Dean: ABC Should Reveal Funders of Slanderous 9/11 Propaganda

U.S. Newswire on Yahoo ^ | 9/8/06 | Democratic National Committee

[NormsRevenge]

WASHINGTON, Sept. 8 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Today, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean called on ABC/Disney to reveal who poured $40 million into the slanderous 9/11 propoganda film they plan to start airing starting Sunday, and issued the following statement:

"It's deeply disappointing that ABC would put something on the air that has been proven to have factual inaccuracies about one of the most important events in our nation's history. ABC should not air this distortion of history.

"The fact that the writer/producer of the piece is a well known conservative raises additional concerns and questions. The American people deserve to know who funded this $40 million dollar slanderous propaganda. Use of the public airwaves is a privilege conferred upon broadcasters in the public interest. It comes with a responsibility to the American people and a responsibility to the truth."

"The Path to 9/11" - Revisionist History Masquerading as Truth

A "historical" drama fraught with factual error

-- The movie is being advertised as "Based on the 9/11 Commission Report." In truth, it features disturbing revisionist history that faults the Clinton administration for failing to stop 9/11 by refusing to take out Osama bin Laden. There are several scenes, which are utterly and completely fabricated, showing administration officials like National Security Advisor Sandy Berger and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright telling CIA officials not to go ahead with attacks on bin Laden.

-- In one scene, Madeleine Albright is shown telling CIA officials not to strike bin Laden until she can tip off the Pakistani's, who would be upset by the strike. Not only is this incident nowhere to be found in the 9/11 Commission Report, upon which this drama is supposedly based, but it is patently false and a complete fabrication by the screenwriter.

-- Perhaps more outrageous is a scene where CIA agents, whose operatives have surrounded a hideout where Osama bin Laden is thought to be, contact Clinton National Security Advisor Sandy Berger for authorization to proceed with a strike. Berger says he doesn't have the authority to call the strike and, when pressed by the CIA, hangs up on them. Again, 100 percent false and an unjustifiable fabrication by Rush Limbaugh's friend and Hollywood writer/producer Cyrus Nowrasteh.

-- The 9/11 Commission Report does reference two instances where the Clinton administration decided not to proceed with strikes against Bin Laden. While one CIA official told the commission that the administration had missed an opportunity in 1999, "Clarke told us the strike was called off after consultations with Director Tenet because the intelligence was dubious." The Commission's report makes clear that, on another occasion in 1999, CIA Director George Tenet doubted his agency's intelligence and did not recommend a strike to the President.

(9/11 Commission Report, pages 138 & 140)

-- Mr. Nowrasteh, whose interviews have been featured on prominent conservative blogs in recent weeks, has no security or policy experience and is responsible for TV gems such as the remake of "La Femme Nakita," "Falcon Crest," "D.E.A.," and "Pacific Blue." The author of the supposedly historical account of the events leading up to 9/11 has an unfortunate tendency to ignore the facts in his filmmaking.

(http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_083006/co ntent/coming_soon.guest.html)

(http://wwwmanhattan- institute.org/html/_chicsuntimes-hollywood.htm)

-- Mr. Nowrasteh has a record of (and penchant for) rewriting history with his films. Historical inaccuracies in Nowrasteh's films have made him the target of criticism in the past - criticism that he has cavalierly brushed off:

o "There's a larger truth at work here in some of these historical adaptations or dramas that's more important than the accuracy of each incident."

o "Does that mean every word, every shot, every scene in the movie is exactly as it happened -- Of course not. No film would claim such a thing. It all comes down to context, interpretation and emphasis. Regardless, I believe the reason the film has received wide acclaim is that it has the ring of truth."

o "If I know that an argument occurred in the Situation Room about a certain subject - and I wasn't in the Situation Room - I have to re-create that argument."

o "My main goal is to stick to the facts, but I also want to create an entertaining and exciting drama."

o "I made a conscious effort not to contact any members of the administration because I didn't want them to stymie my efforts."

The real Clinton Administration record

-- "The Path to 9/11" attempts to paint to Clinton Administration as lackadaisical when it came to counter-terrorism efforts. In fact, the 9/11 Commission Report - the supposed basis for this drama - tells a different story. The Report makes clear that CIA Director George Tenet had clearly been directed by President Clinton and Mr. Berger to get bin Laden (p. 199 & 508- 509).

-- The bi-partisan commission clearly states that Clinton was focused on the threat of al Qaeda and bin Laden, going so far as to make sure that he had a daily stream of reports about bin Laden's whereabouts and activities (p. 175).

-- The facts beneath the TV drama's veneer are that President Clinton and his administration took unprecedented steps to combat terrorism and bring the danger of Islamic terrorism into the conscience of the American public, raising the issue of terrorism in virtually every important speech he gave in the last three years of his tenure.

-- Against a heavy Republican opposition that was openly dismissive of the dire threat terrorism was at the time, President Clinton spearheaded a $1.1 billion piece of anti-terror legislation in 1996, spending money to protect infrastructure, increase stockpiling of antidotes, protect airlines, and reorganizing the intelligence community.

-- Within the National Security Council, "threat meetings" were held three times a week to assess looming conspiracies. His National Security Advisor, Sandy Berger, prepared a voluminous dossier on al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, actively tracking them across the planet. Clinton raised the issue of terrorism in virtually every important speech he gave in the last three years of his tenure.

-- President Clinton wanted to attack the financial underpinnings of the al-Qaeda network by banning American companies and individuals from dealing with foreign banks and financial institutions that al-Qaeda was using for its money- laundering operations. However, Texas Senator Phil Gramm, chairman of the Banking Committee, gutted the portions of Clinton's bill dealing with this matter, calling them "totalitarian."

A Bush Administration whitewash

-- It is interesting to note that this film is being released weeks before the critical 2006 midterm elections. At a time when Americans are more united than they've been in years about the failures of the Bush Administration and it's handling of the war on terror, this is a blatant attempt to distract the American viewing public from the Bush team's monumental foreign policy failures - including their failures to follow significant clues in the months leading up September 11th.

-- "The Path to 9/11" is shot in docudrama style- using Clinton-era news clips, it suggests to the audience that it is an honest portrayal of the events leading up to 9/11, when it fact it is nothing more than on Cyrus Nowrasteh's biased, partisan interpretation and dramatization, which he has made public in prominent conservative blogs.

(http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=2 3865)

-- Perhaps the best evidence of the partisan bent of the movie is that it weaves in iconic footage of the Lewinski scandal, suggesting to viewers none-too-subtly that President Clinton didn't pursue bin Laden more vigorously because he was distracted by impeachment proceedings. Again, this is an outrageous subtext that is refuted by any number of sources.

-- Against All Enemies by Richard Clarke, p. 186: "Now I feared that the timing of the President's interrogation about the scandal, August 17, would get in the way of hitting the al Qaeda meeting. It did not. Clinton made clear that we were to give him our best national security advice, without regard to his personal problems. 'Do you all recommend that we strike on the 20th -- Fine. Do not give me political advice or personal advice about the timing. That's my problem. Let me worry about that.' If we thought this was the best time to hit the Afghan camps, he would order it and take the heat."

-- A recent Salon review saw this "deceptive" TV Drama for the Bush whitewash that it is:

-- ". Condoleezza Rice gets that fated memo about planes flying into buildings, and makes it very clear to anyone who'll listen just how concerned President Bush is about these terrorist threats -- despite the fact that we're given little concrete evidence of the president's concern or interest in taking action."

-- The whitewash is so blinding that "Instead of offering us some indication of President Clinton's earnest efforts to stop Osama bin Laden, we're repeatedly treated to his most uneasy moments in the hot seat over Lewinsky, painting the president as a buffoon..."

-- Thanks to the Salon it is clear that the conservative writer/producer of this TV drama ".seem(s) determined to link the Clinton administration's missteps to the Monica Lewinsky scandal."

(http://www.salon.com/ent/tv/review/2006/09/01/911_ shows/)

---

Paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee, http://www.democrats.org. This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

[NormsRevenge]

1 for the road. G'nite.

[msnimje]

Dean is accusing somebody of slander and propaganda?

Do we have a list around here of Dean's famous verbal ejaculations?

[kinoxi]

This is wrong. 8 'years' of the film is about bj clinton. It takes up half of the production. The other half of the entire production is about George Bush's months in office.

[ldish]

me thinks they doth protest too much

[carumba]

...determined to link the Clinton administration's missteps to the Monica Lewinsky scandal."

He could have resigned and let somebody more competent like say, Al Gore, run the country.

[msnimje]

The other half of the entire production is about George Bush's months in office.

234 days (20 Jan 2001 -- 11 Sep 2001)

[maine-iac7]

Dean: "factual inaccuracies " - ahhh, are they factual or inaccurate? Can they be both at the same time - oh, right, we're dealing with a demRAt mind here.

[DoughtyOne]

Nite. Have a good one.

[BigSkyFreeper]

The other half of the entire production is about George Bush's months in office.

8 years vs. 8 months. C'mon Howard, don't be such a stupe.

[SuziQ]

OK, Howie, who paid for Michael Moore's slanderous movie?

[MaineVoter2002]

Perhaps the republicans should demand a list of funders of NPR.

I wont hold my breath.

Any guesses how long Rush Limbaugh or Freerepublic would legally survive under a democrat controlled government?

[kinoxi]

Yes. The other 'half' of an eight year long plot.

[WestVirginiaRebel]

This is getting good...

[BigSkyFreeper]

8 'years' of the film is about bj clinton. It takes up half of the production. The other half of the entire production is about George Bush's months in office.

Have you seen this movie? I don't think it's possible to chronicle 8 years in 2.5 hours, without skipping alot of important details.

[SeaBiscuit]

[BigSkyFreeper]

The Democrats aren't being totally honest. They gushed over the 9/11 Commission report once it was released in text form. Not that that matters now anyway, but it's worth noting.

[kinoxi]

This is according to the writer I listened to today on Hannity.

[MaineVoter2002]

I saw this website...

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=22477_Path_to_9-11_Web_Address_Hijacked&only

[goldstategop]

YEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! (Its that's vast right-wing conspiracy)

(No more Olmert! No more Kadima! No more Oslo! )