F911 Supported By the Facts - NYT and IHT

[SpiralHawk]

FACT-CHECKING MOORE'S POLITICAL BROADSIDE
By Philip Shenon
New York Times / International Herald Tribune
Friday, June 18, 2004

http://www.iht.com/bin/print.php?file=525560.html
 
(snip)

After a year spent covering the U.S. commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks, I was recently allowed to attend a Hollywood screening. Based on that single viewing, and after separating out what is clearly presented as Moore's opinion from what is stated as fact, it seems safe to say that central assertions of fact in "Fahrenheit 9/11" are supported by the public record.

(snip)

[stevedeshazer]

1. I have yet to see a single Moore critic refute anything in his movies n/t

[disinfo_guy]

7. lots of hot air from critics, no facts

the worst his "critics" have come up with is that he "has an agenda". Duh.

[SpiralHawk]

2. The conclusion of the article

(snip) Besides, it may turn out that the most talked-about moments in the film are the least impeachable. For the White House, the most devastating segment of "Fahrenheit 9/11" may be the video of a befuddled-looking Bush staying put for nearly seven minutes at a Florida elementary school on the morning of
Sept. 11, continuing to read a copy of "My Pet Goat" to schoolchildren even after an aide has told him that a second plane has struck the twin towers.

Bush's slow, hesitant reaction to the disastrous news has never been a secret. But seeing the actual footage, with the minutes ticking by, may prove more damaging to the White House than all the statistics in the world.

- eom -

[Justice]

3. Question:

I have a picture I downloaded from the Internet which has the book
"My Pet Goat" upside down in Bush's hands.

Is that an accurate photo - or was it photoshopped?

[Bandit]

4. It was photoshopped

We've been down that raod before and all came to the same conclusion.

[Jackpine Radical]

8. It should be obvious that Shrubby wouldn't be holding the book

upside down. It has pictures in it so he would have noticed.

[eridani]

5. Still, he buys one of the establishment indirect lies

But while the film clearly suggests that the flights occurred at a time when all air traffic was grounded immediately after the attacks ("Even Ricky Martin couldn't fly," Moore says over video of the singer wandering in an airport lobby), the Sept. 11 commission said in a report this April that there was "no credible evidence that any chartered flights of Saudi Arabian nationals departed the United States before the reopening of national airspace," and that the FBI had concluded that no one aboard the flights was involved in Sept. 11.

Well, no, dammit. But that's not what Moore says. They flew around within the US to central assembly points when you and I couldn't fly from SF to LA. And they were allowed to leave the country, even the one who had direct foreknowledge of 9-11.

[IkeWarnedUs]

6. "even the one who had direct foreknowledge of 9-11"???

Who was that?

[eridani]

10. Prince Ahmed bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz

BUSH FLIES SAUDI RACEHORSE OWNER WITH PRIOR KNOWLEDGE OF THE 9-11 ATTACK OUT OF THE COUNTRY

Prince Ahmed bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz, owner of War Emblem (who won the first two of three Triple Crown races in 2002) was at the top of the list of a group of well-connected Saudis who left the country from Lexington, KY in a luxurious customized 727 shortly after 9-11. According to one of bin Laden’s top operatives, Aziz knew well beforehand that a major attack was to take place in the US on 9-11. And the Bush administration let the bastard fly the coop. The very fact that a couple of hundred Saudis were flying around within the US to central pickup points like Lexington, while US citizens were prohibited from flying from Minneapolis to Chicago is totally outrageous.

On March 30, 2002, Al Qaeda operative Abu Zubaydah was captured in Pakistan and questioned by two teams of intelligence agents. One of the teams consisted of Arab Americans posing as Saudi agents, who hoped to scare Zubaydah into thinking he would be turned over to the Saudis for the usual torture and beheading. Far from being intimidated, Zubaydah was relieved, and told them that a call to Prince Ahmed would explain all—and he knew all the phone numbers from memory. He also told them to call Prince Sultan bin Faisal bin Turki al-Saud and Prince Fahd bin Turki bin Saud al-Kabir, members of the House of Saud related to Kind Fahd.

He said that several years earlier the royal family had made a deal with Al Qaeda in which the House of Saud would aid them as long as they kept terrorism out of Saudi Arabia. The interrogators insisted that 9-11 changed everything—the House of Saud would not stand behind them after that.

Zubaydah said that 9-11 changed nothing, because Ahmed and the others knew beforehand that an attack was scheduled for America that day. They didn’t know exactly what it would be, and they didn’t want to know. Bin Laden knew the Saudis couldn’t stop it without the specifics, and also that they couldn’t turn on him without disclosing their foreknowledge.

Bush helped Ahmed leave the country right after 9-11, unmolested until June 22, 2002, when he supposedly died of a heart attack in his sleep. On June 23, Prince Sultan died in a car wreck. On July 30, Prince Fahd died in the desert of thirst. None was older than 43, and all are beyond questioning now. That these three were named by Zubaydah and then died young a couple of months later is extremely suspicious.

DELIBERATELY FACILITATING THE MOVEMENT OF PEOPLE WHO KNEW ANYTHING ABOUT 9-11 OUT OF THE COUNTRY BEFORE THEY COULD BE QUESTIONED MAKES THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION ACCESSORIES AFTER THE FACT. REMEMBER IN NOVEMBER!

Sources: Craig Unger, House of Bush, House of Saud, Scribner, 2004
Gerald Posner, Why America Slept: The Failure to Prevent 9/11, Random House, 2003

[Gloria]

9. Yeah, Matt Lauer went on about this tonite on Dateline....

I loved it when Moore wondered allowed what would have happened if the media asked hard questions of Bush...LOL

[DeepModem Mom]

11. kick