Posted on 09/10/2006 9:36:29 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
NEW YORK - ABC aired its miniseries "The Path to 9/11" on Sunday but made editing changes after former Clinton administration officials complained it contained fabricated scenes about their actions prior to the terrorist attacks.
ABC's editing of the five-hour movie, airing on two successive nights starting Sunday, was evident from the very beginning. Twice, the network de-emphasized the role of the 9/11 commission's final report as source material for the film.
The version that aired Sunday also changed a scene that, in a copy of the movie given to television critics a few weeks ago, indicated President Clinton's preoccupation with his potential impeachment may have affected an effort to go after Osama bin Laden.
In the original scene, an actor portraying White House terrorism czar Richard Clarke shares a limousine ride with FBI agent John O'Neill and tells him: "The Republicans are going all-out for impeachment. I just don't see in that climate the president's going to take chances" and give the order to kill bin Laden.
But in the film aired Sunday, Clarke says to O'Neill: "The president has assured me this ... won't affect his decision-making."
O'Neill replies: "So it's OK if somebody kills bin Laden, as long as he didn't give the order. It's pathetic."
The critics' version contained a note in the opening scenes that the film is "based on the 9/11 commission report." That was omitted from the film aired Sunday. A disclaimer aired three times emphasized it was not a documentary.
"For dramatic and narrative purposes the movie contains fictionalized scenes, composite and representative characters and dialogue, as well as time compression," the note that ran before the movie said.
The note said the material is "drawn from a variety of sources including the 9/11 commission report and other published materials and from personal interviews." That differs from a note in the critics' version that said the dramatization "is based on the 9/11 commission report and other published sources and personal interviews."
Critics, such as historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr., said it was "disingenuous and dangerous" not to include accurate historical accounts in the movie.
A scene in the movie depicting a team of CIA operatives poised in darkness outside of bin Laden's fortess in Afghanistan, ready to attack, was substantially cut down from the original. Pictures of the waiting Afghanistan operatives are interspersed with those of officials in Washington, who had to approve the mission.
The original version depicted national security adviser Samuel R. Berger hanging up on CIA chief George Tenet as Tenet sought permission to attack bin Laden. The movie aired Sunday did not include Berger hanging up.
The affect of the changes is to deflect specific blame. It ends with actor Donnie Wahlberg, head of the CIA team in Afghanistan, saying, "Are there no men in Washington?"
Another scene in the critics' cut pictured O'Neill asking Clarke on the telephone: "What's Clinton going to do (about bin Laden)?"
Clarke replies, "I don't know. The Lewinsky thing is a noose around his neck."
This was cut entirely from the film that aired Sunday.
Editors left intact a scene that had angered former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, portraying her as being behind a move to inform the Pakistani government in advance of a U.S. missile strike against bin Laden. The movie indicated that was a key factor in bin Laden getting away.
The movie, scheduled to air from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m., finished at 10:40 p.m. ET.
ABC has said little about the controversy, and said Sunday it would not comment.
Thomas Kean, head of the commission that investigated the Sept. 11 attacks and a backer of the film, said on ABC's "This Week" Sunday that he hadn't seen the final cut of the movie but urged Americans to watch it.
"If people blame Bill Clinton after seeing this, then the miniseries has failed," said Kean, the former Republican New Jersey governor. "That's wrong and it shouldn't happen."
John Lehman, another Republican commission members, said on the ABC News show that he's told the film is equally harsh on the administrations of President Bush and his father, former President George H.W. Bush.
"And if you don't like the hits to the Clinton administration, well, welcome to the club," Lehman said. "The Republicans have lived with Michael Moore and Oliver Stone and most of Hollywood as a fact of life."
___
AP Television Writer Frazier Moore contributed to this report.
Repeating what I just posted on the Live Thread.........Rush just said the cuts in the film were negligable and that what remains is 'devastating' to the flimsy remains of the Clinton 'legacy.'
Reality, this series will positively impact the less politically interested whose vote potentially could go either way in a Presidential or Senate race.
Hre is a post I made lase night
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1699144/posts?page=61#61
It was dumb of Clinton to even make a stinker about this film in the first place .. even if the clips were kept in
And it was even dumber to have Harry Reid and the other box of rocks Senators threaten ABC like they did
Most folks most likely wouldn't have watch this film on ABC tonight and would have watched something else
What the Clinton's and the Democrats did was to remind us all why they should never ever be allowed to take control of our country again
61 posted on 09/11/2006 1:19:13 AM EDT by Mo1
The Cole didn't happen until the fall of 2000.
This IS a good film..........and I agree with Rush. It's devastating to the Clinton administration.
The way I see it, it looked horrible for the Clintons AFTER the edit. That leaves the viewers with the implied notion that what was finally aired was mostly factual, and wondering how much worse the unedited version could have been.
Their shameless threats in an attempt to censor ABC and Disney is going to strike many Americans as being way over the line..........even if they aren't Constitutionalists like we are.
But I suppose we can be thankful that it increased the viewership of this film. A lot of people are finding out for the very first time how Clinton's apathy and fear of polls led us to the horrible events we are remembering today....
You know, I watched all those scenes, and the only one that was cut was the 1st one. All the others were in there. Where did you get the info that these scenes were censored?
If you clicked on the redstate.com's video link, it would have led you to here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2PO3Zya7ds&eurl=
And on top the screen to the youtube.com link, it says,
"Path to 9/11 CENSORED:1 of 6"
Yeah, I too heard Rush say only 1 minute was cut. However, the scenes shown at Youtube.com are longer than the few seconds that are cut so to give the audience context.
"Critics, such as historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr., said it was "disingenuous and dangerous" not to include accurate historical accounts in the movie."
BUMP your post.
Right.
I saw a clip of Rummy --- very emotional. God bless him.
Several posters have told me the USS Cole will be addressed tonight. It's not like it didn't happen, right?
yes, but you know the Clintonian defintion of "truth". if the Cole is painted the wrong color in the movie, that makes the scene "fiction".
That's untrue, uneducated, and unbacked by relevant facts. The Clinton's didn't want partial birth abortion banned, didn't want our national missile defenses deployed, didn't want our income taxes cut, and don't want us in Iraq any longer...yet they are powerless to stop President Bush from any of these things, much less all of them.
Nor do the Clinton's want President Bush's federal and Supreme Court judicial nominations, yet Bush continues to win on judge after judge with setbacks being the exception, not the rule.
The Clinton's signed the Kyoto accords, President Bush killed Kyoto. The Clinton's wanted the International Criminal Court, President Bush pulled the U.S. out of it.
The Clinton's wanted to keep the CCCP-U.S. ABM treaty, GWB killed it.
One every public policy battle of note, GWB has handed the Clinton's their hats.
Isn't it interesting that, no matter the editing and the 'tweakings,' the cowardice and incompetence of Clinton and his administration comes through loud and clear? Once that starts, the rest is bound to follow.
I wondered about that. There seem to be many civil rights violations (esp in speech) of conservatives. One recent example was the professor who got her students to destroy the pro-life crosses (?). I can't remember the details. Then there's all of the conservatives chased off of campuses by hecklers etc. They are often organized groups, intent on blocking speech. Same with those who destroy/steal conservative newspapers. Colleges seem especially bad in this area. Sorry for late reply.
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