All language subtitles for Fahrenheit.9.11.2004.720p.WEBRip.x264.AAC-[YTS.MX]

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[chime]

[appeasing music]

[fireworks whistling and popping]

[crowd cheering]

[Michael Moore]
Was it all just a dream?

God bless you, Florida! Thank you!

[Michael Moore]
Did the last four years not really happen?

Look! There is 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.

[crowd cheering]

Was it a dream?

[crowd chanting]

Or was it real?

[country music]

It was election night 2000,

and everything seemed
to be going as planned.

[TV host] 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 the winner.

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

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.

[Michael Moore] Then, something
called The Fox News Channel

called the election
in favor of the other guy.

I interrupt you,
Fox News now projects

George W. Bush the winner in Florida,

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

[Michael Moore] All of a sudden,
the other network 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.

[Michael Moore]
What most people don't know is

that the man who was 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?

[laughter]

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.

[Michael Moore] Second, make sure
the chairman of your campaign is also

the vote count woman,
and that her state

has hired a company

that's gonna 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.

I think all this talk
about legitimacy is way overblown.

[chanting]
President Bush! President Bush!

[Michael Moore]
And hope that the other side

will just sit by
and wait for the phone to ring.

And even if numerous
independent investigations prove

that Gore got the most votes.

If there was a statewide recount,
under every scenario,

Gore won the election.

[Michael Moore]
It won't matter,

just 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.

[Michael Moore] It turns out
none of this was a dream.

It's what really happened.

[country music stops]

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

and the Senate was
to certify the election results,

Al 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 official misconduct.

[protest]

-Deliberate fraud--
-[Al Gore] The Chair

must remind members
that under Section Eighteen

of Title Three, 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.

Uh, 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.

[Al Gore] Is the objection signed
by a member of the Senate?

Not signed by a member of the Senate,
the Senate is missing.

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

on behalf of many of the diverse
constituents in our country,

especially those
in the Ninth Congressional district,

and all American voters
who recognize that the Supreme Court,

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

[Al Gore]
Is the objection signed by a Senator?

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

Unfortunately, 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,
constituents from Florida.

A Senator is needed, but missing.

[Al Gore]
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.

-[applause from the bench]
-[hammer]

[Al Gore] The Chair will advise
that the rules do care, and...

[laughter]

[laughter and clapping]

[Al Gore]
The signature of a Senator...

[Michael Moore] 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 objections.
-[Al Gore] The gentleman!

The gentleman will suspend.

Won't sign objections,
Mr. President, I object!

[Al Gore]
The gentleman will suspend.

[sad music]

[Peter Jennings]
Inauguration coverage 2001

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

-What do we want?
-Justice!

-When do we want it?
-Now!

[crowd cheering]

[Michael Moore] On the day
that 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.

[crowd protesting]

They pelted Bush's limo with eggs.

[egg crashing]

[policeman]
Get back! Get back!

[Michael Moore] And brought
the inauguration parade to a halt.

[screams]

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.

[crowd protesting]

No president had ever witnessed
such a thing on his Inauguration Day.

[crowd booing]

[sad guitar tune]

And for the next eight months,

it didn't get any better
for George W. Bush.

He couldn't get his judges appointed.

He had trouble getting
his legislation passed,

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.

[The Go-Go's "Vacation" playing]

♪ Vacation, had to get away ♪

♪ Vacation, meant to spend alone ♪

[hitting ball]

Oh, no!

[Michael Moore] In his first eight
months in office before September 11th,

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

42% of the time.

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

[Michael Moore] It was not surprising
that Mr. Bush needed some time off.

Being president is a lot of work.

[female reporter]
What about these folks that say

you're taking too long of a vacation?

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

[crowd chatter]

I'm getting a lot done.

Secondly, you don't have to be
in Washington to work.

It's, uh... It's amazing, uh,

what can happen
with telephones and faxes.

[woman]
Thank you so much, you were great.

[inaudible chatter]

[male reporter] What are you doing
the rest of the day?

Karen Hughes is coming over,
we're working on some things,

and uh...

She'll be over here, we'll be working
on a few things, a few matters.

I'm working on some initiatives.

We're, uh... You'll see!

I mean, I've got-- There'll be
some decisions that I will have made

while I'm here, and we'll be
announcing them as time goes on.

[Michael Moore]
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!

[laughter]

[Michael Moore] And work was
something he knew a lot about!

-[reporter calling him]
-Anybody want some grits?

-Yeah!
-[laughing]

[Michael Moore]
Relaxing at Camp David.

Yachting off Kennebunkport.

-How ya doing?
-[patting]

[Michael Moore] Or being a cowboy
on a ranch in Texas.

I love the nature, I love to get
in the pickup truck with my dogs.

Oh, hi!

[Michael Moore] 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.

[laughing]

[Michael Moore]
It was a summer to remember.

And when it was over,
he left Texas

for his second favorite place.

On September tenth,
he joined his brother in Florida,

where he looked at files
and met important Floridians.

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

[Jeff Gibbs's Fahrenheit 9/11
intro theme song]

[slow guitar tune]

[Donald Rumsfeld]
Do you suppose he's pretty

confident on those numbers
on Iraqi security forces?

[mute]

Make me look young!

[all laugh]

I've got a little air noise.

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

[operator] I got a... I got a mic here
if they want to hear.

Testing one, two.
This is the Oval Office.

Testing one, two.

Testing one, two.
This is the Oval Office.

[microphone sounds]

Testing one, two three, four, five.

[laughing]

[music fades away]

[wind blowing]

[growing throbbing of a plane]

-[plane crashing]
-[loud screams]

-[sirens and screams]
-[reporter reporting on WTC attacks]

[whistle]

[crowd yelling and talking]

[growing throbbing of a plane]

[crashing]

[rescue teams' voices on radios]

[sounds of New York
during the 9/11 attacks]

[sirens]

[mixed TV reports]

[continuing sounds of sirens,
rescue teams, crowds, TV reports]

[loud thud]

Save their souls, Lord!

Save their souls, Lord!

[heavy tune]

Oh, they're jumping! Everyone!

[muted sirens]

[clock chiming]

[inaudible conversation]

[tragic classical tune]

[Michael Moore] On September 11th 2001,
nearly 3,000 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 if they've
seen him or knows where he is,

to call us!

He's got two little babies.

Two little babies.

[Michael Moore]
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.

[cameras clicking]

[George W. Bush]
Good morning!

[teacher] Read this word
the fast way. Get ready!

-[pupils] Mat!
-[teacher] Yes, mat! Get ready!

[pupils] Cat!

Yeah!

[all laugh and clap]

[teacher] OK, get ready
to read the words on this page

without making a mistake!

[Michael Moore] When the second plane
hit the tower, his chief of staff

entered the classroom
and told Mr. Bush:

"The nation is under attack."

[cameras clicking]

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.

[tense piano music]

[pupils reading in the background]

Nearly seven minutes passed
with nobody doing anything.

[tense piano music]

As Bush sat in that Florida classroom,

was he wondering if maybe he should
have shown up to work more often?

[kids continue reading]

Should he have held at least
one meeting since taking office

to discuss the threat of terrorism
with his head of counter-terrorism?

Or maybe Mr. Bush was wondering
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 sixth 2001,

which said that Osama Bin Laden
was planning to attack America

by hijacking airplanes.

But maybe he wasn't worried
about the terrorist threat

because the title
of the report was too vague.

I believe the title was:

Bin Laden determined
to attack inside the United States.

[Michael Moore]
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 11th,

all commercial and private airline traffic
was grounded.

[FAA chief]
The FAA has taken the action to close

all of the airports in the United States.

[TV presenter] Even grounding
the president's father,

former President Bush,
on a flight, forced to land in Milwaukee.

[TV presenter] Thousands of travelers
were stranded, among them,

Ricky Martin, due to appear
at tonight's Latin Grammy awards.

[Michael Moore] Not even
Ricky Martin could fly, but really,

who wanted to fly?

No one, except the Bin Ladens.

[The Animals'
"We Gotta Get out of This Place" playing]

♪ If it's the last thing we ever do ♪

We had some airplanes authorized
at the highest levels of our government

to fly to pick up
Osama Bin Laden's family members

and others from Saudi Arabia
and transport them out of this country.

It turns out that 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 the 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.

[Craig Unger] Osama's always been
portrayed as a bad apple,

the black sheep in the family
and that they cut off

all relationship with him
around 1994.

In fact, things are much more
complicated than that.

[Michael Moore] You mean Osama's had
contact with other family members?

[Craig Unger] That's right, and in
the summer of 2001, just before 9/11,

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,
good to see him again,

Prince Bandar, the ambassador
of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

to the United States.

You had about 24 members
of Bin Laden's family, and--

-Here?
-In America!

Students and... 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 all out.

[Michael Moore] This is retired
FBI agent Jack Cloonan.

Before 9/11, he was a senior agent

on the joint FBI/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,

I think it would have been prudent,
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 what?

They were from the Middle East
or they fit a very general picture.

-We held hundreds.
-We held hundreds, and I--

[Moore]
For weeks and months at a time.

Did the authorities do anything

when the Bin Ladens tried
to leave the country?

No, they were identified at the airport.

They looked at their passports
and they were identified.

Well, that's what would happen
to you or I.

Exactly! Exactly!

So, a little interview,
check the passport, what else?

Nothing.

[Dragnet theme music]

[Michael Moore] I don't know
about you, but, usually,

when the police can't find a murderer,

don't they usually want to talk

to the family members to find out
where they think he might be?

Do you have no idea
where your husband might be?

If you should hear anything,
let us know.

You want to come downtown,
give us a statement?

-Is this gonna take long?
-You got the time.

Mine's worth money, yours isn't.

-Send us the bill!
-I asked you a question!

You're here to answer them.

Now, listen to me, cop,
I pay your salary!

Sit down, I'll earn it.

[Michael Moore]
Yeah, that's how cops do it.

What was going on here?

I think we need to know
a lot more about that.

That needs to be the subject
of a significant investigation.

What happened? How did it happen?

Why did it happen,
and who authorized it?

Try to imagine
what those poor bastards were feeling

when they were jumping
out of that building to their death.

Those... those... 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,
they'll never have peace.

And if I had to inconvenience...

A... A member of the Bin Laden family
with a subpoena or a grand jury,

do you think I'd lose any sleep over it?
Not for a minute, Mike.

-No one would question it.
-No, it's right.

Not even the biggest civil libertarian?

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

You know, you got a lawyer? Fine.
Counsellor, fine!

Mr. Bin Laden, this is why I'm asking you,

it's not because I think
that you're anything,

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

-Right.
-And that's all!

[Michael Moore]
None of this made any sense.

[xylophone tune]

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 McVeigh family?

What do you think would have happened
to Clinton if that had been revealed?

[crowd screaming]
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.

[Larry King] What was the circumstance
under which you met him?

This is ironic, in the mid-80s,
if you remember,

we and the United States
were supporting the Mujahedeen.

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,

he said, the Communists.
Isn't it ironic?

[Larry King]
Now, 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
when you met him?

I was not impressed,
to be honest with you.

-Not impressed?
-No, ha was...

I thought he was simple
and very quiet guy.

[tense piano]

[Michael Moore]
Hmm... A simple and quiet guy?

Whose family just happened to have
a business relationship

with the family of George W. Bush.

[quiet piano tune]

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"?

[inaudible speech]

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.

[70s rock music]

And the other was James R. Bath.

[theme song]

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 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.

[Jim Moore] 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 decided to go
into the oil business.

He founded an oil company,
a drilling company,

out in west Texas called Arbusto,

which was very, 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,

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 that Daddy
wrote a check

to start him off in this company.

[Michael Moore] So where did
George W. Bush get his money?

I'm George Bush!

[Michael Moore] 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.

[theme song]

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.

[Jim Moore]
A lot of us had suspected

through the years,
that there has been Saudi oil money

involved in all of these companies.

Harken, Spectrum Seven,
Arbusto Drilling,

all of the Bush companies.

Whenever they got into trouble,
there were these angel investors

who flowed money into the companies.

So, the question is, why Saudis,
who had all the oil in the world,

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

And the thing is it had one big asset,

Harken had one 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.

And, access is power.

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

[Michael Moore]
Yes, it helps to be the president's son,

especially when you're being investigated

by the Securities
and Exchange Commission.

[Bill Plante] 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 $23,000,000.

[Michael Moore]
The James Baker law partner

who helped Bush beat
the rap from the SCC

was a man by the name
of Robert Jordan, who,

when George W. Became president,
was appointed ambassador

to Saudi Arabia.

[upbeat tune]

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.

[Dan Briody]
We wanted to look at which companies

actually gained from September 11th.

Turned up this company,
Carlyle Group.

The Carlyle Group is

a multinational conglomerate that invests

in heavily government-regulated
industries like telecommunications,

healthcare,
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.

Carlyle Group was holding
its annual investor conference

on the morning of September 11th

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 11th,

Shafiq Bin Laden,
who is Osama Bin Laden's half-brother

and was in town to look after

his family's investments
in the Carlyle Group,

um, all of them together
in one room watching

as the planes hit the towers.

And then in fact,
the Bin Laden family was invested

in one of their defense funds,
which ironically meant

that, um,
as the United States started

increasing its defense spending,
the Bin Laden family stood to gain

from those investments
through the Carlyle Group.

Our Commander-in-chief,
our president, George W. Bush!

[crowd cheering and clapping]

[Michael Moore] With all
the weapons companies it owned,

the Carlyle Group was in essence

the eleventh largest defense
contractor in the United States.

Thanks a lot!

[Michael Moore]
It owned United Defense,

makers of the Bradley armored
fighting vehicle.

September 11th guaranteed
that United Defense

was going to have a very good year.

[light tune]

Just six weeks after 9/11,

Carlyle filed to take
United Defense public,

and in December, made a one day profit

of 237 million dollars, 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 Advisor

to Carlyle's Asia Board
for another two years.

As unseemly as it seems,

uh, to...
know that George H. W. Bush

was meeting with the Bin Laden family

while Osama was a wanted terrorist,

way before September 11th.

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.

Um...

Is he representing
the United States of America

or is he representing
an investment firm

in the United States of America
or is he representing both?

This company is about money, it's not
about conspiracies to run the world

or you know engineer political
maneuvering, things like that.

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

and they've done very well.

[Helen Thomas] If I can 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, all ethics laws,

and will act properly in their conduct.

[Michael Moore] OK,
so 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 dollars
over a number of years,

who are you gonna like?

Who's your daddy?

Over here, sir!

Because that's how much
the Saudi Royals and their associates

have given the Bush family.

[conversation and cameras]

-Their friends...
-How are you, Sir?

... and their related businesses
in the past three decades.

We've had
a very nice reunion with friends.

[Michael Moore] 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?

[small talk]

'Cause 1.4 billion just doesn't buy
a lot of flights out of the country,

it buys a lot of love.

[R.E.M's "Shiny Happy People" playing]

♪ Shiny happy people holding hands ♪

♪ Shiny happy people laughing ♪

♪ Everyone around ♪

♪ Love them, love them ♪

♪ Put it in your hands ♪

♪ Take it, take it ♪

♪ There's no time to cry ♪

♪ Happy, happy ♪

♪ Put it in your heart ♪

♪ Where tomorrow shines ♪

♪ Gold and silver shine ♪

[Michael Moore] 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
asked any questions.

The investigation should have begun
on September 12th, um...

There's no reason
why it shouldn't have.

3,000 people were dead, it was a murder,

and it should have gotten
started immediately.

[Michael Moore]
First, Bush tried to stop Congress

from setting up
its own 9/11 investigation.

It's important for us to, uh...

[cameras clicking]

not reveal how we collect information!

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

[Michael Moore]
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 within days of Pearl Harbor

and President Kennedy's assassination.

[Michael Moore] But when Congress
did complete its own investigation,

the Bush White House censored
28 pages of the report.

[Andrea Mitchell] The president is
being pressed by all sides

to declassify the report.

U.S. officials tell NBC News
most of the secret source

involve Saudi Arabia.

We have given
extraordinary cooperation

with chairmen Keane and Hamilton.

We haven't gotten
the materials we needed,

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

The deadlines we set have passed.

Will you testify
before the commission?

This commission?

You know, I don't, testify.
I mean, 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 11th,

I lost my husband of fifteen years.

I am now by myself. Um...

I need to know what happened to him.

I know what I got back,
from the... the autopsy.

Uh...

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

I took a... I was taking a class,

and they asked me what was I going
to 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.

OK? Thank you.

[sniffling]

[Michael Moore]
Ignored by the Bush administration,

more than 500 relatives
of 9/11 victims

filed suit
against Saudi royals and others.

For lawyers,
the Saudi Defense Minister

hired to fight the 9/11 families,

the law firm of Bush family confident,
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! [chuckling]

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

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

[Michael Moore]
860 billion?

Billion!

-That's a lot of money!
-A lot!

And, uh...

what, what percentage of our economy
does that represent?

It seems like a lot.

[Craig Unger] Well, in terms
of in investments on Wall Street,

American equities, it's roughly

six or seven percent of America.

They own a fairly
good slice of America.

And most of that money goes
into the great blue chip companies.

Citigroup, Citibank is
the largest stockholder is a Saudi.

AOL Time Warner
has big Saudi investors.

[Michael Moore] So, I read
the Saudis have a trillion dollars

in our banks, of their money.
What would happen if like, one day,

they just pulled
that trillion dollars out?

[Craig Unger] A trillion dollars?

That would be
an enormous blow to the economy.

[Michael Moore] Right, right.

Mr. Moore,
can I speak to you for a moment?

[Michael Moore] Yeah, sure!

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

Steve Kimball, Secret Service.
How are you, Sir?

We're just ascertaining
information regarding...

-Oh, OK.
-Are you doing a documentary

regarding the Saudi Arabia embassy,
the chancellery?

No, I am doing a documentary.

-Right.
-Part of it is about Saudi Arabia.

[voice over] Even though we were
nowhere near the White House,

for some reason,
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 or anything,

uh, you know. Is that...

No, that's fine.
We just wanted to make sure,

just wanted to get some information
as far as what was actually going on.

Yeah.

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

Not usually. No, sir.

No, no. Do they give you any trouble,
the Saudis?

Uh, no comment on that, sir.

Oh, OK, I'll take that as a yes.

Alright, good.
Thank you very much.

[Michael Moore]
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 seven percent of America,

it's probably not a bad idea.

[light electronic tune]

Prince Bandar
was so close to the Bushes,

they considered him
a member of the family

and they even had
a nickname for him, Bandar Bush.

Two nights after September 11th,

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.

[inaudible]

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 hijacker's 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.

[TV journalist] You come in September 12th
ready to plot what response

we take to Al-Qaeda.
Let me talk to the...

about the response that you got
from top administration officials.

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

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

with the clear indication

that he wanted us to come back
with the word that there was an Iraqi hand

behind 9/11, because they had been
planning to do something

about Iraq from before the time
they came into office.

Did he ask about any other

-nations other than Iraq?
-No. No, no.

No, not at all, it was
"Iraq, Saddam, find out, get back to me!"

And were his questions more
about Iraq than about Al-Qaeda?

Absolutely. Absolutely!
He didn't ask me about Al-Qaeda.

[TV journalist] The reaction you got from
the Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld

and from his assistant Paul Wolfowitz?

Well, Donald Rumsfeld said

when we talked about bombing the Al-Qaeda
infrastructure in Afghanistan,

he said there were no good targets
in Afghanistan.

"Let's bomb Iraq!"

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

And that didn't seem
to make much difference.

And the reason they had to do
Afghanistan first

was it was obvious
that Al-Qaeda had attacked us

and it was obvious
that Al-Qaeda was in Afghanistan.

The American people
wouldn't have stood by

if we had done
nothing on Afghanistan.

[1960's The Magnificent Seven
theme song]

[Michael Moore] 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.

I will smoke them out of their holes.

We'll smoke them out!
Smoke him out!

Smoke him out of his cave!

Let's rush him and smoke him out!

[Michael Moore]
For all this tough talk,

Bush really didn't do much.

But, what they did was slow and small.

They put only 11,000 troops
into Afghanistan.

There are more police here in Manhattan,

more police here in Manhattan
than there are U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

Basically the president botched
the response to 9/11,

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!

[Michael Moore]
Two months?

A mass murderer

who attacked the Unites States
was given a two months head start?

Who in their right mind
would do this?

-[shooting]
-[shouting]

Anybody say nice shot?

[man] Nice shot! Hell of a shot.

[Michael Moore]
Or was the war in Afghanistan

really about something else?

Perhaps the answer
was in Houston, Texas.

[country music]

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,

um, because it could serve
so many purposes.

[Michael Moore] 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 special Taliban envoy

to tour the United States to help improve
the image of the Taliban government.

[woman]
You have imprisoned the women.

It's a horror, let me tell you.

And I'm really sorry to your husband.

He must have
a very difficult time with you.

[Michael Moore]
Here is the Taliban official visiting

our State Department
to meet with U.S. officials.

[suspenseful tune]

Why on Earth would
the Bush administration

allow a Taliban leader
to visit the United States,

knowing that the Taliban
were harboring the man

who bombed the USS 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 advisor to Unocal.

Bush also appointed
as our envoy to Afghanistan

Zalmay Khalilzad

who was also a former Unocal advisor.

[Oriental tune]

I guess you can probably see

where this is leading.

Faster than you can say
"Black Gold, Texas Tea",

Afghanistan signed an agreement
with their neighboring countries

to build a pipeline
through Afghanistan

carrying natural gas
from the Caspian Sea.

Oh, and the Taliban?

[Peter Gunn theme]

Ah, they mostly got away.

As did Osama Bin Laden
and most of Al-Qaeda.

[George W. Bush]
Terror is bigger than one person

and, he's just... He's a person
who's now been marginalized.

So I don't know where he is, nor--

You know I just don't spend
that much time on him,

to even be honest with you.

[Michael Moore]
"Didn't spend that much time on him?"

What kind of president was he?

I'm a war president.

I make decisions here
in the Oval Office, uh,

in foreign policy matters,
with war on my mind.

[Michael Moore]
With the war in Afghanistan over

and Bin Laden, forgotten,

the "war president" had a new target...

[Fox newscast theme]

... 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,

just like in James Bond,
filled with poison, as weapons.

Good evening everyone,
America is on high alert tonight,

just four days before Christmas.

[W. Blitzer] A possible terror threat...

As bad as, or worse than 9/11.

[Joie Chen] But where? How?

There's nothing specific to report.

[Pierre Thomas] Be on the lookout
for model airplanes

packed with explosives.

[echoing horror scream]

And the FBI is warning ferries
may be considered particularly at risk

for hijacking.

[echoing horror scream]

[TV presenter] Could these cattle
be a target for terrorists?

[mooing]

-[Michael Moore] Fear works!
-Fear does work, yes!

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

[Michael Moore]
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...
They lit the orange, and then up to red,

and they dropped it back to orange.

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

The world has changed
after September 11th.

[drum rolls]

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

Fly and enjoy
America's great destination spots.

We've entered
what may very well 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.

Get down to Disney World in Florida.

It's like training a dog.

You tell him "Sit down” and you tell him
to roll over at the same time,

dog doesn't know what to do.

Well, the American people
were being treated like that.

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

-We must stop the terror!
-[cameras clicking]

I call upon all nations
to do everything they can

to stop these terrorists killers.

Thank you.

Now watch this drive.

-[hitting sound]
-[cameras clicking]

[man] Alright, hit 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 going to 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 harsh reality facing
American families today

is that 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.

The kind of 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.

[slamming]

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
you're bringing to the market.

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 tenth floor or above

-They can put this on themselves?
-Right.

They can put this on themselves
in as easy as about thirty seconds.

It's really easy to put on.

You...

-Sorry.
-It's okay.

Really easy to put on, but...

When you first get the chute,
you're gonna want to put it on

and try it on a few times yourself.

[Matt Lauer] Jamie's having a little
trouble putting that thing on,

I mean, is this something that,
that you honestly think

in a moment of panic,
that someone can operate properly?

[John Rivers]
Oh, yeah. Yeah, it is, it's...

Jamie's probably never put this thing
on before in her life, so...

It's okay, don't worry about it.

It's something that when you get it,

you're gonna want
to put it on several times.

Well, despite the raising
of the terror alert level,

residents here in Saginaw are continuing
with their Christmas errands.

Frances Stroik and her family do some
last minute holiday shopping

knowing that Al-Qaeda
is planning to attack America.

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 far, that far away",

I said: "there could be something",

and Flint could also be some,
be concerns for people around here.

Well you, you never know
where they're gonna hit.

[Jim Miklaszewski] One potential target
specifically mentioned by the terrorists

has security officials baffled.

It's tiny Tappahannock, Virginia,
population 2,016.

Such an attack
could generate widespread fear.

That even here,
in rural small town America,

no one is entirely safe.

Oh, on the six o'clock news,

there was something about
a terrorist alert in Tappahannock.

[Michael Moore]
What did the FBI tell you?

Well, they contacted me by phone.

Uh, basically to let me know
about this word Tappahannock,

and that's how it started.

In their so-called chatter
that they pick up,

they weren't sure, "Tappahannock",
there's a "Rappahannock County".

This is the "Rappahannock River".

There is a Rappahannock,
a place called Rappahannock,

and they got it mixed up.

[rattling]

This is Tappahannock,
not Rappahannock.

Is there any terrorist target
around here?

Not that we can really think of.

It can happen anywhere.

-We have a Walmart here.
-We have a big spaghetti supper here.

Walmart, probably!

[Michael Moore]
Do you feel suspicious of outsiders?

Oh, everybody does it.

It's just something that happens.

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

Do you think
they could be a terrorist?"

-You never know what's gonna happen.
-It's right, you never know!

It could happen right now.

[phone ringing]

Never trust nobody you don't know!

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

[scary tune]

[Michael Moore]
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?

[singing "Let the Eagle Soar"]

♪ Like she's never soared before ♪

♪ From rocky coast to golden shore ♪

♪ Let the mighty eagle soar ♪

[Michael Moore]
Meet John Ashcroft, in 2000,

he was running for re-election
as Senator from Missouri

against the 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,

'cause 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.
Is that correct?

[Thomas Pickard] I told him

at least on two occasions.

[Ben Veniste] And you told the staff,

according to this statement,
that Mr. Ashcroft told you

that he did not want to hear
about this anymore.

Is that correct?

That is correct.

[Michael Moore]
His own FBI knew that summer

that there were
Al-Qaeda members in the U.S.,

and that 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.

[Elizabeth Hashagen] The U.S.A.
PATRIOT Act adopted by Congress

and signed by Bush
six weeks after the attacks

changed the way
the government does business.

The U.S.A. PATRIOT Act
allows for searches of medical

and financial records,
computer and telephone conversations,

and even for the books
you take out of the library.

But most of the people we spoke to

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

Maybe that's a good thing.

It's definitely sad,
but it has to be done.

[Michael Moore]
Yes, something needed to be done.

[joyous music]

These are the good people
who make up Peace Fresno.

A community group in Fresno, California.

Unlike the rest of us,

they've 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.

[laughter]

This is Aaron Stokes,

a member of Peace Fresno.

The other members liked him.

[Eugenie Baranoff] He had come
to the meetings, he went with us,

we'd go out on Friday nights

and stand
on a very busy corner in Fresno,

and he had gone with us,
he had handed out flyers,

he went with us in June
to a W.T.O. protest.

[Michael Moore] 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.

It said that he was a member
of the sheriff's anti-terrorism Unit.

[Michael Moore] 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.

[Catherine Campbell] Sheriff Pierce
made it very clear that yes, in fact,

Aaron Kilner was assigned
to infiltrate Peace Fresno,

that he was able
to infiltrate organizations

that are open to the public.

[Michael Moore]
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!

[music fades away]

This is Barry Reingold, a retired
phone worker from Oakland, California.

[heroic tune]

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 9/11 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 will never be
as big an asshole as Bush,

who bombs all over
the world for oil profits."

[Michael Moore] Barry didn't have
to worry about the police spying on him.

His fellow weight lifters were
more than willing to turn him in.

I was taking a nap,
and I guess it was 1:30 p.m.,

two o'clock 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?"

I mean, why are they here?

[Michael Moore]
Yes, the FBI had come to see Barry,

and they weren't
there to Jazzercize.

[Barry] The FBI said:

"Have you been talking
to people about 9/11

and about Bin Laden
and oil profits and Afghanistan?"

I said: "A lot of people
are talking about these things."

And 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.

There's nothing to be ashamed of here.
There is full transparency.

There is nothing about the PATRIOT Act
that 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 abuse.

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

I'm hired by the people
of the United States 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 for the last ten years."

You know, a dictatorship
would be a heck of a lot easier,

-it's no question about it.
-[laughter]

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

ideas of things they would like to do.

And they got 9/11 and they said:
"It's our chance! Go for it!"

There was an immediate assumption
on the part of the Administration

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

There's several definitions
in the Bill that are quite troubling.

First of all,
the definition of "terrorist"!

It's so expansive
that it could include people--

-[Michael Moore] Like me?
-[laughing]

No one read it, that's the whole point!

They wait till the middle of the night,
they drop it in the middle of the night,

it's printed in the middle of the night,

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

[Michael Moore]
Erm, how could Congress

pass this PATRIOT Act
without even reading it?

Sit down, my son!

Uh, we don't read most of the bills.

[ethereal music]

Do you really know what that would entail

if we were to read every bill
that we pass?

Uh...

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

[Michael Moore] 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.

[ice cream van music]

[on loudspeaker] Members of Congress,
this is Michael Moore!

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

Section one, section 210
of this code reads as follows!

Section 2703 C.

My job is to secure the homeland
and that's exactly what we're going to do.

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

-[accordion playing]
-[laughter]

That would be you, Stretch,
what would you like?

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

[Michael Moore] 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 personal
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 just put a little bit
on my lips, then that would be sufficient

because obviously I'm tasting it.

And she looked at me
and I felt like she was telling me:

"You need to chug that."
She goes: "No, you need to drink more."

And of a four ounce bottle, I wound up
drinking two more ounces of breast milk

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

[Michael Moore] 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 fire bomb on board.

[passenger]
I can bring that on the plane?

[officer]
Actually, you can, yes, you're fine.

Oops! One too many books of matches.

You can have four books of matches
and two lighters.

When we already have the experience
of Richard Reid, the shoe bomber,

who would have

blown up an airplane with his shoe bomb,

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

why would the Transportation
Security Agency say it's okay

to take four books of matches
and two lighters in your pockets

as you board an airplane?

I'm guessing that somebody

put pressure on them to say, you know:

"When an airplane lands,
people want to light up pretty quickly,

so don't take their lighters away."

[Michael Moore]
OK, let me see if I got this straight!

Old guys in the gym? Bad.

Peace groups in Fresno? Bad.

Breast milk? Really bad.

But matches and lighters on a plane?
Oh, hey, no problem!

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

[waves]

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.

[trooper Brooks] I maybe get a chance
to hit this stretch of highway

once, maybe twice
a week during my shifts.

Um, you know,
it's just to even drive up here and look.

You know, I mean, as far as I know,

somebody could...
There's lot of things they could do.

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

[Michael Moore]
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
the summertime, when people show up,

this is exactly what they get,
they close the door,

they can read the sign
about the office closure,

and, it just basically explains that,
you know, due to our cutbacks,

that our office is not open
for administrative business.

There's a little sign down at the bottom
that explains when the office is closed.

And that 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,
when they pick up the phone

and dispatch gets a bunch of static
and 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,
you know...

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

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

One night I asked: "How many people
do we have in this state of Oregon

on duty tonight?"

And we had eight troopers on
for the entire state of Oregon working.

I think, you know,
Oregon is a prime example

that homeland security
is not as secure as what,

I think, people would like to believe.

Nobody's sent me any manual that says
here's how you catch a terrorist,

you know,
and if I had that manual, I'd read it.

But I don't, so...

Yeah...

[Michael Moore] Of course, 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.

[metallic rustling]

[female voice]
Four minutes!

Start from the top!

[cameraman]
Okay. Alright?

-[fiddling]
-How much time?

-[female voice] Three minutes!
-[director] Stand by!

[inaudible directions]

[female voice]
30 seconds!

[airplane throbbing]

[woman off-screen] Fifteen seconds!

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

four, three, two, one.

My fellow citizens!

[general street noise and chatter]

[crowd noise]

[kids screaming]

[traffic noise]

[sound of clippers]

[chat in Arabic]

[restaurant activity]

[inaudible]

[bike squeaking]

[kids chatting]

-[birds chirping]
-[kids laughing]

[George W. Bush]
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 a war.

[sliding sound]

[repetitive explosions]

[sirens ringing]

[Michael Moore] On March 19th, 2003,

George W. Bush
and the United States military

invaded the sovereign nation of Iraq.

[explosion]

A nation that had never attacked
the United States.

[explosion]

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

[explosions]

A nation that had never murdered
a single American citizen.

[in Arabic] What's this baby's crime?
Was he going to fight the soldiers?

Cowards! I went out with a bat
and asked the soldier to hit me.

I swear on the Quran.
Those who don't fear death don't die.

[woman crying and wailing]

[indistinct chatter in Arabic]

Now, we're going to find this,
I think, piece of my neighbor, young girl.

Age twenty, Sham's.

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

[men chat in Arabic]

There is a lot of innocent civilians
that were killed

and I think
that's because the U.S. Army,

you know, we came in,

and we knew it wasn't gonna be easy,

and they pretty much at first,
shot anything that moved.

When war happens and the fighting starts,

you know, it's kinda like we're pumped up
and motivated and ready to go.

It's the ultimate rush.

'cause you know you're going
into the fight to begin with,

and then you got a good song playing
in the background,

and that's... That gets you
real fired up, ready to do the job.

You can hook your CD player to the tank's
internal communications system.

To the Charlie box.

So that way, when you put your helmet on,
you can hear it through it.

This is the one we listen to the most,
this is the one we travel

when we kill the enemy,

Drowning Pool's
"Let the Bodies Hit the Floor"

is just fitting for the job we were doing.

[Drowning Pool's"Bodies" playing]

[screaming]

"The Roof is on Fire",
because basically it symbolized

Baghdad being on fire

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

[explosion]

[soldier singing]
♪ The roof, the roof is on fire ♪

♪ We don't need no water
Let the motherfucker burn ♪

♪ Burn, motherfucker, burn ♪

[Rock Master Scott & the Dynamic Three's
"The Roof is on Fire" playing]

♪ Burn, motherfucker, burn ♪

[soldier] This is a whole totally
different picture here, being pushed into

the city, urban warfare in a tank,
you know!

-[loud engine]
-Civilians!

Yeah, the civilians, it gets...

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

[soldier] This was a lot more real
and true than just a video game.

A lot of people thought it was gonna be:
"Yeah, look through the sight and shoot!"

No, a lot of this is face to face,
and especially riding by

after the bombs that went off
and seeing all the people

on the side of the road bloated up,
and just...

all the smells around you, I mean,
from the people lying dead and rotted.

It's... It's a lot
more gruesome than you think.

[other soldier] We called in with some
artillery and napalm and things like that.

Some innocent women and children got hit.

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

I mean, little girls with noses blown off

and husbands carrying
their dead wives and things like that.

That was extremely difficult
to deal with 'cause you're like:

"Shoot, what the hell do we do now?"

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

[explosion]

-... is as impressive...
-[screaming]

...as anything, anyone could see.

[automatic rifle shooting]

[soldier, through radio]
Ah, erm... I get one! The other one!

[automatic rifle shooting]

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

[in Arabic] They have no conscience!
They know nothing!

They slaughtered us!
They destroyed our houses!

God will destroy their houses!
God is great!

God will destroy their houses!
God is great!

God is great!
Victory to Iraq!

Victory to Iraq!
Victory to Iraq!

[crying]

[TV reporter, in Arabic]
You mean they killed civilians?

Yes, civilians! It's our uncle's house!

We're all civilians.
There is no militia here.

I pray to God to avenge us!
I can only count on you, God!

I can only count on you, God!

[crying]

We've had five funerals
because of the bombings.

Oh, God, oh, God, oh, God!

[crying]

Oh, God!

[crying]

God save us from them!

God, where are you?

Where are you?

[crying]

[chewing gum]

Honestly, I think we should just trust our
President in every decision that he makes

and we should just support that, you know,

and, um, be faithful in what happens.

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

[clapping]

[Michael Moore]
Britney Spears was not alone.

The majority of American people trusted
the president, and why shouldn't they?

[cheering]

He had spent the better part of 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

[repeats wrongly] "Nucular" weapon.

[Colin Powell]
Active chemical munitions bunkers,

mobile production facilities.

We know he's got chemical weapons.

[repeats] He's got them!

[Michael Moore]
Huh, that's weird,

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

He has not developed
any significant capability

with respect to weapons of mass
destruction.

He is unable to project
conventional power against his neighbors.

We are able to keep arms from him.
His military forces have not been rebuilt.

Saddam Hussein aids
and protects terrorists

including members of Al-Qaeda.

There was a relationship
between Iraq and Al-Qaeda.

[repeatedly alternates]
Saddam! Al-Qaeda!

Saddam! Al-Qaeda!

Saddam! Saddam! Al-Qaeda!

It is 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.

What we are giving you are facts and
conclusions based on solid intelligence.

The man who hates America.

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

His willingness to terrorize himself!

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

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

They simply got people to believe

that there was a real threat out there,
when in fact, there wasn't one.

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

it doesn't seem to bother people.

[Michael Moore]
Of course, the Democrats were there

to put a stop to all these falsehoods.

I will vote to give the president
the authority he needs.

The United States is prepared to lead

a 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 is in that Coalition
of the Willing now, are...

You will find out who's in it.

[epic music]

[spoofing man voice]
The Coalition of the Willing!

Roll call!
The Republic of Palau.

The Republic of Costa Rica!

The Republic of Iceland!

[Michael Moore] Of course,
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.

[horns ringing]

Then, there was also...

[spoofing voice] Romania!

The Kingdom of Morocco!

Morocco wasn't officially
a member of the coalition,

but according to one report,

they did offer
to send 2,000 monkeys

to help detonate landmines.

[monkeys screaming]

These are men of vision!

[spoofing voice] The Netherlands!

And I'm proud,
I'm proud to call them allies.

[monkeys screaming]

[spoofing voice] Afghanistan!

[Michael Moore] 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!

[Donald Rumsfeld] One could almost say

it's the mother of all coalitions.

♪ America ♪

[Michael Moore]
Fortunately, we have an independent media

in this country
who would tell us the truth.

The rallying around the president,
around the flag and around the troops

clearly has begun.

And we're gonna win!

You have to be with the troops
to understand the adrenaline they get.

I just want you to know,
I think Navy SEALS rock!

[CNN reporter] 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.

[CNN reporter] What you're watching

is truly historic television
and journalism.

[another CNN reporter]
It was absolutely electrifying,

they actually 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!

[loud firing]

-[explosion]
-[soldier] Yeah!

[soldier shouting]

[Michael Moore] 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.

[classical music]

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

[Joey Scarbury's
"Believe it or not" playing]

♪ I can't believe it myself ♪

♪ Suddenly, I'm up on top of the world ♪

♪ It should have been somebody else ♪

♪ Believe it or not, I'm walking on air ♪

♪ I never thought I could feel so free ♪

♪ Flying away on a wing and a prayer ♪

♪ Who could it be? ♪

-♪ Believe it or not, it's just me ♪
-[cheering and clapping]

[George W. Bush]
My fellow Americans,

major combat operations
in Iraq have ended.

In the battle of Iraq, the United States
and our allies have prevailed.

[cheering and clapping]

[explosion]

[bullets and sand tingling]

[soldier shouting]

[soldier] Get out of the way!

Move it! Move it!

[general chaos and shouting]

Move it! Move it! Move it!

[indistinct shouting throughout]

[shouting continues]

[tragic tune starts]

[female reporter] One hundred sixty-two,
the number of troops killed by bombing.

[male reporter]
Two hundred and forty-four U.S. troops.

Three hundred eighty-four U.S. troops
have lost their lives.

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

[another reporter] Six hundred
and thirty-one American troops.

[new reporter] More than 825 troops
have been killed in Iraq.

Largest number
of American military deaths since Vietnam.

There are some who feel like,
that, uh, if they...

attack us, that we may decide
to leave prematurely.

They don't understand what they're talking
about, if that's the case. Let me finish.

Um, there are some who,
uh, feel like that, you know,

the conditions are such
that they can attack us there.

My answer is: "Bring 'em on!"

[crowd shouting]

-[sirens ringing]
-[crowd shouting]

[thudding]

-[shouting]
-[honking]

The United States were just planning on,

just walking through here

like it was going to be easy and all,

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

-[tambourine]
-[crowd chanting in Arabic]

[rock music playing]

[Dan Rather]
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,
quote, "Another Vietnam".

[reporter] Officials say they see evidence

that Sunni and Shia extremists
might be joining forces.

They're not happy they're occupied.

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

[Bloodhound Gang's
"Fire Water Burn" playing]

♪ C'mon, party people
Put your hands in the air ♪

[cheering]

♪ C'mon, party people ♪

[screaming]

[news anchor] Two Japanese aid workers
and a journalist kidnapped by men

calling themselves
the Mujahedeen Squadrons.

They've threatened to burn
their hostages alive

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

[TV reporter] What's happened?

-[masked man] Uh, oh!
-They attacked our convoy.

[translates into Arabic]

[dialogues in Arabic]

-[reporter] Wanna give us your name?
-Hamilton.

-[dialogues in Arabic]
-Thomas!

[news anchor] 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.

[another soldier]
Yeah, 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.

[shouting in background]

[Michael Moore]
With the war not going as planned

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

where would they find the new recruits?

[news anchor]
Military experts say three times

the 120,000 U.S. troops now deployed
would be needed

to pacify and rebuild the country.

[car rolling]

[Michael Moore]
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.

[Torian Billings]
I was watching TV one day,

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

and things like that,
and while watching, I got to thinking,

parts of Flint look like that
and we ain't been in a war.

[Gregory Fitch]
Look at the neighborhood I live in!

Most of them are abandoned.

I mean, you know, that's not right,
you want to talk about terrorism?

Come right here, president Bush,
right here! Come right here!

He knows about this corner, I emailed him.

At the end of January of '04,

the unemployment rate in Flint
was actually 17%,

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 probably close
to at least 50%, not working

or under-employed.

Because being under-employed
is just as dangerous.

So my family has gone through
the welfare system,

when it was Jobs Central, in the mid-80s,

I came through the job training
partnership program,

here at Jobs Central,

and I went to a secretary school.

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

Interesting! [laughing]

My mother used to tell me
all the time that:

"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 cannot 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.

That would take them around the world,
they would see all the things that I,

as a mother, could not let them see,
it would pay for their education

that I, as their mother,
and their father, could not pay for.

[Michael Moore] The military's
a good option for kids in Flint?

Military's an excellent option
for the people in the city of Flint.

[Michael Moore] How many have a friend
or a family member in the service?

Anybody currently serving overseas?

-Brother of mine.
-My cousin.

Yeah, a cousin.

-[Michael Moore] Where is your brother?
-Iraq.

Germany!

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

[Michael Moore] Alright!

There's, like, an army
or Navy recruiter or Marines recruiter

up there almost every week.

He's in the lunch room
recruiting students from the lunch room!

[dramatic male voice]
There are people with a calling.

[heroic music]

Most serve one weekend a month

and two weeks a year.

[heroic music intensifies]

Earning money for college.

[throbbing of rotor blades]

Protecting their community.

In the Army National Guard, you can!

[music ends dramatically]

I'm going into the Air Force myself.

I'm going to take a year off,
probably after high school,

and then make a career, I want to be
an aircraft maintenance technician.

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

and this is kinda on another...
I noticed it was odd.

It was more like he was hiring me
for a job than recruiting me for the Army.

It was the way he approached me,

he approached a friend of mine.

I was in Borders Books and Music,
he just came up,

he handed us a business card.

They have business cards
made for the Army.

[funky tune]

[Michael Moore]
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.

[Plouhar]
Look it, he's running away already.

He's seen us coming.

[Kortman] Yeah!

What we got here?
It's like a little gangster!

[Plouhar] Yeah!

[Kortman] We're heading over
to the Courtland mall right now.

[Michael Moore] 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.

[Kortman]
Let's go in through Mervyns.

-In through Mervyns?
-And then, we'll walk--

-Straight down.
-Straight back and to the lunch room or--

[Kortman] 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.

Okay, you any good?

-Yeah.
-Alright!

-Especially basketball.
-Good! You can play ball

for the Marine corps,
you know, travel around the world,

get on the Marine Corps basketball team.

David Robinson was
in the military as well.

-Oh, was he?
-So, yeah, you can definitely hook it up.

Right now there is somebody
out there who wants to be a Marine,

but has no idea how to do it.

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

-Sweet!
-On Dort and Lapeer.

-You can hook us up with some deals!
-Yes!

They wait to get recruited.

I don't know, I was probably gonna start
to get a little career in music.

Career in music?

Maybe we can get you a career in music,
you know, let the Marines go for it.

I'm sure you know who Shaggy is, right?

-[Montrey] Yeah!
-You know anything about him?

-[Montrey] Yeah, he Jamaican or something.
-Yeah!

How about a former Marine?

-Huh!
-Did you know it?

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

-Yeah, I--
-Especially discipline with the money.

-Right.
-When you make a million, you need

to manage that money,
so come in the office,

we can sit down and talk,

show you everything we know
about the Marines. Sound like a plan?

What do you got going on this afternoon?
How about tomorrow?

We say around ten o'clock Monday morning?

-Yeah, that sounds pretty good.
-OK.

You want me to come pick you up?

Better to get them
when they're ones and twos.

-Hey, pal!
-And work on them that way.

Ladies, you're ready to join up?

Green hat behind us.

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

-Yeah.
-We got two over here.

-Yeah.
-Right over by the red van.

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

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

Man, you look older than ninth grade!

-Yes, sir!
-Alright, here's my card!

You ever thought about being a Marine,
man?

I thought about it,
I got a wife and kid now, so...

Even more reason to join now.

-What I want to do, man, real quick, is...
-Yes, sir!

Just get some information from you,
so I can scratch you off my list

saying I've talked to you,
and you know, you're not interested.

-Is that cool?
-Yeah!

Alright. What's your name?

Your phone number?
Your address, Mario?

Add another one to the list.

[Martes] 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.

-[inaudible chatter]
-[engines throbbing]

[soldier]
The holidays do add a little bit more...

friction as opposed to just another night.

-[alarm bleeps]
-We want to give our guys

a little bit of time off,
a little bit of time to relax,

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

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

[another soldier] We're professionals,
we're going to take care of you.

[woman laughing]

I promise!

Every house here
has the right to have weapons.

Maximum one AK47.
We always expect the targets to be armed.

-[rifle clicking]
-[soldier singing to the guitar]

Rock 'n' roll!

[Velcro scratch]

They're fucking bolt cutters.
He's got everything to crack doors open.

Pops this in there.

♪ You better watch out ♪

♪ You better not cry
You better not pout ♪

♪ And I'm telling you why
Why? ♪

♪ Santa Claus is coming to town
Gather round ♪

♪ He's making a list ♪

♪ And checking it twice
Gonna find out who's naughty and nice ♪

♪ Santa Claus is coming to town ♪

♪ He sees you when you're sleeping
He knows when you're awake ♪

♪ He knows if you've been bad or good ♪

♪ So be good for goodness sake ♪

♪ You better watch out ♪

[door being knocked down]

Hey, just hold up!

-[crying]
-[interpreter speaks in Arabic]

[soldier]
No, no, no, no, where is she going?

[interpreter speaks in Arabic]

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

She goes to call him.

[soldier] She's gonna call him? No, no!
Just where, where is he at right now?

-[chaotic conversation]
-Not on the phone. Not on the phone.

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

[second soldier] Man, Passerelli!

-Is he in the house?
-[second soldier] Passerelli!

[soldier]
He is! He is in the house. Where?

-This is it?
-[second soldier] Get on the second floor!

-Watch out, watch out!
-[soldier] Go, go, go!

Watch out, Adele, watch out!

[second soldier]
One coming up!

[women protesting]

That's Suheib Al Douri. Suheib Al Douri?

[speaks in Arabic]

-What's your name?
-Suheib, Suheib.

[women talking in background]

-This is Suheib?
-[Adele] Yeah!

[Arabic chatter]

[woman in Arabic]
What has he done? He's just a student!

[soldier] Tell them to calm down!
Tell them to calm down.

[second soldier]
Alright, going to the roof!

[soldier] You will not be harmed!

[chaotic exchanges in English and Arabic]

[soldier] We appreciate your conversation.
This is the target!

So he's about to bring him out!

[third soldier]
Alright, move, go!

[soldier in base]
As you go back to the old saying:

"Win the hearts and minds of the people."

That's our job.
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.

[women cry in Arabic]

[Adele, in Arabic] Don't be afraid.
He's not going to hit you.

What did he do?

[woman cries in Arabic]

[Adele] Why don't you tell us?
God keep you, what did he do?

[women cry in Arabic]

[soldier]
Hey! Tell them to be quiet.

[Adele speaks in Arabic]

I start doing evidence turn in,
that process takes about three hours, so,

that's going to be it for the night
and that concludes Christmas Eve.

["Santa Claus is coming to Town" playing]

Merry Christmas, PRT, Merry Christmas!
Santa came to Iraq just for you guys.

[soldier] Trying to keep
the skies clear for you, Santa.

[birds chirping in the distance]

[Michael Moore]
You consider yourself a proud American?

[Lila Lipscomb] Absolutely.
I'm an extremely proud American.

I think 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.

-[M. Moore] How often do you put it out?
-[Lila Lipscomb] Every single day.

Every single 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 single day
that my child would come home safe,

and that everybody's child
would come home safe.

-And she did?
-And she did!

Do you have other family members
that have 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 out here,

that this country
was founded on their backs.

I have been known to be
a conservative Democrat.

-Yeah, yeah.
-That's what you consider yourself, yeah?

-Yeah, it's a great country.
-It's a great country!

The cross that I choose to wear,
if you notice, it's a multicultural,

a multicolored cross,

that's because I believe that all
God's people come in many colors.

And my family itself is multicultural.

[Michael Moore] You have a daughter
who went into the military.

And your first born son,
uh, in the military!

That's, uh, you know,
that's quite a gift to the country.

-Exactly.
-From your family!

So, having a son in the Army,
pretty proud thing.

[Lila Lipscomb]
Oh, you know what? He made it!

[Michael Moore]
What was your reaction to protestors

during, say, 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

that they weren't protesting the men
and the women that were there,

they were protesting
the concept of the war.

I know I'm a soldier
and I'm here to do a job and,

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 that
there's some disillusionment in that.

Battalion commander fully expects us

to be attacked in some type of way
before we get there.

I know that so far it's been pretty calm,

not much has happened,

but, be aware that it can
and it probably will.

[soldiers chatting in background]

They're beginning to organize themselves,
just in neighborhoods.

The kids get together a lot,
well, can't say "kids", but, uh...

guys about 17, 18, starting to come
together and they hate us.

Just why? I'm not really sure.

[engines throbbing]

[Michael Moore]
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.

[soldier] Hey, are you ticklish?

[music in the distance]

[laughing and cheering]

[soldier on loudspeaker]
Ali Baba still has a hard-on!

[all laugh]

Don't tell me!
Why are you touching someone else's?

[all laugh]

He touched his dick!

[indistinct conversations]

-[conversations]
-[cameras clicking]

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", but the minute
something goes wrong with them,

"Oh, why weren't you here?
Why didn't you do this?"

You know, it's...
I hate this country.

You know, you, you...

I feel that a part of your soul...
is destroyed in taking another life.

And, yes, that statement is very true,
you...

cannot kill someone
without killing a part of yourself.

[Michael Moore] If you get called up,
would you go back to Iraq?

No.

-You're not?
-No!

[Michael Moore] What repercussions
do you face, if you don't?

It's possible jail time,
that's one possibility.

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.

[crowd laughing]

Some people call you the elite.

I call you my base.

[crowd laughing and clapping]

[crowd cheering and whistling]

[military music]

[Michael Moore] While Bush
was busy taking care of his base

and professing his love for our troops,

he proposed cutting
combat soldiers' pay by 33%.

[clapping]

And assistance to their families by 60%.

He opposed giving veterans
a billion dollars more

in healthcare 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.

[crowds applauding]

And when staff Sergeant Brett Petriken
from Flint was killed in Iraq on May 26,

the Army sent
his last paycheck to his family,

but they docked him for the last five days
of the month that he didn't work

because he was dead.

They say they're not going to leave
any veteran behind, but they're leaving

all kinds of veterans behind.

To say that we're forgotten, no,
I know we're not forgotten, but missed?

Yes. Yes. You know, there are
a lot of soldiers that have been missed,

that have been skipped over,

that didn't get the proper coverage
that they deserved.

They have a death toll, but they're not
showing the amount of people

that have been injured or are amputated
because of their injuries, you know.

-Like, I still feel like I have hands.
-[Brian Williams] Yeah!

And the pain is like,
my hands are being crushed in a vice.

But they do a lot to help it,
and they take a lot of the edge off it,

and it makes it
a lot more tolerable and...

[soldier] I was injured in late April,
on patrol in Baghdad.

Um... [sniffles]
a couple of guys came out.

Ambushed us.

I've got nerve damage and stuff like that,
and I've got a lot of pain,

I'm constantly in pain.

Um, I take a lot of morphine
to help with that stuff.

I'm doing... you know, just readjusting,

getting life back on track.

You know what I'm saying?

Yes. I'm not gonna do
what it is that I did before.

Um, I... I was a Republican
for quite a few years.

And, um...

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.

So, 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,

he said that he was really scared
and he didn't want to have to go to Iraq.

We were able to have a whole conversation
about sometimes some fear is healthy,

because it keeps our senses about us.

And that's when he told me that
he had not told anybody else but he knew

he was going to Baghdad.

-[Michael Moore] Wow!
-[baby crying]

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 ten something,

I went upstairs to the bedroom,

I was lying in bed and I was flipping
the channels, all I heard was:

"Black Hawk down, South Central Iraq."

All 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.

[Lila Lipscomb] The next morning,
I got up and I said:

"You push those thoughts
out of your mind!

OK Jesus, I need you to come in,

I need you Jesus,
you gotta help me through this!"

The army called me,

I remember getting on the phone
and him asking me if I was Lila Lipscomb.

I said yes and he said:
"Mother of Sergeant Michael Pedersen?"

[voice shaking]
And I remember dropping the telephone.

[sniffling]

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 that 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?"

Uh, I, erm...

[stutters]

I can't imagine what it must be like
to lose a son or a daughter,

or a husband or a wife,
and I... it pains me.

[paper crumpling]

[Michael Moore]
You have his last letter?

And it was mailed March 16th

but I didn't get it until
about a week before he was killed.

"Hello. Hey mama, well,
sorry I haven't been able to call,

they took the phones seven days ago,
I got the letter and box,

that is so cool,
your first grandson came...

[heavy breathing]

... 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 OK.

I really miss you guys.

Thanks for the Bible...

[repressing tears]

... and books, and candy.

[voice shaking] 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 OK

and keep sending the mail.

It makes getting through the days easier.

[gulping]

Well, I am on my way to bed,
so I will write you guys soon.

[sobbing]
I love and miss all of you guys."

-"Love, Michael."
-[paper flapping]

I want him to be alive,

and I can't make him alive.

[sniffling]

But your flesh just aches.

You want your child, it's out of sync.

A parent is not supposed
to bury their child.

[Lila sobbing]

[Howard Lipscomb]
I feel, I... I... 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?

I don't...

That's the, I guess, 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.

Well, let me tell you about Halliburton,
the company I ran.

I'm very proud of what I did
at Halliburton,

the people of Halliburton are very proud
of what they've accomplished

and I frankly

don't feel any need to apologize
for the way I've spent my time

over the last five years
as the C.E.O. and Chairman

of a major American corporation,
a good one.

This is also an attempt
to divert attention away from the fact

they have no energy policy.

And as the Secretary of Energy said,
we were caught unawares!

[Caribbean music]

[Michael Moore]
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.

[Michael Mele]
Having worked

this, uh... effort
even since before the invasion,

the, uh, liberation of Iraq started.

You, industry, are definitely
a vital part of that effort.

We appreciate your interest in this.
We need you.

Now, lots of you are
small businesses and you are struggling.

How do we get a piece of this big action?

All of you, the big guys,
are going to get it and the rest of us

that have subcontracting capability,
or no, none at all.

U.S.T.V.A. is for you.

Once that oil start flowing
and money coming,

it's going to be lots of money,

it's the second largest oil reserve
in the world.

There's no question
about how much money is there.

I've been getting complaints
from Iraqi firms and from American firms,

that the lack of transparency,
the corruption...

I think the profits
that American companies are making,

the majors, the main companies,

are so overwhelming,

I mean, like when you have a line item
for a million dollars

and you subcontract it out
for 50 or 60 or 70 thousand dollars,

that's a huge profit,

and it's the American taxpayer
that's going to pay for that.

And it's going to get better!

Start building relationships
because it's going to get much better

as the oil flows
and their budget increase.

The 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.

[chatter]

We're very proud of the work we're doing
in supporting the U.S. government

and the U.S. military,

and the real heroes of the campaign,
the real heroes of the reconstruction,

are the men and women
of the U.S. Armed Forces,

and we're proud of being any part of that
that we can in supporting them.

[voice over]
Halliburton delivers hot meals, supplies,

clean clothing
and communications to our soldiers.

So they can be a little closer to home.

[emotional]
It's a girl? It's a girl!

[all cheer and laugh]

[voice over]
Proud to serve our troops.

I just read in the paper
how Halliburton got another contract.

-Halliburton got another contract!
-That's right!

Which is not being...

contested at all!

[Evelyn]
Because nobody knows!

Well, it's in the papers,
so somebody knows!

But that's after it happens,
it's after the fact, it's too late.

[throbbing of machinery]

[TV reporter] 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.

[worker]
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,
between 2,000 and 3,000 a month.

A Halliburton employee
out here driving a bus

can make all between
8,000 and 10,000 a month,

explain that one to me,
for 40 hours a week,

driving the same
two and a half mile route.

Go figure! Where do you...
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 and did what he did

and we're all supporting him
and our troops

and we wanna make sure
that the efforts and the lost lives and...

It wasn't for no reason.

If it wasn't for the oil,
no one would be there.

Nobody would worry about it.

Unfortunately,
at least for the near term,

we think it's going to be a good situation
and a dangerous situation.

Good for business, bad for the people.

[Bertha] Today, on the news,
Rumsfeld was saying...

And Wolf? Wolfowitz!

They were saying: "Oh, 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 want to 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.
I... That's it!

-No more.
-[Evelyn] That's a disgrace.

They died in a just cause
for defending freedom

and they will not have died in vain.

[crowd cheering and applauding]

[cheering and clapping fade away]

[Michael Moore]
Lila had called to tell me

that she was coming down
from Flint to Washington, D.C.

to attend a job's conference.

On her break, she said
she was going to go and pay a visit

to the White House.

[helicopters throbbing]

[Lila sobbing]

[woman with accent, high-pitched]
Killed! Bush killed children!

-Iraqi children!
-My son killed.

He killed my people
in the Spain yesterday.

-Yes!
-He lies, kill people, your children too.

-Yes, my son.
-Business to do Iraq now.

And they killing
all these young Americans.

-Yes.
-For what? For oil.

Bush is a terrorist!

No, he isn't, this is all staged!

-Yes, he's the butcher of Iraq.
-This is 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.

[protester rambles on]

April second, it's not a stage,
my son is dead.

Well, a lot of other people too.

[protester continues in background]

[woman shouts] Blame Al-Qaeda!

[throbbing]

[Michael Moore]
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.

[sobs]

Ignorance that we deal with
with everyday people!

[nervous laughter]
'Cause they don't know.

People think they know,
but you don't know,

I thought I knew, but I didn't know.

[sniffling]

[sobbing]

I need my son!

[crying uncontrollably]

[machinery beeping]

[sobbing and sniffling]

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...

to put all my pain, all my anger!

[sobbing]

And to release it!

[Lila sobbing]

[gentle guitar music]

[Michael Moore] 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?
I'm good, John Tanner.

Yeah, nice to meet you,
very nice to meet you.

-What are you doing?
-Well, I'm here with Cpl. Henderson.

-U.S. Marine Corps.
-Corporal, I was in the Navy years ago.

-Okay, Sir!
-1968 to 72.

We had Marines guarding the base.

-[Moore] You have kids?
-[Tanner] Yeah.

Is here anyway we can get them to enlist
and go over and help out with the effort?

I have all the brochures.

One of them got two children.

Oh, oh, well!

See, there's not that many Congressmen
that've got kids over there.

And in fact, only one.

So we just thought maybe you guys
should send your kids there first.

What do you think about that idea?

-I don't disagree with you.
-Oh, you don't?

Oh good, well, here,
take some brochures then, here.

At least take a Marine brochure,
and pass it around.

Yeah!

Encourage fellow members,
if they're for the war, to get behind it,

and send their own!

-Thank you, Mike.
-Thank you, Sir, thank you very much.

Congressman! Michael Moore.

-How are you doing?
-Good, 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!
-Ah, no, no, no!

I'm wondering if...

[theme song]

Is there any way that...

Uh!

Of course, not a single member of Congress
wanted to sacrifice their child

for the war in Iraq.

And who could blame them?

[music intensifies]

Who would want to 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,

they're in the area
around Tikrit and Baghdad,

and East, West, South, and North.

There is a tie between Iraq
and what happened on 9/11.

The struggle can only end with
their complete and permanent destruction.

We waged a war
to save a civilization itself.

We did not seek it,

but we will fight it, and we will prevail.

[Michael Moore]
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,

that says: "Fool me once...

shame on...

shame on you!

[rock music starts]

Fool me, you can't get fooled again."

[Michael Moore]
For once, we agreed.

[Neil Young's
"Rockin' in the free World" playing]

Visit www.nicolascanni.com and
click @ the Ads U Like, Thank You!

♪ There's colors on the street ♪

♪ Red
White and blue ♪

♪ People shuffling their feet ♪

♪ People sleeping in their shoes ♪

♪ But there's a warning sign ♪

♪ On the road ahead ♪

♪ There's a lot
of people saying ♪

♪ We'd be better
Off dead ♪

♪ There's one more kid ♪

♪ That will never go to school ♪

♪ Never get to fall in love ♪

♪ Never get to be cool ♪

♪ Keep on rockin' in the free world ♪

♪ Keep on rockin'
In the free world ♪

♪ Keep on rockin' in the free world ♪

♪ Keep on rockin' in the free world ♪

♪ We got a thousand points of light ♪

♪ For the homeless man ♪

♪ We got a kinder, gentler ♪

♪ Machine
Gun hand ♪

♪ We got a man of the people
Says keep hope alive♪

♪ Got fuel to burn
Got roads to drive ♪

♪ Keep on rockin'
In the free world ♪

♪ Keep on rockin' in the free world ♪

♪ Keep on rockin' in the free world ♪

♪ Keep on rockin' in the free world ♪

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