Response to Michael Moore - Part Two

By: Ryan Mauro

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            Again, as previously stated, WorldThreats.com respects Michael Moore’s film-making abilities and ability to get his opinion across. He is extremely convincing, yet extremely deceptive. This second part of our response will go over more errors in his film and explain why the movie is influencing some people, particularly the young.

            An interesting fact must be explained, regarding Moore ’s patriotism and bias. Hezbollah, a terrorist group with an alliance with Al-Qaeda, and sponsored by Syria , Saudi Arabia and especially Iran (and by Saddam Hussein before 2003) has helped promote Fahrenheit 9-11. Hezbollah has killed hundreds of Americans and is playing a distinct role in the war in Iraq . Moore ’s reaction was that he would not oppose to Hezbollah’s help, as he wanted a good market in the Middle East . That’s right, he wants to promote the film in the hotbed of terrorism, not only on American bases. He is more concerned about making money than providing the best propaganda piece the radical Muslims could ask for. Any doubts as to where Moore ’s loyalty lies has been put to rest. Thanks to Moore , many more Muslims will be willing to kill Americans.

 1) Bush stole the election with the help of Jeb Bush and Fox News.

            Again, this shows Moore ’s true ideology. He will pick facts apart. All studies after the election, including those by Democrats, show that Bush won the Florida vote by at least a few hundred votes. Another fact that Moore ignored is that the early false call of a Gore victory (even before the full results were in) is estimated to have made up to 50,000 Republican voters stay home. Even under those circumstances, Florida was won by Bush. Apparently, no matter how many investigations are launched showing Bush as the victor, some people will be convinced that there is some right-wing conspiracy no matter what.

            One of the “facts” Moore uses is that Jeb Bush, brother of Dubya, was governor of Florida at the time of the election. Of course, this means nothing. There is no evidence Jeb Bush played any role in the process to determine who won, much less evidence that Jeb manipulated anything.

            The accusation against Fox News is also inaccurate. In fact, Fox was the first network to say Gore won Florida , and CBS was the first to correct it, saying Bush won.

 2) Bush was unable to get his legislation passed and appoint his judges, and job approval ratings fell prior to 9-11. Although Moore doesn’t directly say it, he implies that 9-11 was needed to increase Bush’s power to get things done.

            Although it is true that after 9-11, Bush’s power was increased, it failed to get his legislation passed easier or to help him install his judges. Democrats stonewalled and delayed the appointments, and only the ignorant would think that would stop due to 9-11. Moore thinks that laws are changed or passed at the snap of a finger by the president, but in reality they take many months to be changed. Bush was only in office eight months by the time 9-11 occurred.

 3) He implies that there were enough issues at home to worry about rather than Iraq .

            OK, so he thinks there shouldn’t be a foreign policy. This defies all logic. Focus on domestic policy DOES NOT take away from the focus on foreign policy. They are separate, with separate departments and staff. That is like telling a mom she must focus less on cleaning the house, because it’s taking away from the father’s work.

            Additionally, foreign policy must be taken care of. These same people who complain over domestic issues would be complaining even more if foreign terrorists attacked our home, and all these domestic problems were tripled. More would die and suffer. They would complain we saw it coming and did nothing. Basically, in this area, the president, and any politician for that matter, can never win.

            There will always be problems on the domestic front. The people who disagree with the president’s agenda will always be able to focus on some problem. They want a utopian society, based on total equality and with no problems. That will never happen. There is little or nothing the government can do about it. In fact, whenever the government does intervene, it usually results in more problems and corruption. Simply put, the “focus on domestic issues” is an argument that will be used for decades to come in order to serve as an excuse to oppose a certain politician’s policies.

 4) By showing images of angry Iraqis, Moore implies that attacking Iraq made more enemies.

            This is a common perception that is incorrect. In order to defeat terrorism, we need to stop those who sponsor it. We can either take steps to win the War on Terrorism, which sometimes temporarily agitates people, or we can sit back and wait for them to strike again and again.

            Iraq was hardly a peaceful country. They already had become a version of Bin Laden. In fact, as demonstrated on this site, Iraq played a dramatic role in Bin Laden’s operations. To say Saddam would turn a new leaf is to say that Bin Laden would turn a new leaf. It cannot happen.

            Although the Muslim world mostly opposed the war in Iraq , once a democracy is built, we’ll see a change in the attitude. As we’ve shown on this side, a tidal wave of freedom, reformers, and anti-terrorism feeling is overcoming the Middle East . The ideology that Moore and his crowd feared would expand will start to become weaker and weaker.

            The truth is, Iraq was intent on aggression, and us standing by would only make us more enemies and make the world more dangerous. And more Americans would die as a result.

 5) Bush used 9-11 to take a photo opportunity on 9-11.

            Moore also uses this opportunity to show Bush as an incapable leader upon hearing about the attacks. What he doesn’t mention is that the vice chairman of the 9-11 Commission (a Democrat by the way) praised his calm reaction. Moore complains Bush didn’t take action soon enough, but then complains about when Bush did take action. Again, Bush cannot win. Personally, I would respect the opinions of the experts on the 9-11 Commission over Moore .

            He claims Bush used the opportunity for a photo opportunity. Yet, he doesn’t mention the footage used was from a teacher at the elementary school, not the press. And his reaction was hardly a good photo opportunity as Moore showed.

 6) Bush didn’t have a single meeting on terrorism before the war.

            The 9-11 Commission has since proved this completely untrue. And why did Moore feel he was able to make such a statement? Does he know the president’s daily routine and meeting schedules?

 7) Bush ignored security briefings that should have caused him to take action.

            Moore then mocks Condoleezza Rice’s explanation that the memo entitled “Bin Laden Determined to Strike America” saying it should have made anyone jump. Yet this had been going on for a long time. Nothing new at all. The memo was also not actionable, and gave no information that would allow the government to stop 9-11. Moore blames Bush for the failures of the intelligence communities. Apparently, Moore thinks Bush watches every one of the millions of the employees of the government, and is a dictator. There are other people to be held responsible.

 8) Bush’s “daddy” delivered weapons to Saddam.

            Although we coddled Saddam, this was to counter Iran . What would you prefer, two enemies countering each other’s power or an Iran-dominated Middle East ? And contrary to common belief, the “arming” of Saddam was insignificant, the assistance was mostly with intelligence. In other words, Saddam’s threat did not emanate from US assistance.

 9) Taliban representatives visited Texas when Bush was governor.

            Apparently, Moore doesn’t believe in freedom. Officials from other countries are allowed to visit other countries. The Taliban that visited Texas did not have a criminal record and were not wanted. They were allowed to go where they want. And if Moore is such a big advocate of diplomacy, how can dialogue be initiated without one leader traveling to the other’s land?

 10) Bush is a “deserter”.

            Released military records prove this as inaccurate. In fact, Bush did serve in the National Guard, as confirmed by documentation and many witnesses, and eventually was given an “honorable discharge”. No deserter or trouble-maker would be given that.

 11) Moore tries to imply that the Saudi embassy receives special treatment and/or Moore was being monitored for trying to reveal the “Saudi connection”.

            All embassies in DC are protected by US security services. Moore makes a big deal of a secret service agent asking him why he was in front of the Saudi embassy. Moore wants to make it seem like he’s the underdog fighting an oppressor. The truth is, anyone else sitting in front of an embassy likely to be targeted for terrorism or espionage with a camera crew will be asked what they’re doing. Even then, the exchange was friendly and lasted a few minutes. There was no interrogation.

 12) Use of Clarke’s testimony to try to make it seem like Bush immediately used 911 to attack Iraq .

            Clarke’s credibility has been smashed by his hypocrisy and has even come out against how Moore ’s used his interviews in Fahrehnheit-911. Clarke himself cited Iraqi-Al-Qaeda ties as a justification for action against Iraq in the late 1990s.  Clarke has been so discredited that in the media virtually no one uses his testimony any longer. Also not mentioned in the movie is that Clarke is the one that authorized the flights by the Saudis after 9-11 and has defended it since.

 13) Moore cites the 11,000 troop commitment to Afghanistan as a sign that the war was not taken seriously.

            He leaves out the massive numbers of international troops involved, and how many rebels were used in Afghanistan . There was simply no need for more troops as we’ve seen. The rebels needed minimal support to oust the Taliban.

 14) Moore claims that the “sovereign nation of Iraq ” never threatened or murdered any American.

            Iraq ’s continuous threats to launch suicide bombings on American soil, pledges to annihilate Israel and the American presence in the region, and basically, Saddam’s every speech invalidate this claim. As for the claim Iraq never murdered any Americans (besides the Gulf War), this is untrue as well. Iraq sponsored Al-Qaeda, and even directed operations that killed Americans. For further information on Iraqi sponsorship of terrorism and likely roles in attacks on Americans, go to:

Saddam Hussein and Bin Laden: A Match Made Up in Propaganda?

http://www.worldthreats.com/middle_east/Iraq%20Terror.htm

  Iran , Saddam and Osama: A Continued Report

http://www.worldthreats.com/middle_east/Iran%20Saddam%20and%20Osama%20-%20Continued%20Report.htm

 Even More Evidence Against Saddam and Iran

http://www.worldthreats.com/middle_east/More%20Evidence%20Against%20Iraq-Iran.htm

 As well as updates in our regular “Monthly Analysis”.

 15) Moore harps on civilian casualties. But there is much he does not explain.

            Moore not only explains how many civilians would have died from Iraqi-sponsored terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, but how many Iraqis would have died or at least been tortured (tens of thousands a year) under Saddam. Instead, he takes footage of grieving Iraqis that have family members that fell victim to the war. We can understand their grieving, but Moore basically mocks our claims of minimizing civilian casualties.

            He does not explain how most civilian casualties were due to actions by the Saddam Fedayeen, Iraqi-sponsored terrorists like Ansar al-Islam, blatant disregard for human life by Iraqi forces, or anti-aircraft shells falling back on the country. He does not mention Saddam’s “human shields” or the fact that he assembled his defense strategy around causing maximum civilian casualties. If this video disturbed you, multiply the intensity, tears, blood and numbers by several times and you might get a glimpse of what life would be like under Saddam.

 16) Moore tries to imply Bush’s declaration of the end of major combat operations was a lie or deception.

            Moore doesn’t mention the painstaking degree to which Bush explained casualties would continue. Moore tried to make it seem that Bush was declaring an end to the war, but in reality, it was the end to major combat operations. And Bush was right. Major combat operations did end, and casualties did continue.

 17) Moore tries to make Bush seem ignorant on the economy.

            Moore focuses on the sad state of the economy. He doesn’t mention that the recession began under the Clinton Administration, and was worsened by 9-11 and corporate crime. The economy would have been dramatically better if 9-11 hadn’t happened (yet Moore implies Bush let it happen), or if corporate crime hadn’t been revealed or happened (yet Moore implies Bush was involved).

            Of course, Moore also doesn’t mention the booming economy we are in now, or how the economy began improving after the “tax cuts for the rich” (the same type was used by Kennedy and Reagan to boost the economy). Instead, he wants to focus on the negative to reinforce the perception of a poor economy in order to oust Bush.

 18) Moore claims senior officials knew there were no WMDs.

            Obviously, if this was true, we wouldn’t have gone in. They would have known that we’d find no WMDs, and that their power would be eliminated as a result. So that argument is ridiculous. The footage of Powell explaining Iraq in early 2001 had not developed significant capabilities is also twisted. The Iraqi capabilities had been preserved and not significantly upgraded. That was the nature of the threat. And after 9-11, we all realized that only a small amount of WMDs given to terrorists ( Iraq was already training Al-Qaeda members in their use) could make 9-11 look like a picnic.

 19) He tries to imply that the military forces in Iraq hate Bush by using interviews with anti-Bush individuals.

            Reports on the ground contradict this. In fact, reporters on the ground show that they don’t exactly like being in Iraq but there is high morale. There are Democrats and Republicans, pro-war and anti-war personnel in the military. Moore effectively capitalizes on this to make his point.

 20) More information on Moore ’s deception regarding the Saudis flown out after 911.

            The 9-11 commission has concluded that the FBI did screen the Saudis, interviewed at least 30 of them, and “Nobody of interest to the FBI with regard to the 9/11 investigation was allowed to leave the country.”

 21) The Saudis control Bush.

 If the Saudis control Bush, then how come the Saudis, according to inside reports, are facing greater pressure than ever from the Administration? If they are so close, why did the Saudis oppose the war in Afghanistan and the war in Iraq ?

 22) The clip of Bush playing golf.

The clip of Bush playing golf immediately after calling on the world to fight the terrorists, implies he’s talking about Al-Qaeda. However, the real footage shows he’s talking about Palestinian suicide bombers in Israel .

 23) The “facts” about Bush taking vacation.

            From http://fahrenheit_fact.blogspot.com/: “It’s obvious that these ‘vacation days’ include weekends. (You can do the math: 250/x=42/100; x=595 days=1.63 years). Okay, 42% is a lot of vacation, but weekends account for 29% of our time. I’m sure that a lot of this ‘vacation’ time is just Bush going to Camp David for the weekend.

            Can we really fault the President for going to Camp David on weekends? If you take out weekends, you get 42%-29%, or 13% of the time that Bush was on vacation….But we know that Bush’s vacation are generally working vacations. For example, he has hosted visits from leaders like Putin, Fox, and many others there. This hardly seems like a real vacation.”

            Moore is actually incorrect in calling this vacation. AOL’s Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “vacation” as: “a: a scheduled period during which activity (as of a court or school) is suspended b: a period of exemption from work granted to an employee for rest and relaxation”.

 24) Bush Senior received $1.18 billion from the Saudis through the Carlyle Group.

             This amount is from training Saudi military forces. And Bush’s father didn’t seem a dime of those contracts. He didn’t join the Carlyle Group until April 1998, nearly six months after Carlyle sold the defense contractor used in the deal to another firm. As for Dubya, his “connection” is also a fraud. He left the Carlyle Group when he ran for governor of Texas , months before the Saudi contracts were made.

            Newsweek also makes a good point about a fact that Michael Moore leaves out: Other members of the Carlyle Group include high-level Clinton staff members.

            Despite the emphasis on this “connection”, Moore gives no evidence that Bush acted on behalf of the Carlyle Group. In fact, the Carlyle Group even lost money under the Bush Administration when he cancelled an $11 billion program for an advanced artillery system.

 25) Disney’s decision not to distribute the movie was the result of a Bush-led conspiracy.

            Disney already told Moore they would not distribute the movie over a year ago. It was not sudden despite what Moore says.

 26) Moore , after discussing the Unocal oil deal in Afghanistan (while leaving out the deal was scrapped in 1998) mentions that an oil pipeline began construction in Afghanistan after 911. Moore does not mention that Unocal was not involved in the deal, or that the pipeline still has yet to be fully constructed.

 27) Moore claims that those put in charge of the new Afghanistan got the jobs due to their oil ties.

            Most of those that were qualified to run Afghanistan were experts in central Asia , so naturally they’d have oil ties. What would Moore want, a successful international businessman or someone who couldn’t handle a small store? Additionally, Moore claims that Hamid Karzai was an advisor to Unocal. Unocal has denied this and no documentation has ever provided evidence for this claim. Karzai, due to his position in the opposition, may have met a few people, be he was never active in the company.

 28) Moore relies almost entirely on the anti-Bush book, “House of Bush, House of Saud”.

            However, he does not mention that the book is extremely partisan, and that the author dismisses the Bush-Bin Laden connection. He also doesn’t mention that the book was not published in the UK because of stricter libel laws—meaning the book wasn’t credible.

 29) Moore ’s footage of a building being blown up right after kids flying kites in Baghdad .

            Moore doesn’t tell you that the building blown up was Saddam’s Ministry of Defense.

 30) Moore ’s editing of the sequence involving interviews with congressmen.

            Representative Kennedy (R-MN)’s interview with Moore is edited during the movie. Moore cuts out the part where he said he had a nephew being sent to Afghanistan and that two of his nephews were also in the armed forces.

 31) Moore ’s manipulation of a clip of Condoleezza Rice claiming, Moore implies, Iraq conducted 9/11.

            Here’s what Rice really said: “It’s not that Saddam Hussein was somehow himself and his regime involved in 9/11, but if you think about what caused 9/11, it is the rise of ideologies of hatred that lead people to drive airplanes into buildings in New York.”

 32) Moore ’s manipulation of the clip where Bush mentions the “have-mores” that is his “base”.

            What Moore doesn’t tell you is that Bush was stressing they were rich at a charity event. He pressured them to give to the charity.

 33) Moore shows video of Unger saying he’s heard figures estimating Saudi investment in the US at $860 billion. What is it really?

            According to the Institute for the Research of Middle Eastern Policy, in February 2003 the Saudis had about $420 billion invested in the US , less than half of the amount claimed. And this institute is pro-Saudi, meaning they’d overemphasize how much is invested in America in order to strengthen the Saudi position.

 34) The White House blocked out Bath ’s name in Bush’s military records to stop people from discovering the Saudi connection.

            Again, this is wrong, because not only would Bath ’s name almost certainly not hurt Bush, but privacy laws require his name be blacked out. Moore does not inform his audience of these laws.

 35) Moore implies that Representative Porter Goss lied about having a toll-free number to call about abuses involving the Patriot Act.

            Moore does this by flashing up Goss’ toll-free number and stating, Goss does not have an “800 number”. Moore is correct but knows full well this implies a lie about the toll-free number claim. In fact, Goss does have a toll free number which is (877) 858-9040.

 36) Moore says Bush lowered the pay for the military personnel and families.

            In 2003, all military salaries were raised by 3.7% with additional increases for non-commission officers that have lower levels of education generally speaking.

 37) Moore says Bush supported closing veteran’s hospitals.

            Actually, the Department of Veteran’s Affairs proposed closing 7 hospitals in areas with declining populations and the hospitals were inadequate. The Department said that they’d then build new hospitals where they were the most needed as well as build rehabilitation centers.

 38) Moore says Bush tried to double the prescription drug costs for veterans.

            Actually, Bush proposed raising the prescription co-pay from $7 to $15 for veterans with incomes of over $24, 000 a year, so the costs would still be extremely cheap with taxpayer money.

 39) Moore says Bush proposed cutting troops’ pay by 33%.

            http://fahrenheit_fact.blogspot.com/ says: “In addition to regular military salaries, soldiers in certain areas (not just combat zones) receive an ‘imminent danger’ bonus of $150 a month. In April 2003, Congress retroactively enacted a special increase of $75 for the fiscal year of Oct. 1, 2002 through Sept. 30, 2003 . At first, the Bush administration did not support renewing the special bonus, but then changed its position.           

            Likewise, Congress had passed a special one-year increase in the family separation allowance (for service personnel stationed in places where their families cannot join them) from $100 to $250. Bush’s initial opposition to extending the special increase was presented by Moore as ‘cutting assistance to their families by 60%’...

            …Even if one characterizes not renewing a special bonus as a ‘cut’, Fahrenheit misleads the viewer into thinking that the cuts applied to total compensation, rather than only to pay supplements which constitute only a small percentage of a soldier’s income. An enlisted man with four months of experience receives an annual salary more than $27,000.”

 40) Manipulation by Moore saying the leaders of America are unwilling to sacrifice for their wars.

            Although Moore is mostly correct about leaders not sending their kids to war, he doesn’t mention that most of the Congress members’ kids are not of age for the military. And here are some interesting tidbits to counter what Moore is implying:

            (http://fahrenheit_fact.blogspot.com/) “According to a tally compiled by Richard Aragon and John Rossie, 101 of the men and women sitting in the House of Representatives formerly served in the military. Of these, 17 saw active duty in combat zones. When we consider that there are 435 seats in the House, we see that close to a fourth of them gave a portion of their lives to the US military.

            The Senate numbers are even more surprising. Of the 100 US Senators, 36 of them are former military servicemen (9 of whom saw combat duty). That means a little over a third of America ’s senators once served in the very vocation Moore implies they know nothing about.” Moore also doesn’t mention Ashcroft’s son being in the military.

 

How Moore Wages Psychological Warfare On His Audience

            There are numerous techniques Moore uses to convince his crowd. Many friends of mine have come from the theater convinced of what he says, despite what the facts say. They’ll accept that he was wrong on facts but become convinced. Why is this?

 1) The use of repetition throughout the movie.

 2) The use of “Saudi” to imply Bin Laden and terrorist, to the point that we assume that any Saudi money is terrorist money.

 3) Manipulation of the facts.

 4) Interviews young people and “victims of the system” to portray the government as an evil entity. This plays on the youth desire to rebel against authority and to always question authority. Ever since Vietnam , each generation has strived to revive that “cool” era where they feel like they have meaning.

 5) Use of rapid-fire facts, so that your overwhelmed with “evidence” before you can digest what it means or may not mean.

 6) Cherry-picking facts.

 7) Using sporadic interviews to make it seem like a total sect or population is in a specific belief. Several people coming out of the theater have told me, “I hate Iraq , they all hate us and didn’t want us there”, or “all the military is against this, it’d expect a mutiny”.

 8) The use of emotion. Moore effectively uses stories and video of grieving to make the audience connect and feel sympathy for the person videotaped. Then, slowly, that sympathy is merged with anti-Bushism. The anger is directed towards Bush to the point that all negative emotion from the film is identified with Bush.

9) Use of music. Not much more can be said. When kids are seen playing before Saddam is toppled, happy music is played. Silly music is played to demonstrate Bush, while music used to cause fear or anxiety is used to demonstrate the Bush Administration.

 10) Use of pictures. Whenever a statement is made about Bush, unfavorable pictures are used so much that even the way he laughs is viewed as sinister.

 11) Rapid-fire of chaotic pictures. This is used to destroy any notion the audience might have of a stable Iraq , Afghanistan or country. The use of these chaotic pictures has made several of my friends come from the theater believing that we’re involved in Vietnam .

12) He also uses the voices of many news anchors and pundits at once that involve “trigger words” like “ Vietnam ”, or other words that portray a negative view of the conflict in order to portray the conflict as a waste of time that we will lose, without directly saying it. The audience gets the impression that the experts are all in agreement that Iraq or our country as a whole is a mess.