Fahrenheit 911

[Bob Fromme]

I question whether any discussion of the bias and lack of professional ethics of Michael Moore is worth my time and effort here, however if you think another opinion is of value, I feel that thinking individuals will be insulted by his ambush journalism and his unethical practice of selective editing to manipulate the footage into propaganda and pass it off as a documentary. Moore tried real hard “to deceived viewers into believing that Congressional families were extremely different from other families in enlistment rates.

A truthful delivery of the topic would be enlightening since a Congressional household is about 23 percent more likely than an ordinary household to be closely related to an Iraqi serviceman or service woman.” The ratio of ordinary U.S. households to Iraqi service personnel is 104,705,000 to 300,000, or a ratio of 349:1. The ratio of Congressional households to Iraqi service personnel is 535:2,or a ration of 268:1.(Dave Kopel

)http://www.bowlingfortruth.com/fahrenheit911/warsignup.htm)

But then, opinions are like belly buttons....everyone has one.

Edited August 2, 2004 by rfromme

[John Simkin]

A truthful delivery of the topic would be enlightening since a Congressional household is about 23 percent more likely than an ordinary household to be closely related to an Iraqi serviceman or service woman.” The ratio of ordinary U.S. households to Iraqi service personnel is 104,705,000 to 300,000, or a ratio of 349:1. The ratio of Congressional households to Iraqi service personnel is 535:2,or a ration of 268:1.(Dave Kopel

http://www.bowlingfortruth.com/fahrenheit911/warsignup.htm)

But then, opinions are like belly buttons....everyone has one.

This link does not actually work. Could you explain what “closely related to an Iraqi serviceman or service woman” means. Michael Moore’s question was about the sons and daughters of congressmen/congresswomen. Are there figures available to answer this question?

[Guest Lewis]

The arguement that he always makes is that if he was lying he would be taken to court.

No-one has ever taken him to court (despite publicly saying that he's wrong so its not as if they are publicity shy).

Its not just him gathering material. He has a huge team of researchers who are paid to make sure the information is right, and by the looks of it most of the material for the film is simply taken from other sources so its not as if hes setting stuff up.

He may write like a Daily Mirror journalist, but that doesn't mean he's as dishonest as them;-)

Check this out: Fifty-nine Deceits in Fahrenheit 9/11

For me, one of the best parts of the film is when he asks American politicians if their sons and daughters are fighting in the Iraq War.

Somebody already covered this one. Bowling for Truth

And, yes, John, the link DOES work. But just in case:

Sergeant Brooks Johnson, the son of South Dakota Democratic Senator Tim Johnson, serves in the 101st Airborne Division and fought in Iraq in 2003. The son of California Republican Representative Duncan Hunter quit his job after September 11, and enlisted in the Marines; his artillery unit was deployed in the heart of insurgent territory in February 2004.

Moore’s great achievement concerns the way he manipulates the capitalist media to his own advantage.

Gosh. Now, if he could just manipulate the communist media, he'd be UNSTOPPABLE!!!

I fully expect the CIA to successfully get Moore. He will probably be arrested and charged with some horrendous crime such as paedophilia.

You look like you could use one of these.

Another reaction I had, was the young men blaring a song with the lyrics "burn mother****** burn" while shooting Iraqi's, because they felt that Iraq should go up in flames. Feeling that the Iraqi's should learn our values, and our ways, through violence, killing them, and guns. It reminded me of the missionaries who went to Africa during the colonization period. Pretty much telling the African's "convert or die, it's your choice really. We want to do what's best for you". I'm sorry, but that is not the way to show someone your values. To teach someone through killing them.

A battlefield isn't really the best place to show the enemy your values. It IS an excellent place to kill the enemy. It's true that war sucks, but once we're in one, it would behoove our troops to do some shooting. Preferably at the enemy. And I don't care what kind of music they play while they do it.

[John Simkin]

Michael Moore makes use of the information from Craig Uger’s book, House of Bush, House of Saud, in his film. The book has just been published in the UK but several bookshops, including online bookshop, Amazon, are refusing to sell it.

Uger argues that as Saudi Arabia possess an estimated 25% of all known oil reserves, it is vitally important for the US government to maintain a good relationship with this regime. In fact, Saudi Arabia has become critical to the maintenance of the American way of life.

This is not only an issue of oil. Since 1975 85,000 Saudis have invested $860bn in American companies. A mass withdrawal of these funds would cause terrible problems for the American economy.

Uger argues that the most important Saudi figure in America is Prince Bandar. He has developed a close relationship with the House of Bush. He helped save Bush’s company, Harken Oil, from extinction in the late 1970s.

As a result of Ayatollah Khomeini’s Islamic fundamentalist regime in Iran, Saudi Arabia became America’s most important ally, apart from Israel, in the Middle East. This included the secret funding of the Contras in Nicaragua. Both regarded the Soviet Union as the main enemy and worked together in Afghanistan. This included the funding of the mujahideen against the newly installed Soviet-backed government. This of course resulted in the emergence of al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden (a member of one of Saudi Arabia’s elite families).

In 1990 the Saudi regime agreed to allow American troops stationed on its soil. Bin Laden objected to this and now turned his hatred towards the US and the House of Saudi. His first demand was the removal of American troops from Saudi Arabia. An objective that has now been achieved.

According to Unger $1.476bn has made its way over time from the Saudis to the House of Bush. He writes: “…never before in history had a presidential candidate… been so closely tied financially and personally to the ruling family of another foreign power.”

September 11 placed the relationship between Saudi Arabia and Bush under extreme pressure. Bush had to do what he could to divert attention away from the Saudis who carried out this attack and instead link it to his main enemy in the region, Iraq.