Clinton officials rip ABC’s ‘The Path to 9/11’

[SuzeQuze]

Get ready to be fired up, Mary, if you aren't already.

Network calls miniseries ‘a dramatization ... not a documentary’

By Howard Kurtz
The Washington Post

Updated: 1 hour, 20 minutes ago

Top officials of the Clinton administration have launched a preemptive strike against an ABC-TV "docudrama," slated to air Sunday and Monday, that they say includes made-up scenes depicting them as undermining attempts to kill Osama bin Laden.

Former secretary of state Madeleine K. Albright called one scene involving her "false and defamatory." Former national security adviser Samuel R. "Sandy" Berger said the film "flagrantly misrepresents my personal actions." And former White House aide Bruce R. Lindsey, who now heads the William J. Clinton Foundation, said: "It is unconscionable to mislead the American public about one of the most horrendous tragedies our country has ever known."

ABC's entertainment division said the six-hour movie, "The Path to 9/11," will say in a disclaimer that it is a "dramatization . . . not a documentary" and contains "fictionalized scenes." But the disclaimer also says the movie is based on the Sept. 11 commission's report, although that report contradicts several key scenes.

Berger said in an interview that ABC is "certainly trying to create the impression that this is realistic, but it's a fabrication."

Marc Platt, the film's executive producer, said that although it "does contain composite and conflated scenes and representative characters and dialogue, we've worked very hard to be fair. If individuals feel they're wrongly portrayed, that's obviously of concern. We've portrayed the essence of the truth of these events. Our intention was not in any way to be political or present a point of view."

The former Clinton aides voiced their objections in letters to Robert A. Iger, chief executive of ABC's corporate parent, the Walt Disney Co., but the network refused to make changes or to give them advance copies of the movie. They were not interviewed by ABC; it hired as a co-executive producer Thomas H. Kean, the Republican who chaired the Sept. 11 commission, but no Democratic members of the panel.

"In an undertaking this gargantuan," Platt said, "it's impossible to interview every single person available, and we didn't believe we needed to." He said that "maybe I'm naive" in thinking that hiring only Kean would not prompt criticism of a political slant.

Clinton’s legacy
The fierceness of the debate reflects a recognition that a $40 million miniseries -- whose cast includes Harvey Keitel, Patricia Heaton and Penny Johnson Jerald -- can damage Clinton's legacy in the anti-terrorism fight on the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Among the scenes that the Clinton team said are fictional:

Berger is seen as refusing authorization for a proposed raid to capture bin Laden in spring 1998 to CIA operatives in Afghanistan who have the terrorist leader in their sights. A CIA operative sends a message: "We're ready to load the package. Repeat, do we have clearance to load the package?" Berger responds: "I don't have that authority."

Berger said that neither he nor Clinton ever rejected a CIA or military request to conduct an operation against bin Laden. The Sept. 11 commission said no CIA operatives were poised to attack; that Afghanistan's rebel Northern Alliance was not involved, as the film says; and that then-CIA Director George J. Tenet decided the plan would not work.

Tenet is depicted as challenging Albright for having alerted Pakistan in advance of the August 1998 missile strike that unsuccessfully targeted bin Laden.
"Madame Secretary," Tenet is seen saying, "the Pakistani security service, the ISI, has close ties with the Taliban." Albright is seen shouting: "We had to inform the Pakistanis. There are regional factors involved." Tenet then complains that "we've enhanced bin Laden's stature."

Albright said she never warned Pakistan. The Sept. 11 commission found that a senior U.S. military official warned Pakistan that missiles crossing its airspace would not be from its archenemy, India.

"The Path to 9/11" uses news footage to suggest that Clinton was distracted by the Republican drive to impeach him. Veteran White House counterterrorism official Richard A. Clarke, who also disputes the film's accuracy, is portrayed as telling FBI agent John P. O'Neill: "Republicans went all out for impeachment. I just don't see the president in this climate willing to take chances."
O'Neill responds: "So it's okay if somebody kills bin Laden, so long as he didn't give the order. . . . It's pathetic." The Sept. 11 commission found no evidence that the Monica S. Lewinsky scandal played a role in the August 1998 missile strike, but added that the "intense partisanship of the period" was one factor that "likely had a cumulative effect on future decisions about the use of force against bin Laden."

Clinton allies have complained that advance copies were sent to a number of conservative commentators, including Rush Limbaugh, but not to liberals. Limbaugh, saying that the screenwriter, Cyrus Nowrasteh, is a friend of his, told his radio audience that the film "indicts the Clinton administration, Madeleine Albright, Sandy Berger. It is just devastating to the Clinton administration. It talks about how we had chances to capture bin Laden in specific detail."

ABC said copies of the film were sent to media organizations and commentators without regard to ideology, and that Democrats and Republicans were invited to a screening in Washington. At the screening, Richard Ben-Veniste, a Democratic member of the Sept. 11 commission, assailed the film as inaccurate.

Letters of protest
Nowrasteh, who has described himself as a conservative, told Frontpage magazine that the movie illustrates "the frequent opportunities the administration had in the '90s to stop bin Laden in his tracks -- but lacked the will to do so."

Nowrasteh drew criticism from Reagan administration officials for his Showtime movie "The Day Reagan Was Shot." He told the Los Angeles Daily News then that he "made a conscious effort not to contact any members of the [Reagan] administration because I didn't want them to stymie my efforts."

The assault on "The Path to 9/11" assumed the trappings of a campaign yesterday. Four senior House Democrats -- John Conyers Jr., Jane Harman, John D. Dingell and Louise M. Slaughter -- have written Iger to demand that the inaccuracies be corrected. Spurred by the Center for American Progress, which is headed by Clinton chief of staff John D. Podesta, 25,000 people have sent letters of protest to ABC.

© 2006 The Washington Post Company

from
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14707869/

[strandinthewind]

While Clinton's record on terrorism is better than W's record, the fact remains that the US was attacked many times during the Clinton administration.

Them's the facts and not to say them is silly.

But, to spin them is just wrong.

[SuzeQuze]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

While Clinton's record on terrorism is better than W's record, the fact remains that the US was attacked many times during the Clinton administration.

Them's the facts and not to say them is silly.

But, to spin them is just wrong.

That is not relevent to the fabrication that he had the opportunity to get Bin Laden and refused.

[SuzeQuze]

Oh yeah, and ABC has created study materials for teachers and encouraged them to show the movie in their classrooms. Why would they do that with a fictionalized account of the events?

Also, the filmmaker is a self-described conservative as well as a friend of Limbaugh (who received an advanced copy while Keith Olberman did not).

[irishgrl]

Originally Posted by SuzeQuze

Oh yeah, and ABC has created study materials for teachers and encouraged them to show the movie in their classrooms. Why would they do that with a fictionalized account of the events?

Also, the filmmaker is a self-described conservative as well as a friend of Limbaugh (who received an advanced copy while Keith Olberman did not).

shoot, if I'd've read just ONE MORE POST !!! sorry gang!

anyway, this is bogus bs and Im surprised Disney/ABC is doing it. What do they stand to gain by this obvious smoke and mirrors act?

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by SuzeQuze

That is not relevent to the fabrication that he had the opportunity to get Bin Laden and refused.

Exactly. It's a blatant lie. How convenient of "them" to pull this **** right before the elections. Does anyone still believe that the Republicans will keep them safe from terra?

[irishgrl]

Originally Posted by SuzeQuze

That is not relevent to the fabrication that he had the opportunity to get Bin Laden and refused.

Who's behind this travesty? (sorry I came to this late, I woke up late this AM and I was still fired up about the Scouts

Yes we were attacked during Clinton's tenure but we also caught the man responsible for bombing the WTC the first time during his tenure. Clinton's record is WAY better than W's and thems the facts too.

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by irishgrl

Who's behind this travesty?

ABC is showing this commercial free. Interesting.

[SuzeQuze]

Originally Posted by gldstwmn

ABC is showing this commercial free. Interesting.

Perhaps because it is a commercial?

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by SuzeQuze

That is not relevent to the fabrication that he had the opportunity to get Bin Laden and refused.

That is not a complete fabrication

He had many opportunities - some I think we will never know about.

The man did not walk on water

[SuzeQuze]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

That is not a complete fabrication

He had many opportunities - some I think we will never know about.

The man did not walk on water

I never said he walked on water. How do you know he had many opportunities?

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by SuzeQuze

I never said he walked on water. How do you know he had many opportunities?

Well, we were attacked how many times - and successfully at that. I mean if you're gonna fault W for 9/11 - then Clinton must be faulted as well. Certainly there were warning about those attacks

And - Clinton sent more than one missle to get OBL - but missed. That sucks.

[estranged4life]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

the fact remains that the US was attacked many times during the Clinton administration.

OKC? Some higher ups in the Clinton adminstration must've knew an attack was coming on the morning of April 19,1995, Why else were memo's passed to 'certain' govt. worker/officials (The ATF office in the Murrah Building & a local Federal Court judge whose office was in the Federal Courthouse which is directly behind the Murrah Building. This judge was never asked to testify in either the Federal case against McVeigh/Nichols nor in Nichols case against the State of Oklahoma ) to be aware of a possible attack that morning and to have their employee's take the day off from work.

I'm sick of hearing conspiracies with 911, let's see the national media talk about those surrounding OKC (C'mon Micheal Moore, here's a great chance to shine).

Oh wait, that wont ever happen...The govt. "caught", "tried" &"convicted" the conspirators, thus ending the story, to which I call Bull****!!!

[DavidMn]

Theyre all bull****ters in one way or another..

[irishgrl]

Do DO Do DO! (thats my best trumpet text!!)

I just saw this:

Democrats urge ABC to withdraw 9/11 movie

By Richard Cowan and Thomas Ferraro2 hours, 19 minutes ago

Amid an election-year debate over who can best defend America, U.S. congressional Democrats urged ABC on Thursday to cancel a TV miniseries about the September 11 attacks that is critical of former Democratic President Bill Clinton and his top aides.

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada denounced the five-hour television movie, set to air in two parts on Sunday and Monday nights, as "a work of fiction."

Reid and other leading Senate Democrats wrote to Robert Iger, president and CEO of ABC's corporate parent, the Walt Disney Co., urging him to "cancel this factually inaccurate and deeply misguided program."

Chronicling events leading to the September 11 attacks, the movie suggests the Clinton administration was too distracted by the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal to deal properly with the gathering threat posed by Islamic militants.

The furor comes as Democrats and Republicans jockey for political position in advance of the November 7 congressional elections over who can best secure the United States from another attack.

Democrats have chided Republicans for failing to implement security recommendations by the 9/11 commission, and Republicans have portrayed Democrats as soft on terrorism.

In recent days, former members of the Clinton administration also lodged complaints with Iger, urging ABC and Disney to fix or eliminate what they called errors and fabrications.

ABC issued a statement saying the production, "The Path to 9/11," was still being edited and that criticism of the film's specifics were thus "premature and irresponsible."

'DRAMATIC LICENSE'

Executive Producer Marc Platt acknowledged that "there is dramatic license taken" in the docudrama to "render the program effective and accessible for viewers."

"But we do try within the boundaries of what is fair and reasonable to communicate the essence of what occurred (and) the intentions of those individuals involved," he told Reuters in a telephone interview from London. "We have no intention or desire to be political, to intentionally distort."

Platt also said one scene singled out for criticism by Democrats -- depicting CIA operatives and Afghan fighters coming close to capturing Osama bin Laden in the 1990s, only for then-national security advisor Samuel Berger to refuse authorization of the mission -- was a "conflation of events."

Berger said in a letter to Iger earlier this week that "no such episode ever occurred, nor did anything like it."

The September 11 attacks occurred about eight months after Clinton turned over the presidency in January 2001 to Republican George W. Bush.

For several years, Democrats have complained the Bush administration failed to capture or kill bin Laden when he reportedly was cornered in Afghanistan's Tora Bora region in late 2001. They also argue the war in Iraq later took away resources for tracking down bin Laden.

ABC said its movie was not a documentary but a dramatization drawn from the official 9/11 commission report, personal interviews and other materials.

"As such, for dramatic and narrative purposes, the film contains fictionalized scenes, composite and representative characters and dialogue and time compression," ABC said.

Former New Jersey Gov. Thomas Kean, a Republican who chaired the 9/11 commission and served as a consultant for the ABC miniseries, defended the production as politically balanced.

"People in both parties didn't particularly like the commission report, and I think people in both parties aren't going to love this one," he said.

The cast of the film includes Harvey Keitel as an FBI agent and expert on Islamic militants, Donnie Wahlberg as a covert CIA operative, Amy Madigan as a high-ranking CIA analyst, Patricia Heaton as a U.S. diplomat and Stephen Root as White House counter-terrorism advisor Richard Clarke.

"The Path to 9/11" is not the first historical TV drama to draw a partisan outcry. CBS canceled a miniseries about Ronald and Nancy Reagan after Republicans complained that it unfairly and inaccurately portrayed the former president. "The Reagans" ended up airing on sibling cable channel Showtime.

(Additional reporting by Steve Gorman and Ellen Wulfhorst)

Reuters/VNU

Copyright © 2006 Reuters Limited.