Wednesday, June 30, 2004

Fahrenheit 911

I just saw this movie last night (yeah, yeah, cheap night). here's the google rundown of the recent news stories of the movie.

some small corrections this movie should have made:

1. Yes, the bin Laden family was flown out of the US and that was a bad idea.

BUT

it wasn't bush who made that decision....in fact it was richard clarke, the 'counter-terrrorism expert' that recently made headliens. clarke is also a key source of information in f911, but, interestingly, he doesn't comment on this little fact. nor does moore, preferring to allow the audience think it was bush who ordered these flights.

2. yes, there are some strange oil connections between bush and the saudis

BUT

Moore first says that bush was thinking that 9/11 had iraq's involvement, which is not unreasonable, considering iraq's past problems with the US....so he didn't automatically go after the taliban....then, as recent history shows us, well bush did first go into afghanistan...

well was he wrong to do so? moore says there was some oil pipeline being built across afghanistan...and that deal was done months ago with the taliban....so what's moore's point? that pipeline deal has been dead for some time, and it was a total non factor at the time. afghanistan has no oil money, and any insistance that the war in afghanistan was about oil is just pure speculation that never really panned out for the tinfoil hat wearing crowd.

3. moore state that iraq never attacked or threatened america or any americans.

Really?

this is from the CBC:

Saddam's threats dismissed in Washington
Last Updated Fri, 09 Aug 2002 22:17:22
WASHINGTON - There was disdain from the White House following a fiery speech delivered by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Saddam Hussein

Saddam marked the 14th anniversary of the end of the Iran-Iraq War with an animated speech in which the Iraqi leader taunted the United States, boasting that those who attack Iraq "will be digging their own graves."


how about this:

Saddam planned terror attacks in U.S., Russian leader says
Vladimir Putin said the intelligence didn't cause Russia to waver from its firm opposition to the war.

Associated Press
Jun. 18, 2004 08:40 AM


ASTANA, Kazakhstan - Russia gave the Bush administration intelligence after the September 11 attacks that suggested Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq was preparing attacks in the United States, President Vladimir Putin said Friday.


how about the fact that abu nidal, the guy who was the osama bin laden of the eighties was harboured by saddam? the guy who killed a few americans himself...

abul abbas was also harboured by saddam and he is also an american killer...

Abbas capture 'proves Saddam aided terrorists'

NICK DRAINEY


THE capture of Abul Abbas, the veteran Palestinian guerrilla leader, was last night held up as proof that Saddam Hussein sponsored terrorism.

As the hunt for the remnants of the fallen Iraqi regime continued, Washington was debating whether to take Abbas to the United States to stand trial for the 1985 murder of an American citizen during the hijacking of the cruise ship Achille Lauro, or to let him serve prison time in Italy.

Abbas was the leader of a Palestinian Liberation Front gang that hijacked the ship in the Mediterranean. He was sentenced to five life terms in Italy in his absence, but could also face the death penalty in the US.


anyways, i could be here all day...just keep an open mind when viewing this movie. it makes more of an emotional appeal to end the war than anything moore's rationale arguments try to portray. we know that the US' leadership is comprimised by saudi money and links. this is fact, and maybe a lot of people didn't know that. i did, and its been common knowledge for some time. did it lead to the compromising of policy? that's debatable...

Moore attempts to portray bush as asleep at the wheel as well, which is fine...but saying he spent 42% of his first 8 months on holiday is one botched stat. really? 42%? what counts as holiday? time when you are not in washington?

anyways, i'll link here to a fairly critical article by the wonderful christopher hitchens, who is probably the most interesting and high profile post-9/11 liberal convert to the right other than dennis miller. (okay, i admit i'm a miller fan.)

hitchens does a great bit of arguing with the film, and i don't have much to add to it...

i'll say this for the film though: what it lacks in intellectual honesty and rationale argument, it makes up for with compelling and often compassionate footage of people who are affected by the war in a very real way (ie: a mother who has lost a son, a soldier who has lost his legs/composure/nerves/life). this is real. i'm not going to compare moore to dickens, but dickens did similar arguments against child labour in the 1800's. he didn't make a rationale argument against child labour, but he did show the misery england had brought to its young.

what moore failed to do is provide any balance to this film. there is no reason to him why the US went to war, no redeeming post 9/11 attributes of bush, nothing redeeming of the post 9/11 conduct of the administration....but everyone knows and remembers there were some of these things.

i recommend the movie if for nothing else because it is a starting point for dialogue...but just that. its not truthful, but it is compelling.



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