Posted on 12/27/2001 8:38:57 AM PST by MeekOneGOP
NewsMax.com
Thursday Dec. 27, 2001; 12:16 p.m. EST
'Black Hawk Down' Was Set to Blame Clinton for 9/11
Columbia Pictures' "Black Hawk Down," the holiday action adventure movie about the 1993 Somalia debacle that cost 18 U.S. soldiers their lives, was set to explicity blame ex-President Clinton for the 9/11 terrorist attacks before the film's director and producers decided to soft-peddle the connection.
In mid-November, before the decision to tone down the Clinton angle, the film was previewed for a handful journalists.
Before its final edit "Black Hawk's" closing crawl highlighted a series of events following the Somalia mission, including Clinton's humiliating troop withdrawal from the country, the humanitarian disasters in Rwanda, Bosnia and Kosovo and, finally, the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.
"With what happened in Mogadishu, with the way that all came down, you end up with the terrorism we see today," the film's producer Joe Roth told the New York Times on Wednesday. "It's so obvious now, eight years later."
Roth said his partner Jerry Bruckheimer and "Black Hawk's" director Ridley Scott agreed with him that "we would be remiss in not making this connection to the general audience."
But ultimately the filmakers, along with Mark Bowden, author of the best-selling book upon which the movie is based, decided that blaming Clinton explicitly would be "unnecessary and too distracting."
"It was a judgment call," Bowden said. "And I know you would think that a decision like this would have had something to do with the commercial aspects of releasing a movie, but it didn't. It was all about what was the right thing to do for the film."
Noted the Times: "It would have been an unusually bold move for a big, expensive studio production like 'Black Hawk Down' to blame President Bill Clinton and American public opinion for setting the stage for the kind of terrorism behind Sept. 11."
Still, director Scott argued that even after the rewrite, the message is obvious. "I think the implication is there.... To me, it's very clear that there is a connection between Mogadishu and what is happening now. But to make it explicit at the end of this movie would have been too much."
"Black Hawk Down" is set to premier in select theaters on Dec. 28.
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
Clinton Scandals
War on Terrorism
There is no mention of 'blaming American public opinion" for 9-11, only the disgraced, impeached , alleged serial rapist ex-President Bubba Klintoon. The Slimers will never give up...
The Times has to add public opinion, as if it is a factor in a President's decision making process. It was for Clinton, a President/follower, but it is not a factor with a President/leader. A President/leader shapes public opinion. But the Times will never see that.
A bee stung my brother once.
Wonder if Ridley Scott's family or livelihood was threatened?
It would have been unusually bold because there would have been public outcry against Hollywood for funding the traitorous b@stard. They just downgraded it to "status quo".
Most people can't swallow more than a little bit at a time; they have to come around gradually. They're opening up now, but too much reality could drive them back into their fantasies.
You don't have to believe me, you can read about his explicit failures from his foot-fetish loving adviser Dick Morris.
That this film is even getting made is astonishing. Whether they put the Klintoon's name on the screen and say "He's responsible", I don't think that matters. He was the Commander in Chief at the time this incident occurred. He made the ultimate decision. He is responsible for the outcome. He is also that a$$hole that brokered a deal with the thug (Aidid) that we were trying to capture in the first place only a few weeks after the deaths of our servicemen.
And, Klintoon, even when he was acknowledging some regret, he is always looking for someone else to blame said this in a CNN interview:
"Clinton offers regretsClinton called Somalia an early regret that still troubles him. He said his decision to try to capture warlord Mohamed Farah Aidid was based on the advice of Gen. Colin Powell, who retired as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff soon after the operation began. Hundreds of Somalis and 18 U.S. soldiers were killed.
"I'm not blaming him. I'm just saying he was gone," Clinton said. He added, "I don't know if I could have saved those lives or not. I would have handled it in a different way if I'd had more experience."
I am always amazed at the incredible vanity of this man. "I don't know if I could have saved those lives or not." ?? Well, I guess you could have NOT let the Secretary General of the UN to talk you into a manhunt for Aidid. That might have been a good start.
OUI JI
Well gee, no wonder the reference to Clinton was deleted. The JOURNALISTS probably bitched! The same RATS who saved his sorry ass.
Maybe they should have previewed it to "joe six-pack" and see if there was any backlash.
Hope they re-instate it with the DVD. I'm really looking forward to this movie (after reading this), sounds like it may be closer to the truth than I was imagining it would be.
Notice they don't discount the fact that Clinton is to blame. Including the public is interesting. I wonder, if Bush screwed up, would the NYT blame "the American people"? (Thats obviously a rhetorical question.)
You know, I think you have a very, very good point.... as a scarred veteran of the culture wars, I've seen too often how a sledgehammer approach can backfire. Better to be subtle and let people reach their own conclusions about this stuff.
It is dripping out, a little at a time....
...hardly a day or week passes without some slime from the former occupants of the White House coming to everyone's attention again.
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