EDITOR: Since seeing Michael Moore
’s movie, Fahrenheit 9/11, I have read many criticisms of it.
While I agree with some of the issues raised, the whole debate over
the movie misses the most important points. It is not Moore’s voice
but the voices of the ordinary Americans he interviews that have
continued to haunt me since I lef
t the theater.
EDITOR:
Since seeing Michael Moore’s movie, Fahrenheit 9/11, I have read many criticisms of it. While I agree with some of the issues raised, the whole debate over the movie misses the most important points. It is not Moore’s voice but the voices of the ordinary Americans he interviews that have continued to haunt me since I left the theater.
I hear the words of Michael Pedersen, who wondered – in the last letter he wrote home before his helicopter was shot down – whether there was any purpose at all to his presence there.
I remember the soldier who, unable to look at the camera, said that a part of him died each time he killed someone.
And I think about the Marine who, having served in Iraq already, said he would do anything not to return.
In discussions about the movie, I have yet to hear anyone suggest a response to these soldiers. It is devastating to imagine American soldiers risking their lives without understanding why. How will we help soldiers recover? What does it mean if soldiers are willing to risk court martial not to return to this war? What can we tell the families of the 852 soldiers who have lost their lives? These are the questions I’d like to hear answered.
Leflora Cunningham-Walsh, Aromas
