proves that revolutions, no matter how well prepared, never take place without innocent victims. A painful conclusion.
(English subtitles)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF-LSrsd0fw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oY0eT9Czy4I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1l8qjX4SzBY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=we32VdNA5l4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpU8_in2kqI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6nrV21o_yQ
In Susanne Brandstätter’s documentary ‘Checkmate: Strategy of a Revolution’ aired on Arte television station some years ago, Western intelligence officials revealed how death squads were used to destabilize Romania and turn its people against the head of state Nicolaie Ceausescu.
Brandstätter’s film is a must see for anyone interested in how Western intelligence agencies, human rights groups and the corporate press collude in the systematic destruction of countries whose leadership conflicts with the interests of big capital and empire.
Former secret agent with the French secret service, the DGSE (La Direction générale de la sécurité extérieure) Dominique Fonvielle, spoke candidly about the role of Western intelligence operatives in destabilizing the Romanian population.
“how do you organize a revolution? I believe the first step is to locate oppositional forces in a given country. It is sufficient to have a highly developed intelligence service in order to determine which people are credible enough to have influence at their hands to destabilize the people to the disadvantage of the ruling regime”[2]
This open and rare admission of Western sponsorship of terrorism was justified on the grounds of the “greater good” brought to Romania by free-market capitalism. It was necessary, according to the strategists of Romania’s “revolution”, for some people to die.
Today, Romania remains one of the poorest countries in Europe. A report on Euractiv reads:
“Most Romanians associate the last two decades with a continuous process of impoverishment and deteriorating living standards, according to Romania’s Life Quality Research Institute, quoted by the Financiarul daily.” [3]
The western intelligence officials interviewed in the documentary also revealed how the Western press played a central role in disinformation. For example, the victims of Western-backed snipers were photographed by presented to the world as evidence of a crazed dictator who was “killing his own people”.
To this day, there is a Museum in the back streets of Timisoara Romania which promotes the myth of the “Romanian Revolution”. The Arte documentary was one of the rare occasions when the mainstream press revealed some of the dark secrets of Western liberal democracy. The documentary caused a scandal when it was aired in France, with the prestigious Le Monde Diplomatique discussing the moral dilemma of the West’s support of terror in its desire to spread ‘democracy’.
- a documentary
(poster's comment: it gives you some parallels regarding the situation in Libya/Syria etc.)
2003, 60’, ORF/3sat, ZDF/ARTE, Looks Medienproduktionen, Parallel 40;
How do you trigger off a revolution? “Checkmate” reveals how and why the United States was involved in the Romanian Revolution.
When Ceausescu refused to accept the reforms sweeping Eastern Europe in 1989, the ruthless Romanian dictator rushed headlong into his own destruction. As the last of the hard-liners in the Warsaw Pact, only Ceausescu stood in the way of Europe’s reunification…. Upon the backdrop of one of the most exciting episodes of history, an intricate web of international political strategies is unfolded. The Romanian revolution of 1989 seemed spontaneous. But, as this investigative documentary proves, history is not that simple. In actual fact, the Romanian revolution was a strictly managed operation, controlled from the outside. Hungary, Germany and especially the USA had big fingers in the pie. For the first time, the events in Romania are put in an international context, revealing surprising connections. It was an international chess game – a game of power with
far-reaching results...both for Europe and the USA. In this highly convincing work, filmmaker Susanne Brandstätter clarifies the larger issues on the political world stage, but also proves that revolutions, no matter how well prepared, never take place without innocent victims. A painful conclusion.
(English subtitles)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF-LSrsd0fw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oY0eT9Czy4I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1l8qjX4SzBY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=we32VdNA5l4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpU8_in2kqI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6nrV21o_yQ
In Susanne Brandstätter’s documentary ‘Checkmate: Strategy of a Revolution’ aired on Arte television station some years ago, Western intelligence officials revealed how death squads were used to destabilize Romania and turn its people against the head of state Nicolaie Ceausescu.
Brandstätter’s film is a must see for anyone interested in how Western intelligence agencies, human rights groups and the corporate press collude in the systematic destruction of countries whose leadership conflicts with the interests of big capital and empire.
Former secret agent with the French secret service, the DGSE (La Direction générale de la sécurité extérieure) Dominique Fonvielle, spoke candidly about the role of Western intelligence operatives in destabilizing the Romanian population.
“how do you organize a revolution? I believe the first step is to locate oppositional forces in a given country. It is sufficient to have a highly developed intelligence service in order to determine which people are credible enough to have influence at their hands to destabilize the people to the disadvantage of the ruling regime”[2]
This open and rare admission of Western sponsorship of terrorism was justified on the grounds of the “greater good” brought to Romania by free-market capitalism. It was necessary, according to the strategists of Romania’s “revolution”, for some people to die.
Today, Romania remains one of the poorest countries in Europe. A report on Euractiv reads:
“Most Romanians associate the last two decades with a continuous process of impoverishment and deteriorating living standards, according to Romania’s Life Quality Research Institute, quoted by the Financiarul daily.” [3]
The western intelligence officials interviewed in the documentary also revealed how the Western press played a central role in disinformation. For example, the victims of Western-backed snipers were photographed by presented to the world as evidence of a crazed dictator who was “killing his own people”.
To this day, there is a Museum in the back streets of Timisoara Romania which promotes the myth of the “Romanian Revolution”. The Arte documentary was one of the rare occasions when the mainstream press revealed some of the dark secrets of Western liberal democracy. The documentary caused a scandal when it was aired in France, with the prestigious Le Monde Diplomatique discussing the moral dilemma of the West’s support of terror in its desire to spread ‘democracy’.
