Fahrenheit 9/11

Fahrenheit 9/11 is a high-grossing, award-winning documentary film by American filmmaker Michael Moore, which had a general release in the United States and Canada on June 25, 2004. The film has since been released in 42 more countries and holds the record for highest box office receipts by a general release documentary.

Content

The film discusses the causes and aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, with the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and with the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq. In the film, Moore also describes the links between the Bush family and associated persons, such as prominent Saudi Arabian families, including the Saudi royal family, and the family of Osama bin Laden. The links form a relationship spanning three decades, supposedly worth $1.4 billion to the Bush family and their friends and associates. http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/23542.htm

Related Topics:
September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks - 2003 invasion of Iraq - U.S.-led occupation of Iraq - Bush family - Saudi Arabia - Royal family - Osama bin Laden

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Although the business links between the Bush family and various high-ranking Saudis are not disputed, they are not widely known, and Moore has previously alleged that the Bush administration turned a blind eye to Saudi links to terrorist groups, (most of the September 11 hijackers were Saudis). In this vein, he also examines the government-sponsored evacuation of relatives of Osama bin Laden after the attacks. One of his primary sources for these claims is the book House of Bush, House of Saud by Craig Unger, which Moore also advertises on his website.

Related Topics:
Business - House of Bush, House of Saud - Craig Unger

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The film contains numerous clips of graphic footage of military and civilian casualties from the Iraq war, including dead and mutilated bodies, as well as footage of American soldiers deployed to Iraq who use music as a "Soundtrack to War". Another portion of the film shows US soldiers with amputations and nerve damage. One brief clip shows a public beheading filmed in Jidda, Saudi Arabia. By contrast, Moore refrained from using the familiar footage of the September 11 attacks, but instead had a blank screen with only the sounds of the incident, then cutting to the reaction of onlookers of the attacks.

Related Topics:
Soundtrack to War - Soldiers - Amputation - Nerve - Beheading - Jidda - September 11 attacks

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In April 2004, Moore posted a note on his web site regarding the progress of the film. In it, he stated that he was obtaining footage directly from Iraq:

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:I currently have two cameramen/reporters doing work for me in Iraq for my movie (unbeknownst to the Army). They are talking to soldiers and gathering the true sentiment about what is really going on. They Fed Ex the footage back to me each week. http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?messageDate=2004-04-14

Related Topics:
Army - Fed Ex

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The film begins with George W. Bush's ascension to power and alleges a 42 percent vacation rate before September 11, 2001. The figure comes from a Washington Post article that concludes Bush spent "a whopping 54 days at his Texas ranch, 38 days at the presidential retreat at Camp David and four more at his parents' place in Kennebunkport, Maine." Critics dispute this figure as misleading, remarking that it includes visits by foreign dignitaries as vacation time. http://billstclair.com/911timeline/2001/wpost080701.html. Many of the scenes also depict Bush playing golf with family, fishing, and feeding his dog. In addition, many scenes show him being heckled by reporters over his unproductivity during the time before September 11th.

Related Topics:
September 11 - 2001 - Washington Post - Texas - Ranch - Camp David - Kennebunkport, Maine

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The next scene is of Bush sitting in a Florida classroom, holding a book called Reading Mastery 2, for seven minutes after being told there was a second airplane crash into the World Trade Center.

Related Topics:
Reading Mastery 2 - Airplane - World Trade Center

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Moore shows a Vietnam war-era document of George W. Bush's Air National Guard service record — first the censored copy produced by the White House, then an uncensored copy that Moore had obtained a few years earlier. The difference between the versions is that the White House blacked out the name of James R. Bath, a Guard friend of Bush's who went on to work as a financial agent for the Saudis and helped channel Saudi money to one of Bush's businesses. (This may have been due to HIPAA restrictions on the release of medical records, in this case the record showing Bath's suspension for not taking an exam. Moore's uncensored copy was from 2000, and the restrictions did not take effect until 2003.) Moore contends that Bush's dry-hole oil well attempts were partially funded by the Saudis and, in fact, by bin Laden family money.

Related Topics:
Vietnam war - Air National Guard - White House - James R. Bath - HIPAA - Oil

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The documentary touches on other themes as well, discussing reduction in the number of people enlisting in the military because of the war, and US military recruiters using some questionable pledges to get new sign-ups; particularly targeting poorer neighborhoods. It also shows a business convention where numerous corporate representatives attend and hear a pitch about how much money companies can make through the conflict in Iraq.

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Moore obtained footage of the preparation for the televised announcement of the Iraq war, where Bush "mugs" for the camera, seconds before uttering "My fellow Americans..."

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Flint, Michigan

Like other Moore films, Fahrenheit 9/11 featured extensive focus on the impact of the Iraq War on Flint, which Moore describes as his home town although he was actually born in the much richer nearby town of Davison. In the economically hard-hit town, Moore explained that Flint's low-income neighborhoods were a prime target of military recruiters, and followed two Marine recruiters in uniform, during the course of actively recruiting young men for enlistment. The segment showed the techniques and minor flatteries by which they made personal contact with people, asking questions and making suggestions that interests such as music and basketball would be avenues available to pursue through the military.

Related Topics:
Flint - Davison - Military recruiters - Marine - Enlistment

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The Flint segment also focused on strong war supporter named Lila Lipscomb, who had a daughter in the 1991 Persian Gulf War as now had a son serving in Iraq. She praised the Army's active recruitment in the low-income town, saying enlistment was a good option for young people to get a start on life. Later in the film, Lipscomb reappears, this time in tears with her family, after hearing of the death of her son, Michael Pederson, who was killed on April 2, 2003, in Karbala. Anguished and tearful, she expressed questions about the war's purpose and how that came to take the life of her son. Toward the end of the film, Lipscomb was shown walking up to the security barrier surrounding the White House, (she had invited Moore's crew to join her on a job conference to Washington, DC.) She expressed her difficulty in coming to terms with the place and in realizing how the decisions made there would ultimately would bring about the death of her son. As she talks with a protester in a tent, they are confronted by a woman who claims that the protester's exhibits are "all staged." Lipscomb asks her if her son's death was staged also.

Related Topics:
Persian Gulf War - April 2 - 2003 - Karbala - White House - Washington, DC

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As in Moore's other movies, he uses humor to enliven his argument. Upon learning that most members of Congress had not read the USA Patriot Act before passing it, Moore drives around the Capitol in an ice cream truck, reading the statute over the loudspeaker. He also comments that only one Congressman has children serving in Iraq. He targets Congressmen on the sidewalk to give them United States armed forces pamphlets and urges them to have their children enlist.

Related Topics:
Congress - USA Patriot Act - Capitol - Ice cream truck - United States armed forces

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Near the end, tying together several themes and points, Moore compliments those serving in the US military, "I've always been amazed that the very people forced to live in the worst parts of town, go to the worst schools, and who have it the hardest, are always the first to step up, to defend that very system. They serve so that we don't have to. They offer to give up their lives so that we can be free. It is remarkable — their gift to us. And all they ask for in return, is that we never send them into harm's way unless it's absolutely necessary. Will they ever trust us again?" However, earlier in the film, he asserts that the large proportion of working-class people in the military can be mainly attributed to a lack of other career options.

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In the beginning of the documentary, Moore focuses on the 2000 election with footage of a hypothetical Gore victory and in the process states his opinion that the public was fooled. The film ends with a clip of George W. Bush stumbling through the saying: "There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, it's probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. You fool me you can't get fooled again." He was presumably trying to say, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." What he came up with combined part of that maxim with the title of The Who song "Won't Get Fooled Again." In the context of the film, Moore is tying the clip back to the beginning of the film to imply Moore's hope that the American public would not be "fooled again."

Related Topics:
2000 election - Gore - Tennessee - Texas - The Who

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The movie is dedicated to Moore's friend who was killed in the World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001, and to those servicemen and women from Flint, Michigan, who have been killed in Iraq.

Related Topics:
World Trade Center - September 11 - 2001

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