As promised, I was glued to the television both Sunday and Monday nights watching ABC's "The Path to 9/11." It was time well-spent. I was extremely pleased with the way the factual information was presented and frankly didn't see too many artistic liberties taken throughout the mini-series. Even with the one-minute of edits, the story stayed intact and the facts were presented in an entertaining and informative way. All told, a very fine job -- well done!
As I watched the mini-series, I could not imagine why Richard Clarke, of all people, was up in arms over this show. He was portrayed throughout the show as being very earnest, very serious about his job, fully aware of the importance of catching Bin Laden, and extremely intent on communicating the seriousness and ferocity of the enemy we faced even before 9/11/01. He came through loud and clear as one of the saner voices during the Clinton administration. What in the world did he have to complain about? If I had no idea how nasty and partisan he's become since he was "restructured" during the early years of the Bush administration, I would have seen Clarke as a real hero in the fight, a true patriot, and an asset to this country. I can't help but wonder if he had actually even seen the mini-series prior to his complaints. This mini-series, even with some of its fictionalized scenes, did him no damage whatsoever. Clinton, Albright, and Tenet, yes; Clarke, no.
The mini-series seemed to run true to first-hand accounts and facts presented in print about the history of Islamo-fascist terrorist attacks on our country -- by the way, if you haven't read "The Cell" by John Miller, Michael Stone, and Chris Mitchell, I highly recommend it. Outstanding insight into the what we faced in the early part of this fight.
While watching, I realized my memory was in error on a couple of things. I did not realize that John O'Neill died in the attack on 9/11. How sadly ironic! Had he stayed with the FBI and lived to serve under the Bush administration, I imagine he would have made a huge difference in our early efforts in Homeland Security. Also, my recollection of the timeframe in which Massoud was assassinated was way off. For some reason, I thought he was assassinated after we went into Afghanistan. His death was yet another sad loss in this war against Islamo-fascist terrorists!
The most disheartening thing about watching this mini-series was finding out how many people did NOT watch it! Talking about it at work on Monday, I found out that the majority of my co-workers were glued to football games and didn't bother to tune in. Maybe I'm naive but I thought there would be more general interest in this mini-series. Based only on anecdotal evidence, it sure seems that very few Americans bother to stay abreast of politics and history. That's a shame, indeed. 3,000 people died in the attack on 9/11/01 and, a mere five years later, very few seem to know much about or care to learn more about what led to that infamous day in our history.
For anyone who couldn't pull him/herself away from football on Sunday and Monday, the mini-series is available to view on ABC's website. Believe me, if you're interested in educating yourself on the history of our battle with Islamo-fascist terrorists prior to the one attack that woke this country up, it is well worth your time. It is more important than ever.
As I watched the mini-series, I could not imagine why Richard Clarke, of all people, was up in arms over this show. He was portrayed throughout the show as being very earnest, very serious about his job, fully aware of the importance of catching Bin Laden, and extremely intent on communicating the seriousness and ferocity of the enemy we faced even before 9/11/01. He came through loud and clear as one of the saner voices during the Clinton administration. What in the world did he have to complain about? If I had no idea how nasty and partisan he's become since he was "restructured" during the early years of the Bush administration, I would have seen Clarke as a real hero in the fight, a true patriot, and an asset to this country. I can't help but wonder if he had actually even seen the mini-series prior to his complaints. This mini-series, even with some of its fictionalized scenes, did him no damage whatsoever. Clinton, Albright, and Tenet, yes; Clarke, no.
The mini-series seemed to run true to first-hand accounts and facts presented in print about the history of Islamo-fascist terrorist attacks on our country -- by the way, if you haven't read "The Cell" by John Miller, Michael Stone, and Chris Mitchell, I highly recommend it. Outstanding insight into the what we faced in the early part of this fight.
While watching, I realized my memory was in error on a couple of things. I did not realize that John O'Neill died in the attack on 9/11. How sadly ironic! Had he stayed with the FBI and lived to serve under the Bush administration, I imagine he would have made a huge difference in our early efforts in Homeland Security. Also, my recollection of the timeframe in which Massoud was assassinated was way off. For some reason, I thought he was assassinated after we went into Afghanistan. His death was yet another sad loss in this war against Islamo-fascist terrorists!
The most disheartening thing about watching this mini-series was finding out how many people did NOT watch it! Talking about it at work on Monday, I found out that the majority of my co-workers were glued to football games and didn't bother to tune in. Maybe I'm naive but I thought there would be more general interest in this mini-series. Based only on anecdotal evidence, it sure seems that very few Americans bother to stay abreast of politics and history. That's a shame, indeed. 3,000 people died in the attack on 9/11/01 and, a mere five years later, very few seem to know much about or care to learn more about what led to that infamous day in our history.
For anyone who couldn't pull him/herself away from football on Sunday and Monday, the mini-series is available to view on ABC's website. Believe me, if you're interested in educating yourself on the history of our battle with Islamo-fascist terrorists prior to the one attack that woke this country up, it is well worth your time. It is more important than ever.
Comments
You cannot advertise your program insinuating how accurate and non-partisan it is, and then turn around and create a not very non-partisan television movie that fabricates events, facts, motives, etc.
Believe me, it was probably best that most of America was watching football. That kind of fabricated garbage shouldn't have been given the green light given its pretty obvious side agenda of slandering an entire presidential administration's intelligence and counter-terrorism agencies.
By the way, "seemed to run true" doesn't mean it's true. People are very angry that it was supposed to be partially based on the findings of the 9/11 commission and basically left those findings by the wayside to allow for "creative license".
The truth here is that liberal Clinton-lovers would have complained about this flick if a lamp was in the scene that never truly had been placed in the room depicted in the film.
Do you know if this thing is going to come out on DVD? I hope so, because I only got to see like five seconds of it on tv because I don't really watch tv, and when I do it's usually Glenn Beck.
Wang, I don't think you get it, dude. The show was billed all along as entertainment; not as a documentary. Unlike Michael Moore and his alleged "documentary," the writer of this show made it clear that he based the story MOSTLY on facts found in the 9/11 Commission Report and in the book, "The Cell." He NEVER claimed it was a documentary.
As far as I'm concerned, it was indeed non-partisan. The Clinton Administration made some heinous blunders and the Bush Administration certainly underestimated the threat in the beginning years. It's apparent that your partisanship will not allow you to see it any other way... good luck with that.
I'd be willing to bet that it does come out on DVD, Jeff. Actually, for a while there, you could view it directly on the website in full. I'm certainly going to get a copy on DVD if it comes out. It's important American history.