FROM MICHAEL MOORE
9/15/01
Dear Friends,
Our second day on the road back to New York City…
Passing through the Indian reservations of Arizona and New Mexico you are struck by the abject poverty of these places, and reminded of the 500 years of state‑sponsored terrorism against these people, a virtual genocide. How many millions were killed by the American settlers and soldiers? I can’t remember now. But the living results are brutally evident in the shacks and trailers along old Route 66…
I continue to be amazed at the large number of people ‑‑ both on the radio and those we run into ‑‑ who are completely opposed to some half‑cocked military response to what has happened. No matter what the media tells you or shows you, I am convinced there is a majority of Americans who, though they want justice and want to be protected from further attacks, do not want George W. Bush to start sounding like Dr. Strangelove.
Speaking of Strangelove, this past week began with one of the most powerful pieces on "60 Minutes" in a long time. They laid it all out: How the United States ‑‑ and specifically Henry Kissinger ‑‑ plotted to overthrow the democratically‑elected president of Chile in the early 1970s. The plot succeeded, President Allende was assassinated, and thousands of other Chileans were brutally tortured and murdered. Today, many within the new government of Chile would like to put Kissinger on trial for these acts of terrorism. Do you think the United States will give him up?
Well, that story was forgotten, 48 hours later, as quickly as it had been forgotten 30 years ago.
A few of you have written me to say, Please, Mike, don’t talk about this stuff, at least not right now. We need to bury the dead.
I agree. And I apologize to any who have taken offense. No one wants to talk about politics right now ‑‑ except our installed leaders in Washington. Trust me, they are talking politics night and day, and those discussions involve sending our kids off to fight some invisible enemy and to indiscriminately bomb Afghans or whoever they think will make us Americans feel good.
I feel I have a responsibility as one of those Americans who doesn’t feel good right now to speak out and say what needs to be said: That we, the United States of America, are culpable in committing so many acts of terror and bloodshed that we had better get a clue about the culture of violence in which we have been active participants. I know it’s a hard thing to hear right now, but if I and others don’t say it, I fear we will soon be in a war that will do NOTHING to protect us from the next terrorist attack…
We pass over the Continental Divide and Rush Limbaugh babbles on about whom we must bomb. He signs off, and I am sure he is on his way down to the nearest recruiting station to sign up ‑‑ for surely he would not expect your son or daughter to risk their lives for freedom while he just sits back and enjoys his new half‑billion dollar contract…
Yours,
Michael Moore
PS. Three days ago, I learned from someone at ABC News that ABC had videotape – an angle of the second plane crashing into the tower ‑‑ that showed an F‑16 fighter jet trailing the plane at a distance.
I have not shared this with you as I had not personally witnessed that tape myself and did not want to contribute to all the unsubstantiated rumors. It just came across on the TV that the government admitted they did dispatch fighter jets when they knew the planes were off course.
From this point, I will pass on any censored information for those of you in the mainstream media who are being blocked from reporting.
Is it becoming more clear now that the plane that went down in Pennsylvania was shot down to prevent it from attacking its destination?
The truth is harrowing, unbearable ‑‑ but it must be told to us. A free people cannot make an informed decision if they are kept in the dark. Let’s hear ALL the truth NOW.
mmflint@aol.com
www.michaelmoore.com
