page_title: Fahrenheit 9/11 controversies
section_title: War in Iraq
hierarchical_section_title: Fahrenheit 9/11 controversies / Controversy over the film's content / War in Iraq
caption_attribution_description: العربية: صورة من التلفزيون الحكومي العراقي. مستنسخة هنا [1] ar:تصنيف:قوميون عرب English: Image from Iraqi state television. Reproduced here [2]
context_page_description: The content of the 2004 documentary film Fahrenheit 9/11 generated controversy before, during, and after its release a few months prior to the 2004 U.S. presidential election. The film, directed by Michael Moore, criticizes the Bush administration's attempt to pursue Osama bin Laden in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks, as well as the Iraq War. Although Fahrenheit 9/11 was generally praised by film critics and won various awards, Bush defenders and several other commentators criticized the film for inconsistencies, lack of context and for being made available online for free download.
context_section_description: The film suggests that the invasion of Iraq was an illegitimate attack on a sovereign nation – an unnecessary attack against an exaggerated threat. It makes a case against components of the Bush Doctrine, specifically against the concepts of pre-emptive war combined with American unilateralism. The film also contends that the focus of the United States should have been directed elsewhere.
  Christopher Hitchens criticized the film for not mentioning the history of repression, aggression, war crimes and the general state of human rights in Saddam Hussein's Iraq, nor Iraq's noncompliance with numerous United Nations resolutions. Hitchens writes, "in this peaceable kingdom, according to Moore's flabbergasting choice of film shots, children are flying little kites, shoppers are smiling in the sunshine, and the gentle rhythms of life are undisturbed. Then—wham! From the night sky come the terror weapons of American imperialism. Watching the clips Moore uses, and recalling them well, I can recognize various Saddam palaces and military and police centers getting the treatment. But these sites are not identified as such. In fact, I don't think Al Jazeera would, on a bad day, have transmitted anything so utterly propagandistic." While interviewing Hitchens on his show, Scarborough claimed to be outraged at Moore's portrayal of the Iraqi insurgency, claiming Moore's film suggests "those killing Americans in Iraq aren't the enemy, but rather they are the revolution and the Minutemen, who are sure to win their battle against the occupation" and that "Moore says that the enemy is George Bush and Saddam Hussein and Mr. Zarqawi and Mr. Bin Laden are no problem. ... Indeed, they are the Minutemen. They're the staunch American revolutionaries."
  Moore has frequently stated his opinion that Saddam was a brutal tyrant, though this opinion is not mentioned in the film. He said calling attention to Saddam's crimes was unnecessary considering the corporate media had continually pressed that point themselves, making it public knowledge.
  Who doesn't know that Saddam was a bad guy? The media did a wonderful job hammering that home every day in order to convince the public that they should support the war. For 20 seconds in this film, I become essentially the only person to say, I want you to take a look at the human beings that were living in Iraq in 2003. [...] Anyone who takes that and says that I'm trying to say that Saddam's Iraq was some utopia is just a crackpot.
  Christopher Hitchens criticizes Moore for stating, in his film, that Iraq had not killed or attacked an American: "Moore asserts that Iraq under Saddam had never attacked or killed or even threatened (his words) any American. I never quite know whether Moore is as ignorant as he looks, or even if that would be humanly possible." Hitchens writes that Palestinian terrorists Muhammad Zaidan and Abu Nidal had been free to move in and out of Baghdad, and that Saddam's armed forces had exchanged fire and killed American soldiers during the first Gulf War. When interviewed by Jake Tapper, Moore denied having said Hussein's regime had not ever killed an American, insisting his movie had been misquoted: "That isn't what I said. Quote the movie directly. Murdered. The government of Iraq did not commit a premeditated murder on an American citizen." His narration is reproduced verbatim in The Official Fahrenheit Reader, including a chapter on critiques and supporting evidence.
caption: Saddam Hussein
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