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The Dark Side

Film200684 min10.0/10 on TMDB

Directed by Michael Kirk

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"We also have to work the dark side...we've got to spend time in the shadows..."

On Sept. 11, 2001, deep inside a White House bunker, Vice President Dick Cheney was ordering U.S. fighter planes to shoot down any commercial airliner still in the air above America. At that moment, CIA Director George Tenet was meeting with his counter-terrorism team in Langley, Virginia. Both leaders acted fast, to prepare their country for a new kind of war. But soon a debate would grow over the goals of the war on terror, and the decision to go to war in Iraq. Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and others saw Iraq as an important part of a broader plan to remake the Middle East and project American power worldwide. Meanwhile Tenet, facing division in his own organization, saw non-state actors such as Al Qaeda as the highest priority. FRONTLINE’s investigation of the ensuing conflict includes more than 40 interviews, thousands of pages of documentary evidence, and a substantial photographic archive.Read moreLess

On Sept. 11, 2001, deep inside a White House bunker, Vice President Dick Cheney was ordering U.S. fighter planes to shoot down any commercial airliner still in the air above America. At that moment, CIA Director George Tenet was meeting with his counter-terrorism team in Langley, Virginia. Both leaders acted fast, to prepare their country for a new kind of war. But soon a debate would grow over the goals of the war on terror, and the decision to go to war in Iraq. Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and others saw Iraq as an important part of a broader plan to remake the Middle East and project American power worldwide. Meanwhile Tenet, facing division in his own organization, saw non-state actors such as Al Qaeda as the highest priority. FRONTLINE’s investigation of the ensuing conflict includes more than 40 interviews, thousands of pages of documentary evidence, and a substantial photographic archive.

The story

On Sept. 11, 2001, deep inside a White House bunker, Vice President Dick Cheney was ordering U.S. fighter planes to shoot down any commercial airliner still in the air above America. At that moment, CIA Director George Tenet was meeting with his counter-terrorism team in Langley, Virginia. Both leaders acted fast, to prepare their country for a new kind of war. But soon a debate would grow over the goals of the war on terror, and the decision to go to war in Iraq. Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and others saw Iraq as an important part of a broader plan to remake the Middle East and project American power worldwide. Meanwhile Tenet, facing division in his own organization, saw non-state actors such as Al Qaeda as the highest priority. FRONTLINE’s investigation of the ensuing conflict includes more than 40 interviews, thousands of pages of documentary evidence, and a substantial photographic archive.

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Cast & crew

Will LymanWill LymanSelf - Narrator
Dick CheneyDick CheneySelf (archive footage)
George W. BushGeorge W. BushSelf (archive footage)
Richard ClarkeRichard ClarkeSelf - Dir. NSC Counterterrorism 1998-'01
Gary Schroen
Gary Schroen
Self - CIA 1970-2002
John McLaughlin
John McLaughlin
Self - Dpty. Director, CIA 2000-'04
Bob Graham
Bob Graham
Self - Senator (D-FL), Select Cmte. on Intel. 2001-'03
James Bamford
James Bamford
Self - Author, 'The Puzzle Palace'
Michael ScheuerMichael ScheuerSelf - CIA 1982-2004
Bob WoodwardBob WoodwardSelf - 'The Washington Post'
Ron SuskindRon SuskindSelf - Author, 'The One Percent Doctrine'
Charles Battaglia
Charles Battaglia
Self - Bush-Cheney 2000 Transition
Explore the crew
Director
Michael Kirk
Producer
Michael Kirk
Producer
Jim Gilmore
Producer
Mike Wiser
Director of Photography
Ben McCoy
Original Music Composer
John E. Low