Fahrenheit 9/11

I just saw it last night. Here are some links that detail certain problems with the movie:


Here is Spinsanity's article on the issue. Spinsanity is a non-partisan website dedicating to pointing out spin from any part of the political spectrum. Some of their points:

-Moore has a history of factual error in his previous works
-Moore's statement about the Florida recounts is a lie: Bush would have won under the recounts that Gore was pushing for
-Moore's description of the bin Laden flight story is misleading; the bin Ladens were not allowed to leave the country before others
-The connection between the Bushes and the Saudis/bin Ladens is much weaker than presented by Moore; nearly all of the money links are invalid
-Moore's claims about the Taliban/Bush links are misleading; many of the 'links' are between the Taliban and US companies unrelated to Bush, while others are directly related to the US government pressuring the Taliban to hand over bin Laden


Here are Newsday's thoughts. Some of their conclusions:

-Moore's statement about the Florida recounts is a lie: Bush would have won under the recounts that Gore was pushing for
-What links exist between Bush and the bin Ladens are not as important as Moore makes them out to be, since Osama has been estranged from his family for a decade
-James R Bath did not put bin Laden's money into Bush's business ventures, but rather his own money
-Moore's claim about the bin Ladens leaving without being questioned is a lie; according to the 9/11 commission, the FBI questioned 30 of those passengers
-Sayed Hashemi's visit to the US was not at all a show of support for the Taliban


Christopher Hitchens, who is definitely not a member of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy (see him take on the laste Ronald Reagan here), has an article here where he rips Moore to shreds. His points:

-'Fahrenheit 9/11 is a sinister exercise in moral frivolity, crudely disguised as an exercise in seriousness. It is also a spectacle of abject political cowardice masking itself as a demonstration of "dissenting" bravery.'
-Moore is being intellectually dishonest when he demonizes bin Laden: he has argued in the past that Osama should be considered innocent until proven guilty
-Moore is being intellectually dishonest in claiming we sent too few troops to Afghanistan: he has also argued that we sent too many, and also that we should not have sent any at all
-Moore ignores the facts on the ground in Afghanistan -- that the country is rapidly improving, is currently under NATO responsibility, its refugees are returning, and a national army is emerging
-Richard Clarke, who Moore sets up to be the good guy in the Bush administration, has taken full responsibility for the bin Laden flights
-Many of the accusations about Bush's vacations are misleading; for example, one of the pictures flashed quickly on the screen to prove his laziness shows him standing next to UK Prime Minister Tony Blair
-Moore's choice of shots to represent Baghdad before the war completely ignore the totalitarian regime that tortured and murdered hundreds of thousands of Iraqi citizens
-Hitchens demolishes Moore's claim that Saddam had never killed, attacked or threatened any American civilian
-Moore is a hypocrite for blaming the administration for overlooking too many warnings before 9/11, and then blaming the administration for issuing too many warnings after 9/11
-Moore is a hypocrite for nearly simultaneously arguing that security forces in the US have too much and not enough power
-Moore's argument that the Bush family is working for the Saudis makes no sense in the light of the US's actions in Afghanistan and Iraq, both of which were condemned by Saudi Arabia
-Moore contradicts himself when he complains that the US has too few troops on the ground in Afghanistan and Iraq, and then complains that the US military is recruiting


And this is essential reading: Fifty-Nine Deceits in Fahrenheit 9/11.


Even Nader is criticizing Moore here, saying that with his latest film he's sold out to the Democratic establishment.


And I don't remember whether Moore referred to this specifically, but here is evidence that Bush's claim about Iraq seeking to obtain uranium from Africa was valid. And here are some WMD found in Iraq that have gone unreported as such.


And one last thing: here are Moore's thoughts on the fighting in Iraq. Here's the relevant quote:

The Iraqis who have risen up against the occupation are not "insurgents" or "terrorists" or "The Enemy." They are the REVOLUTION, the Minutemen, and their numbers will grow -- and they will win. Get it, Mr. Bush?

I guess that's enough for now. Any comments, suggestions, rebuttals?