BUSH GOT IT RIGHT, MOORE GETS IT WRONG (MOORE'S FILM GETS SLAMMED!)

As Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 911" continues its success, I wonder how clearly we see what is going on in Iraq right now. There are no images of Saddam Hussein marched into an Iraqi court in handcuffs on the covers of magazines. Instead, we see Moore and hear discussion of his "documentary." That is shameful.

Beyond its numerous distortions, Moore's movie is essentially childish and full of a kind of frat-boy humor - rock-'n'-roll simplicity that the nerds of the world celebrate for its spunk and daring.

When we look at Iraq, where Saddam and his henchmen have been arraigned and eventually will stand trial, I feel the war effort is redeemed and is worth every man, woman and child who was killed during the invasion, as well as every American killed in battle or guerrilla warfare.

I do not mean that callously, as if all those people were no more than digits in minus columns. I mean that wars in places like Iraq, despite enormous body counts, are justified if the country's quality of life changes for the better and those guilty of tyranny are brought to justice.

But the sheer magnitude of Saddam's trial is in danger of being lost in the self-congratulatory hostility toward President Bush and his administration, as well as toward his connections and those of his family to a corporate world that often functions with the same morality as gangster rappers.

Someone always profits from war, and will always profit as long as people don't use weapons of their own making. Plenty of money went to the producers of munitions during our Civil War and World War II. Money was made when America went into Bosnia, and war will be profitable again if American troops are sent to Sudan to stop the slaughter of black Muslims by Arab Muslims.

If there is any hanky-panky in the making of war profits, some kind of insider trading, some kind of buddy-buddy system, break it down and bring to court whoever has to be tried for infractions of the law. But don't get tied up in the cub-scout morality of a Michael Moore.

Moore is far more important for the freedom he has to challenge the administration than for his thinking about American issues, which always is entirely predictable.

For all the shortsightedness of the Iraq campaign, no one in that country ever thought he or she would live to see Saddam and 11 of his henchmen brought to trial for myriad murders, gassings and tortures, so common over nearly four decades that every family knows of some relative or friend treated to the injustices characteristic of dictatorships.

Yes, there have been bad policy decisions, and there have been abuses in Iraq. But in the context of this monumental event, they must be seen as part of the bloody, tragic dues paid to move into a democratic frame.

Tragedy is forever a part of our collective fate, but the kind of democratic freedom that Michael Moore represents is never a guarantee outside the West. If luck is on its side, Iraq eventually will create its own version, and that part of the world will never be the same.

Originally published on July 8, 2004

This is one of my letters to the editor that was printed last Sunday:

I alternate between laughter and despair when I hear people who have seen Michael Moore's film Fahrenheit 911 and think it espouses anything closely approximating reality.

Have we so blurred the lines between actual news and entertainment that people can no longer tell the difference? It is a sad commentary on our times that people still believe the movie despite the fact that most of the mainstream news programs, dozens of reporters have written articles and entire web sites have devoted themselves to proving the many lies found in the movie. Several reporters have said it is easier finding falsehoods in the movie than finding a single bit of truth in it.

A few major falsehoods are as follows:

Moore insinuates that President Bush signed an order which permitted the Osama bin Laden family to leave the United States after 9/11. The person who signed that order and took full responsibility was actually the former Clinton administration terrorism czar, Richard Clarke, as we learned when watching him testify before the 9/11 Commission. Further, despite Moore's assertion that the family was permitted to leave without being questioned by law enforcement, the 9/11 Commission learned that the FBI did question the family members before they were permitted to leave the country for their own safety.

The Patriot Act is so despised by leftists like Moore that I'm rather surprised he would even suggest that over 100 family members, most of whom were estranged from OBL, should be held in the country against their will.

Moore insinulates that the Taliban met with Bush in Texas and the war in Afghanistan was to help Unocal Corporation build a pipeline in that country. He is apparently unaware that the Taliban never met with Bush but were invited to Houston by Unocal and that the visit was approved by the Clinton administration which met with the Taliban twice in 1997 and 1998. Additionally, the Associated Press reports that Unoral withdrew from planning to build the Afghanistan pipeline in 1998.

Moore claims there was no relationship between Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein, ignoring the fact on November 4, 1998 the Clinton administration obtained an indictment against Osama bin Laden in federal court which specifically mentioned the terrorist's connections with Saddam this way:
"In addition, al Qaeda reached an understanding with the Government of Iraq that al Qaeda would not work against that government and that on particular projects, specifically including weapons development, al Qaeda would work cooperatively with the Government of Iraq."

Additionally, despite some initial mis-reporting by the press, the 9/11 Commission reports have detailed many connections between the terrorist and Saddam but they could find no operational role in 9/11 between AQ and Iraq. Even that was countered a few days later by the two 9/11 Commission Co-Chairmen when they said that a high ranking member of Iraq's Fedayeen military was present during at least one pre-9/11 planning meeting.

The list of falsehoods in the movie is a long one and does not distinguish Moore or those who get their "news" from the entertainment industry.

I had two letters published that day in two diff. papers.

The letter as I published it was published in full in our local paper. The other paper edited it down to 300 words (actually they let me edit it down as the editor in that town has a heart!).

I had a typo in my letter and was sick about it but the editor fixed it; bless his heart.

I typed this letter in a full fury at Moore and those who believe his crap and didn't type it on word processing where I can spell check. Don't know how to spell check on e-mail. A big lesson to me.

Also - message to all freepers thinking of writing letters:

Do no post your letters on Free Republic or anywhere on the internet until the letters has been printed in the newspaper.

Newspapers use plagarism software to check the 'net and if they find it posted on the internet, they won't print it.

This happened to me once when I posted a letter about the economy on FR. I couldn't convince the editor that I was "Peach" naturally as he'd have no way of knowing that.

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