On Sept. 6, The Washington Post reported a statistic that should alarm all of us: Seven in 10 Americans continue to believe that Saddam Hussein was “personally involved in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.” This misperception flies in the face of the evidence. Moreover, once this misperception takes hold it is a short step to exploit the strong emotions around the terrorist attacks to make the invasion of Iraq seem justified as self-defense. How can it be that so many of our fellow citizens so badly misunderstand an event that has been so widely reported? This misunderstanding has occurred because our government has deceived us and some in our media have complied.

We are told that it doesn’t matter that our government has misled us, but the U.S. invasion of Iraq has led, so far, to the deaths of approximately 300 U.S. soldiers, to the wounding of some 1,500 others, and, although it is difficult to obtain accurate figures, to the deaths of between 6,000 and 8,000 innocent Iraqi civilians. Congress has already approved the expenditure of $79 billion for the Iraq war and President Bush recently asked for an additional $87 billion. With such a terrible human and financial cost it is absolutely crucial that citizens of any democracy know what their government is doing and why.

With the administration’s repeated rhetorical links in statements that begin “Al-Qaida and Saddam Hussein” or in speeches referring to Iraq as the central front in the war on terrorism, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell and others create the false impression of an al-Qaida-Iraq connection. The media, whose responsibility it is to question those in authority, rarely call on them to clarify and substantiate their claims. We can see what happens when the press actually does its job. British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s government has been facing a serious months-long judicial inquiry into the decision to join the U.S. in going to war because the British Broadcasting Corp. played its proper watchdog role.

It is primarily through the foreign press that U.S. citizens have learned about the many Bush distortions that have come to light, such as the forged reports of the purchase of uranium in Africa that was part of President Bush’s State of the Union message just before the war. It is the Sunday Times of London that reported on Sept. 14, that the report of the Iraq Survey Group, conducting the joint U.S.-U.K. investigation into the presence of weapons of mass destruction, due out in mid-September will be delayed indefinitely.

Because of the deceptions, our troops, our people, and the people of Iraq continue to pay the price with no end in sight. Many now know the deceptions that led us into the Vietnam quagmire.

Fewer know the deceptions behind more recent conflicts such as the 1989 invasion of Panama. It is only years later after the terrible damage is done, that we learn the truth. Such truths are told in “The Panama Deception,” which won the 1993 Academy Award for best documentary feature and is the first film of the Peace and Justice Center of Eastern Maine’s Fall Film Series.

The producers say the film “documents the untold story … the events which led to it; the excessive force used; the enormity of the death and destruction; and the devastating aftermath. ‘The Panama Deception’ uncovers the real reasons for this internationally condemned attack, presenting a view of the invasion which widely differs from that portrayed by the U.S. media and exposes how the U.S. government and the mainstream media suppressed information about this foreign policy disaster … news clips and media critics contribute to a staggering analysis of media control and self censorship relevant to any news coverage today, particularly during times of war.”

“The Panama Deception,” being shown this Friday at 7 p.m. at 170 Park St. in Bangor, is the first of five films in a series that focuses on “Government Deception and Media Complicity: Loss of Liberty”; “Bowling for Columbine”; “Stopping a War, Building a Movement”; and “Howard Zinn: War, Terrorism, and the Media.”

We hope this film series will provide an opportunity for people to discuss how citizens can inform themselves, find alternative sources of information, and look forward using the lessons learned from the past.

Mary Dolan is a member of the Peace and Justice Center of Eastern Maine