Bowling for Columbine

Bowling for Columbine is a film directed by and starring Michael Moore. It won an Academy Award in the category of documentary film and has received both praise and criticism, both for the genre which it occupies (creative documentary), as well as what it claims. The film opened on October 11, 2002, and internationalized Moore's previously cultish American status.

"What a wonderful world" segment

In one particularly controversial segment of the film, Michael Moore lists a series of military, clandestine, and diplomatic actions by the United States (set to "What a Wonderful World," by Louis Armstrong).

Related Topics:
What a Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong

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Moore's critics state that he deceptively exaggerates historical facts and dispute some of his claims http://www.slimindustries.com/~bowling/bowlingforcolumbine/montage.htm, while defenders argue that he describes well-established historical facts in colorful language. On the website accompanying the film, Moore provides additional background information. http://www.michaelmoore.com/books-films/bowlingforcolumbine/library/wonderful/index.php

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The following is an exact transcript of the onscreen text in the Wonderful World segment:

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• 1953: U.S. overthrows Prime Minister Mossadegh of Iran. U.S. installs the Shah as dictator.
• 1954: U.S. overthrows democratically elected President Arbenz of Guatemala. 200,000 civilians are killed.
• 1963: U.S. backs assassination of South Vietnamese President Diem.
• 1963-1975: The Vietnam War, supported by the U.S. military, kills an est. 4 million people in Southeast Asia.
• September 11, 1973: U.S. stages a military coup in Chile. Democratically elected president Salvador Allende died. Dictator General Augusto Pinochet is installed leading to the disappearance and death of 3,500 Chileans.
• 1977: U.S. backs military rulers of El Salvador. 7,000 Salvadorans and four American nuns are killed.
• 1980s: U.S. trains Osama bin Laden and fellow Muslim terrorists to kill Soviet soldiers in Afghanistan War. CIA gives them $3 billion.
• 1981: Reagan administration trains and funds Contras to fight communist government. 30,000 Nicaraguans die.
• 1982: U.S. provides billions in aid to Saddam Hussein for weapons to kill Iranians.
• 1983: The White House secretly and illegally gives Iran weapons to kill Iraqis.
• 1989: CIA agent Manuel Noriega (also serving as president of Panama) disobeys orders from Washington. U.S. invades Panama and removes Noriega.
• 1990: Iraq invades Kuwait with weapons from U.S.
• 1991: U.S. enters Iraq. Bush reinstates dictator of Kuwait.
• 1998: U.S. bombs “weapons factory” in Sudan. The factory turns out to be making aspirin.
• 1991-date of the film: U.S. planes bomb Iraq on a weekly basis. The United Nations estimates that 500,000 Iraqi children die from bombing and sanctions.
• 2000-2001: U.S. gives Taliban-ruled Afghanistan $245 million in aid for famine relief.
• The final instance in the montage depicts the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center, with a title card alleging that Osama bin Laden received CIA training that helped him plan the attack.