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View Full Version : Fox to air controversial excerpts from 'Path to 9/11'



stephanie
01-26-2007, 05:50 PM
:eek: Let the hissy fits-BEGIN....:wink2:



It got them by taping a public talk by the docudrama's writer, who showed clips from a scene toned down after ex-officials' criticism.
By Matea Gold, Times Staff Writer
January 26, 2007


NEW YORK — In a move that could rekindle a heated political debate, Fox News said Thursday that it planned to broadcast footage from ABC's controversial miniseries "The Path to 9/11" that was edited out of the docudrama amid criticism that it inaccurately portrayed the Clinton administration's response to the terrorism threat.

The outtakes, scheduled to air Sunday, depict then-national security advisor Samuel R. "Sandy" Berger refusing to approve a CIA request to attack Osama bin Laden, an event that Berger and the Sept. 11 commission say did not occur.

The final version of the movie that aired on ABC in early September still included the scene, but it had been toned down after protests from top Democrats.

Several minutes were culled, including an exchange in which Berger is depicted hanging up on then-CIA Director George J. Tenet, according to a Fox News producer who has seen both versions.

The previously unaired footage is scheduled to be broadcast at 6 p.m. Sunday on "Hannity's America," a new show with Sean Hannity, one of the cable news network's most popular hosts.

Fox News obtained the outtakes by taping a public talk that Cyrus Nowrasteh, writer and producer of "The Path to 9/11," gave to a World Affairs Council chapter last Friday at Cal State Channel Islands. Nowrasteh discussed making the docudrama and played several minutes edited out of the movie.

Fox News had learned of his appearance from an article in a Ventura County paper, and it received permission from the World Affairs Council to record the event, "Hannity's America" producer John Finley said. The council is a nonprofit educational group.

"We saw an opportunity and sent a crew out there," Finley said.

Jay Carson, a spokesman for President Clinton, denounced Fox News' decision to air the scene.

"This movie was a completely false piece of right-wing propaganda when it was on ABC, and it will be exactly the same on Fox if they make the unfortunate choice to air it, though it should be right at home," Carson said.

ABC officials and a spokeswoman for Berger declined to comment, as did Nowrasteh.

Jay Berger, executive director of the California Central Coast chapter of the World Affairs Council, said that though Nowrasteh's talk to his group was interesting, he was surprised that Fox News was doing a piece on the unaired footage.

"I can't imagine what the news is here," he said.

An early version of the miniseries that ABC distributed to television critics is readily available on YouTube.com and other websites.

Fox News does not have ABC's permission to broadcast the unaired footage, but an attorney for the network said officials there believed that the newsworthiness of the material put it under the fair-use exception to the copyright statute.

Finley said the footage merited exposure because the original miniseries provoked such strong debate.

"It was a story that was so controversial at the time," he said.

"We here at Fox — and myself personally — feel the American people deserve both sides. We have the opportunity to show the viewers what they missed in September, the full story of the controversy surrounding the scene. We think people should see it and judge for themselves."

ABC initially characterized the five-hour, $40-million docudrama, which aired on the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, as a highbrow project that would contribute to the public's understanding of the terrorist attacks.

The miniseries was based in part on the Sept. 11 commission's report, and former New Jersey Gov. Thomas H. Kean, the Republican chairman of the commission, served as a consultant to the film.

But a version of the miniseries screened in August at the National Press Club in Washington generated vehement protests from senior Democratic leaders and former Clinton administration officials, who said the movie was riddled with inaccuracies.

Former national security advisor Berger said the docudrama "flagrantly misrepresents my personal actions," and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright termed "false and defamatory" a scene in which she is depicted as refusing to support a missile strike on Bin Laden without alerting the Pakistani government.

ABC trimmed out some of the controversial scenes before broadcast.

It also ran a disclaimer saying that "for dramatic and narrative purposes, the movie contains fictionalized scenes, composite and representative characters and dialogue, as well as time compression."

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-na-path26jan26,0,4118609.story?coll=la-home-entertainment

Pale Rider
01-26-2007, 05:56 PM
Just heard Hannity talking about this on his show. I'll be watching tonight. Anything that ticks off liberals has got to be worth seeing.:thumb:

Grumplestillskin
01-26-2007, 06:11 PM
So if I made a docudrama about Bush and Iraq and have him say something along the lines of "Let's bomb dem sand niggers into the stone age" even though he never said, but used "artistic licence", all you conservatives would be happy with that?

darin
01-26-2007, 06:16 PM
So if I made a docudrama about Bush and Iraq and have him say something along the lines of "Let's bomb dem sand niggers into the stone age" even though he never said, but used "artistic licence", all you conservatives would be happy with that?

Most of that show really happened. Most of it was based on reality. That's the difference.

stephanie
01-26-2007, 06:18 PM
So if I made a docudrama about Bush and Iraq and have him say something along the lines of "Let's bomb Dem sand niggers into the stone age" even though he never said, but used "artistic licence", all you conservatives would be happy with that?

HUH?:uhoh:

A lot of us know why Sandy Burglar committed this crime...

To Cover for Bj and Hilterty Clinton...

You can talk all the gibberish you want.....It won't change the facts...;)

Insein
01-26-2007, 06:26 PM
So if I made a docudrama about Bush and Iraq and have him say something along the lines of "Let's bomb dem sand niggers into the stone age" even though he never said, but used "artistic licence", all you conservatives would be happy with that?

You can't make it because Michael Moore already did. ;)

Besides, how would you get Bush to say "Lets bomb them sandniggers into the stone age" unless it was fake?

Grumplestillskin
01-26-2007, 06:38 PM
Most of that show really happened. Most of it was based on reality. That's the difference.

But that quote specifically?

Grumplestillskin
01-26-2007, 06:39 PM
HUH?:uhoh:

A lot of us know why Sandy Burglar committed this crime...

To Cover for Bj and Hilterty Clinton...

You can talk all the gibberish you want.....It won't change the facts...;)

Not talking any gibberish. YOu have proof that Berger denied the CIA the right to take out OBL?

stephanie
01-26-2007, 06:43 PM
They had the proof....But it ended up padding ole Bergers crotch...

It WILL COME OUT......AND SOON...:wink2:

Insein
01-26-2007, 07:50 PM
Not talking any gibberish. YOu have proof that Berger denied the CIA the right to take out OBL?

They did, but Berger shoved it down his pants and then destroyed it. But thats not news worthy because Berger has a (D) next to his name and not an (R).

Gaffer
01-26-2007, 08:39 PM
I have no problem with a docudrama that depicts GW saying "Let's bomb those sandniggers back to the stoneage." It's what I would say. And if it gets the point across. He would probably say " Bomb em" but that hasn't got the dramatic effect. Just like "bring it on". In a dem docudrama he would have said " bring it on you raghead lowlife son of a bitch."

That movie just showed what a pussy burger was and is. They just did it with drama.