Watch for it
Airing this September 10-11, the five-year anniversary of 9/11, this ABC miniseries sounds awfully good.
[ADDENDUM: A caveat about the historical accuracy of a certain scene involving the Clinton administration. Perhaps there’s a bit of Oliver Stonism creeping in?]
I hope this series informs people. The mass media has been hopeless, if not downright treasonous, in confusing the issues with Bush-bashing, Abu Ghraib, Plamegate, no WMD, fatalities, etc.
The people I know (supposedly educated) are still clueless and in denial. Whenever I watch TV news, I’m reminded once again just how idiotic that medium is. Ditto NPR–excruciatingly naive and foolish.
United 93 was an excellent movie and very moving. Oliver Stone’s movie (I forgot the name) was generally hokey Hollywood–attractive in appearance, but useless in helping people understand the “root causes” of what looked like a terrible disaster–like an earthquake or mine cave-in–rather than an atrocity.
Based on the review you linked to, I still can hope that more Americans and others will gain an understanding of why we need to fight the Islamic menace now, before they’re better armed.
I’ve read a lot about the 1930s. While I know that history never repeats itself, there are important lessons to be learned from that decade. Germany was militarily weak, but gained strength as it moved aggressively forward. When it took over Czechoslovakia, the surrounding countries collapsed. The Germans then had the benefits of the Czech industrial base and its demoralized neighbors. That’s when the Hitler-Stalin pact was signed.
We are in that situation right now. If Iran gains nukes, the surrounding states will collapse–Kuwait, Qatar, Iraq, Saudi Arabia. Russia and China–not our “friends”–will openly join the other side in trying to crush us. Americans and others need to understand who Iran is a potential menace.
Maybe this movie will bring a bit of clarity to those who are so confused or so affected with BDS syndrome. Maybe a few more will take an interest in the true dangers of Islamic militancy.
…need to understand “how” Iran… (not “who”)
I hear they’re gonna slam Clinton…which will be a 180º paradigm shift for ABC.
I believe, given the circumstance of the huge debate on terrorism and how best to combat it that’s going on in the US, that any historical inaccuracies in this movie may do more harm than good in the long run.
I also believe that all administrations, including the Carter, Clinton and Bush administrations, should be given a free pass on their policies regarding terrorism before 9/11 – unless some anti-war person tries to make a case for negligence against the Bush administration. Then of course the negligence of previous administrations should be pointed out.
The simple truth is that no one who had any real power to do anything about terrorism had the remotest inkling, even after the first terrorist act against the WTC(that failed), that 9/11 was coming. In the years before 9/11 terrorists and their despot sponsors were thought to be mere irritants and not worth the risk and trouble of going after – much like the anti-war crowd’s stance today.
AFTER 9/11 is a different story … you have to be blind, stupid, actually on the side of the terrorists or a slave to partisan politics to want to continue with the same passive, negotiate-and-hope-for-the-best foreign policy AFTER 9/11.
grackle: I agree with you. All previous administrations, Republican and Democrat, failed to see what was coming. There is equal opportunity blame to go around, but the blame game is totally counterproductive in this instance. What’s far more important is what happens next.