Fahrenheit 9/11 is a film and a documentary that was made by a political commentator who is also a director and a film maker in USA in the year 2004. The documentary film covers the presidential period of George W. Bush, the war on terror and how all this is covered in the media as news reports.[1] The director of this Michael Moore managed to create a film that has captured the highest grossing film documentary ever made. In the film content, the director brings out the idea that during the 2003 invasion by the Iraq, the American media acted as an opportunity to take sides and acted as cheerleaders in the invasion. He insists that the media did not offer any accurate information or objectives of analysis in the war. This caused a lot of losses of lives and property throughout America. The film has brought a lot of controversy as people bring about disputes over the accuracy of the facts in the film (Moore, 2014).
The film documentary has gained a lot of viewers who have watched the film and others subscribing to it. During the Cannes film festival in 2004, Fahrenheit 9/11 gained tremendous support and received an entire 20 minutes standing ovation. This is one of the longest standing ovations ever seen in history of the Cannes film festivals. The film also managed to scoop the festival’s highest award. Fahrenheit 9/11 shows the future of the United States with the president George W. Bush after the attacks they had received from the foreign countries and especially their biggest blow 9/11 (Moore, 2014). This was an explosion that occurred on the 11th of September, a lot of Americans lost their lives and the families lost their loved ones. This has been a blow to the Americans till date. They still mourn those they lost during the 9/11.
In the movie, George W. Bush and his political allies is allegedly in collaboration with fox news channel that declared Bush the president before time. [2]The film then shows the September 11th attacks and insinuates that the President Bush knew about the first attack and had been informed prior. In this movie, the president is seen in a classroom with children when he is informed about the second explosion. He shows no hurry in leaving the classroom as he allows the children to finish reading and he continues to read for at least seven minutes after before leaving. In the film, there is a connection between the Bush Family and the Bin Laden family and the US government evacuates 24 members of the Bin Laden family secretly without subjecting them to any forms of interrogation concerning the attacks (Cannon, 2008).
There is contention in the film that the oil project that George W. Bush had was partly funded by Saudis and the Bin Laden Family. During the reign of this president, personal interest went ahead of the Nation’s interest. In the movie, it is seen that the president instilled fear in the Americans through media who were used as props to feed the public what the president says. By the government infiltrating pacifist groups, there showed efforts to fight terror and the USA patriot Act were signed. The film shows the Iraq was living in peace before the US military invasion and the abuse of prisoners in the US grounds (Rozell, 2012).
The president having been elected by the people has a responsibility over each and every one of them. The president as the chief executive has been trusted with executive powers to lead the entire nation. This includes protecting them from both internal and external harm, to provide for the country and ensure stability in all spheres and disciplines of the lives of the Citizens in the country.[3] Being the chief executive President Bush should have protected the citizens from the explosions because he had been aware of the explosions before hand. The president as the commander in chief has the obligation to direct the military and control the military arsenal like the tanks (Rozell, 2012). With this power in Hand, Bush had the power to stop mistreatment of the Iraq prisoners and the initial attack at the Iraq nation could have been stopped by the president to avoid war. The president always has the football; this means that he gives the permission for the launch of missiles and other weapons to another nation (Rozell, 2012).
This shows that, president Bush had the combination code for the nuclear missiles and had given the go ahead for the first attack at the Iraq citizen that caused the revenge at the US citizens in 9/11. As the Chief legislature, he has the obligation of setting public policy and push for laws that govern the nation.[4] The signature of the president is the seal of the bill passed to law to govern the citizens of US. With these laws, the innocent people of US were killed during the attack and instead of guiding and protecting the people of his nation, he put them on the frontline during the attack and they perished (David B. Magleby, 2012).
The president’s selfish need to gain from the presidency took the lives of many citizens. His leadership was not for the value of citizens but for personal gain. This is since he is the chief of citizens. [5]This role gives the president the mandate to take care of his people and ensure safety in the entire nation. His realization and knowledge of the attack before hand would have been a way to help the people. It would have been a good time to put the nation’s interest before his personal interests. By helping the Bin Laden family to leave US without interrogation shows his disloyalty and his lack of Patriotism for his country. The president as the chief diplomat he is responsible for being the nation’s spokesperson to the rest of the world. But George W. Bush in the film failed the entire Nation by fighting the Iraq with the first nuclear missile launch and the mistreatment of Iraq prisoners and not helping them excavate despite prior knowledge of the attack from his sources (Rozell, 2012).
Facts are the president’s executive position and powers are integrated into the president for the purpose of the nation’s protection and guidance. It is the president’s responsibility to care for the people within the country and as the commander in chief he has the obligation to fight for his people. The Executive office of the president, the vice president and the cabinet secretaries’ work together in the president’s office to ensure that decisions made by the president in the line of duty is for the good of the country (Cannon, 2008).
The president has the executive privilege of having first hand decision making on the matters arising in the country. If it is done for the good of the nation and is not questionable, it is accepted and followed through.[6] “Going public” is an advised decision that the president makes after a long decision and preparation. Before any piece of information is made public, the content has been sifted through the presidential adviser and the entire executive team as well as a few other people. Therefore information going public is an issue that has been previously discussed. It is clearly not the duty of the president alone but all those who hold the executive office (Rozell, 2012).
To add a twist to the film, a little exaggeration and fiction was added. Such as the betrayal by the president, the only man with the powers to protect all men turning against the Nation for oil advantages is a humiliating fiction put in place to show a twist of events. Some of the content used in the film is actually factual and shows all the responsibilities of the president and how he carried them out. However, some of it is just fiction meant to improve the value of the film (Moore, 2014).
In conclusion, this film contains realistic roles of the president and shows the struggle in which the president goes through to ensure the best for the entire nation. This film is a good choice because it shows the loopholes in the government and especially the executive office of the president. The failures of the president and the successes the presidents have. It clearly outlines the politics foul play in American government and the views of the citizens and the role of the journalists in the politics and the response of the citizens to the trust in the government and the media (David B. Magleby, 2012).
After the study of the American politics, it is clear that the president has many obligations but the most important is the protection of the Nation.[7] It is also a new lesson learnt that the president does not make an independent decision, it is discussed within the executive office of the president and the president has advisors who help to guide him. The decisions made by the president are not independent and it is clear now how the president is able to handle all this work and responsibilities issued to him in his reign of presidency (David B. Magleby, 2012).
References
- Cannon, L. (2008). President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime. New York: PublicAffairs.
- David B. Magleby, P. C. (2012). Government By the People. New York: pearson Education.
- Moore, M. (2014, September 9). the Guardian. Retrieved October 9, 2015, from Fahrenheit 9/11: http://www.theguardian.com/film/fahrenheit-9-11
- Rozell, M. (2012, July 12). The Constitution and Executive Privilege. Retrieved October 6, 2015, from Library of Law and Liberty: http://www.libertylawsite.org/2012/07/12/the- constitution-and-executive-privilege/
