The path to rewriting history

Tonight, ABC is airing the first installment of a "docu-drama" it claims is based on the 9/11 Commission Report findings, despite the fact that several 9/11 Commission members dispute that claim. The script was written by self-proclaimed conservative Cyrus Nowrasteh, who has fabricated scenes aimed at placing the blame for the 9/11 attacks on the Clinton administration, while valorizing the Bush administration. It seems that ABC and the creators of this right-wing fairy tale think we've forgotten (1) how President Bush ignored the warnings of possible attacks that had been bubbling up all summer, and (2) the way he actually reacted on 9/11. First he sat in a Florida classroom, listening to elementary school children showcase their reading skills and waiting for someone to tell him what to do. Then he flew from one "undisclosed location" to another like a frightened rabbit for much of the day. In all likelihood, those scenes are on the cutting room floor. Six years ago, CBS decided not to air a mini-series, "The Reagans," after conservatives argued it contained fabricated dialog about Ron and Nancy. Yet for some reason, it's all right to re-write the history of 9/11 in order to conceal the criminal culpability of the Bush administration. If you're interested in learning about the real path to 9/11, you might consider skipping ABC's partisan revision and read the final report of the 9/11 Commission instead.

Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) just issued an action alert regarding a recent article in the New York Times that re-writes history by revising President Bush's reasoning for invading Iraq:

The possibility that Saddam Hussein might develop 'weapons of mass destruction' and pass them to terrorists was the prime reason Mr. Bush gave in 2003 for ordering the invasion of Iraq.

Of course, back then President Bush wasn't warning about the "possibility" of WMD, he was saying that Iraq already possessed stockpiles of WMD that posed a grave threat to the safety and security of the world.

FAIR is asking us to tell the New York Times to correct the record on the Bush administration's prime reason for invading Iraq, and provides the following contact information:

New York Times
Byron Calame, Public Editor
public@nytimes.com
Phone: (212) 556-7652