Movie: Fahrenheit 9/11

Actors: George W. Bush, Michael Moore
Director: Michael Moore, Producer:

“It`s so great,” said my dinner companion firmly, “that someone is finally speaking up for OUR side!”

I nodded in mock agreement.

“The liberals, you know,” she clarified, sensing my confusion.

I nodded again, still hesitant.

The topic of our dinner conversation was the incendiary documentary Fahrenheit 9/11, and the someone speaking up for “our” side was Michael Moore: gadfly extraordinaire, self-styled crusader for the people, bane of the Republican party.

At some level, my disagreement with the liberal was unreasonable. Fahrenheit 9/11 presents a masterful narrative. From the start, it`s clear where Moore`s loyalties lie and what his target his. There emerges a picture of President Bush as a bumbling nincompoop who stumbled from one career mishap to another, saved during each crisis by his last name. Moore`s Bush, far from being the average self-made guy portrayed by the media, is an elitist who had opportunities served to him on a platter. How he “stole” the 2000 election through a complex intrigue of disenfranchising black voters in Florida and having his dad`s buddies on the Supreme Court hand down a favorable verdict is a tale that Moore has often presented.

What`s new—certainly for the average American—is Moore`s exposure of the deep ties between the Bush clan and the Saudi royal family. Days after 9/11 when air traffic was still restricted, members of Saudi royalty—including some members of the Bin Laden family—were secretly flown out of the US on special flights. Moore alleges that this is direct evidence of the influence that the Saudis have over Bush (and consequently, US policy). The fact that Bush Senior and his cohorts (including James Baker) have substantial financial ties with Saudi Arabia through the Carlyle group is also discussed at great length.

The war in Iraq was fought on false pretenses because the administration had a hidden agenda, and their crony companies like Halliburton wanted to make money through profiteering: this appears to be the movie`s byline. The world and the American people were lied to about WMD and links between Saddam Hussein and Al-Qaeda. So while poor people sent their sons and daughters to fight and die, the rich profited through sweetheart deals and reconstruction contracts.

Fahrenheit 9/11 deserves acclaim for presenting the human face of war, something that`s ignored by mainstream media. The grief of an Iraqi woman whose house had just been bombed was unbearable to watch. Her cries and curses for her tormentors were simply heart wrenching. Equally disturbing was the anguish of the mother of a fallen soldier. So overwhelming were her emotions that I saw several people turn away from the screen with tears in their eyes, obviously embarrassed by the voyeurism that is inherent in witnessing a stranger`s grief.

Though Fahrenheit 9/11 is a bold step in mainstream cinema, it suffers from a number of problems. The assertion that the Saudis are sinister puppeteers controlling US policy through puppet Bushes is too much of a conspiracy theory (and perhaps even smacks of anti-Arab racism, a quantity that`s hardly in short supply in contemporary America). Similar allegations against Israel and AIPAC are often laughed at in polite society. That the Iraq war was fought on dubious premises is undeniable, as is the fact that corporations close to the administration made obscene profits from the war. But to suggest that the war was fought simply so Halliburton and the like could make money is just laughable.

Moore hints at a similar motivation for the Afghan conflict: the famed Unocal oil pipeline from the Caspian through Afghanistan. He makes an issue out of the fact that a Taliban delegation visited Texas for negotiations with Unocal in 1997 when Bush was governor. Rather disingenuously, he goes on to insinuate that the Taliban were harboring Bin Laden, the mastermind behind the African embassies and USS Cole bombings, even though neither event had occurred at that point. Conveniently neglected is the small detail that Clinton, arguably Moore`s favorite President, was in office at the time.

Clinton is conspicuous by his absence in other places. Iraq, according to Moore, was a joyous place before the war, with chirping birds and smiling children flying kites. The horrendous sanctions of the 90`s, which killed far more people than the war, have no place in his narrative. Clinton`s 1998 Wag-the-Dog style bombing of Iraq receives a similar bye.

But then, Moore has a single point agenda: get rid of Bush.

An honest film would have made the far more credible assertion that it is common interests between US and Saudi elites that form the basis of their strong relationship. The ties between the Bushes and the Saudis are merely icing on a formidable cake. American relations with Saudi Arabia are clearly based on realpolitik: the US props up a corrupt monarchy that keeps the oil flowing. That, however, is a truth that Joe American may not be ready to hear. His America is a good and moral nation, perhaps the best of all nations, that spreads peace and democracy throughout an unworthy world.

An honest film would also have described the Iraq war as yet another example of a superpower trumping international law, not an aberration dictated by a few deviant hawks. Fahrenheit 9/11 however, is not that film. It makes no mention of Israel and its influence on Middle Eastern affairs: a glaring omission to say the least, the equivalent of ignoring a 500-pound gorilla in the hammam.

In short, Fahrenheit 9/11 simply doesn`t go far enough. Its message is too easy, too clean. Send Bush-the-straw-man back to Crawford, Moore seems to say, and all will be well. The long night will end, and America and Americans will be loved all over the world again, just like how they used to be. This vision, though compelling, is naively utopian. Critics of American power were plentiful in the Clinton era. The psychotic Al-Qaeda types thrive on nihilism and will be just as plentiful during a Kerry presidency. A serious film would have investigated the roots of jihadic militancy; Fahrenheit 9/11 makes no such effort. Blame Bush is the central thesis and the film doggedly sticks to it.

Even in its stated goal of getting Bush out of the White House, Fahrenheit 9/11 is unlikely to have much effect. America today appears to be polarized between Bush lovers and haters. Upon being asked about Moore`s masterpiece, Mr. K (no marks for guessing his side) tersely informed me that he had no intention of watching that “s***** political polemic.” Fahrenheit 9/11 may simply strengthen that polarization instead of converting people to its point of view.

Despite its shortcomings, Fahrenheit 9/11 is a remarkable piece of filmmaking. It opens the door for a new kind of cinema: a powerful medium for exposing the deceit and lies of the elites.