Fahrenheit 9/11 Script - Dialogue Transcript
********************************************

God bless you, Florida! Thank you!




Did the last four years
not really happen?




Look, there's Ben Affleck.

He's often in my dreams.




And the Taxi Driver guy.
He was there too.




And little Stevie Wonder,
he seemed so happy...




... like a miracle had taken place.




Was it a dream?




We want Gore!




Or was it real?




It was election night 2000, and things

seemed to be going as planned.




In New York, Al Gore is
our projected winner.




The Garden State is green for Gore.




We project Mr. Gore the winner in
Delaware. This state has voted with...




Excuse me, one second.
I'm sorry to interrupt.




Mike, I wouldn't do this
if it weren't big.




Florida goes for Al Gore.




CNN announces that we call Florida
in the Al Gore column.





Then something called the Fox News
Channel called the election...




... in favor of the other guy.




Fox News now projects George
W. Bush the winner in Florida...




...and thus it appears the winner of the
presidency of the United States.




All of a sudden, the other

networks said:




"Hey, if Fox said it, it must be true."




All of us at the networks made
a mistake...




...and projected Florida
in the Al Gore column.




It was our mistake.




What most people don't know is
that the man in charge...




... of the decision desk at Fox
that night...




... the man who called it for Bush...




... was none other than Bush's
first cousin John Ellis.




How does someone like Bush get
away with something like this?




Well, first, it helps if your brother is
the governor of the state in question.




You know something? We are gonna
win Florida. Mark my words.




You can write it down.





Second, make sure
your campaign chairman...




... is also the vote-count woman
and that her state hires a company...




... to knock voters off the rolls
who aren't likely to vote for you.




You can usually tell them
by the color of their skin.




Then make sure your side fights
like it's life or death.




This talk about legitimacy
is overblown.




President Bush! President Bush!





And hope the other side
sits by.




And even if numerous independent
investigations...




... prove that Gore got the
most votes...




If there was a statewide recount,
Gore won the election.




... it won't matter, as long as all
your daddy's friends...




... on the Supreme Court vote
the right way.




While I strongly disagree with
the court's decision, I accept it.





What we need now is acceptance.




We have a new president-elect.




It turns out none of this was a dream.
It's what really happened.




On the day the joint session of both
the House of Representatives...




... and the Senate was to certify

the election results...




... AI Gore, in his dual role
as outgoing vice president...




... and president of the Senate...




... presided over the event
that would officially anoint...




... George W. Bush
as the new president.




If any congressman wanted to raise
an objection, the rules insisted...




... that he or she had to have the
signed support of just one senator.




Mr. President, and I take great pride
in calling you that...




...I must object because
of the overwhelming evidence...




...of misconduct, deliberate fraud
and an attempt to suppress voter...




The chair must remind members
that under Section 18 of Title 3...




...United States Code, no debate
is allowed in the joint session.




Thank you, Mr. President.
To answer your question...




...the objection is in writing, signed
by a number of members...




...of the House of Representatives,
but not by a member of the Senate.





Mr. President, it is in writing and
signed by several House colleagues...




...on behalf, and myself, of the 27,000
voters of Duval County...




...in which 16,000 of them are
African-Americans...




...that was disenfranchised
in this last election.




Is the objection signed by a member
of the Senate?




Not signed by a member
of the Senate.




The Senate is missing.




It is in writing and signed
by myself...





...on behalf of many
of the diverse constituents...




...especially those
in the 9th Congressional District...




...and all American voters who
recognize that the Supreme Court...




...not the people of the United States,
decided this election.




Is the objection signed
by a senator?




Unfortunately, Mr. President, it is
not signed by one single senator.




I have no authority
over the United States Senate...




...and no senator has signed.




Mr. President, it is in writing and
signed by myself and several...





...of my constituents from Florida.
A senator is needed, but missing.




Is the objection in writing...




...and signed by a member
of the House and a senator?




The objection is in writing,
and I don't care...




...that it is not signed by a member
of the Senate.




The chair will advise that the rules
do care...




...and the signature of a senator...




Not a single senator came to the aid

of the African-Americans in Congress.




One after another, they were told
to sit down and shut up.




It's a sad day in America,
Mr. President, when we can't find...




...a senator to sign the objections...




- The gentleman will suspend...
- New Democratic senators won't sign.




- I object.
- The gentleman will suspend.





Inauguration coverage, 2001...




...on a nasty, but it could be worse,
kind of day in Washington.




- What do we want?
- Justice!




- When do we want it?
- Now!




On the day George W. Bush was
inaugurated...




... tens of thousands of Americans

poured into the streets of D. C...




... in one last attempt to reclaim
what had been taken from them.




They pelted Bush's limo with eggs...




Stay back! Get back!




... and brought the inauguration

parade to a halt.




The plan to have Bush get out
of the limo for the traditional walk...




... to the White House
was scrapped.




Bush's limo hit the gas to prevent

an even larger riot.




No president had ever witnessed
such a thing on his inauguration day.




And for the next eight months, it didn't
get any better for George W. Bush.




He couldn't get his judges appointed,

he struggled to pass his legislation...




... and he lost Republican control
of the Senate.




His approval ratings in the polls
began to sink.




He was already beginning to look

like a lame-duck president.




With everything going wrong,
he did what any of us would do.




He went on vacation.




Oh, no!




In his first eight months in office

before September 11 th...




... George W. Bush was on vacation,
according to The Washington Post...




... 42 percent of the time.




If I hit every shot good, people would
say I wasn't working.




It was not surprising that Mr. Bush

needed some time off.




Being president is a lot of work.




What about these folks that say that
you're taking too long of a vacation?




They don't understand the definition
of work, then.




I'm getting a lot done. You don't
have to be in Washington to work.




It's amazing what can happen
with telephones and faxes.




Thank you so much.





- Is this to Destiny and Bubba?
- Yeah.




What are you doing the rest
of the day?




Karen Hughes is coming over.
We're working on some things.




And she'll be over here. We're working
on a few things, a few matters.




I'm working on some initiatives.
We're... You'll see.




There'll be some decisions
I will have made while I'm here.




We'll be announcing them
as time goes on.




The first time I met him, he had

some good advice for me.




Governor Bush, it's Michael Moore.




Behave yourself, will you?
Go find real work.




And work was something he knew
a lot about.




- Anybody want some grits?
- Yeah.




Relaxing at Camp David.

Yachting off Kennebunkport.




How you doing?




Or being a cowboy on the ranch
in Texas.




I love nature, getting
in the truck with my dogs.




Oh, hi.




George Bush spent the rest

of August at the ranch...




... where life was less complicated.




Armadillos love to dig the soil
looking for bugs.




And...




So I went out there the other day,
and there was Barney...




...buried in this hole,
chasing an armadillo.




It was a summer to remember.




Afterward, he left Texas for
his second-favorite place.




On September 10th, he joined
his brother in Florida...




... where they looked at files
and met important Floridians.




He went to sleep that night in a bed
made with fine French linens.




Do you suppose he's pretty
confident...




...on those numbers on Iraqi
security forces?




Make me look young.




Yeah, I've got a little,
sort of air noise.




Yeah, just don't turn it up too much.
I don't want to blow my head off.





I got a mike here
if they want to use it.




Testing, one, two. This is
the Oval Office. Testing, one, two.




Testing, one, two.
This is the Oval Office.




Testing, one, two, three, four, five.




We have something that has
happened here...




...at the World Trade Center.
We noticed a flame...




...and an awful lot of smoke...




This is horrible.





- Oh, my God!
- Oh, my God.




Oh, my, dear.




Let's go! Let's go, back!
Come on, let's go!




Oh, my God!




Save their souls, Lord.
Save their souls, Lord.




Oh, they're jumping.




On September 11 th, 2001,
nearly 3000 people...




... including a colleague of mine,
Bill Weems...




... were killed in the largest foreign
attack ever on American soil.




The targets were the financial
and military headquarters...




... of the United States.




If anyone has any idea or they've seen
him or knows where he is, to call us.




He's got two little babies.
Two little babies.




As the attack took place,
Mr. Bush was on his way...




... to an elementary school

in Florida.




When informed of the first plane
hitting the World Trade Center...




... where terrorists had struck
just eight years prior...




... Mr. Bush decided to go ahead

with his photo opportunity.




- Good morning, boys and girls.
- Good morning.




Good morning.




Read this word the fast way.
Get ready.




- "Mad"!
- Yes. Get ready.




- "Calf"!
- Yeah.




Get ready to read the words on this
page without making a mistake.




When the second plane hit

the tower...




... his chief of staff entered
the classroom...




... and told Mr. Bush,
"The nation is under attack."




Not knowing what to do, with no one

telling him what to do...




... and no Secret Service rushing
in to take him to safety...




... Mr. Bush just sat there...




... and continued to read
My Pet Goat with the children.




Nearly seven minutes passed
with nobody doing anything.




As Bush sat in that Florida
classroom...




... was he wondering if maybe
he should have shown up...




... to work more often?




Should he have held at least one
meeting since taking office...




... to discuss the threat of terrorism
with his head of counterterrorism?




Maybe Bush wondered why he had
cut terrorism funding from the FBI.




Or perhaps he just should have read
the security briefing...




... that was given to him on
August 6th, 2001...




... which said Osama bin Laden
was planning...




... to attack America by hijacking
airplanes.




Maybe he wasn't worried, because
the title of the report was too vague.




I believe the title was
"Bin Laden Determined...




...to Attack Inside the United States."




A report like that might make
some men jump...




... but, as in days past,
George W. Just went fishing.




As the minutes went by, George Bush
continued to sit in the classroom.




Was he thinking, "I've been hanging
out with the wrong crowd.




Which one of them screwed me?





Was it the guy my daddy's friends
delivered a lot of weapons to?




Was it that group of religious
fundamentalists...




... who visited my state when
I was governor?




Or was it the Saudis?




Damn. It was them. I think
I better blame it on this guy. "




In the days following
September 11 th...





... all commercial and private airline
traffic was grounded.




The FAA has taken the action to close
all of the airports in the United States.




Even grounding the president's
father, former President Bush...




...on a flight forced to land
in Milwaukee.




Thousands of travelers were stranded,
among them Ricky Martin...




...due to appear at tonight's
Latin Grammy Awards.




Not even Ricky Martin could fly.

But really, who wanted to fly?




No one, except the bin Ladens.




We had airplanes pick up...




...Osama bin Laden's family
and other Saudis...




...and transport them out
of the U.S.




The White House approved planes...




... to pick up the bin Ladens
and numerous other Saudis.




At least six private jets and nearly
two dozen commercial planes...




... carried the Saudis
and bin Ladens...




... out of the U.S. After
September 13th.




In all, 142 Saudis, including 24
members of the bin Laden family...




... were allowed to leave
the country.




Osama's always been portrayed
as the black sheep in the family...




...that they cut off all relationship
with him in 1994.




It's more complicated than that.




Osama has had contact with
other family members?




Right. In the summer of 2001, just
before 9l11, one of Osama's sons...




...got married in Afghanistan,
and several family members...




...showed up at the wedding.
- Bin Ladens?





That's right. So they're not cut off
completely. That's an exaggeration.




We now welcome to
Larry King Live...




...Prince Bandar, ambassador of the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the U.S.




You had about 24 members
of bin Laden's family, and...




- Here?
- In America. Students and...




His Majesty felt it's not fair for those
innocent people to be subjected...




...to any harm. On the other hand,
we understood the high emotions...





...so, with coordination with the FBI,
we got them out.




This is retired FBI agent
Jack Cloonan.




Before 9/11, he was a senior agent
on the joint FBl-CIA...




... al Qaeda task force.




I, as an investigator, would not
want these people to have left.




I think, in the case of the bin Laden
family, it would have been prudent...




...to hand the subpoenas out, have
them come in, get on-the-record.




You know, get on-the-record.




- That's the proper procedure?
- Yeah.




How many people were pulled off
airlines after that...




...coming into the country
who were Middle Eastern...




...or they fit a very general picture.





We held hundreds of people
for weeks and months at a time.




Did the authorities do anything when
the bin Ladens tried to leave?




No. They were identified
at the airport.




They looked at their passports,
and they were identified.




That would happen to us
if we left the country.




- Exactly.
- Interview, check the passport.




- What else?
- Nothing.




I don't know about you,
but usually...




... when the police can't find
a murderer...




... don't they usually wanna talk
to the family members...




... to find out where they think
he might be?




You don't know
where your husband is?




If you hear anything,
let us know.




Can you come downtown,
give a statement?




- How long?
- You've got time.




Mine's worth money. Yours isn't.




- Send a bill.
- I asked you a question.




- Answer them. Don't ask them.
- I pay your salary, cop.




Sit down. I'm gonna earn it.





Yeah. That's how cops do it.
What was going on here?




We need to know more about that.




It needs to be the subject
of an investigation.




What happened? How did it happen?
Why? Who authorized it?




Lmagine what those poor bastards
were feeling...




...when jumping off that
building to their death.





Those young guys and cops
and firemen...




...that ran into that building,
never asked a question.




And they're dead.
And families' lives are ruined.




- And they'll never have peace.
- That's right.




And if I had to inconvenience...




...a member of the bin Laden family
with a subpoena or a grand jury...




...do you think I'd lose sleep over it?
Not a minute.




No one would question it.
Not even the biggest civil libertarian.




- No, no. It's just...
- No one would question it.





You know, you got a lawyer? Fine.
Counsel? Fine.




Mr. Bin Laden, this is why I'm asking.
It isn't because I think you're anything.




I just want to ask you the questions
that I would anybody.




- Right.
- And that's all.




None of this made any sense.




Can you imagine in the days after
the Oklahoma City terrorist bombing...




... President Clinton helping to arrange
a trip...




... out of the country
for the Mc Veigh family?




What would have happened
to Clinton...




- ... if that had been revealed?
- Burn him! Burn him!




Prince Bandar, do you know
the bin Laden family?




- I do, very well.
- What are they like?




They're really lovely human beings.
He is the only one I never...




I don't know him well,
but I met him only once.




What was the circumstance
under which you met?





This is ironic. In the mid-'80s...




...if you remember,
we and the United States...




...were supporting the mujahideen...




...to liberate Afghanistan
from the Soviets.




He came to thank me for my efforts
to bring the Americans, our friends...




...to help us against the atheists,
the Communists. Isn't it ironic?




He came to thank you for helping
bring America to help him.




And now he may be responsible
for bombing America.




- Absolutely.
- What did you make of him?





- I was not impressed.
- Not impressed?




No. I thought he was a simple
and very quiet guy.




A simple and quiet guy, whose
family just happened to have...




... a business relationship with
the family of George W. Bush.





Is that what he was thinking about?




Because if the public knew this,
it wouldn't look very good.




Was he thinking, "You know...




... I need a big, black marker"?




In early 2004, in a speech during
the New Hampshire primary...




... I called George W. Bush
a deserter...




... from his time
in the Texas Air National Guard.




In response, the White House
released his military records...




... in the hopes of disproving
the charge.




What Bush didn't know is
that I already had a copy...




... of his military records, uncensored,
obtained in the year 2000.




And there is one glaring difference
between the records released...




... in 2000 and those he released
in 2004.




A name had been blacked out.




In 1972, two airmen were suspended
for failing to take...




... their medical examination.
One was George W. Bush.




And the other was James R. Bath.




In 2000, the documents show
both names.




But in 2004, Bush and the White
House had Bath's name blacked out.





Why didn't Bush want the press
and the public...




... to see Bath's name
on his military records?




Perhaps he was worried that the
American people would find out...




... that at one time, James R. Bath...




... was the Texas money manager
for the bin Ladens.




Bush and Bath had become
good friends...





... when they both served in the
Texas Air National Guard.




After they were discharged...




... when Bush's dad was head
of the CIA...




... Bath opened up his own aviation

business after selling a plane...




... to a man by the name
of Salem bin Laden...




... heir to the second-largest fortune
in Saudi Arabia...




... the Saudi Binladin Group.




W. At that time was just starting off
in the world as a businessman.




Because he's a guy who's always
tried to emulate his father...




...he went into the oil business.
He founded an oil company, Arbusto...




...which was very good at drilling dry
holes that nothing came out of.




But the question has always been,
"Where did this money come from?"




Now, his dad was rich. His dad
could have done this for him...




...but his dad didn't do this for him.




There's no indication Daddy wrote a
check to start him off in his company.





So where did George W. Bush
get his money?




I'm George Bush.




One person who did invest in him
was James R. Bath.




Bush's good friend, James Bath,

was hired by the bin Laden family...




... to manage their money in Texas
and invest in businesses.




And James Bath himself, in turn,
invested in George W. Bush.




Bush ran Arbusto into the ground...




... as he did every other company
he was involved in...




... until finally one of his companies
was bought by Harken Energy...




... and they gave him a seat
on their board.




A lot of us suspected through
the years that there has been...




...Saudi oil money involved
in these companies:




Harken, Spectrum 7, Arbusto
Drilling, all the Bush companies.




Whenever they got in trouble,
there were these angel investors...




...who flowed money into
the companies.




The question is, why would Saudis,
who had all the oil in the world...




...go around the globe to invest
in this lousy oil company?




And the thing is, Harken had one
big thing going for it...





...which is that George W. Bush
was on its board of directors...




...at a time when his father was
president of the United States.




When you're the president's son
and you've got unlimited access...




...combined with some credentials
from a prior campaign...




...in Washington, D.C., people tend
to respect that. Access is power.




And I can find my dad and talk
to him any time of the day.




Yes, it helps
to be the president's son...




... especially when you're being
investigated...




... by the Securities and Exchange
Commission.




In 1990, when Mr. Bush was
a director of Harken Energy...




...he received this memo
from company lawyers...





...warning directors not to sell stock
if they had...




...unfavorable information about
the company.




One week later, he sold $848,000
worth of Harken stock.




Two months later, Harken announced
losses of more than $23 million.




The James Baker law partner
who helped Bush...




... beat the rap from the SEC...




... was a man by the name
of Robert Jordan...




... who, when George W. Became
president...




... was appointed ambassador
to Saudi Arabia.




After the Harken debacle, the friends
of Bush's dad got him a seat...




... on another board, of a company
owned by the Carlyle Group.




We looked at which companies gained
from September 11 th.




We turned up this company, Carlyle
Group, a multinational conglomerate...





...that invests in heavily
government-regulated industries...




...like telecommunications, health care
and particularly, defense.




Both George W. Bush
and George H.W. Bush...




...worked for the Carlyle Group,
the same company that counted...




...the bin Laden family among
its investors.




The Carlyle Group was holding
its annual investor conference...




...on the morning
of September 11 th...




...in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel
in Washington D.C.





At that meeting were
all of the Carlyle regulars...




...James Baker, likely John Major,
definitely George H.W. Bush...




...though he left the morning
of September 11 th.




Shafiq bin Laden, who is
Osama bin Laden's half brother...




...was in town to look after his family's
investments in the Carlyle Group.




All of them together in one room,
watching...




...as the planes hit the towers.




In fact, the bin Laden family
was invested...




...in one of their defense funds,
which ironically meant...





...that as the U.S. Increased defense
spending, the bin Laden family...




...stood to gain from those investments
through the Carlyle Group.




Our commander in chief,
President George W. Bush.




With all the weapons companies
it owned...




... the Carlyle Group was, in essence,
the 11 th largest...




... defense contractor
in the United States.




- Thanks a lot.
- It owned United Defense...




... makers of the Bradley armored
fighting vehicle.




September 11 th guaranteed that
United Defense...




... was going to have
a very good year.




Just six weeks after 9/11...




... Carlyle filed to take
United Defense public...




... and made a one-day profit
of $237 million.




But sadly, with so much attention
focused...




... on the bin Laden family being
important Carlyle investors...




... the bin Ladens eventually
had to withdraw.




Bush's dad, though, stayed on
as senior adviser...




... to Carlyle's Asia board
for another two years.




As unseemly as it seems
to know that George H.W. Bush...




...was meeting
with the bin Laden family...




...while Osama was a wanted terrorist,
well before September 11 th...




...it's very discomforting
for Americans to know that.




George H.W. Bush is a man who
has, obviously, incredible reach...





...into the White House.




He receives daily CIA briefings,
which is the right of any ex-president...




...but very few ex-presidents
actually exercise that right. He does.




And, I think, in a very real way they
are benefiting from the confusion...




...that arises when George H.W. Bush
visits Saudi Arabia...




...on behalf of Carlyle
and meets with the royal family...




...and meets
with the bin Laden family.




Is he representing the United States
of America?





Or is he representing an investment
firm in the United States?




Or is he representing both?




This company is about money,
not conspiracies to run the world...




...or engineer political maneuvering
and things like that.




It's about making money,
and it's about making a lot of money.




And they've done very well.




I could get you on-the-record
on this question.




In the White House view,
there is no ethical conflict...




...in former President Bush and
former Secretary of State Jim Baker...





...using their contacts
with world leaders to represent...




...one of the most well-known military
arms dealers, the Carlyle Group?




The president has full faith
that his family will conform...




...with all proper ethics laws
and will act properly in their conduct.




Okay, let's say one group of people,
like the American people...




... pay you $400,000 a year

to be president of the United States.




But then another group of people
invest in you, your friends...




... and their related businesses,
$ 1.4 billion over a number of years.




Who are you gonna like?

Who's your daddy?




That's how much the Saudi royals
and their associates...




... have given the Bush family, their
friends and their related businesses...




... in the past three decades.




Seems like a very nice reunion
with friends.




Is it rude to suggest
that when the Bush family...




... wakes up in the morning,
they might be thinking...




... about what's best for the Saudis

instead of what's best for you or me?




Because 1.4 billion just doesn't buy
a lot of flights out of the country.




It buys a lot of love.




Sooner or later,
this special relationship...




... with a regime that Amnesty
International condemns...




... as a widespread human-rights
violator...




... would come back to haunt
the Bushes.




Now, after 9/11, it was
an embarrassment.




And they preferred that no one
ask any questions.




Investigation should have begun
on September 12th.




There's no reason it shouldn't have.
Three thousand were dead.





It should've gotten started
immediately.




First, Bush tried to stop Congress
from setting up...




- ... its own 9/11 investigation.
- It's important for us...




...to not reveal how
we collect information.





That's what the enemy wants.
And we're fighting an enemy.





When he couldn't stop Congress,
he then tried to stop...




... an independent 9/11 commission
from being formed.




The president's position was a break
from history.




Independent investigations were
launched after Pearl Harbor...





...and President Kennedy's
assassination.




But when Congress did complete
its own investigation...




... the Bush White House
censored 28 pages of the report.




The president is being pressed
by all sides to declassify the report.




U.S. Officials tell NBC News
most of the secret sources...





...involve Saudi Arabia.




We've given extraordinary cooperation
with Chairmen Kean and Hamilton.




We haven't gotten the materials
we needed...




...and haven't gotten them
in a timely fashion.




Will you testify
before the commission?




This commission? You know, I don't...
Testify? I'd be glad to visit with them.




What it will do is, the hole
that's in my heart...




...and has been in my heart
since September 11 th...





I lost my husband of 15 years.
I am now by myself.




I need to know what happened
to him.




I know what I got back
from the autopsy.




That man was my life,
and I have no plan.




I was taking a class,
and they asked me...




...what was I gonna do in the next
five years.




And if I'm not doing something
with this, I don't know what reason...




...I have to live.
So it's very important.




Very important. Okay.





Okay.




Ignored by the Bush administration...




... more than 500 relatives
of 9/11 victims...




... filed suit against Saudi royals
and others.




The lawyers the Saudi
defense minister hired...




... to fight the 9/11 families?




The law firm of Bush family confidant,
James A. Baker.




So right here in the center of three
important American landmarks...




...the Watergate Hotel
and office building...




...the Kennedy Center over there...




...and the embassy of Saudi Arabia.




Yeah.




How much money do the Saudis
have invested in America, roughly?




I've heard figures as high
as $860 billion.




- Eight hundred and sixty billion?
- Billion.





- That's a lot of money.
- A lot, yeah.




And what percentage of our economy
does that represent?




It seems like a lot.




Well, in terms of investments
on Wall Street in American equities...




...it's roughly 6 or 7 percent
of America.




They own a fairly good slice
of America.





Most of that money goes into
the great blue-chip companies.




Citigroup, Citibank,
the largest stockholder is a Saudi.




AOL-Time Warner has
big Saudi investors.





So I read where, like, the Saudis have
a trillion dollars...




...in our banks of their money.
What would happen...




...if they pulled that trillion out?




A trillion dollars? That would be
an enormous blow to the economy.




Can I speak to you for a moment,
please, sir?




- How are you doing?
- Good, how you doing?




Steve Kimball with the Secret Service.
We're just ascertaining information.




Are you doing a documentary
on the Saudi Arabian Embassy?





No. I am doing a documentary,
and part of it is about Saudi Arabia.




Even though we were nowhere near
the White House...




... the Secret Service had shown up
to ask us what we were doing...




... standing across the street
from the Saudi Embassy.




- We're not here to cause any trouble.
- Okay.




- You know. Is that...?
- No, that's fine.




We just wanted to get
some information as far as...




What's going on, yeah.




I didn't realize the Secret Service
guards foreign embassies.




- Not usually, no, sir.
- No. Do they give you any trouble?




- Saudis?
- No comment on that.




Okay, I'll take that as a yes.





Good. Thank you very much.




It turns out that Saudi Prince Bandar
is perhaps...




... the best-protected ambassador
in the U.S.




The U.S. State Department provides

him with a six-man security detail.




Considering how he and his family
and the Saudi elite...




... own 7 percent of America,
it's probably not a bad idea.




Prince Bandar was so close

to the Bushes...




... they considered him a member
of the family.




They even had a nickname for him:
Bandar Bush.




Two nights after September 11 th,

George Bush invited Bandar Bush...




... over to the White House
for a private dinner and a talk.




Even though bin Laden
was a Saudi...




... and Saudi money

had funded al Qaeda...




... and 15 of the 19 hijackers
were Saudis...




... here was the Saudi ambassador,
casually dining with the president...




... on September 13th.




What were they talking about?




Were they commiserating
or comparing notes?




Why would Bandar's government...




... block American investigators

from talking to the relatives...




... of the 15 hijackers?




Why would Saudi Arabia
become reluctant...




... to freeze the hijackers' assets?




The two of them walked out
on the Truman Balcony...




... so that Bandar could smoke a cigar
and have a drink.




In the distance, across the Potomac,
was the Pentagon, partially in ruins.




I wonder if Mr. Bush
told Prince Bandar not to worry...




... because he already had a plan
in motion.




You come in September 12th...




You come in September 12th...





...to plot our response to al Qaeda.
Let me talk about the response...




...you got from top administration
officials.




On that day, what did the president
say to you?




The president, in a very intimidating
way, left me and my staff...




...with the clear indication
he wanted us to come back...




...with the word that there was
an Iraqi hand behind 9l11.




They planned to do something about
Iraq before they came into office.





Did he ask about any other nations
other than Iraq?




No, not at all. It was, "Iraq, Saddam,
find out, get back to me."




Were his questions more about Iraq
than al Qaeda?




Absolutely. He didn't ask me
about al Qaeda.




And the reaction you got from
the defense secretary, Rumsfeld...




...from his assistant, Paul Wolfowitz?




Donald Rumsfeld said...
When we talked about bombing...




...the al Qaeda infrastructure
in Afghanistan...




...he said, "There are
no good targets in Afghanistan.





Let's bomb Iraq."




And we said, "But Iraq had nothing
to do with this."




That didn't make much difference.
The reason they had...




...to do Afghanistan first was, it was
obvious al Qaeda attacked us.




And it was obvious that al Qaeda
was in Afghanistan.




Americans wouldn't stand by
if we'd done nothing on Afghanistan.




The United States began bombing
Afghanistan...




... just four weeks after 9/11.
Mr. Bush said he was doing so...




... because the Taliban government
of Afghanistan...




... had been harboring bin Laden.




We will smoke them
out of their holes.




We're gonna smoke them out.




- We'll smoke him out of his cave.
- Let's rush them and smoke them out.




For all his tough talk,
Bush really didn't do much.




Well, what they did was slow
and small.




They put only 11,000 troops
into Afghanistan.





There are more police here
in Manhattan.




More in Manhattan than there are
U.S. Troops in Afghanistan.




The president botched the response.
He should have gone after bin Laden.




The U.S. Special Forces didn't get into
the area where bin Laden was...




...for two months.
- Two months?




A mass murderer who attacked
the United States...




... was given a two-month head start?




Who in their right mind
would do that?




- Dang! Anybody say "nice shot"?
- Nice shot.




Hell of a shot.




Or was the war in Afghanistan

really about something else?




Perhaps the answer
was in Houston, Texas.




In 1997, while George W. Bush
was governor of Texas...




... a delegation of Taliban leaders

from Afghanistan flew to Houston...




... to meet with Unocal executives...




... to discuss the building of a pipeline
through Afghanistan...




... bringing natural gas
from the Caspian Sea.




And who got a Caspian Sea
drilling contract...




... the same day Unocal
signed the pipeline deal?




A company headed by a man
named Dick Cheney. Halliburton.




From the point of view
of the U.S. Government...




...this was kind of a magic pipeline...




...because it could serve
so many purposes.




And who else stood to benefit
from the pipeline?




Bush's number-one campaign
contributor, Kenneth Lay...




... and the good people of Enron.




Only the British press
covered this trip.




Then in 2001, just five and a half
months before 9/11...




... the Bush administration welcomed
a Taliban envoy...




... to tour the United States...




... to help improve the image
of the Taliban government.





You have imprisoned the women.
It's a horror, let me tell you.




I'm sorry to your husband. He must
have a difficult time with you.




Here is the Taliban official
visiting our State Department...




... to meet with U.S. Officials.




Why would the Bush administration
allow a Taliban leader...




... to visit the United States,
knowing that the Taliban...




... were harboring the man
who bombed the U.S.S. Cole...




... and our African embassies?




Well, I guess 9/11 put a stop to that.




When the invasion of Afghanistan
was complete...




... we installed its new president,
Hamid Karzai.





Who was Hamid Karzai?




He was a former adviser to Unocal.




Bush also appointed,
as our envoy to Afghanistan...




... Zalmay Khalilzad, who was also
a former Unocal adviser.




I guess you can probably see
where this is leading.




Faster than you can say, "Black gold,
Texas tea, " Afghanistan signed...




... an agreement with her
neighboring countries...




... to build a pipeline carrying
natural gas from the Caspian Sea.




Oh, and the Taliban?




Oh, they mostly got away.




As did Osama bin Laden

and most of al Qaeda.




Terror is bigger than one person.




And he's a person who's now
been marginalized.




So I don't know where he is.




I just don't spend that much time
on him, to be honest with you.




Didn't spend much time on him?
What kind of president was he?




I'm a war president. I make decisions
here in the Oval Office...




...in foreign policy matters
with war on my mind.




With the war in Afghanistan over
and bin Laden forgotten...




... the war president had
a new target:





The American people.




We've got an unusual terror warning
from the feds to tell you about.




Fox News has obtained
an FBI bulletin...




...that warns terrorists could use
pen guns, like in James Bond...




...filled with poison.
- Good evening.




America is on high alert tonight,
just four days before Christmas.




- A possible terror threat.
- As bad as or worse than 9l11.





But where? How?
There's nothing specific to report.




Be on the lookout for model airplanes
packed with explosives.




The FBI is warning ferries may be
considered particularly at risk...




...for hijacking.




Could these cattle be a target
for terrorists?




- Fear works.
- Fear does work, yes.




You can make people do anything
if they're afraid.




And how do you make them afraid?





Well, you make them afraid
by creating an aura of endless threat.




They played us like an organ.




They raised the orange, up to red,
then they dropped it back to orange.




I mean, they gave these mixed
messages, which were crazy-making.




The world is changed
after September the 11 th.




It's changed because
we're no longer safe.




Fly and enjoy America's
great destination spots.




We have entered what may
prove to be the most dangerous...




...security environment
the world's known.





Take your families and enjoy life.




Terrorists are doing everything
they can...




...to gain even deadlier means
of striking us.




- Go down to Disney World in Florida.
- It's like training a dog.




You tell him sit down and roll over
at the same time, dog doesn't know...




...what to do. American people
were being treated like that.




It was very, very skillfully and ugly,
in what they did.




We must stop the terror.





I call upon all nations to do everything
they can to stop these terrorist killers.




Thank you.




Now watch this drive.




All right. You give me another one.




They will continue, in my view, as long
as this administration is in charge...




...of every once in a while,
stimulating everybody to be afraid.




Just in case you forgot.




It's not gonna go down to green
or blue. It's never gonna get there.




There clearly is no way
that anyone...





...can live constantly on edge
like that.




The reality facing
American families...




...is they're not as safe
as they used to be.




Drug dealers and users looking
for their next fix.




Gangs who roam the streets
in search of their next victim.




And the growing threat of terrorists
means the need for protection...




...is ever greater.
And now that protection is here.




Zytech Engineering, LLC has
developed and tested a safe room...





...finally affordable to the average
American citizen.




Protection formerly obtainable
only by the wealthy or powerful.




Heck, you can be sitting in here,
drinking your finest Bordeaux...




...and enjoying life, while chaos
is erupting outside.




Every family in America
should prepare itself...




...for a terrorist attack.




Now to escaping from a skyscraper.
John Rivers is the CEO...




...of the Executive Chute Corporation.
Good morning to you, John.




- Good morning, Matt.
- Tell me about the product.





It's an emergency escape chute.
It's an option of last resort.




How high do you have to be
in the building...




...for that chute to actually
take effect?




You only have to be on the 10th floor
or above.




They can put this on themselves?




Right. They can put this on
themselves in as easy...




...as about 30 seconds.
It's real easy to put on.




- Here.
- Sorry.





That's okay. Real easy to put on,
but...




When you first get this chute,
you're gonna wanna put it on...




...and try it on a few times yourself.
- Jaime's having trouble putting that on.




Is this something that you honestly
think, in a moment of panic...




...that someone can operate
properly?




Oh, yeah. It is. This is actually...
Jamie's probably never...




...put this thing on before in her life.




It's okay. It's something that,
when you get it...




...you're gonna wanna put it on
several times.





Despite the raising of the terror alert
level, residents here continue...




...with their Christmas errands.




Frances and her family do some
last-minute holiday shopping...




...knowing al Qaeda is planning
to attack.




She says being in Saginaw doesn't
make her feel any safer...




...than if she was in New York City.




Midland is close by...




...and I said,
"Detroit's not that far away."





I said, "That could be something...
And Flint could be something... Be...




...concerns for people around here."
- You never know...




...where they're gonna hit.
Never know.




But one potential target specifically
mentioned by the terrorists...




...has security officials baffled.
It's tiny Tappahannock, Virginia...




...population, 2016.




Such an attack could generate
widespread fear...




...that even here in rural, small-town
America, no one is entirely safe.




On the news there was
an alert in Tappahannock.





- What did the FBI tell you?
- Well, they contacted me by phone.




Basically let me know about this,
were it Tappahannock.




- That's how it started.
- In the so-called chatter they pick up...




...they wasn't sure Tappahannock.
There's a Rappahannock County...




...Rappahannock River.
- There is a Rappahannock...




A place called Rappahannock.
They got it mixed up.




This is Tappahannock,
not Rappahannock.




- Is there any target around here?
- Not that we can think of.





- It can happen anywhere.
- Wal-Mart.




A big spaghetti supper in here.




Wal-Mart, probably.




Do you feel extra suspicious
of outsiders?




Oh, everybody does that.




That's just something that happens.




When I look at certain people,
I wonder, "Oh, my goodness.




Do you think they could be
a terrorist?"




- Never know what's gonna happen.
- Right.





It could happen right now.




Never trust nobody you don't know.




And even if you do know them,
you really can't trust them then.




From Tappahannock
to Rappahannock...




... to every town and village in
America, the people were afraid.




And they turned to their leader
to protect them.




But protect them from what?




Meet John Ashcroft.




In 2000, he was running for

re-election as senator for Missouri...




... against a man who died
the month before the election.




The voters preferred the dead guy.




So George W. Bush made him
his attorney general.




He was sworn in on a stack
of Bibles.




Because when you can't beat
a dead guy...




... you need all the help you can get.




During the summer before 9/11...




... Ashcroft told acting FBI director,
Thomas Pickard...




... that he didn't want to hear
anything more about terrorist threats.





Mr. Watson had come to you and said
that the CIA was very concerned...




...that there would be an attack.




You said that you told the attorney
general this fact repeatedly...




...in these meetings. That correct?




I've told him at least
on two occasions.




And you told the staff,
according to this statement...




...Mr. Ashcroft told you that he did not
want to hear about this anymore.




- Is that correct?
- That is correct.




His own FBI knew that summer

there were al Qaeda members...




... in the U.S. And bin Laden was
sending his agents to flight schools...




... around the country.




But Ashcroft's Justice Department
turned a blind eye...




... and a deaf ear.




But after 9/11, John Ashcroft
had some brilliant ideas...




... for how to protect America.




The Patriot Act, adopted by Congress
and signed by Bush...





...six weeks after the attacks...




...has changed the way
the government does business.




The Patriot Act allows for searches
of medical and financial records...




...computer and telephone
conversations...




...even for the books you take out of
the library. But people we spoke to...




...say they're willing to give up
liberties to fight terrorism.




- Maybe that's a good thing.
- It's sad, but it has to be done.




Yes, something needed to be done.




These are the good people
who make up Peace Fresno.




A community group
in Fresno, California.




Unlike the rest of us,
they received an early lesson...




... in what the Patriot Act is all about.




Each week, they meet to discuss
matters of peace.




They sit around, they share stories,
they eat cookies.




Some have more than one.




This is Aaron Stokes,
a member of Peace Fresno.




The other members liked him.




He had come to the meetings,
he went with us.





We go out on Friday nights and stand
on a very busy corner in Fresno.




And he had gone with us,
he had handed out fliers.




He went with us in June
to a WTO protest.




Then one day, Aaron didn't show up
to the meeting.




My friend Dan and I were reading
the Sunday newspaper...




...and when I picked up the paper,
in the local section...




...Aaron's picture caught my eye.





The article said that a sheriff's deputy
had been killed...




...and I saw it had a name
that wasn't the right name...




...that said that he was a member
of the sheriff's antiterrorism unit.




That's right.




The photo of the man
in the newspaper...





... was not the Aaron Stokes
they had come to know.




He was actually Deputy Aaron Kilner,
and he had infiltrated their group.




Sheriff Pierce made it very clear
that, yes...




...Aaron Kilner was assigned
to infiltrate Peace Fresno...




...that he was able to infiltrate
organizations...





...that are open to the public.




You could understand why the police
needed to spy...




... on a group like Peace Fresno.




Just look at them.





A gathering of terrorists
if I ever saw one.




This is Barry Reingold,
a retired phone worker...




... from Oakland, California.




Barry likes to work out in the gym.




Somewhere between his cardio
and his strength training...




... Barry got political.




We were up in the gym,
and it was after we were working out...




...and a number of us were talking
about 9l11 and Afghanistan...





...and bin Laden, and someone said,
"Bin Laden's a real asshole...




...for murdering those people."
And I said, "Yeah, that's true.




But he'll never be as big
an asshole as Bush...




...who bombs all over the world
for oil profits."




Barry didn't have to worry
about the police spying on him.




His fellow weightlifters

were more than willing to turn him in.




I was taking a nap, and I guess
it was 1:30, 2:00 in the afternoon.




And they came to my place,
and I said, "Well, who's there?"




And they said, "The FBI."
I said, "The FBI? Why are they here?"




Yes, the FBI had come to see Barry.
And they weren't there to Jazzercise.




The FBI said, "Have you been talking
to people about 9l11 and bin Laden...





...and oil profits and Afghanistan?"
I said, "A lot of people are talking...




...about these things."




I feel my rights have been,
you know, trampled on.




I mean, if you have something to say
to me in the gym, well, then, fine.




Don't tell the FBI, and they come to
my apartment while I'm taking a nap.



Nothing to be ashamed of.
There's full transparency.




There's nothing about the Patriot Act
I am ashamed of...




...in any way, shape or form.




I have a 1-800 number. Call me.




I'm the guy you call
if there's a violation or an abuse.




If you've got a poster child on this,
I wanna see it.




I'm hired by the people to provide
oversight. I provide oversight.





Trent Lott said,
the day the bill was introduced:




"Maybe now we can do things
we've wanted to do the last 10 years."




No, a dictatorship would be a heck
of a lot easier, no question about it.




I mean, they had all this on the shelf
somewhere.




Ideas of things they would like to do.
And they got 9l11...




...and they said, "It's our chance.
Go for it."




There was an assumption
of the administration...





...that there had to be a surrender
of certain of our rights.




There's troubling definitions
in the bill.




The definition of terrorist,
it's so expansive...




...that it could include people who...
- Like me.




No one read it.
That's the whole point.




They wait till the middle of the night,
drop it in the night, print it in the night.




And the next morning when we
come in, it passes.




How could Congress pass this
Patriot Act without even reading it?




Sit down, my son.





We don't read most of the bills.




Do you really know what that
would entail...




...if we were to read every bill
that we passed?




Well, the good thing, it would
slow down the legislative process.




I couldn't believe that virtually
no member of Congress...




... had read the Patriot Act

before voting on it.




So I decided the only patriotic thing
to do...




... was for me to read it to them.




Members of Congress,
this is Michael Moore...




...I would like to read you
the U.S.A. Patriot Act.





"Section 1:




Section 210 of this code
reads as follows..."




"Section 2703C..."




My job is to secure the homeland.
That's exactly what we're gonna do.




My job is to secure the homeland.
That's exactly what we're gonna do.




But I'm here to take
somebody's order.




That's you, stretch.
What would you like?




- Right behind you.
- I'm gonna order some ribs.





We all know you can't
secure the homeland...




... on an empty stomach.
And in order to remain secure...




... everyone needs to sacrifice.




Especially little Patrick Hamilton.




I'm sure each of us has our own
airport-security horror story.




But here's my favorite.




The terrorist threat that was posed
by his mommy's breast milk.




I thought if I put a little bit on my lips,
that would be sufficient...




...because I'm tasting it.
She looked at me, and I felt like...




...she was telling me, "Chug that."
She goes, "You need to drink more."




And of a 4-ounce bottle,
I wound up drinking...




...2 more ounces of breast milk...




...that then, because it's touched
my lips, has to be tossed.




While homeland security
was making sure breast milk...




... was kept off our planes...




... they were also doing everything
possible to ensure no one...




... could light a firebomb onboard.




- I can bring that on the plane?
- Actually, yes, you're fine.





One too many books of matches.




You can have four books
and two lighters.




When we already have
the shoe-bomber...




...who would have blown up
an airplane...




...if he had a butane lighter,
according to the FBI...




...why would Transportation Security
say it's okay...




...to take four books of matches
and two lighters...




...as you board a plane? I'm guessing
somebody put pressure on...





...to say, "When an airplane lands,
people wanna light up...




...so don't take their lighters away."




Let me see if I got this straight.




Old guys in the gym, bad.
Peace groups in Fresno, bad.




Breast milk, really bad.




Matches and lighters on the plane?
Hey, no problem.




Was this really about our safety?
Or was something else going on?




This is where the Pacific Ocean
meets the shores of Oregon.




Over 100 miles of beautiful,
open coastline on our border.




And, thanks to the budget
cutbacks...




... the total number of state police
protecting it:




One.




Part-time.




Meet Trooper Brooks.




I maybe get a chance to hit
this stretch of highway...




...once, maybe twice a week
during my shifts.





You know, just to even drive up here
and look.




You know, I mean, as far as I know,
there's lots of things they could do.




I don't even wanna suspect,
because it just makes me ill inside.




Back at the state trooper patrol office,
thanks to the budget cuts...




... Trooper Kenyon had to come in
on his day off...




... to catch up on some paperwork.




For the most part, especially during
summer, when people show up...




...this is what they get.
They close the door.




They can read the sign
about the office closure.




It just basically explains
that due to our cutbacks...




...our office is not open
for administrative business.




There's a sign that explains
when the office is closed...





...they can use the phone booth
to get in touch with our dispatch.




Ironically enough, that phone
is a piece of junk.




It doesn't work very well,
so half the time...




...they pick up the phone
and dispatch gets static.




They don't hear anything.




For Tuesday, there'll be
no troop on patrol.




Wednesday, there'll be no troop
on patrol.




Thursday, there'll be
no troop on patrol.





You get calls all the time.




People will call in
a suspicious vehicle...




...or somebody looking suspicious.




And I don't hardly ever respond
to that anymore.




I just don't have the time to do it.




I asked, "How many people do
we have in Oregon...




...on duty tonight?"




And we had eight troopers...




...on for the entire state of Oregon,
working.





I think Oregon is a prime example
that homeland security...




...is not as secure as what people
would like to believe.




Nobody's sent me a manual that says,
"Here's how you catch a terrorist."




If I had that manual, I'd read it.
But I don't. So...




Yeah.




The Bush administration
didn't hand out a manual...





... on how to deal
with the terrorist threat...




... because the terrorist threat
wasn't what this was all about.




They just wanted us
to be fearful enough...





... so that we'd get behind
what their real plan was.




Four minutes.




- Right from the top.
- All right.




- How much time?
- Three minutes.




- Okay, folks.
- Thirty seconds.




- Stand by.
- Fifteen seconds.




Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five...





...four, three, two, one.




My fellow citizens...




At this hour, American
and coalition forces...




...are in the early stages
of military operations...




...to disarm Iraq...




...to free its people and to defend
the world from grave danger.




On my orders, coalition forces
have begun striking...




...selected targets
of military importance...





...to undermine Saddam Hussein's
ability to wage war.




On March 19th, 2003...




... George W. Bush
and the United States military...




... invaded the sovereign nation
of Iraq.




A nation that had never attacked
the United States.




A nation that had never threatened
to attack the United States.




A nation that had never murdered
a single American citizen.




We're going to find this...
I think this piece of my neighbor.




Young girl, age 20.




I think it's the other part
of her body. That's all.




There is a lot of innocent civilians
that were killed.




There is a lot of innocent civilians
that were killed.




And I think that is because
the U.S. Army...




...we came in, and we knew
it wasn't gonna be easy.




And pretty much at first
shot anything that moved.





When war happens
and fighting starts...




...it's like we're pumped up,
motivated, ready to go.




It's the ultimate rush.




Because you know
you're going into the fight...




...then you got a good song
playing in the background.




And that gets you real fired up.
Ready to do the job.




You can hook your CD player up...




...to the tank's internal
communications system.





When you put your helmet on
you can hear it through the helmet.




This one we listen to the most.




This is the one... When we travel,
we kill the enemy...




Drowning Pool.
"Let the bodies hit the floor"...




...is fitting for the job.




We picked "the roof is on fire"...




...because it symbolized
Baghdad being on fire.




At the time we wanted it to burn
to get Saddam and his regime out.




The roof, the roof

The roof is on fire




We don't need no water
Let the motherfucker burn




Burn, motherfucker, burn




This is a totally different picture here
being pushed into the city.




Urban warfare in a tank.





Civilians.




The civilians...




You don't know who's friendly,
who's the enemy.




This is a lot more real and true
than just a video game.




People thought it was gonna be, "Look
through the sight and shoot." No.




A lot of this is face to face.




Especially riding by after
some of the bombs went off...




...and seeing all the people
on the side of the road bloated up.





And all the smells around you
from the people lying dead, rotted.




It's a lot more gruesome
than you think.




We called in with some artillery
and some napalm and things.




Some innocent women
and children got hit.




We met them on the road,
and they had...




...little girls with noses
blown off. And...




And...




...husbands carrying their dead wives
and things like that.




That was extremely difficult
to deal with. You're like:





"Shoot. What the hell
do we do now?"




The targeting capabilities
and the care that goes into targeting...




...is as impressive as anything
anyone could see.




- Got him.
- Good. Second one.




Get the other one.




The care that goes into it,
the humanity that goes into it.




Honestly, I think we should
just trust our president...




...in every decision he makes,
and we should support that.





You know? And be faithful
in what happens.




- Do you trust this president?
- Yes, I do.




Britney Spears was not alone.




The majority
of the American people...




... trusted the president.
And why shouldn't they?




He'd spent the better part
of the last year...




... giving them every reason
why we should invade Iraq.




Saddam Hussein has gone
to elaborate lengths...




...spent enormous sums...





...taken great risks to build and keep
weapons of mass destruction.




Saddam Hussein is determined
to get his hands on a nuclear bomb.




Nuclear weapon. Nuclear weapon.
Nuclear weapon.




Active chemical munitions bunkers.
Mobile production facilities.




We know he's got
chemical weapons.




He's got them. He's got them.
He's got them.




Huh, that's weird.





Because that's not what Bush's
people said when he first took office.




He hasn't developed capability...




...with respect to weapons
of mass destruction.




He's unable to project conventional
power against his neighbors.




We're able to keep arms from him.
Military forces haven't been rebuilt.




Saddam Hussein aids
and protects terrorists...




...including members of al Qaeda.





There was a relationship
between Iraq and al Qaeda.




Saddam. Al Qaeda.
Saddam. Al Qaeda.




Saddam. The al Qaeda. Saddam.
Saddam. Saddam. Al Qaeda.




It's only a matter of time
before terrorist states...




...armed with weapons
of mass destruction...




...develop the capability to deliver
those weapons to U.S. Cities.




We're giving you facts
and conclusions...




...based on solid intelligence.





He's a man who hates America.




This is a man who cannot stand
what we stand for.




There's willingness
to terrorize himself.




He hates the fact, like al Qaeda does,
that we love freedom.




After all, this is a guy that tried
to kill my dad at one time.




They got people to believe there was
a threat when in fact there wasn't one.




You get told things every day
that don't happen.




It doesn't seem to bother people.




The Democrats were there to put

a stop to all these falsehoods.




I'll vote to give the president
authority he needs.




United States is prepared to lead the
coalition of the willing that will do it.




When I say we will lead
a coalition of the willing...




...to disarm him if he chooses
not to disarm, I mean it.




- Who's in that coalition of the willing?
- You will find out who's in it.




The coalition of the willing.




Roll call.





The Republic of Palau.




The Republic of Costa Rica.




The Republic of Iceland.




None of these countries has an army,
or for that matter, weapons.




So it looked like we'd be doing
most of the invading stuff ourselves.




- Then there was also:
- Romania.




The Kingdom of Morocco.




Morocco wasn't officially
a member of the coalition...




... but according to one report, they did

offer to send 2000 monkeys...




... to help detonate land mines.




These are men of vision.




The Netherlands.




And I'm proud to call them allies.




Afghanistan.




Afghanistan?




Oh, yeah. They had an army.




Our army. I guess that's one way
to build a coalition.




Just keep invading countries.




Yes, with our mighty coalition intact,

we were ready.




One could almost say
it's the mother of all coalitions.




Fortunately, we have an independent
media in this country...




... who would tell us the truth.




The rallying around the president,
the flag and the troops has begun.





And we're gonna win!




You have to be with troops
to understand the adrenaline.




I want you to know,
I think Navy SEALs rock.




The pictures you're seeing
are absolutely phenomenal.




When my country's at war,
I want my country to win.




Iraqi opposition has faded
in the face of American power.




What you're watching here is truly
historic television and journalism.




It was absolutely electrifying.





They had to strap me in with my
camera at the back of the plane.




An awesome, synchronized
killing machine.




There is an inherent bias...




...in the coverage of the American
press in general.




Am I slanted and biased?
You damn well bet I am.




But one story the media
wasn't covering...




... was the personal story...




... of each and every soldier
who was killed in the war.




The government would not allow
any cameras...




... to show the coffins coming home.




That kind of story is a downer...




... especially when you're getting
ready for a party on a boat.




My fellow Americans...




...major combat operations
in Iraq have ended.




In the battle of Iraq...





...the United States
and our allies have prevailed.




Get out of the way!




Move! Move! Move! Move!




162, the number of troops
killed by hostile fire.




- 244 U.S. Troops...
- 384 U.S. Troops lost their lives...




- Total killed, 484.
- Died in the line of duty, 500...




631 American troops...




More than 825 troops
have been killed in Iraq.




The largest number of American
military deaths since Vietnam.





There are some who feel like
that if they attack us...




...that we may decide
to leave prematurely.




They don't understand,
if that's the case.




Let me finish.




There are some who feel like
the conditions are such...




...that they can attack us there.




My answer is, bring them on.




The United States was planning
on walking through here...





...like it was gonna be easy and all.




But it's not that easy
to conquer a country, is it?




The renewed battle for control
of Iraq raged for a fourth day today...




...with street clashes in nearly
every corner of the country.




Iraq could become "another Vietnam."




Officials say they see evidence
that Sunni and Shiite extremists...




...might be joining forces.




They're not happy they're occupied.




I wouldn't be happy
if I were occupied either.





Two Japanese aid workers
and a journalist...




...kidnapped by men calling
themselves...




...the Mujahideen Squadrons.




They threatened to burn
the hostages alive...




...if Japan does not withdraw its troops
from Iraq within three days.




What's happened?




They attacked our convoy.




You wanna give us your name?





Hamill, Thomas.




The Pentagon might keep up
to 24,000 troops in combat...




The Pentagon might keep up
to 24,000 troops in combat...




...beyond their tour.




I know our numbers
in the military have gone down.




They talk about retention.




I never expected
to be deployed this long.




I don't think anybody did.




I don't have any clue
as to why we're still in Iraq.





If Donald Rumsfeld was here,
I'd ask him for his resignation.




With the war not going
as planned...




... and the military in need
of many more troops...




... where would they find

the new recruits?




Military experts say three times...




...the 120,000 U.S. Troops
now deployed...




...would be needed to pacify
and rebuild the country.




They would find them
all across America...




... in the places that had been

destroyed by the economy.




Places where one
of the only jobs available...




... was to join the Army.




Places like my hometown
of Flint, Michigan.




I was watching TV one day...




...and they showed some of the areas
that had been hit by bombs.




And while watching,
I got to thinking...




...there's parts of Flint
that look like that.




And we ain't been in a war.




Look at the neighborhood I live in.




Most of them are abandoned.
You know, I mean...




...that's not right.
You wanna talk about terrorism?





Come right here. President Bush,
right here. Come right here.




He knows about this corner.
I e-mailed him.




At the end of January of '04...




...the unemployment rate
in Flint was 17 percent.




But you have to take
into consideration as well...




...that when your unemployment
runs out you're no longer counted.




I would say that we're close
to at least 50 percent...




...not working or underemployed.





Because being underemployed
is just as dangerous.




My family has gone through
the welfare system...




...when it was Job Central.




In the mid-'80s I came through
the job training partnership program.




I went to a secretary school.




Years later, I'm executive assistant
to the president of the agency.




Interesting.




My mother used to tell me
all the time:




"Why do you always go
for the underdog?"





It was because the underdog
is who needed me.




People that don't have anything,
that's who I have to fight for.




And that's who I have fought for
my entire life.




I started taking my children
and telling my children:




"The military is a good option.




I can't afford to have you
go to college. I can't pay your way.




Financial aid will not help you."




So I, as a mother,
started teaching my children...





...about the options
that the military could do.




They would take them
around the world.




They'd see all the things that I,
as a mother, couldn't let them see.




It'd pay for their education that I, as
their mother and father, couldn't pay.




The military is a good option
for kids in Flint.




The military is an excellent option
for the people of Flint.




How many of you have a friend
or a family member in the service?




Anybody currently serving
overseas?




- A brother of mine.
- My cousin.





Yeah, cousin.




- Where's your brother?
- Iraq.




Germany.




My cousin got shipped off
to Iraq, like, three days ago.




Dang.




There's, like, an Army
or Navy recruiter...




...or Marines recruiter up there
almost every week...




...in the lunchroom recruiting
students at the lunchroom.





There are people with a calling.




Most serve one weekend a month
and two weeks a year.




Earning money for college.




Protecting their community.




In the Army National Guard...




...you can.




I'm going into the Air Force.




I'm gonna take a year off
after high school.




And then make a career. I wanna be
an aircraft maintenance technician.





I ran into a recruiter, and there
was something I noticed about it.




And this is kind of on another...
I noticed it was odd.




More like he was hiring me
than recruiting me for the Army.




It was the way he approached me.
I was in Borders Books and Music.




He came up like he was handing
us a business card.




He had business cards
made for the Army.




Meet Marine Staff
Sergeant Dale Kortman...




... and Sergeant Raymond Plouhar.




They are two of the many recruiters
assigned to Flint, Michigan.




They're very busy these days.




Look, he's running away already.





- He's seen us coming.
- Yeah.




What have we got here?




- Need a little gangster.
- Yeah.




We're heading over
to the Courtland Mall right now.




They decided not to go
to the wealthier...




... Genesee Valley Mall

in the suburbs.




They have a hard time
recruiting young people there.




Instead, they went
to the other mall.




- Let's go in through Mervyn's.
- In through Mervyn's.





And then we'll walk straight down
and straight back and then go down...




Gents, you know
we're looking at you, right?




You guys ever think
about joining up?




I thought about going to college
and playing basketball.




- You any good?
- Yeah. Especially basketball.




Good. You can play ball
for the Marine Corps.




Travel around the world
for the Corps basketball team.




- David Robinson was in the military.
- Oh, was he?





Yeah, you can definitely hook it up.




Right now somebody out there wants
to be a Marine but has no idea how to.




- Where you work at?
- I work at KFC.




- Sweet. Hook us up with deals.
- Yes.




They're waiting to get recruited.




I was gonna try a career
in music or something.




Career in music? Maybe we can
get you a career in music.




Let the Marines go for it.
I'm sure you know who Shaggy is.




- You know anything about him?
- Yeah, he's the Jamaican singer.





How about a former Marine?




- Oh.
- Did you know it?




You need to know discipline
if you're gonna get into music.




Especially discipline
with the money.




If you make a million, you need
to manage that money.




Come to the office, we can talk...




...show you everything
about the Marines.




- A plan?
- What you got going this afternoon?





How about tomorrow?
10:00 Monday morning?




- That sounds pretty good.
- You want me to pick you up?




It's better to get them
when they're in ones and twos...




...and work on them that way.




Ladies, ready to join up?




Green hat right behind us.




- Looks young. He's young.
- Yeah.




We got two over here...




...right over by the red van.





You go that way, I go this way,
we corner them.




- You're in the ninth grade?
- Yes, sir.




Man, you look older
than ninth grade.




All right, here's my card.




You ever thought about
being a Marine, man?




I've thought about it.
I've got a wife and kid now.




Even more reason to join up.




What I want to do, man...





...is get information from you
so I can scratch you off my list...




...saying I've talked to you, and
you're not interested. Is that cool?




What's your name? Phone number?
What's your address?




Add another one to the list.




However, one would love to have
that chance to experience college life.




You know, stuff young people
can do without having the risk...




...of dying in the process,
I guess I can say candidly.




The holidays add a bit more friction,
as opposed to just another night...




...in the fact we wanna give our guys
a little time off, time to relax.





However, we are in a combat zone,
and my soldiers do recognize that fact.




Everybody's a little bit
nervous about it, I guess.




We're professionals.
We're gonna take care of you.




I promise.




Every house here has the right
to have weapons.




Maximum, one AK-47.




We always expect the targets
to be armed.




Rock 'n' roll.





These are fucking bolt cutters.




This goddamn thing
to pry doors open.




Pop this in there...




Hey, Adele, just hold up.




No, no, no, no.




Where's she going?




- I'll go with her.
- Where's she going?




She's gonna call him.




She's gonna call him? No, no, no.
Where is he at right now?





Not on the phone.
Not on the phone.




Is he in the house?
Is he in the house?




- Passerelli! Passerelli!
- Is he in the house?




He is? He is in the house? Where?




- This is him?
- Get up there, second floor!




Watch out. Go, go, go!
Watch out, Adele, watch out.




I have one coming up.




That's Suheib Al Douri?





- What's your name?
- Suheib.




- This is Suheib. Yeah.
- This is Suheib.




- This is Suheib?
- Yeah.




Stand him up. Get up.




Tell them to calm down, please.
We will not be long.




We appreciate your cooperation.
This is the target.




Suheib Al Douri. Bring him out.




We have to, as you go back
to the old saying...




...win the hearts and minds
of the people. That's our job.





We have to... We have to bring the...




The ideal of democracy
and freedom to the country...




...and show them that the American
people are not here to rule Iraq.




I start doing evidence turn-in.
That process takes about three hours.




So that's gonna be it for the night.




That concludes Christmas Eve.




Merry Christmas, PRT.
Merry Christmas.




Santa came to Iraq
just for you guys.





Trying to keep skies
clear for you, Santa.




Do you consider yourself
a proud American?




Absolutely.




I'm an extremely proud American.
I'm probably more proud...




...than the average Joe.




When I put my flag out,
I can't allow it to touch the ground.




Because I know the lives that were lost
and the blood that was shed...




...so that I could be here
and have a flag.




- How often do you put the flag out?
- Every single day. Every day.





I started when my daughter
was in Desert Storm.




I had the same flag...




...flying on my front porch
and the same yellow ribbons.




Praying and hoping every day
that my child would come home safe.




And everybody's child
would come home safe.




- And she did.
- And she did.




Have other family members
been in the military?




Absolutely. Uncles, aunts...





...cousins, brothers, father.




- Very strong military family.
- Very strong.




My family was...
My family is what I consider...




...part of the backbone of America.




It's families like mine.
And it's not just my family.




There's hundreds of families,
millions of families...




...that this country was founded
on their backs.




I have been known to be
a conservative Democrat. Yeah.




That's what you consider
yourself? Yeah.





- Yeah, it's a great country.
- It's a great country. A great country.




The cross that I choose to wear
is a multicultural, multicolor cross.




That's because I believe that all
God's people come in many colors.




And my family itself is multicultural.




You have a daughter
who went into the military.




Then your first-born son,
in the military.




That's quite a gift to the country
from your family.




So having a son in the Army,
pretty proud thing.





Oh, you know what? He made it.




What was your reaction to protestors
during the Gulf War or Vietnam?




I always hated the protestors.




I always hated the protestors.
It was just a slap in my face.




It was just like they were
dishonoring my son.




And I burned in my soul
to tell them, "You don't understand.




They're not there because
they wanna be there."




But then I came to understand
they weren't protesting the men...




...and women there. They were
protesting the concept of the war.





I know I'm a soldier,
and I'm here to do a job.




I've been a soldier for a while.




Once you have to go
and do your job...




...and you see the things
that you see...




...I was saying, there's some
disillusionment in that.




Battalion commander fully
expects us to be...




...attacked in some type of way...




...before we get to FARP Shell.





I know that so far
it's been pretty calm.




Not much has happened.




But be aware that it can,
and it probably will.




They're beginning to organize
themselves, just in neighborhoods.




The kids get together a lot.
Well, I can't say kids...




...but guys about 17, 18...




...starting to come together.




They hate us.
Why, I'm not really sure.




Immoral behavior

breeds immoral behavior.




When a president commits
the immoral act...




... of sending otherwise good kids
to war based on a lie...




... this is what you get.




Hey, is he ticklish?




Don't tell me you don't know.




To have these people
shoot at us, kill us, blow us up...




...whatever, means they can.




And I don't understand it.




We're trying to help these people,
and it seems...




...they don't want our help.
"Get out of here!"




The minute something goes wrong,
"Why weren't you here?





Why didn't you do this?"
You know, it's...




I hate this country.




You know, you... I feel
that a part of your soul...




...is destroyed in taking another life.




Yeah, that statement is very true.




You cannot kill someone
without killing a part of yourself.




If you get called up...




...will you go back to Iraq?
- No.





What repercussions
do you face if you don't?




Possible jail time.




That's one possible thing.




- Are you willing to risk that?
- Yes.




Yes, I...




I will not let my person...




I will not let anyone...




...send me back over there
to kill other poor people.




Especially when they pose
no threat to me and my country.





I won't do it.




This is an impressive crowd.
The haves...




...and the have-mores.




Some people call you the elite.




I call you my base.




While Bush was busy
taking care of his base...





... and professing his love
for our troops...




... he proposed cutting combat
soldiers' pay by 33 percent...




... and assistance to their families
by 60 percent.




He opposed giving veterans...




... a billion dollars more
in health-care benefits...




... and he supported
closing veteran hospitals.





He tried to double the prescription
drug costs for veterans...




... and opposed full benefits
for part-time reservists.




When Staff Sergeant Brett Petriken
from Flint...




... was killed in Iraq on May 26th...




... the Army sent his last paycheck
to his family...




... but they docked him for the last five
days of the month he didn't work...





... because he was dead.




They say they're not gonna leave
any veteran behind...




...but they're leaving all kinds
of veterans behind.




To say we're forgotten,
I know we're not. But missed? Yes.




Yes. There's a lot of soldiers
that have been missed...




...that have been skipped over.




Didn't get the proper coverage
they deserved.




There's a death toll, but not
showing the injured or amputated.





- I still feel like I have hands.
- Yeah.




And the pain is like my hands
are being crushed in a vise.




But they do a lot to help it...




...and they take a lot
of the edge off it.




It makes it a lot more tolerable.




I was injured in late April
on patrol in Baghdad.




A couple of guys come out
and ambushed us.




I got nerve damage
and stuff like that.





I've got a lot of pain.
I'm constantly in pain.




I take a lot of morphine...




...to help with that and stuff.




I'm doing...




Doing... You know, just readjusting.




Getting life back on track.




You know what I'm saying?




I'm not gonna do what it is
that I did before.




I was a Republican
for quite a few years.





And...




...for some reason, they...




They conduct business
in a very dishonest way.




I'm gonna be incredibly active
in the Democratic Party...




...down where I live once I get out.




I'm gonna definitely do my best...




...to ensure that the Democrats
win control.




Iraq, Baghdad, I didn't know
anything of those things.





And we were in the hallway
in the upstairs of our house...




...and he was crying and said
that he was really scared.




And he didn't want
to have to go to Iraq.




So we had a conversation about,
sometimes some fear is healthy...




...because it keeps
our senses about us.




That's when he told me
he hadn't told anybody else.




But he knew he was going
to Baghdad.




We were... As everybody,
we were glued to the TV.




Just glued, completely glued
to the television...





...in hopes of seeing
a glimpse of him.




"Can't you please go to
where the helicopters are?




Can't you please let us see him?"




Then that night,
it was about 10 something...




...I went upstairs to the bedroom.




I was in bed, flipping the channels
with the remote.




All I heard was, "Black Hawk down,
South Central Iraq."




What I can tell you at this hour
is that last night...





...the Army did, indeed, lose
a Black Hawk helicopter.




We are being told by officers
on the ground...




...that there were six occupants
inside the Black Hawk.




The next morning
I got up, and I said:




"You push those sad thoughts
out of your mind.




Okay, Jesus,
I need you to come in.




I need you, Jesus.
You gotta help me through this."




The Army called me, and I remember
getting on the phone and him saying...




Asking me was I Lila Lipscomb,
and I said, "Yes."





And he said, "Mother of
Sergeant Michael Pedersen?"




And I remember
dropping the telephone.




And all I can honestly say
that I remember...




...is, "Ma'am,
the United States Army...




...the secretary of defense
regretfully informs you..."




That's all I know.




The grief grabbed me so hard...




...that I literally fell on the floor.





And I was alone. I didn't
have anybody to pick me up.




So I literally crawled
over to my desk...




...and was hanging on.




And I remember screaming:




"Why does it have to be Michael?




Why did you have to take my son?
Why is it my son you had to take?




He didn't do anything.




He wasn't a bad guy.
He was a good guy.




Why did you have to take my son?"





L... I... I... I'm...




I can't imagine what it must be like
to lose a son or a daughter...




...or a husband and...
Or a wife, for that matter.




And I... It pains me.




Do you have his last letter?




It was mailed March 16th...




...but I didn't get it until probably
a week before he was killed.




"Hello. Hey, Mama.





Well, sorry I haven't
been able to call.




They took the phone
seven days ago.




I got the letter and box.




That is so cool.
Your first grandson came...




...the same day your oldest son did.




How is everyone? I'm doing fine.




We are just out here in the sand
and windstorms waiting.




What in the world is wrong
with George?




Trying to be like his dad, Bush.





He got us out here
for nothing whatsoever.




I am so furious right now, Mama.




I really hope they do not
re-elect that fool, honestly.




I am in good spirits,
and I am doing okay.




I really miss you guys.




Thanks for the Bible...




...and books and candy.




I really look forward to letters
from you guys.





Well, tell all the family hello
and that I am doing fine.




We don't expect anything
to happen any time soon.




I cannot wait to get home
and get back to my life.




Tell Sputnik congrats...




...and I'll see my first nephew soon...




...as soon as I get back
to the States.




Hope you guys are doing okay...




...and keep sending the mail.




It makes getting through
the days easier.





Well, I am on my way to bed...




...so I will write you guys soon.




I love and miss...




...all of you guys."




I want him to be alive...




...and I can't make him alive.




But your flesh just aches.




You want your child.
It's out of sync.





A parent is not supposed
to bury their child.




I feel... I feel sad for my family...




...because we lost our son.




But...




...I really feel sorry
for the other families...




...that is losing their kids
as we speak.




And for what?




L... I don't...




That's the...
I guess the sickening part.





For what?




You've heard a lot
about Halliburton lately.




Criticism is okay. We can take it.
Criticism is not failure.




Our employees are doing
a great job.




We're feeding the soldiers.
We're rebuilding Iraq.




Will things go wrong?
Sure they will. It's a war zone.




We're serving the troops
because of what we know...




...not who we know.





Let me tell you about Halliburton,
the company I ran.




I'm proud of what I did at Halliburton.




The people are proud of what
they've accomplished. I, frankly...




...don't feel any need to apologize...




...for the way I've spent my time
over the last five years...




...as the CEO and chairman
of a major American corporation.




This is also an attempt
to divert attention...




...from the fact they have
no energy policy.




And as the secretary of energy said,
"We were caught unawares."





In the middle of the war, Microsoft,
DHL and other corporations...




... invited Halliburton
to a conference...




... to figure out how much money
could be made in Iraq.




Having worked this...




...effort, even since before the...
The invasion...




...the liberation of Iraq started.




You, industry, are definitely
a vital part of that effort.




We appreciate your interest
in this. We need you.




Lots of you are small businesses
and struggling:




"How do we get a piece of this?
You big guys are gonna get it.




The rest of us will have subcontracting
capability or none at all."





USTDA is for you.




Once that oil starts flowing...




...and money coming,
gonna be lots of money.




It's the second-largest
reserve of oil in the world.




No question of how much
money's there.




I've been getting complaints
from Iraqi firms and American firms.




The lack of transparency,
the corruption.




I think the profits American companies
are making, the main companies...





...are so overwhelming.




I mean, when you have a line item
for a million dollars...




...and you subcontract it out
for 50 or 60 or $ 70,000...




...that's a huge profit.




It's the American taxpayer
that's gonna pay for that.




And it's gonna get better.
Start building relationships.




Because it's gonna get
much better...




...as the oil flows
and their budgets increase.




Good news is, whatever it costs,
the government will pay you.





War is always good
for certain companies...




...that are in the war...
The business of war.




We're very proud.




Supporting U.S. Government
and military.




The real heroes of the campaign
and the reconstruction...




...are the men and women
of the U.S. Armed Forces.




We're proud of being any part
we can in supporting them.




Halliburton delivers hot meals,
supplies, clean clothing...





...and communications
to our soldiers...




...so they can be
a little closer to home.




It's a girl!




Halliburton. Proud to serve
our troops.




I just read in the paper
Halliburton got another contract.




- Halliburton got another contract.
- That's right.




Which is not being...




...contested at all.





Because nobody knows.




Well, it's in the paper,
so somebody knows.




But that's after it happens,
after the fact. It's too late.




The United States is now a major
player in the Iraqi oil business.




American troops
guard the oil fields...




...as Texas oil workers
assess their potential.




It's a safe environment to work in.
We don't feel any risk.




We feel we're being well protected
here, or we wouldn't be here.




It's no secret. I mean...





...I make anywhere between
2 and 3000 a month.




A Halliburton employee
out here driving a bus...




...can make between 8 and 10,000
a month. Explain that one to me.




For 40 hours a week.




Driving the same
two-and-half-mile route.




Go figure.




Where's the justification in that?




There's no other single area
of the world today...





...with the opportunity
for business, new business...




...similar to the opportunity
that's available today in Iraq.




The president went in,
did what he did.




We're supporting him
and our troops.




We wanna make sure
that the efforts and the lost lives...




...wasn't for no reason.




If it wasn't for the oil,
nobody would be there.




Nobody would worry about it.




Unfortunately,
at least for the near term...





...we think it's gonna be a good
situation, a dangerous situation.




Good for business,
bad for the people.




Today on the news,
Rumsfeld was saying...




And Wolfowitz was saying:




"The Iraqi people are much,
much better off.




Isn't it better that we
got rid of Saddam...




...and now the Iraqi people
can do what they wanna do...




...and really be free?"





Will they ever be free?
No, they'll not be free.




And where are the weapons
of mass destruction?




It was a... We were duped.
We were really duped.




And these poor people...




...the young men and women
who are being killed there.




- It's unnecessary.
- That's a disgrace.




- That's it. No more.
- That's a disgrace.




They died in a just cause,
for defending freedom...




...and they will not
have died in vain.





Lila had called to tell me
she was coming down from Flint...




... to Washington, D. C.
To attend a jobs conference.




On her break, she said
she was going to go...




... and pay a visit
to the White House.




Bush killed children. Iraqi children.




- My son, killed.
- Killed my people in Spain, yesterday.




- Lies kill people. Your children too.
- Yes, my son.




They have no business to do
in Iraq now. They're killing...




...all these young Americans.
- Yes.





For what? For oil.
Bush is a terrorist.




- No, he isn't. This is all staged.
- Yes, he is.




- This is all staged.
- My son.




- Where was he killed?
- You tell me my son is not a stage.




- Where was he killed?
- He was killed in Karbala.




April 2nd. It's not a stage.
My son is dead.




There are a lot of other people too.




Blame al Qaeda.





What did that woman yell at you?




That I'm supposed
to blame the al Qaeda.




The al Qaeda didn't make a decision
to send my son to Iraq.




Ignorance that we deal with,
with everyday people.




Because they don't know.
People think they know...




...but you don't know.
I thought I knew, but I didn't know.




I need my son.




God, it's tougher than I thought
it was gonna be...




...to be here.





But it's freeing also...




...because I finally have a place...




...to put all my pain
and all my anger...




...and to release it.




I guess I was tired of seeing people
like Lila Lipscomb suffer.




Especially when, out of

the 535 members of Congress...




... only one had an enlisted son
in Iraq.




I asked Corporal Henderson of
the United States Marine Corps...




... to join me on Capitol Hill...




... to see how many members
of Congress we could convince...




... to enlist their children
to go to Iraq.




Congressman, I'm Michael Moore.




- Hey, Michael. How are you doing?
- Good.





- John Tanner, from Tennessee.
- Very nice to meet you.




- What y'all doing?
- I'm here with Corporal Henderson.




- United States Marine Corps.
- Corporal, I was in the Navy.




- 1968 to '72.
- Okay.




We had Marines guarding the base.




- You have kids?
- Yeah.




Is there any way we can
get them to enlist...




...and go over there
and help out with the effort?





- I've got all the brochures.
- One of them has got two children.




See, there's not many congressmen
that have kids over there.




In fact, only one. You know.




So we just thought maybe they...




- You guys should send your kids first.
- That's right.




- What do you think about that?
- I don't disagree.




You don't? Oh, good.
Well, take some brochures.




- At least take a Marine brochure.
- Thank you.




- Pass it around.
- Yeah, well...





Encourage the fellow members
if they're for the war to get behind it.




- Send their own.
- Thank you.




Thank you, sir.
Thank you very much.




Congressman? Michael Moore.




- How you doing today?
- Good.




I'm trying to get members of Congress
to get their kids to enlist in the Army...




...and go over to Iraq.




Congressman.





Congressman.




Congressman Castle?
Congressman Castle?




Congressman. Congressman.




Congressman Doolittle,
Michael Moore.




I was wondering if...




Is there any way to...?




Of course, not a single member
of Congress...




... wanted to sacrifice their child
for the war in Iraq.




And who could blame them?




Who would wanna give up
their child?





Would you?




Would he?




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?




He had used weapons.




We know where they are.




Around Tikrit, Baghdad
and east, west, south and north.





There is a tie between Iraq
and what happened on 9l11.




The struggle can only end...




...with their complete
and permanent destruction.




We wage a war to save
civilization itself.




We did not seek it.




But we will fight it,
and we will prevail.




George Orwell once wrote...




... that, "It's not a matter of whether
the war is not real or if it is.




Victory is not possible.




The war is not meant to be won.
It is meant to be continuous.




A hierarchical society
is only possible...




... on the basis of poverty
and ignorance.




This new version is the past...





... and no different past
can ever have existed.




In principle, the war effort
is always planned...




... to keep society
on the brink of starvation.




The war is waged by the ruling group
against its own subjects.




And its object is not the victory
over either Eurasia or East Asia...




... but to keep the very
structure of society intact. "




There's an old saying
in Tennessee.




I know it's in Texas,
probably in Tennessee.




Fool me once...




...shame on...




Shame on you.




You fool me,
we can't get fooled again.




For once, we agreed.