Finally! My Take On Fahrenheit 9/11

I mulled it over for a few days but here's my 11-02-04 cents:

Funny

The last line of the documentary made me laugh the hardest. If for no other reason, this movie is a must see.

Needless to say, Bush was portrayed (I'm being kind) as complete idiot. By nature, he provides an endless amount of material - no matter what the setting - and if the entire movie had been clips of him, his stupid face and his wildly nonsensical remarks, I would have had a stomach ache from laughing so hard.

The footage of Michael Moore on Capitol Hill asking Congressmen if they'd sign up their children to go to Iraq and the D'OH looks on their faces were priceless.

Finding out, via John Conyers, that Congressmen don't read the bills that are placed before them … thus explaining how the Patriot Act was passed without a whimper. Moore then proceeded to read the Patriot Act over the loudspeaker of an ice cream truck as it circled the capitol.

I had to laugh at the young man from Flint, MI saying that bombed out parts of Iraq look a lot like parts of Flint (okay, that's not funny but ...).

Informative and Thought Provoking

I try to keep up with the what's going with on this so most of the 'shocking' revalations weren't really a surprise. There are others who reported on the close relationship between the Bushes and the Bin Laden family, the ties to the Taliban, the big hands of his friends and business partners (Cheney, Lay, Saudis, Carlyle Group ...) in the cookie jar. The greed is just brazen, shameless and unfathomable. I did not realize, however, that Karzai, the interim President of Afghanistan, had close ties to the "energy" arena as well and had once served as a consultant to Unocal. "Coincidentally", one of the first things he did was give the nod on a natural gas pipeline from the Caspian Sea through Afghanistan.

I also found it interesting that they actually have Marine recruiters scouring the malls (in lower/working class areas) trying to get youngsters to come down and sign up. I mean they had an angle for everything the kids would say. I've seen the recruiting centers but I had no idea they patrolled the streets!

Poignant

The interviews with a fallen soldier's mother were probably the most emotional parts of the movie. It's easy to rattle off body counts and casualty numbers but there are families for each one of the nearly 900 soldiers who've died in this war. I am glad that he took the time to show a 'personal' story ...

Violent

I could have done without the graphic details and gore of combat, beheadings and injuries but it definitely had its place. I covered my face.

Illustrated Soldiers' Views

While he did show the downside of what the madness of war can do to a soldier (i.e. the abuse and blood-thirstiness), he also featured one who clearly seemed to get it as despite the horror he realized that "you cannot kill and not lose a little piece of yourself." I hope that young man is able to resolve things in his heart and mind when he gets home.