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Less than 72 hours before ABC's "The Path to 9/11" is scheduled to air, the network is suddenly under siege. On Tuesday, ABC was forced to concede that "The Path to 9/11" is "a dramatization, not a documentary." The film deceptively invents scenes to depict former President Bill Clinton's handling of the Al Qaeda threat.

Now, ABC claims to be is editing those false sequences to satisfy critics so the show can go on -- even if it still remains a gross distortion of history. And as it does so, ABC advances the illusion that the deceptive nature of "The Path to 9/11" is an honest mistake committed by a hardworking but admittedly fumbling team of well-intentioned Hollywood professionals who wanted nothing less than to entertain America. But this is another Big Lie.

In fact, "The Path to 9/11" is produced and promoted by a well-honed propaganda operation consisting of a network of little-known right-wingers working from within Hollywood to counter its supposedly liberal bias. This is the network within the ABC network. Its godfather is far right activist David Horowitz, who has worked for more than a decade to establish a right-wing presence in Hollywood and to discredit mainstream film and TV production. On this project, he is working with a secretive evangelical religious right group founded by The Path to 9/11's director David Cunningham that proclaims its goal to "transform Hollywood" in line with its messianic vision.

Before The Path to 9/11 entered the production stage, Disney/ABC contracted David Cunningham as the film's director. Cunningham is no ordinary Hollywood journeyman. He is in fact the son of Loren Cunningham, founder of the right-wing evangelical group Youth With A Mission (YWAM). The young Cunningham helped found an auxiliary of his father's group called The Film Institute (TFI), which, according to its mission statement, is "dedicated to a Godly transformation and revolution TO and THROUGH the Film and Televisionindustry." As part of TFI's long-term strategy, Cunningham helped place interns from Youth With A Mission's in film industry jobs "so that they can begin to impact and transform Hollywood from the inside out," according to a YWAM report.

Last June, Cunningham's TFI announced it was producing its first film, mysteriously titled "Untitled History Project." "TFI's first project is a doozy," a newsletter to YWAM members read. "Simply being referred to as: The Untitled History Project, it is already being called the television event of the decade and not one second has been put to film yet. Talk about great expectations!" (A web edition of the newsletter was mysteriously deleted yesterday but has been cached on Google at the link above).

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Early on, Cunningham had recruited a young Iranian-American screenwriter named Cyrus Nowrasteh to write the script of his secretive "Untitled" film. Not only is Nowrasteh an outspoken conservative, he is also a fervent member of the emerging network of right-wing people burrowing into the film industry with ulterior sectarian political and religious agendas, like Cunningham.

Nowrasteh's conservatism was on display when he appeared as a featured speaker at the Liberty Film Festival (LFF), an annual event founded in 2004 to premier and promote conservative-themed films supposedly too "politically incorrect" to gain acceptance at mainstream film festivals. This June, while The Path to 9/11 was being filmed, LFF founders Govindini Murty and Jason Apuzzo -- both friends of Nowrasteh -- announced they were "partnering" with right-wing activist David Horowitz. Indeed, the 2006 LFF is listed as "A Program of the David Horowitz Freedom Center."

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Originally posted by beskeptigal

Despite the effect on my blood pressure, I sat through this propaganda.

The movie was worse than I thought, and not because they were more misleading about Clinton, I already knew they were going to do that. The most disturbing thing in the movie was scene after scene where the script falsely claimed this or that Constitutional law or human right prevented us from taking care of the terrorists. This was not just right wing propaganda it was fascist propaganda.

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Originally posted by filthy
I really don't know if these scoundrels were/are on the Republican payroll or not, but it wouldn't supprise me.

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In May, the Justice Department began shaping plans for building a budget for fiscal year 2003, the process that would usually culminate in an adminstration proposal at the beginning of 2002. On May 9, the attorney general testified at a congressional hearing concerning federal efforts to combat terrorism. He said that "one of the nation's most fundamental responsibilities is to protect its citizens...from terrorist attacks." The budget guidance issued the next day, however, highlighted gun crimes, narcotics trafficking, and civil rights as priorities. Watson told us he almost fell out of his chair when he saw this memo, because it did not mention counterterrorism.

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Bradley's concern about the reduction in forces between 1990 and 2004 is reflected in the numbers on a chart in his files, “Changes in U.S. Military Force Structure (1990-2004).” Reductions during that period include:


Active Army Divisions, reduced from 18 to 10.

Reserve Component Brigades, down from 57 to 36.

Navy Battle Force Ships, reduced from 546 to 295.

Aircraft Carriers (Active and Reserve), from 15 down to 12.

Air Force Fighter Wings (Active and Reserve), reduced from 36 to 30.

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Arguing that strains on the military are becoming excessive, some policymakers have recently cried for relief.

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The Air Force is losing pilots at an unsustainably rapid rate, and as a result expects to be about 700 individuals short of desired levels next year. Reenlistment rates for first-term troops are at their lowest in fifteen years. According to at least two major surveys, the fraction of military personnel envisioning a long-term career in the armed forces has declined some 10 percent this decade. As a House National Security Committee report described last year, some types of equipment are in less than ideal condition. For example, many aircraft mission-capable rates are now at an eight-year low. And as a Senate Budget Committee majority report recently pointed out, a number of units suffer serious shortfalls in personnel that have handicapped them in training exercises.

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...having worked for the CIA for nearly nine years on Middle Eastern matters (I left the Directorate of Operations because of frustration with the Agency's many problems), I would argue that America's counterterrorism program in the Middle East and its environs is a myth.

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George Tenet, who became the director of the CIA in 1997, has repeatedly described America's counterterrorist program as "robust" and in most cases successful at keeping bin Ladin's terrorists "off-balance" and anxious about their own security. The Clinton Administration's senior director for counterterrorism on the National Security Council, Richard Clarke, who has continued as the counterterrorist czar in the Bush Administration, is sure that bin Ladin and his men stay awake at night "around the campfire" in Afghanistan, "worried stiff about who we're going to get next."

If we are going to defeat Usama bin Ladin, we need to openly side with Ahmad Shah Mas'ud, who still has a decent chance of fracturing the tribal coalition behind Taliban power. That, more effectively than any clandestine counterterrorist program in the Middle East, might eventually force al-Qa'ida's leader to flee Afghanistan, where U.S. and allied intelligence and military forces cannot reach him.

Until then, I don't think Usama bin Ladin and his allies will be losing much sleep around the campfire.

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Originally posted by Luke T.

I was on my way to work when I heard on the radio about the first plane hitting the WTC. I thought about the aircraft that hit the Empire State Building in the 30s and how this was a terrible tragedy. I recalled fog was to blame for the crash in the 30s and wondered if the same thing was a factor in this crash. Then I started thinking about the state of aviation traffic control today and began to think it would have to be a serious malfunction of equipment or personnel for this to happen.

As I pulled into the parking lot at work, they reported the second aircraft hitting the WTC. I immediately said out loud to myself, "Osama Bin Laden."

I was inside a clean room when I got a call about the towers collapsing. I nearly decided then and there to report back to active duty.

At no time, not then or since, have I blamed Clinton OR Bush for 9/11.

I blame no one but Osama Bin Laden. Period.

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Originally posted by filthyI have no evidence as to who put up the funding; if I had, I would have presented it. But as far as I am concerned, that is not important. Their history and actions speak for themselves.

(I have read that Richard Mellon Scafe put up some 40 mil, but at this point, that's just scuttlebutt and worhty of little attention.)

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20 years in.... I was only in for 10. I too, was a lifer but circumstances dictated otherwise.

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I can blame bin Laden for the attack, but the lack of preparedness and the reaction were all on Bush's plate.

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Should Clinton been more aggressive toward bin Laden? I dunno. They say that hindsite is 20/20, but I think not always. Clinton had a lot of other problems requiring attention besides Monica.

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Originally posted by filthy
When I put forth a speculation, I lable it as such. I will put them up as they are of interest to the boards, and there is the distinct possibility/probability that someone else might know something I don't and be able to confirm or refute.

Thus far, you have done neither; merely commented.

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Originally posted by filthy


Y'see, Bush had his chance; the chance to become the greatest president ever, and he blew it. Had he purseued bin Laden, with the whole world offering all support, he and his organization would today be an unpleasant memory. Instead, he chose to go to Iraq on a basis of speculations at best and outright lies at worst. And the world wide support vanished like rats in the rattlesnake cage. And rightly so.

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Originally posted by Luke T.

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Originally posted by filthy


Y'see, Bush had his chance; the chance to become the greatest president ever, and he blew it. Had he purseued bin Laden, with the whole world offering all support, he and his organization would today be an unpleasant memory. Instead, he chose to go to Iraq on a basis of speculations at best and outright lies at worst. And the world wide support vanished like rats in the rattlesnake cage. And rightly so.

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And this has to do with the accuracy/veracity of the ABC movie how?

Sounds like your bias is getting in the way of your skepticism.

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Originally posted by Luke T.

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Originally posted by beskeptigal

Despite the effect on my blood pressure, I sat through this propaganda.

The movie was worse than I thought, and not because they were more misleading about Clinton, I already knew they were going to do that. The most disturbing thing in the movie was scene after scene where the script falsely claimed this or that Constitutional law or human right prevented us from taking care of the terrorists. This was not just right wing propaganda it was fascist propaganda.

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Then the 9/11 Report must be fascist propaganda.

In last night's broadcast in the part I saw, they covered Moussaoui's part in the plan. They spent some time on the attempt to get a FISA warrant to look at Mousaoui's laptop. The warrant was denied. (ETA: Correction, the decision to even apply for a warrant was denied.)

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Originally posted by Luke T.

If you want my subjective opinion about 9/11, here it is.

I was in the military for 20 years. 1980 to 2000. After the collapse of the USSR, there was a lot of talk about the "peace dividend" that would result. And sure enough, I saw firsthand how the military and intelligence services were stripped down to bare bones under the Clinton Administration and a Republican led Congress, with the full support of their Democratic counterparts.

But more than just my own firsthand recollections, I have also in the past posted links on JREF of the poor readiness condition of the military in 1997.

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The ABC television network is using the fifth anniversary of 9/11 as an opportunity to rewrite history. On Sept. 10 and 11, ABC/Disney will broadcast "The Path to 9/11", a six-hour, two-part "docudrama" written and produced by conservative filmmakers who place a lion's share of the blame for the 9/11 terrorist attacks on alleged failures of the Clinton administration.

This is not the first time that Hollywood has used 9/11 as a pretext to air pro-Bush propaganda in the guise of a docudrama. On the second anniversary of the terrorist attack, the Showtime cable network broadcast "DC 9/11: Time of Crisis," written by conservative Republican Lionel Chetwynd. Dubbed "a reelection campaign movie" by Washington Post TV critic Tom Shales, the film starred actor Timothy Bottoms in the role of George W. Bush, depicting him as a leader of Churchillian stature who takes personal charge in the 9/11 aftermath while brushing off worries about his own safety with declarations such as, "If some tinhorn terrorist wants me, tell him to come on over and get me. I'll be home!" In reality, as opposed to the bizarro world of docudrama, Bush's safety on 9/11 was guaranteed by hustling him off to an undisclosed location, while Cheney went into hiding for months.

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