News: Path to 9/11

There have been many documentaries and dramatizations about the events of 9/11.

The ones I have seen have focused mostly on United flight 93. I've seen some television programs that looked at the timeline of response by the FAA, the military and our political leaders. We would get thumbnail sketches of the terrorists.

In watching Path to 9/11, I think the most striking thing was the picture we get of the terrorists. It is one thing to see their pictures in the paper and a brief blurb about them. It is another thing to see them fleshed out in the dramatic recreation.

Most of the the outcry of about the film has focused on what some view as inaccurate portrayals of the Clinton Administration.

Certainly, factual inaccuracies and excessive dramatic license should be criticized. However, as it were, people are majoring in the minors.

The "heart" of the movie are the terrorist. We see them in their determination. These people are not crazy. They have a view of the world and all their actions are consistent with what they believe. This is something so alien to us that we are at a loss to grasp it.

Most moving to me were the various scenes involving Ahmad Shah Massoud, the leader of the Northern Alliance. He saw what the Taliban and Al-Qaeda and Usama Bin Laden did and could do. He understood and he hoped his American supporters would come to understand the danger that he faced was going to be faced by all the world.

One non-profit, Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) is trying to help the rest of the world understand the Muslim world by translating what is being shown on television in the Middle-East.

Be sure to check out their documentary that compiles the Middle East's view of the events of 9/11.

Suffice to say, it was shocking.

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