ABC Consultant Richard Clarke Blasts PT911-Hints at Conspiracy

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/electioncentral/2006/sep/11/abc_consultant_richard_clarke_blasts_first_installment_of_film

As someone who was directly involved in almost every event depicted in the fictionalized docudrama, "The Path to 9-11," I believe it is an egregious distortion that does a deep disservice both to history and to those in both the Clinton and Bush administrations who are depicted.

Sadly, ABC's Entertainment Division hired a production company and screen writer who were apparently unqualified to deal with this historically important subject matter. That error appears to have been compounded by the failure of some of the docudrama's consultants to insure that the account was accurate. Some of the most outrageous scenes were removed after a recent senior level review. What remains, however, is not the true story as told by the 9-11 Commission.

Although I am not one to easily believe in conspiracy theories and have spent a great deal of time debunking them, it is hard to escape the conclusion that the errors in this screen play are more than the result of dramatization and time compression. There is throughout the screenplay a consistent bias and distortion seeking to portray senior Clinton Administration officials as holding back the hard charging CIA, FBI, and military officers who would otherwise have prevented 9-11.

The exact opposite is true. From the President, to all of his White House team, and NSC Principals (Lake, Berger, Albright, Tenet, Reno) there was a common fixation with terrorism, al qaeda, and bin Ladin. The President approved every counter-terrorism operation presented to him, including many that CIA proved unable or unwilling to implement. He increased counter-terrorism spending by 400% and initiated the first homeland security program in forty years. Even though the US had taken relatively few casualties from al qaeda at the time, the President repeatedly authorized the use of lethal force against bin Ladin and his deputies and personally requested the US military to develop plans for "commando operations" against them. Even though he knew the timing of an attack aimed at killing bin Ladin would be labeled by critics as a political diversion, Clinton decided to follow the advice of his national security team and pay the price politically.

[brentspeak]

1. Clarke's right: the errors in the screen play were deliberate

[EstimatedProphet]

25. Didn't they say as much?

I heard a report that (forgive me on the details here) the writer, when asked about anticipated changes to the movie from editing, reported back that the intended anti-Clinton message was still intact.

[lumberjack_jeff]

54. Kean said, essentially: my guy's have been kicked for it ...

... so turnabout is fair play.

[Uncle Joe]

2. Kicked and recommended

:kick:

[The Count]

3. he ought to know - they slandered HIm with one voice

Only they did it directly, without writing the "Richard Clarke - the official, true story of how crazy he really is" (but then again , the year is young)

[file83]

4. So people believe there is a "Conspiracy" by the party in power behind

this movie, but there could have been NOTHING of the sort behind 9/11. Right.

Cue for the people whose job it is to make fun of Conspiracy Theorists : time for you to attack Richard Clarke now. :eyes:

[BootinUp]

15. you equate playing dirty politics

with traitorous murder of thousands of countrymen. And with no facts to back up this charge. Thats overboard my friend and you help spur the ratcheting up of the same kind of nonsense by the opposition party activists. Its become a ridiculous cycle that alienates people from getting involved.

[springhill]

19. The circumstantial evidence...........

is overwhelming that what they say happened on 911 are lies.

[file83]

24. You can actually distinguish between the two?

I'm sorry, I can't pull off the kind of moral acrobatics you can.

When you see this government killing 10's of thousands of people to further their agenda, do you actually think those elements distinguish between which people they are killing/sacrificing? Of course you do - because you are naive.

We aren't talking about "dirty politics" anyway - we are talking about more money than you can possibly imagine, and more power than you could dream of. These bastards have been caught time and again doing horrible things to humans to further their agenda, and you think these guys are thinking the same way you do? Wake up.

"Overboard"? Yeah, I've jumped ship before the fucker sinks - I want to find out what punched a hole in our hull and fix it before it goes under. Stay on board topside my friend while we do the work.

And contrary to what you have "charged" with "no facts to back up" - it's this hunger for truth which is getting more people involved. People are more engaged now than ever - so don't try and revise history to your imagination's wishes.

[arcane1]

35. Paris says it well:

"you think a couple thousand lives mean shit to killers??"

Paris- "What Would You Do"

[FogerRox]

38. I got your back file 83.

[BootinUp]

39. self deleted

Never mind. Better to let it rest.

[Higans]

37. You got some "facts" that prove they actually counted the votes

in Ohio and Florida in 04???? I see no facts. I see no proof that King George is the President of the united states. Personally I think he is a terrorist. Any one who would Destroy a entire country's population by attacking with Depleted Uranium Weapons, i.e. Weapons Of Mass Destruction which will poison the Soil of this region for the next 6 billion years. The Children will be born with Birth defects. The people will have Cancer. If that is not terrorism then I ask you WHAT IS? a Dirty bomb? I don't see much difference.

Who is more of a terrorist the person who Blows himself up in a restaurant, with a bomb strapped to his chest, or the person who drops a bomb from a plane on a restaurant? How about the person that ordered the pilot to drop the bomb?

Please take some time to click here: http://www.bushflash.com/pl_hi.html
And then http://www.cadu.org.uk/

[mom cat]

51. It is Bush and all the puppet masters who are to blame for all the killing

on 9-11 and since then in the wars built on lies and greed. They are far more dangerous than any cave dwellers. They have no morality. only shameless greed and an insatiable quest to dominate and destroy.

[AntiFascist]

22. The problem is not with conspiracy theorists....

the problem is in losing focus. Richard Clarke can see the forest for the trees.

[debbierlus]

5. Kick & Recommend:

Only good thing is that Americans are so apathetic to 9/11, they didn't watch it anyway...

Maybe they boycotted it, but I would put my money on they didn't really care.

[BonnieJW]

53. Not only did I not watch it,

I will no longer watch ANYTHING on ABC. I love Grey's Anatomy, but I will no longer watch it. Desperate Housewives? They'll have to figure it out without me. Oprah airs on our ABC affiliate, but I will not watch her and I emailed her to tell her why.

[speedoo]

6. K&R

[NVMojo]

7. Damn good. Be sure to read the whole thing. What are the Dems

doing about it? That is the question.

[brentspeak]

13. A bunch of them had demanded that ABC not air it, for one thing

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/09/washington/09path.html?ref=us

[Pachamama]

8. Folks, I believe we are only beginning to see the kind of fallout that is

going to result from this propaganda film that is being shown commercial-free to the American public on the anniversary of our most tragic event.

I believe there will be some nasty lawsuits coming and meanwhile, everyone, and I mean everyone who cares about the truth being out there, needs to continue to tell everyone they know about the truth and the fact that this movie is filled with lies.

[Cameron27]

9. K&R

[Straight Shooter]

10. We need to start substituting the word "scheme" for the word "conspiracy"

There is a deliberate scheme to portray Clinton as responsible for September 11, 2001, and bush as the helpless victim of forces unleashed by the administration preceding him.

The real scheme began in Florida 2000, and you can trace its effects to this day. Even the silliness of saying the Clinton team had removed the "w" from keyboards at the White House, everything adds weight to the scheme.

America is being hoodwinked.

[me b zola]

26. Now I know why you are a Straight Shooter...

....your vision is 20/20, and as always you are right on target. :thumbsup:

[Straight Shooter]

36. Oh my.

:blush:








Thank you. :)

[ProgressiveEconomist]

56. "Macchiavellian Republican politics", "politically-inspired distortion of history",

"election-year politicking on film", "exclusion of co-chair Hamilton from 'The Official 9/11 Story'"--there are many better, more precise things Clarke could have said rather than giving the lapdog media the means to discredit him.

[Avalux]

11. They hired fundie idiots, paid for by the GOP -

"ABC's Entertainment Division hired a production company and screen writer who were apparently unqualified to deal with this historically important subject matter"

At least that's my theory anyway, based on what we know and the mystery of the 40 million bucks.

[KansDem]

12. This paragraph says a lot...

The exact opposite is true. From the President, to all of his White House team, and NSC Principals (Lake, Berger, Albright, Tenet, Reno) there was a common fixation with terrorism, al qaeda, and bin Ladin. The President approved every counter-terrorism operation presented to him, including many that CIA proved unable or unwilling to implement. He increased counter-terrorism spending by 400% and initiated the first homeland security program in forty years. Even though the US had taken relatively few casualties from al qaeda at the time, the President repeatedly authorized the use of lethal force against bin Ladin and his deputies and personally requested the US military to develop plans for "commando operations" against them. Even though he knew the timing of an attack aimed at killing bin Ladin would be labeled by critics as a political diversion, Clinton decided to follow the advice of his national security team and pay the price politically.

And that, folks, is why 9/11 didn't happen on his watch, and why the neo-con fascists are scrambling to try to make it seem like it did...

[BootinUp]

14. Clarke always makes good statements, too bad not many really listen

and think about them.

[rzemanfl]

16. K&R

[jaysunb]

17. Patrick Fitzgerald said it best:

they're trying to kick sand in the the umpires ( the people) eyes. :evilfrown:

[Annces]

18. Right on

Clarke of all people should know, and O'Neill who is not with us anymore.

""O'Neill offered his explanation to a French journalist, Jean-Charles Brisard, as to why he had been barred from continuing his investigation: "All the answers, everything needed to dismantle Osama bin Laden's organization, can be found in Saudi Arabia." During interviews in June and July of 2001 with Brisard, published in his book Bin Laden: Hidden Truth last fall in France, O'Neill complained that his investigations into bin Laden were thwarted from above by senior American government officials and oil interests who didn't want to embarrass the Saudis or those American officials and companies tied to the royal family.""

http://www.exile.ru/2002-September-19/feature_story.html

[dalaigh lllama]

30. Very interesting editorial in that link

Wish he would have sourced his stuff more, but interesting, nevertheless.

[lala_rawraw]

20. I smell Rove

[Selatius]

21. Close, some religious nutjobs with inspiration from David Horowitz

Discover the Secret Right-Wing Network Behind ABC's 9/11 Deception

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

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

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

http://maxblumenthal.blogspot.com/2006/09/discover-secret-right-wing-network.html

[Gabi Hayes]

23. thanks for the link.....the only place on TV I've seen this mentioned was

on Olbermann last Friday

that was it

what a surprise

Dobbs just had a segment on it, but made no mention, despite this, from your link:

''Now, as discussion grows over the false character of The Path to 9/11, the right-wing network that brought it to fruition is ratcheting up its PR efforts. Murty will appear tonight on CNN's Glenn Beck show and The Situation Room, according to Libertas in order to respond to 'the major disinformation campaign now being run by Democrats to block the truth about what actually happened during the Clinton years.' ''

[Jackpine Radical]

50. OK--One more time. I've been flogging this all weekend:

Time to kick Rove in the family jewels. Hope you don't mind my piggybacking on you, Larissa, but...

The Democrats need to turn the Path to 9-11 (henceforth P2911) story to their advantage, and they can do it if they play their cards right. They have nearly 2 months after September 11. In today’s world of 20-second attention spans, that's enough time for a shark attack story, another bogus child-killer story & 1 or 2 girl-in-vegetative-state stories. 9-11 isn't going to be anywhere near the center of public consciousness anymore by Nov 7, but the Democrats can make sure the Big Lie story is still there.

If they’re smart, thee Democrats will "pull a Rove" and turn the P2911 story into a story about the falsification, just as Rove did with the AWOL story in 2004. The Democrats have the substantial advantage that truth is on their side in this matter, but they must stay on-message. They need to meet every Right-wing lie and distortion with the accusation that the Republicans are trying to do another P2911.

Despite their demonstrable conservative bias in coverage, the media have to show a Democrat talking every once in a while, just to maintain some pretense of fairness. The Democrats should keep slipping in the message P2911 and the Lie Machine. The objective is to turn P2911 into a synonym for Right-Wing Propaganda.

The timing couldn't be better for the Democrats, really--if they play it right. Just as the Republicans are starting to ramp up the propaganda machine, their first big lie out of the box gets exposed as a total piece of crap. This is a teachable moment. The public is more ready than ever to let go of their idealized portrait of the Bushies and let the scales fall from their eyes. Let every subsequent right-wing Swiftboat attack be met with the "Just Another Pathetic P2911" meme.

[JHB]

27. The target of the smears isn't just Clinton Admin. officials...

...as someone over on Kos brought up, it even more directly disparaged civil rights and due process of law.

It was even brought up as a drinking game item: every time someone complains about rules or bureaucrats, or otherwise acts like they're reading from a "Dirty Harry" script, down a shot.

[IWantAChange]

28. if it walks like Rove

talks like Rove and smells like Rove - guess what? IT IS ROVE. Karl doesn't have to write it, produce it, direct it or sponsor it - he just masterminds it. If the DNC doesn't get their butt in gear and start to play on the same field the opportunity that is going to be lost this November is going to haunt us for a long long time.

DON'T JUST WRITE COMMENTS - GET INVOLVED PEOPLE.

[Catherine Vincent]

29. Liberals and Democrats aren't in the evil ways.

It's not in our nature.

[90-percent]

31. Richard Clarke

Is a hero and an outstanding public servant. He's the only one that ever apologized to the 9/11 families for not doing enough to stop 9-11. I hope he decides to seek public office. If only more of our politicians had his moral courage....

While I'm at it, Dr. Bob Bowman down in Fla really really deserves our support. He's running for Congress and his platform consists of getting a REAL 9-11 Commission, not a whitewash like that last one!

-85% jimmy

[Roland99]

32. Maybe Clark now realizes what we've been fighting against.

He had gone rather soft and apologetic of late.

[illinoisprogressive]

33. Rove's hoofprints are all over this.

I agree with Solatius. you can smell the stench of rove behind this junk.

[Aviation Pro]

34. Place your bets....

...that these guys are the funding behind the crock-o-drama:

[cosmicdot]

46. they both have been associated with the CNP

~just saying~


Council for National Policy

http://www.seekgod.ca/topiccnp.htm

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=1108892&mesg_id=1136252

http://www.publiceye.org/ifas/fw/9601/members.html

http://rightweb.irc-online.org/org/cnp.php

[Hissyspit]

40. If it says Libel, Libel, Libel on the Label, Label, Label!

Oops, trademark infringement.

[LocalGuy]

41. Is it time to Boycott

ABC television shows, news programs, Disney, it's movies, etc.

[ArbustoBuster]

42. My wife was flipping channels this evening...

...and stopped for a moment on a show she likes. It's on a channel called ABC Family. Then she said, "We're boycotting ABC, aren't we?" and started flipping channels again.

I consider that to be one tiny pebble in the avalanche of the boycott.

[SnakeEyes]

48. Only missing Cruel Intentions airing again, not missing much on THAT chan.

[kelliebrat]

57. We too are boycotting ABC and...

Disney/ESPN. I have 10 yr old twin boys who watch the Disney channel ALOT. When I sat them down and explained what a 'boycott' was and why I felt it was necessary to do this, I thought I'd get alot of objections. Instead they brought me the High School musical dvd and soundtrack cd, and said "here mom, throw them away". I told them we'd send them to Disney's headquarters with a note explaining why. I'm raising future activists and I couldnt be more proud:D

[ochazuke]

49. I'm with ya.

and welcome to DU, local guy.

Let's make the mouse squeel!

[Octafish]

43. Clinton put the country ahead of his own political hide...

...unlike the crazy monkey that's leading the nation exactly where the terrorists want us.

"Even though he knew the timing of an attack aimed at killing bin Ladin would be labeled by critics as a political diversion, Clinton decided to follow the advice of his national security team and pay the price politically." -- Richard Clarke

CHIMPEACH THE CRAZY MONKEY

[smtpgirl]

44. I am curious to see the ratings in the Post

WP posts the ratings on Mondays in the Style section

[EFerrari]

45. In the middle of this 8 year nightmare, we should pause and give thanks

for Richard Clarke.

Not only does he have the expertise in the terror business that only a very small handful have but he is articulate to a fault.

I'm glad he's on our side. :)

[dweller]

47. Rec !

:kick:

for your sage words reminding us.
dp

[Sparkly]

52. Thank you, Richard Clarke!!!!

:kick:

[RockHardCore]

55. Does someone want to check authenticity on this?

It would be nice to have this in stone with a signature or on TV or something.

[johan helge]

58. Clarke doesn't criticize Bush -

but I thought the work against bin Laden was reduced after Bush took over?