Opinion‘Fahrenheit 9/11’ Effectively Questions Bush’s Rush to War

Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11,” the Palme d’Or winner at the Cannes Film Festival, is a documentary about the many falsehoods of President George W. Bush’s administration. The film succeeds in inspiring many viewers to logically question authority and to view both sides of a conflict.

Like “Bowling for Columbine” and Moore’s controversial book “Dude Where’s My Country?” “Fahrenheit 9/11” is purely informative; every scene has a purpose to Moore’s overlying idea about how the American people have once again been manipulated into believing what is not true.

The movie gives audiences the opportunity to see the controversial footage of what goes on when a country overwhelmed by propaganda neglects the truth, as well as the consequences of waging an unnecessary war.

Moore’s documentary breaks what some people would call taboo subjects, subjects that connect cheating and deception with the president of one’s country.

The documentary starts off with the controversial miscount in the 2000 presidential election, showing how it was only through a sequence of mishaps that our president was elected.

It is essential to watch documentaries such as “Fahrenheit 9/11.” Such a movie shows audiences what the Bush administration will not tell you or show you. It refutes the illogical concept of U.S. soldiers dying for our liberties which were never endangered.

With President Bush’s credibility being questioned by every decision he makes, it would seem that this documentary, created by a liberal, was meant to demonize our Republican president.

Most critics argued that irrelevance and a bias motivated significant scenes throughout the movie. Such scenes include Bush on vacation. I do not find such scenes to be irrelevant.

I personally would like to know whether the person in charge of running the country I live in spends most of his time doing his job, or compensates by passionately telling people that they should risk their resources and lives for a cause right before he continues his leisurely game of golf.

“Fahrenheit 9/11” not only shows the people launching the offensive towards Iraq, it also shows the people undergoing the onslaught.

The Iraqi conflict is best portrayed in “Fahrenheit 9/11” since it not only shows the soldiers fighting the war but also the people who are suffering from this war.

A woman in Iraq is screaming and crying, praying to God for revenge over her lost ones, while a child who has died from a dropped bomb is tossed into a pick up truck with the rest of the corpses.

Towards the end of the documentary you see a woman break down and crying over her son who was killed in the war just days before he was to return home to Michigan. In a heart-wrenching scene she breaks down kneeling in front of the White House.

People in America hear more of terrorist attacks in Iraq then they see them. Gruesome footage from “Fahrenheit 9/11” raises awareness about the reality of what happens in a war-torn country.

Moore discredits censorship and shows the Iraqi conflict for what it really is by showing American soldiers and Iraqi citizens crippled by bomb wounds.

Then scene jumps forward and for one moment you see an American family that his torn apart over a son and husband’s death in Iraq. After that you see the mother of an Iraqi family mourning and screaming over the loss of her family and her bombarded neighborhood.

After hearing so much about how many U.S. soldiers have died in Iraq, I had not seen the death of one innocent Iraqi until I saw “Fahrenheit 9/11.”

Knowing that innocent civilians are dying in Iraq is just as important as knowing the statistics of how many American soldiers have died in this conflict. The death of an Iraqi is a death, no matter what the cause or circumstance.

Having seen a truckload of corpses filled with men woman and children, in “Fahrenheit 9/11” I have come closer to understanding how extremely violent any conflict between two countries can be.

When Moore interviews soldiers with lost limbs and severe shrapnel wounds in a Veterans’ Administration hospital, most question our reasons for being there in the first place. In the emotional scene, they revaluate the pro-war sentiments they held before going into combat.

Even though his harshest criticism is reserved for Bush, the documentary doesn’t lay all the blame on one side. In fact, Moore ridicules Democrats in one scene for complicity in gearing up for war.

What Moore has done with his movie has shown the audience that there are powerful individuals and entire interest groups who are cheating people.

The DVD release is intended to educate voters for the upcoming election. I think everyone should watch it before the presidential election.

“Fahrenheit 9/11” will be released on DVD Oct. 5 nationwide, in time for the presidential election Nov. 2.